search.all

Searches for messages and files matching a query.

Facts

Method URL: https://slack.com/api/search.all

Preferred HTTP method: GET

Accepted content types: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

Rate limiting: Tier 2

Works with:

Token type	Required scope(s)
user	`search:read`

This method allows users and applications to search both messages and files in a single call.

Arguments

tokenRequired

Authentication token bearing required scopes.

Examplexxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx

queryRequired

Search query. May contains booleans, etc.

Examplepickleface

countOptional

Number of items to return per page.

Default: 20

Example20

highlightOptional

Pass a value of true to enable query highlight markers (see below).

Exampletrue

pageOptional

Page number of results to return.

Default: 1

Example2

sortOptional

Return matches sorted by either score or timestamp.

Default: score

Exampletimestamp

sort_dirOptional

Change sort direction to ascending (asc) or descending (desc).

Default: desc

Exampleasc

Present arguments as parameters in application/x-www-form-urlencoded querystring or POST body. This method does not currently accept application/json.

Response

The response returns matches broken down by their type of content, similar to the facebook/gmail auto-completed search widgets.

Typical success response

{
    "files": {
        "matches": [
            {
                "channels": [],
                "comments_count": 1,
                "created": 1508804330,
                "display_as_bot": false,
                "editable": false,
                "external_type": "",
                "filetype": "png",
                "groups": [],
                "id": "F7PKF1NR7",
                "image_exif_rotation": 1,
                "ims": [],
                "initial_comment": {
                    "comment": "Sure! Here's the workflow diagram!",
                    "created": 1508804330,
                    "id": "Fc7NLL52E7",
                    "is_intro": true,
                    "timestamp": 1508804330,
                    "user": "U2U85N1RZ"
                },
                "is_external": false,
                "is_public": true,
                "mimetype": "image/png",
                "mode": "hosted",
                "name": "slack workflow diagram.png",
                "original_h": 117,
                "original_w": 128,
                "permalink": "https://example.slack.com/files/U2U85N1RZ/F7PKF1NR7/slack_workflow_diagram.png",
                "permalink_public": "https://slack-files.com/T2U81E2FZ-F7PKF1NR7-bea9143f18",
                "pretty_type": "PNG",
                "preview": null,
                "public_url_shared": false,
                "score": "0.99982661240974",
                "size": 35705,
                "thumb_160": "https://files.slack.com/files-tmb/T2U81E2FZ-F7PKF1NR7-19f33fc256/slack_workflow_diagram_160.png",
                "thumb_360": "https://files.slack.com/files-tmb/T2U81E2FZ-F7PKF1NR7-19f33fc256/slack_workflow_diagram_360.png",
                "thumb_360_h": 117,
                "thumb_360_w": 128,
                "thumb_64": "https://files.slack.com/files-tmb/T2U81E2FZ-F7PKF1NR7-19f33fc256/slack_workflow_diagram_64.png",
                "thumb_80": "https://files.slack.com/files-tmb/T2U81E2FZ-F7PKF1NR7-19f33fc256/slack_workflow_diagram_80.png",
                "timestamp": 1508804330,
                "title": "slack workflow diagram",
                "top_file": false,
                "url_private": "https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T2U81E2FZ-F7PKF1NR7/slack_workflow_diagram.png",
                "url_private_download": "https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T2U81E2FZ-F7PKF1NR7/download/slack_workflow_diagram.png",
                "user": "U2U85N1RZ",
                "username": "amy"
            }
        ],
        "pagination": {
            "first": 1,
            "last": 1,
            "page": 1,
            "page_count": 1,
            "per_page": 20,
            "total_count": 1
        },
        "paging": {
            "count": 20,
            "page": 1,
            "pages": 1,
            "total": 1
        },
        "total": 1
    },
    "messages": {
        "matches": [
            {
                "channel": {
                    "id": "C2U86NC6M",
                    "is_ext_shared": false,
                    "is_mpim": false,
                    "is_org_shared": false,
                    "is_pending_ext_shared": false,
                    "is_private": false,
                    "is_shared": false,
                    "name": "general",
                    "pending_shared": []
                },
                "iid": "35692677-e60e-43d9-ac45-1987cea88975",
                "next": {
                    "iid": "6f510ea1-e1d3-4f3f-bdb9-f9c6f6e9d609",
                    "text": "Thanks!",
                    "ts": "1508804378.000219",
                    "type": "message",
                    "user": "U2U85HJ7R",
                    "username": "john"
                },
                "permalink": "https://example.slack.com/archives/C2U86NC6M/p1508804330000296",
                "previous": {
                    "iid": "aba8603c-0543-4fb2-9118-a5ac85f3d138",
                    "text": "Can you send me the Slack workflow diagram?",
                    "ts": "1508804301.000026",
                    "type": "message",
                    "user": "U2U85HJ7R",
                    "username": "john"
                },
                "team": "T2U81E2FZ",
                "text": "uploaded a file: <https://example.slack.com/files/U2U85N1RZ/F7PKF1NR7/slack_workflow_diagram.png|slack workflow diagram> and commented: Sure! Here's the workflow diagram!",
                "ts": "1508804330.000296",
                "type": "message",
                "user": "U2U85N1RZ",
                "username": "amy"
            }
        ],
        "pagination": {
            "first": 1,
            "last": 1,
            "page": 1,
            "page_count": 1,
            "per_page": 20,
            "total_count": 1
        },
        "paging": {
            "count": 20,
            "page": 1,
            "pages": 1,
            "total": 1
        },
        "total": 1
    },
    "ok": true,
    "posts": {
        "matches": [],
        "total": 0
    },
    "query": "diagram"
}

