> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sourcebot-whoisthey-language-model-input-modalities.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Writing search queries

Sourcebot uses a powerful regex-based query language that enabled precise code search within large codebases.

## Syntax reference guide

Queries consist of space-separated search patterns that are matched against file contents. A file must have at least one match for each expression to be included. Queries can optionally contain search filters to further refine the search results.

## Keyword search (default)

Keyword search matches search patterns exactly in file contents. Wrapping search patterns in `""` combines them as a single expression.

| Example         | Explanation                                                 |
| :-------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------- |
| `foo`           | Match files containing the keyword `foo`                    |
| `foo bar`       | Match files containing both `foo` **and** `bar`             |
| `"foo bar"`     | Match files containing the phrase `foo bar`                 |
| `"foo \"bar\""` | Match files containing `foo "bar"` exactly (escaped quotes) |

## Regex search

Toggle the regex button (`.*`) in the search bar to interpret search patterns as regular expressions.

| Example           | Explanation                                                                                                        |
| :---------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `foo`             | Match files with regex `/foo/`                                                                                     |
| `foo.*bar`        | Match files with regex `/foo.*bar/` (foo followed by any characters, then bar)                                     |
| `^function\s+\w+` | Match files with regex `/^function\s+\w+/` (function at start of line, followed by whitespace and word characters) |
| `"foo bar"`       | Match files with regex `/foo bar/`. Quotes are not matched.                                                        |

## Search filters

Search queries (keyword or regex) can include multiple search filters to further refine the search results. Some filters can be negated using the `-` prefix.

| Prefix     | Description                                                                                                                                                                     | Example                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| :--------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `file:`    | Filter results from filepaths that match the regex. By default all files are searched.                                                                                          | `file:README` - Filter results to filepaths that match regex `/README/`<br />`file:"my file"` - Filter results to filepaths that match regex `/my file/`<br />`-file:test\.ts$` - Ignore results from filepaths match regex `/test\.ts$/` |
| `repo:`    | Filter results from repos that match the regex. By default all repos are searched.                                                                                              | `repo:linux` - Filter results to repos that match regex `/linux/`<br />`-repo:^web/.*` - Ignore results from repos that match regex `/^web\/.*/`                                                                                          |
| `rev:`     | Filter results from a specific branch or tag. By default **only** the default branch is searched.                                                                               | `rev:beta` - Filter results to branches that match regex `/beta/`                                                                                                                                                                         |
| `lang:`    | Filter results by language (as defined by [linguist](https://github.com/github-linguist/linguist/blob/main/lib/linguist/languages.yml)). By default all languages are searched. | `lang:TypeScript` - Filter results to TypeScript files<br />`-lang:YAML` - Ignore results from YAML files                                                                                                                                 |
| `sym:`     | Match symbol definitions created by [universal ctags](https://ctags.io/) at index time.                                                                                         | `sym:\bmain\b` - Filter results to symbols that match regex `/\bmain\b/`                                                                                                                                                                  |
| `context:` | Filter results to a predefined [search context](/docs/features/search/search-contexts).                                                                                         | `context:web` - Filter results to the web context<br />`-context:pipelines` - Ignore results from the pipelines context                                                                                                                   |

## Boolean operators & grouping

By default, space-separated expressions are and'd together. Using the `or` keyword as well as parentheses `()` can be used to create more complex boolean logic. Parentheses can be negated using the `-` prefix.

| Example            | Explanation                                                     |
| :----------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `foo or bar`       | Match files containing `foo` **or** `bar`                       |
| `foo (bar or baz)` | Match files containing `foo` **and** either `bar` **or** `baz`. |
| `-(foo) bar`       | Match files containing `bar` **and not** `foo`.                 |