Search API

Introduced in GitLab 10.5

Every API call to search must be authenticated.

Global Search API

Search globally across the GitLab instance.

GET /search
Attribute Type Required Description
scope string yes The scope to search in
search string yes The search query

Search the expression within the specified scope. Currently these scopes are supported: projects, issues, merge_requests, milestones, snippet_titles, snippet_blobs.

The response depends on the requested scope.

Scope: projects

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/search?scope=projects&search=flight

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 6,
    "description": "Nobis sed ipsam vero quod cupiditate veritatis hic.",
    "name": "Flight",
    "name_with_namespace": "Twitter / Flight",
    "path": "flight",
    "path_with_namespace": "twitter/flight",
    "created_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:01.621Z",
    "default_branch": "master",
    "tag_list":[],
    "ssh_url_to_repo": "ssh://jarka@localhost:2222/twitter/flight.git",
    "http_url_to_repo": "http://localhost:3000/twitter/flight.git",
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/twitter/flight",
    "avatar_url": null,
    "star_count": 0,
    "forks_count": 0,
    "last_activity_at": "2018-01-31T09:56:30.902Z"
  }
]

Scope: issues

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/search?scope=issues&search=file

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 83,
    "iid": 1,
    "project_id": 12,
    "title": "Add file",
    "description": "Add first file",
    "state": "opened",
    "created_at": "2018-01-24T06:02:15.514Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:36:23.263Z",
    "closed_at": null,
    "labels":[],
    "milestone": null,
    "assignees": [{
      "id": 20,
      "name": "Ceola Deckow",
      "username": "sammy.collier",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c23d85a4f50e0ea76ab739156c639231?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/sammy.collier"
    }],
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "assignee": {
      "id": 20,
      "name": "Ceola Deckow",
      "username": "sammy.collier",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c23d85a4f50e0ea76ab739156c639231?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/sammy.collier"
    },
    "user_notes_count": 0,
    "upvotes": 0,
    "downvotes": 0,
    "due_date": null,
    "confidential": false,
    "discussion_locked": null,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/h5bp/7bp/subgroup-prj/issues/1",
    "time_stats": {
      "time_estimate": 0,
      "total_time_spent": 0,
      "human_time_estimate": null,
      "human_total_time_spent": null
    }
  }
]

Note: assignee column is deprecated, now we show it as a single-sized array assignees to conform to the GitLab EE API.

Scope: merge_requests

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/search?scope=merge_requests&search=file

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 56,
    "iid": 8,
    "project_id": 6,
    "title": "Add first file",
    "description": "This is a test MR to add file",
    "state": "opened",
    "created_at": "2018-01-22T14:21:50.830Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:40:33.295Z",
    "target_branch": "master",
    "source_branch": "jaja-test",
    "upvotes": 0,
    "downvotes": 0,
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "assignee": {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "Jacquelyn Kutch",
      "username": "abigail",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/3138c66095ee4bd11a508c2f7f7772da?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/abigail"
    },
    "source_project_id": 6,
    "target_project_id": 6,
    "labels": [
      "ruby",
      "tests"
    ],
    "work_in_progress": false,
    "milestone": {
      "id": 13,
      "iid": 3,
      "project_id": 6,
      "title": "v2.0",
      "description": "Qui aut qui eos dolor beatae itaque tempore molestiae.",
      "state": "active",
      "created_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:29.099Z",
      "updated_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:29.099Z",
      "due_date": null,
      "start_date": null
    },
    "merge_when_pipeline_succeeds": false,
    "merge_status": "can_be_merged",
    "sha": "78765a2d5e0a43585945c58e61ba2f822e4d090b",
    "merge_commit_sha": null,
    "user_notes_count": 0,
    "discussion_locked": null,
    "should_remove_source_branch": null,
    "force_remove_source_branch": true,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/twitter/flight/merge_requests/8",
    "time_stats": {
      "time_estimate": 0,
      "total_time_spent": 0,
      "human_time_estimate": null,
      "human_total_time_spent": null
    }
  }
]

