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Filter search results

The GET /search API supports a variety of different ways to filter the results returned by the API.

Filter by content type

By default, a search returns items for which either the name, description, file content, tags, or comments match the query provided. By setting the content_types parameter the search can be narrowed down to only the items that match the query for the content type defined.

cURL
curl -i -X GET "https://api.box.com/2.0/search?query=sales&content_types=name,tags" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
Java
long offsetValue = 0;
long limitValue = 10;

BoxSearch boxSearch = new BoxSearch(api);
BoxSearchParameters searchParams = new BoxSearchParameters();
searchParams.setQuery("sales");

final List<String> contentTypes = new ArrayList<String>();
contentTypes.add("name");
contentTypes.add("tags");
searchParams.setContentTypes(contentTypes)

PartialCollection<BoxItem.Info> searchResults = boxSearch.searchRange(offsetValue, limitValue, searchParams);
.NET
var contentTypes = new List<string>();
contentTypes.Add("name");
contentTypes.Add("tags");

BoxCollection<BoxItem> results = await client.SearchManager
    .QueryAsync("sales", contentTypes: contentTypes);
Python
client.search().query("sales", content_types=["name", "tags"])
Node
client.search.query(
    'sales',
    {
        content_types:  [
            "name",
            "tags"
        ]
    })
    .then(results => {
        // ...
    });
Content type
nameThe name of the item, as defined by its name field.
descriptionThe description of the item, as defined by its description field.
file_contentThe actual content of the file.
commentsThe content of any of the comments on a file or folder.
tagsAny tags that are applied to an item, as defined by its tags field.

Filter by date

By default, search returns files created at any time, and updated at any time. It is possible to filter results by both the date the file or folder was last updated or when it was created.

cURL
curl -i -X GET "https://api.box.com/2.0/search?query=sales&created_at_range=2014-05-15T13:35:01Z,2015-05-15T13:35:01&updated_at_range=2014-05-15T13:35:01," \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
Java
long offsetValue = 0;
long limitValue = 10;

BoxSearch boxSearch = new BoxSearch(api);
BoxSearchParameters searchParams = new BoxSearchParameters();
searchParams.setQuery("sales");

String createdFromDateString = "2014-05-15T13:35:01Z";
String createdToDateString = "2015-05-15T13:35:01Z";
Date createdFromDate = sdf.parse(createdFromDateString);
Date createdToDate = sdf.parse(createdToDateString);
DateRange createdRange = new DateRange(createdFromDate, createdToDate);
searchParams.setCreatedRange(createdRange)

String updatedFromDateString = "2014-05-15T13:35:01Z";
Date updatedFromDate = sdf.parse(updatedFromDateString);
DateRange updatedRange = new DateRange(updatedFromDate, null);
searchParams.setUpdatedRange(updatedRange)

PartialCollection<BoxItem.Info> searchResults = boxSearch.searchRange(offsetValue, limitValue, searchParams);
.NET
var createdAtRangeFromDate = new DateTime(1988, 11, 18, 9, 30, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
var createdAtRangeToDate = new DateTime(2018, 11, 18, 9, 30, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
var updatedAtRangeFromDate = new DateTime(1988, 11, 18, 9, 30, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);

BoxCollection<BoxItem> results = await client.SearchManager
    .QueryAsync("sales", contentTypes: contentTypes, createdAtRangeFromDate: createdAtRangeFromDate, createdAtRangeToDate: createdAtRangeToDate, updatedAtRangeFromDate: updatedAtRangeFromDate);
Python
client.search().query("sales", created_at_range=["2014-05-15T13:35:01Z", "2015-05-15T13:35:01Z"], updated_at_range=["2014-05-15T13:35:01Z", null])
Node
client.search.query(
    'sales',
    {
        created_at_range: "2014-05-15T13:35:01Z,2015-05-15T13:35:01Z",
        updated_at_range: "2014-05-15T13:35:01Z,"
    })
    .then(results => {
        // ...
    });
Query parameter
created_at_rangeDefines a range of created_at dates for which to return results. The upper or lower bound can be left empty to create an open-ended range.
updated_at_rangeDefines a range of updated_at dates for which to return results. The upper or lower bound can be left empty to create an open-ended range.

Filter by file extension

By default, a search returns items with any kind of file extension. It is possible to filter search results to only files with one or more specific file extensions using the file_extensions query parameter.

cURL
curl -i -X GET "https://api.box.com/2.0/search?query=sales&file_extensions=pdf,txt" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
Java
long offsetValue = 0;
long limitValue = 10;

BoxSearch boxSearch = new BoxSearch(api);
BoxSearchParameters searchParams = new BoxSearchParameters();
searchParams.setQuery("sales");

final List<String> fileExtensions = new ArrayList<String>();
fileExtensions.add("pdf");
fileExtensions.add("txt");
searchParams.setFileExtensions(fileExtensions)

PartialCollection<BoxItem.Info> searchResults = boxSearch.searchRange(offsetValue, limitValue, searchParams);
.NET
var fileExtensions = new List<string>();
fileExtensions.Add("pdf");
fileExtensions.Add("txt");

