path: root/doc/user/search/advanced_search.md

---
stage: Enablement
group: Global Search
info: "To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments"
type: reference
---

# GitLab Advanced Search **(PREMIUM)**

> - Moved to GitLab Premium in 13.9.

NOTE:
This is the user documentation. To configure the Advanced Search,
visit the [administrator documentation](../../integration/elasticsearch.md).
Advanced Search is enabled in GitLab.com.

GitLab Advanced Search expands on the Basic Search with an additional set of
features for faster, more advanced searches across the entire GitLab instance
when searching in:

- Projects
- Issues
- Merge requests
- Milestones
- Epics
- Comments
- Code
- Commits
- Wiki (except [group wikis](../project/wiki/group.md))
- Users

The Advanced Search can be useful in various scenarios:

- **Faster searches:**
  Advanced Search is based on Elasticsearch, which is a purpose-built full
  text search engine that can be horizontally scaled so that it can provide
  search results in 1-2 seconds in most cases.
- **Code Maintenance:**
  Finding all the code that needs to be updated at once across an entire
  instance can save time spent maintaining code.
  This is especially helpful for organizations with more than 10 active projects.
  This can also help build confidence is code refactoring to identify unknown impacts.
- **Promote innersourcing:**
  Your company may consist of many different developer teams each of which has
  their own group where the various projects are hosted. Some of your applications
  may be connected to each other, so your developers need to instantly search
  throughout the GitLab instance and find the code they search for.

## Use the Advanced Search syntax

Elasticsearch has data for the default branch only. That means that if you go
to the repository tree and switch the branch from the default to something else,
then the **Code** tab in the search result page is served by the basic
search even if Elasticsearch is enabled.

The Advanced Search syntax supports fuzzy or exact search queries with prefixes,
boolean operators, and much more. Use the search as before and GitLab shows
you matching code from each project you have access to.

![Advanced Search](img/advanced_search_v13.10.png)

Full details can be found in the [Elasticsearch documentation](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/5.3/query-dsl-simple-query-string-query.html#_simple_query_string_syntax), but
here's a quick guide:

- Searches look for all the words in a query, in any order - for example: searching
  issues for [`display bug`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=display+bug&group_id=9970&project_id=278964) and [`bug display`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+Display&group_id=9970&project_id=278964) return the same results.
- To find the exact phrase (stemming still applies), use double quotes: [`"display bug"`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=%22display+bug%22&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To find bugs not mentioning display, use `-`: [`bug -display`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+-display&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To find a bug in display or banner, use `|`: [`bug display | banner`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+display+%7C+banner&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To group terms together, use parentheses: [`bug | (display +banner)`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+%7C+%28display+%2Bbanner%29&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To match a partial word, use `*`. In this example, I want to find bugs with any 500 errors. : [`bug error 50*`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+error+50*&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To use one of symbols above literally, escape the symbol with a preceding `\`: [`argument \-last`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=argument+%5C-last&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)

## Syntax search filters

Advanced Search also supports the use of filters. The available filters are:

- `filename`: Filters by filename. You can use the glob (`*`) operator for fuzzy matching.
- `path`: Filters by path. You can use the glob (`*`) operator for fuzzy matching.
- `extension`: Filters by extension in the filename. Please write the extension without a leading dot. Exact match only.
- `blob`: Filters by Git `object ID`. Exact match only.

To use them, add them to your keyword in the format `<filter_name>:<value>` without
any spaces between the colon (`:`) and the value. When no keyword is provided, an asterisk (`*`) is used as the keyword.

Examples:

- Finding a file with any content named `search_results.rb`: [`* filename:search_results.rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=*+filename%3Asearch_results.rb&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- The leading asterisk (`*`) can be ignored in the case above: [`filename:search_results.rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?group_id=9970&project_id=278964&scope=blobs&search=filename%3Asearch_results.rb)
- Finding a file named `found_blob_spec.rb` with the text `CHANGELOG` inside of it: [`CHANGELOG filename:found_blob_spec.rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=CHANGELOG+filename%3Afound_blob_spec.rb&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding the text `EpicLinks` inside files with the `.rb` extension: [`EpicLinks extension:rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=EpicLinks+extension%3Arb&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding any file with the `.yaml` extension: [`extension:yaml`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=extension%3Ayaml&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding the text `Sidekiq` in a file, when that file is in a path that includes `elastic`: [`Sidekiq path:elastic`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=Sidekiq+path%3Aelastic&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding any file in a path that includes `elasticsearch`: [`path:elasticsearch`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=path%3Aelasticsearch&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding the files represented by the Git object ID `998707b421c89bd9a3063333f9f728ef3e43d101`: [`* blob:998707b421c89bd9a3063333f9f728ef3e43d101`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=false&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=*+blob%3A998707b421c89bd9a3063333f9f728ef3e43d101&group_id=9970)
- Syntax filters can be combined for complex filtering. Finding any file starting with `search` containing `eventHub` and with the `.js` extension: [`eventHub filename:search* extension:js`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=eventHub+filename%3Asearch*+extension%3Ajs&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)

### Excluding filters

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/31684) in GitLab 13.3.

Filters can be inverted to **filter out** results from the result set, by prefixing the filter name with a `-` (hyphen) character, such as:

- `-filename`
- `-path`
- `-extension`
- `-blob`

Examples:

- Finding `rails` in all files but `Gemfile.lock`: [`rails -filename:Gemfile.lock`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=rails+-filename%3AGemfile.lock&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding `success` in all files excluding `.po|pot` files: [`success -filename:*.po*`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=success+-filename%3A*.po*&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding `import` excluding minified JavaScript (`.min.js`) files: [`import -extension:min.js`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=import+-extension%3Amin.js&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding `docs` for all files outside the `docs/` folder: [`docs -path:docs/`](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=docs+-path%3Adocs%2F&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)

## Search by issue or merge request ID

You can search a specific issue or merge request by its ID with a special prefix.

- To search by issue ID, use prefix `#` followed by issue ID. For example, [#23456](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=%2323456&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To search by merge request ID, use prefix `!` followed by merge request ID. For example [!23456](https://gitlab.com/search?snippets=&scope=merge_requests&repository_ref=&search=%2123456&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)

## Global search scopes **(FREE SELF)**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/68640) in GitLab 14.3.

To improve the performance of your instance's global search, you can limit
the scope of the search. To do so, you can exclude global search scopes by disabling
[`ops` feature flags](../../development/feature_flags/index.md#ops-type).

Global search has all its scopes **enabled** by default in GitLab SaaS and
self-managed instances. A GitLab administrator can disable the following `ops`
feature flags to limit the scope of your instance's global search and optimize
its performance:

| Scope | Feature flag | Description |
|--|--|--|
| Code | `global_search_code_tab` | When enabled, the global search includes code as part of the search. |
| Commits | `global_search_commits_tab` | When enabled, the global search includes commits as part of the search. |
| Issues | `global_search_issues_tab` | When enabled, the global search includes issues as part of the search. |
| Merge Requests | `global_search_merge_requests_tab` | When enabled, the global search includes merge requests as part of the search. |
| Wiki | `global_search_wiki_tab` | When enabled, the global search includes wiki as part of the search. [Group wikis](../project/wiki/group.md) are not included. |

## Global Search validation

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/346263) in GitLab 14.6 [with a flag](../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `prevent_abusive_searches`. Disabled by default.

FLAG:
On self-managed GitLab, by default this feature is not available. To make it available,
   ask an administrator to [enable the feature flag](../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `prevent_abusive_searches`.
   The feature is not ready for production use.

To prevent abusive searches, such as searches that may result in a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), Global Search ignores, logs, and
doesn't return any results for searches considered abusive according to the following criteria, if `prevent_abusive_searches` feature flag is enabled:

- Searches with less than 2 characters.
- Searches with any term greater than 100 characters. URL search terms have a maximum of 200 characters.
- Searches with a stop word as the only term (ie: "the", "and", "if", etc.).
- Searches with a `group_id` or `project_id` parameter that is not completely numeric.
- Searches with a `repository_ref` or `project_ref` parameter that has special characters not allowed by [Git refname](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-check-ref-format).
- Searches with a `scope` that is unknown.

Regardless of the status of the `prevent_abusive_searches` feature flag, searches that don't
comply with the criteria described below aren't logged as abusive but are flagged with an error:

- Searches with more than 4096 characters.
- Searches with more than 64 terms.