Scope: milestones

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/search?scope=milestones&search=release

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 44,
    "iid": 1,
    "project_id": 12,
    "title": "next release",
    "description": "Next release milestone",
    "state": "active",
    "created_at": "2018-02-06T12:43:39.271Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:44:01.298Z",
    "due_date": "2018-04-18",
    "start_date": "2018-02-04"
  }
]

Scope: snippet_titles

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/search?scope=snippet_titles&search=sample

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 50,
    "title": "Sample file",
    "file_name": "file.rb",
    "description": "Simple ruby file",
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:49:29.104Z",
    "created_at": "2017-11-28T08:20:18.071Z",
    "project_id": 9,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root/jira-test/snippets/50"
  }
]

Scope: snippet_blobs

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/search?scope=snippet_blos&search=test

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 50,
    "title": "Sample file",
    "file_name": "file.rb",
    "description": "Simple ruby file",
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:49:29.104Z",
    "created_at": "2017-11-28T08:20:18.071Z",
    "project_id": 9,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root/jira-test/snippets/50"
  }
]

Group Search API

Search within the specified group.

If a user is not a member of a group and the group is private, a GET request on that group will result to a 404 status code.

GET /groups/:id/-/search
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string yes The ID or URL-encoded path of the group owned by the authenticated user
scope string yes The scope to search in
search string yes The search query

Search the expression within the specified scope. Currently these scopes are supported: projects, issues, merge_requests, milestones.

The response depends on the requested scope.

Scope: projects

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/3/-/search?scope=projects&search=flight

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 6,
    "description": "Nobis sed ipsam vero quod cupiditate veritatis hic.",
    "name": "Flight",
    "name_with_namespace": "Twitter / Flight",
    "path": "flight",
    "path_with_namespace": "twitter/flight",
    "created_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:01.621Z",
    "default_branch": "master",
    "tag_list":[],
    "ssh_url_to_repo": "ssh://jarka@localhost:2222/twitter/flight.git",
    "http_url_to_repo": "http://localhost:3000/twitter/flight.git",
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/twitter/flight",
    "avatar_url": null,
    "star_count": 0,
    "forks_count": 0,
    "last_activity_at": "2018-01-31T09:56:30.902Z"
  }
]

Scope: issues

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/3/-/search?scope=issues&search=file

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 83,
    "iid": 1,
    "project_id": 12,
    "title": "Add file",
    "description": "Add first file",
    "state": "opened",
    "created_at": "2018-01-24T06:02:15.514Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:36:23.263Z",
    "closed_at": null,
    "labels":[],
    "milestone": null,
    "assignees": [{
      "id": 20,
      "name": "Ceola Deckow",
      "username": "sammy.collier",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c23d85a4f50e0ea76ab739156c639231?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/sammy.collier"
    }],
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "assignee": {
      "id": 20,
      "name": "Ceola Deckow",
      "username": "sammy.collier",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c23d85a4f50e0ea76ab739156c639231?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/sammy.collier"
    },
    "user_notes_count": 0,
    "upvotes": 0,
    "downvotes": 0,
    "due_date": null,
    "confidential": false,
    "discussion_locked": null,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/h5bp/7bp/subgroup-prj/issues/1",
    "time_stats": {
      "time_estimate": 0,
      "total_time_spent": 0,
      "human_time_estimate": null,
      "human_total_time_spent": null
    }
  }
]

Note: assignee column is deprecated, now we show it as a single-sized array assignees to conform to the GitLab EE API.

