Search

Use this API to search across GitLab in an instance, a group, or a project, and to retrieve information about advanced search migrations.

Every call to this API requires authentication. Retrieving advanced search migrations requires administrator access.

Some scopes are available for basic search. When advanced search or exact code search is enabled, additional scopes become available. To use basic search instead, see specify a search type.

These endpoints support offset-based pagination.

Search on GitLab within a group

GET /api/v4/groups/{id}/(-/)search

This feature was introduced in GitLab 10.5.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`id` Path, required	String or integer	The ID or URL-encoded path of the group
`search` Query, required	String	The expression it should be searched for
`scope` Query, required	String	The scope of the search Allowed values: `projects`, `groups`, `issues`, `work_items`, `merge_requests`, `milestones`, `users` Minimum length: `1`
`state` Query	String	Filter results by state Allowed values: `all`, `opened`, `closed`, `merged`
`confidential` Query	Boolean	Filter results by confidentiality
`type` Query	Array of strings	Filter work items by type. Only applies to work_items scope. Available types: issue, task, incident, ticket
`include_archived` Query	Boolean	Includes archived projects in the search. Introduced in GitLab 18.9 Default: `false`
`fields` Query	Array of strings	Array of fields to search. Only “title” is supported (work_items / issues scope)
`language` Query	Array of strings	Array of languages to filter blobs by language
`label_name` Query	Array of strings	Array of labels to filter work_items / issues / merge_requests by label
`source_branch` Query	String	Filter merge requests by source branch Maximum length: `255`
`target_branch` Query	String	Filter merge requests by target branch Maximum length: `255`
`not_source_branch` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by source branch Maximum length: `255`
`not_target_branch` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by target branch Maximum length: `255`
`author_username` Query	String	Filter merge requests by author username Maximum length: `255`
`not_author_username` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by author username Maximum length: `255`
`exclude_forks` Query	Boolean	Exclude forked projects from search results. Only supported for work_items / issues scope
`num_context_lines` Query	Integer	Number of context lines around each match. Only supported for blobs scope Maximum: `20` Minimum: `0`
`page` Query	Integer	Current page number Default: `1` Example: `1`
`per_page` Query	Integer	Number of items per page Default: `20` Example: `20`

Responses

Code	Description	Schema
`200`	OK	—
`400`	Bad Request	—
`404`	Not Found	—

Search a project

GET /api/v4/projects/{id}/(-/)search

Searches for content in a specified project.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`id` Path, required	String or integer	The ID or URL-encoded path of the project
`search` Query, required	String	The expression it should be searched for
`scope` Query, required	String	The scope of the search Allowed values: `issues`, `work_items`, `merge_requests`, `milestones`, `notes`, `wiki_blobs`, `commits`, `blobs`, `users` Minimum length: `1`
`ref` Query	String	The name of a repository branch or tag. If not given, the default branch is used
`state` Query	String	Filter results by state Allowed values: `all`, `opened`, `closed`, `merged`
`confidential` Query	Boolean	Filter results by confidentiality
`type` Query	Array of strings	Filter work items by type. Only applies to work_items scope. Available types: issue, task, incident, ticket
`fields` Query	Array of strings	Array of fields to search. Only “title” is supported (work_items / issues scope)
`language` Query	Array of strings	Array of languages to filter blobs by language
`label_name` Query	Array of strings	Array of labels to filter work_items / issues / merge_requests by label
`source_branch` Query	String	Filter merge requests by source branch Maximum length: `255`
`target_branch` Query	String	Filter merge requests by target branch Maximum length: `255`
`not_source_branch` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by source branch Maximum length: `255`
`not_target_branch` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by target branch Maximum length: `255`
`author_username` Query	String	Filter merge requests by author username Maximum length: `255`
`not_author_username` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by author username Maximum length: `255`
`num_context_lines` Query	Integer	Number of context lines around each match. Only supported for blobs scope Maximum: `20` Minimum: `0`
`page` Query	Integer	Current page number Default: `1` Example: `1`
`per_page` Query	Integer	Number of items per page Default: `20` Example: `20`

Responses

Code	Description	Schema
`200`	OK	—
`400`	Bad Request	—
`404`	Not Found	—

Search an instance

GET /api/v4/search

Searches for a term across the entire GitLab instance. The response depends on the requested scope.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`search` Query, required	String	The expression it should be searched for
`scope` Query, required	String	The scope of the search Allowed values: `projects`, `groups`, `issues`, `work_items`, `merge_requests`, `milestones`, `snippet_titles`, `users` Minimum length: `1`
`state` Query	String	Filter results by state Allowed values: `all`, `opened`, `closed`, `merged`
`confidential` Query	Boolean	Filter results by confidentiality
`type` Query	Array of strings	Filter work items by type. Only applies to work_items scope. Available types: issue, task, incident, ticket
`include_archived` Query	Boolean	Includes archived projects in the search. Introduced in GitLab 18.9 Default: `false`
`fields` Query	Array of strings	Array of fields to search. Only “title” is supported (work_items / issues scope)
`language` Query	Array of strings	Array of languages to filter blobs by language
`label_name` Query	Array of strings	Array of labels to filter work_items / issues / merge_requests by label
`source_branch` Query	String	Filter merge requests by source branch Maximum length: `255`
`target_branch` Query	String	Filter merge requests by target branch Maximum length: `255`
`not_source_branch` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by source branch Maximum length: `255`
`not_target_branch` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by target branch Maximum length: `255`
`author_username` Query	String	Filter merge requests by author username Maximum length: `255`
`not_author_username` Query	String	Exclude merge requests by author username Maximum length: `255`
`exclude_forks` Query	Boolean	Exclude forked projects from search results. Only supported for work_items / issues scope
`num_context_lines` Query	Integer	Number of context lines around each match. Only supported for blobs scope Maximum: `20` Minimum: `0`
`page` Query	Integer	Current page number Default: `1` Example: `1`
`per_page` Query	Integer	Number of items per page Default: `20` Example: `20`

Responses

Code	Description	Schema
`200`	OK	—
`400`	Bad Request	—

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Search a project

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