> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sourcebot-msukkarieh-ado.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 regular expressions. Wrapping expressions in `""` combines them. By default, a file must have at least one match for each expression to be included.

| Example     | Explanation                                    |
| :---------- | :--------------------------------------------- |
| `foo`       | Match files with regex `/foo/`                 |
| `foo bar`   | Match files with regex `/foo/` **and** `/bar/` |
| `"foo bar"` | Match files with regex `/foo bar/`             |

Multiple expressions can be or'd together with `or`, negated with `-`, or grouped with `()`.

| Example            | Explanation                                                          |
| :----------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `foo or bar`       | Match files with regex `/foo/` **or** `/bar/`                        |
| `foo -bar`         | Match files with regex `/foo/` but **not** `/bar/`                   |
| `foo (bar or baz)` | Match files with regex `/foo/` **and** either `/bar/` **or** `/baz/` |

Expressions can be prefixed with certain keywords to modify search behavior. Some keywords 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                                                                                                                   |