BoxCollection<BoxItem> results = await client.SearchManager
    .QueryAsync("sales", fileExtensions: fileExtensions);
Python
client.search().query("sales", file_extensions=["pdf", "txt"])
Node
client.search.query(
    'sales',
    {
        file_extensions:  [
            "pdf",
            "txt"
        ]
    })
    .then(results => {
        // ...
    });

Filter by file size

By default, a search returns items of any file size. It is possible to filter search results to only files within a specific file size using the size_range query parameter.

cURL
curl -i -X GET "https://api.box.com/2.0/search?query=sales&size_range=10000,20000" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
Java
long offsetValue = 0;
long limitValue = 10;

BoxSearch boxSearch = new BoxSearch(api);
BoxSearchParameters searchParams = new BoxSearchParameters();
searchParams.setQuery("sales");

SizeRange sizeRange = new SizeRange(10000, 20000);
searchParams.setSizeRange(sizeRange);

PartialCollection<BoxItem.Info> searchResults = boxSearch.searchRange(offsetValue, limitValue, searchParams);
.NET
BoxCollection<BoxItem> results = await client.SearchManager
    .QueryAsync("sales", sizeRangeLowerBoundBytes: 10000, sizeRangeUpperBoundBytes: 20000);
Python
client.search().query("sales", size_range=[10000,20000])
Node
client.search.query(
    'sales',
    {
        size_range: '10000,20000'
    })
    .then(results => {
        // ...
    });

Filter by file type

By default, a search returns both files, folders, and web links. To narrow down the results to only one of these, a type query parameter can be set to either file, folder or web_link.

cURL
curl -i -X GET "https://api.box.com/2.0/search?query=sales&type=file" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
Java
long offsetValue = 0;
long limitValue = 10;

BoxSearch boxSearch = new BoxSearch(api);
BoxSearchParameters searchParams = new BoxSearchParameters();
searchParams.setQuery("sales");
searchParams.setType("file");

PartialCollection<BoxItem.Info> searchResults = boxSearch.searchRange(offsetValue, limitValue, searchParams);
.NET
BoxCollection<BoxItem> results = await client.SearchManager
    .QueryAsync("sales", type: "file");
Python
client.search().query("sales", type="file")
Node
client.search.query(
    'sales',
    {
        type: "file"
    })
    .then(results => {
        // ...
    });

Filter by metadata

It is possible to filter search results by their associated metadata, or even perform entire searches based on only the metadata, all using the mdfilters query parameter.

Learn more about metadata filters

Filter by owner

By default, a search returns all the items the authenticated user has access to, regardless of who owns the items. To narrow down to only items owned by specific users, use the owner_user_ids query parameter.

cURL
curl -i -X GET "https://api.box.com/2.0/search?query=sales&owner_user_ids=34446362,462281242" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
Java
long offsetValue = 0;
long limitValue = 10;

BoxSearch boxSearch = new BoxSearch(api);
BoxSearchParameters searchParams = new BoxSearchParameters();
searchParams.setQuery("sales");

final List<String> userIds = new ArrayList<String>();
userIds.add("34446362");
userIds.add("462281242");
searchParams.setOwnerUserIds(userIds)

PartialCollection<BoxItem.Info> searchResults = boxSearch.searchRange(offsetValue, limitValue, searchParams);
.NET
var userIds = new List<string>();
userIds.Add("34446362");
userIds.Add("462281242");

BoxCollection<BoxItem> results = await client.SearchManager
    .QueryAsync("sales", ownerUserIds: userIds);
Python
client.search().query("sales", owner_user_ids=["34446362", "462281242"])
Node
client.search.query(
    'sales',
    {
        owner_user_ids: "34446362,462281242"
    })
    .then(results => {
        // ...
    });

Filter by parent folder

By default, a search returns all the items in any folder the user has access to. To narrow down the results to only items in specific folders, use the ancestor_folder_ids query parameter.

cURL
curl -i -X GET "https://api.box.com/2.0/search?query=sales&ancestor_folder_ids=45235463,73445321" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
Java
long offsetValue = 0;
long limitValue = 10;

BoxSearch boxSearch = new BoxSearch(api);
BoxSearchParameters searchParams = new BoxSearchParameters();
searchParams.setQuery("sales");

final List<String> folderIds = new ArrayList<String>();
folderIds.add("45235463");
folderIds.add("73445321");
searchParams.setAncestorFolderIds(folderIds)

PartialCollection<BoxItem.Info> searchResults = boxSearch.searchRange(offsetValue, limitValue, searchParams);
.NET
var folderIds = new List<string>();
folderIds.Add("45235463");
folderIds.Add("73445321");

BoxCollection<BoxItem> results = await client.SearchManager
    .QueryAsync("sales", ancestorFolderIds: folderIds);
Python
client.search().query("sales", ancestor_folder_ids=["45235463", "73445321"])
Node
client.search.query(
    'sales',
    {
        ancestor_folder_ids: "45235463,73445321"
    })
    .then(results => {
        // ...
    });