Discourse’s search capability is feature-rich. It comes with many filters and criteria. When you use these from the advanced search form, it automatically appends the relevant syntax to your query.
For instance, if you select In my messages, it will append in:personal to your search query.
This topic provides a comprehensive list of all search options and features:
Filters
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
in:personal-direct |
Returns posts in personal messages between two users only |
in:all-pms |
 For Admins only Returns posts from all personal messages, including those you’re not a part of |
in:all |
Returns posts from public topics and personal messages |
in:tagged |
Returns posts from topics that have at least one tag |
in:untagged |
Returns posts from topics with no tags |
in:seen |
Returns posts you’ve seen (for logged-in users) |
in:unseen |
Returns posts you haven’t seen (for logged-in users) |
in:wiki |
Returns wiki posts |
in:watching |
Returns posts from topics you’re watching |
in:tracking |
Returns posts from topics you’re tracking |
posts_count:X |
Returns posts from topics that have exactly X posts |
min_posts:X |
Returns posts from topics with at least X posts |
max_posts:X |
Returns posts from topics with at most X posts |
min_views:X |
Returns posts from topics with at least X views |
max_views:X |
Returns posts from topics with at most X views |
badge:name_or_id |
Returns posts linked to a specific badge grant |
created:@username |
Returns posts from topics created by username
|
group:group_name |
Returns posts from users within the group_name group |
group_messages:group_name |
Returns posts from personal messages sent to the group_name group |
personal_messages:username |
For Admins only Returns posts from personal messages of the specified user |
-tags:tag1,tag2,tag3 |
Returns posts not tagged with tag1, tag2, or tag3
|
filetypes:ext1,ext2,ext3 |
Returns posts with uploads of ext1, ext2, or ext3 file extensions |
categories:category1,category2 |
Returns posts from the categories category1 and category2
|
status:open |
Returns posts from topics that are not closed or archived |
status:closed |
Returns posts from closed topics |
status:archived |
Returns posts from archived topics |
status:noreplies |
Returns posts from topics with no replies |
status:single_user |
Returns posts from topics with posts from only one user |
status:public |
Returns posts from topics in public categories |
before:YYYY-MM-DD |
Returns posts created before the specified date |
after:YYYY-MM-DD |
Returns posts created after the specified date |
with:images |
Returns posts containing images |
Order
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
order:latest |
Sorts results from newest to oldest |
order:oldest |
Sorts results from oldest to newest |
order:latest_topic |
Sorts results by topic date, from newest to oldest |
order:oldest_topic |
Sorts results by topic date, from oldest to newest |
order:views |
Sorts results by number of views |
order:likes |
Sorts results by number of likes |
Aliases
| Syntax | Equivalent |
|---|---|
l |
order:latest |
in:personal |
in:messages |
min_post_count: |
min_post: |
in:mine |
in:created |
category: |
categories: |
# |
Can be used for both categories and tags, depending on context |
user: |
@ |
@me |
@your_own_username |
f |
in:first |
t |
in:title |
Search for Exact Words
Discourse’s search uses a technique called Stemming. It allows the search engine to find related words.
For example, a search for “improv” returns:
- improve
- improving
- improvements
- improved
- improver
And so on.
While this is often beneficial, there might be occasions when you want to search for the exact word. This can be achieved by enclosing your word with spaces and double quotes, like so:
" improve "
This ensures that it will search only for the word “improve” and exclude other related words.
For instance:
Note that because of the spaces considered as mandatory since they’re wrapped with double quotes, it will not return “improve” if it’s the first or the last word of a post since it won’t be preceded or followed by a space.
Example: Search for @mentions
Currently, searching for @mentions is not supported. However, using the above method, you can achieve it like so:
https://meta.discourse.org/search?q="%20%40canapin%20"
This query will look specifically for @canapin (enclosed in spaces).
Combining Search Options
You can combine multiple search options to create more specific queries. For example:
-
status:open category:support tag:urgent after:2023-01-01 order:latest
This will search for open support topics tagged as urgent, created after January 1, 2023, and sort the results by the latest post. -
@jane_doe in:watching min_posts:5 with:images
This will search for posts by Jane Doe in topics you’re watching, with at least 5 posts, and containing images.
Permissions and Limitations
Some advanced search options may require certain user permissions or may be limited to specific user roles. For example:
-
in:all-pmsis only available to administrators, not to regular users or moderators. -
personal_messages:usernameis only available to administrators.
Always consider your user role and permissions when using advanced search options.
Search Alternative: Topic List Filter
An experimental /filter feature is available that supports many filter types. You can learn more on the official topic:
Source Files
All search filters and parameters can be found in search.rb. Look for the advanced_filter methods.
Last edited by @sam 2024-06-27T10:09:28Z
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