Scope: merge_requests

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/3/-/search?scope=merge_requests&search=file

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 56,
    "iid": 8,
    "project_id": 6,
    "title": "Add first file",
    "description": "This is a test MR to add file",
    "state": "opened",
    "created_at": "2018-01-22T14:21:50.830Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:40:33.295Z",
    "target_branch": "master",
    "source_branch": "jaja-test",
    "upvotes": 0,
    "downvotes": 0,
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "assignee": {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "Jacquelyn Kutch",
      "username": "abigail",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/3138c66095ee4bd11a508c2f7f7772da?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/abigail"
    },
    "source_project_id": 6,
    "target_project_id": 6,
    "labels": [
      "ruby",
      "tests"
    ],
    "work_in_progress": false,
    "milestone": {
      "id": 13,
      "iid": 3,
      "project_id": 6,
      "title": "v2.0",
      "description": "Qui aut qui eos dolor beatae itaque tempore molestiae.",
      "state": "active",
      "created_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:29.099Z",
      "updated_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:29.099Z",
      "due_date": null,
      "start_date": null
    },
    "merge_when_pipeline_succeeds": false,
    "merge_status": "can_be_merged",
    "sha": "78765a2d5e0a43585945c58e61ba2f822e4d090b",
    "merge_commit_sha": null,
    "user_notes_count": 0,
    "discussion_locked": null,
    "should_remove_source_branch": null,
    "force_remove_source_branch": true,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/twitter/flight/merge_requests/8",
    "time_stats": {
      "time_estimate": 0,
      "total_time_spent": 0,
      "human_time_estimate": null,
      "human_total_time_spent": null
    }
  }
]

Scope: milestones

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/groups/3/-/search?scope=milestones&search=release

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 44,
    "iid": 1,
    "project_id": 12,
    "title": "next release",
    "description": "Next release milestone",
    "state": "active",
    "created_at": "2018-02-06T12:43:39.271Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:44:01.298Z",
    "due_date": "2018-04-18",
    "start_date": "2018-02-04"
  }
]

Project Search API

Search within the specified project.

If a user is not a member of a project and the project is private, a GET request on that project will result to a 404 status code.

GET /projects/:id/-/search
Attribute Type Required Description
id integer/string yes The ID or URL-encoded path of the project owned by the authenticated user
scope string yes The scope to search in
search string yes The search query

Search the expression within the specified scope. Currently these scopes are supported: issues, merge_requests, milestones, notes, wiki_blobs, commits, blobs.

The response depends on the requested scope.

Scope: issues

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/12/-/search?scope=issues&search=file

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 83,
    "iid": 1,
    "project_id": 12,
    "title": "Add file",
    "description": "Add first file",
    "state": "opened",
    "created_at": "2018-01-24T06:02:15.514Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:36:23.263Z",
    "closed_at": null,
    "labels":[],
    "milestone": null,
    "assignees": [{
      "id": 20,
      "name": "Ceola Deckow",
      "username": "sammy.collier",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c23d85a4f50e0ea76ab739156c639231?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/sammy.collier"
    }],
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "assignee": {
      "id": 20,
      "name": "Ceola Deckow",
      "username": "sammy.collier",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c23d85a4f50e0ea76ab739156c639231?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/sammy.collier"
    },
    "user_notes_count": 0,
    "upvotes": 0,
    "downvotes": 0,
    "due_date": null,
    "confidential": false,
    "discussion_locked": null,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/h5bp/7bp/subgroup-prj/issues/1",
    "time_stats": {
      "time_estimate": 0,
      "total_time_spent": 0,
      "human_time_estimate": null,
      "human_total_time_spent": null
    }
  }
]

Note: assignee column is deprecated, now we show it as a single-sized array assignees to conform to the GitLab EE API.

