Query operators

The GET /search API supports a variety of different query operators to help refining the results returned by the API.

All of these operations are passed into the query parameter when creating the search.

Exact matches with ""

By wrapping a query in double quotes ("") only exact matches are returned by the API. Exact searches do not return search matches based on specific character sequences. Instead, they return matches based on phrases, that is, word sequences.

For example, a search for "Blue-Box" may return search results including the sequence "blue.box", "Blue Box", and "Blue-Box"; any item containing the words Blue and Box consecutively, in the order specified.

Matching multiple terms with AND

When the AND operator is used, the search returns items that contain both the search terms on the left and right of the operator.

For example, a search for marketing AND BoxWorks returns items that have both marketing and BoxWorks within its text in any order. It does not return a result that only has BoxWorks in its text.

Matching either search term with OR

When the OR operator is used, the search returns items that contain either the search terms on the left or right of the operator.

For example, a search for marketing OR BoxWorks returns a result that has either marketing or BoxWorks within its text. Using this operator is not necessary as we implicitly interpret multi-word queries as OR unless another supported boolean term is used.

Excluding search terms with NOT

When the NOT operator is used, the search returns items that do not contain the term that follows the operator.

For example, a search for marketing AND NOT BoxWorks returns a result that has only marketing within its text. Results containing BoxWorks are omitted.

Check our community article with the latest details on Search in Box