Scope: merge_requests

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/6/-/search?scope=merge_requests&search=file

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 56,
    "iid": 8,
    "project_id": 6,
    "title": "Add first file",
    "description": "This is a test MR to add file",
    "state": "opened",
    "created_at": "2018-01-22T14:21:50.830Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:40:33.295Z",
    "target_branch": "master",
    "source_branch": "jaja-test",
    "upvotes": 0,
    "downvotes": 0,
    "author": {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Administrator",
      "username": "root",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e64c7d89f26bd1972efa854d13d7dd61?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/root"
    },
    "assignee": {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "Jacquelyn Kutch",
      "username": "abigail",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/3138c66095ee4bd11a508c2f7f7772da?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/abigail"
    },
    "source_project_id": 6,
    "target_project_id": 6,
    "labels": [
      "ruby",
      "tests"
    ],
    "work_in_progress": false,
    "milestone": {
      "id": 13,
      "iid": 3,
      "project_id": 6,
      "title": "v2.0",
      "description": "Qui aut qui eos dolor beatae itaque tempore molestiae.",
      "state": "active",
      "created_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:29.099Z",
      "updated_at": "2017-09-05T07:58:29.099Z",
      "due_date": null,
      "start_date": null
    },
    "merge_when_pipeline_succeeds": false,
    "merge_status": "can_be_merged",
    "sha": "78765a2d5e0a43585945c58e61ba2f822e4d090b",
    "merge_commit_sha": null,
    "user_notes_count": 0,
    "discussion_locked": null,
    "should_remove_source_branch": null,
    "force_remove_source_branch": true,
    "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/twitter/flight/merge_requests/8",
    "time_stats": {
      "time_estimate": 0,
      "total_time_spent": 0,
      "human_time_estimate": null,
      "human_total_time_spent": null
    }
  }
]

Scope: milestones

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/12/-/search?scope=milestones&search=release

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 44,
    "iid": 1,
    "project_id": 12,
    "title": "next release",
    "description": "Next release milestone",
    "state": "active",
    "created_at": "2018-02-06T12:43:39.271Z",
    "updated_at": "2018-02-06T12:44:01.298Z",
    "due_date": "2018-04-18",
    "start_date": "2018-02-04"
  }
]

Scope: notes

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/6/-/search?scope=notes&search=maxime

Example response:

[
  {
    "id": 191,
    "body": "Harum maxime consequuntur et et deleniti assumenda facilis.",
    "attachment": null,
    "author": {
      "id": 23,
      "name": "User 1",
      "username": "user1",
      "state": "active",
      "avatar_url": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/111d68d06e2d317b5a59c2c6c5bad808?s=80&d=identicon",
      "web_url": "http://localhost:3000/user1"
    },
    "created_at": "2017-09-05T08:01:32.068Z",
    "updated_at": "2017-09-05T08:01:32.068Z",
    "system": false,
    "noteable_id": 22,
    "noteable_type": "Issue",
    "noteable_iid": 2
  }
]

Scope: wiki_blobs

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/6/-/search?scope=wiki_blobs&search=bye

Example response:


[
  {
    "basename": "home",
    "data": "hello\n\nand bye\n\nend",
    "filename": "home.md",
    "id": null,
    "ref": "master",
    "startline": 5,
    "project_id": 6
  }
]

Scope: commits

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/6/-/search?scope=commits&search=bye

Example response:


[
  {
  "id": "4109c2d872d5fdb1ed057400d103766aaea97f98",
  "short_id": "4109c2d8",
  "title": "goodbye $.browser",
  "created_at": "2013-02-18T22:02:54.000Z",
  "parent_ids": [
    "59d05353ab575bcc2aa958fe1782e93297de64c9"
  ],
  "message": "goodbye $.browser\n",
  "author_name": "angus croll",
  "author_email": "anguscroll@gmail.com",
  "authored_date": "2013-02-18T22:02:54.000Z",
  "committer_name": "angus croll",
  "committer_email": "anguscroll@gmail.com",
  "committed_date": "2013-02-18T22:02:54.000Z",
  "project_id": 6
  }
]

Scope: blobs

curl --request GET --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/6/-/search?scope=blobs&search=installation

Example response:


[
  {
    "basename": "README",
    "data": "```\n\n## Installation\n\nQuick start using the [pre-built",
    "filename": "README.md",
    "id": null,
    "ref": "master",
    "startline": 46,
    "project_id": 6
  }
]