Typical error response

{
    "error": "missing_scope",
    "needed": "search:read",
    "ok": false,
    "provided": "identify,bot:basic"
}

Within each content group, data is returned in the following format:

{
    "matches": [],
    "paging": {
        "count": 100,
        "total": 15,
        "page": 1,
        "pages": 1
    }
}

count - number of records per page
total - total records matching query
page - page of records returned
pages - total pages matching query

This block gives the (estimated) total number of matches of this type, then has an array containing the specified page of the top matches. The format of matches depends on the match type, as described in the documentation for search.messages and search.files. These methods can be used to fetch further pages of messages or files.

Errors

This table lists the expected errors that this method could return. However, other errors can be returned in the case where the service is down or other unexpected factors affect processing. Callers should always check the value of the ok params in the response.

Error	Description
`not_authed`	No authentication token provided.
`invalid_auth`	Some aspect of authentication cannot be validated. Either the provided token is invalid or the request originates from an IP address disallowed from making the request.
`account_inactive`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace.
`token_revoked`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace or the app has been removed.
`no_permission`	The workspace token used in this request does not have the permissions necessary to complete the request. Make sure your app is a member of the conversation it's attempting to post a message to.
`org_login_required`	The workspace is undergoing an enterprise migration and will not be available until migration is complete.
`ekm_access_denied`	Administrators have suspended the ability to post a message.
`missing_scope`	The token used is not granted the specific scope permissions required to complete this request.
`is_bot`	This method cannot be called by a bot user.
`invalid_arguments`	The method was called with invalid arguments.
`invalid_arg_name`	The method was passed an argument whose name falls outside the bounds of accepted or expected values. This includes very long names and names with non-alphanumeric characters other than `_`. If you get this error, it is typically an indication that you have made a very malformed API call.
`invalid_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `charset` specified in the `Content-Type` header was invalid. Valid charset names are: `utf-8` `iso-8859-1`.
`invalid_form_data`	The method was called via a `POST` request with `Content-Type` `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`, but the form data was either missing or syntactically invalid.
`invalid_post_type`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the specified `Content-Type` was invalid. Valid types are: `application/json` `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` `multipart/form-data` `text/plain`.
`missing_post_type`	The method was called via a `POST` request and included a data payload, but the request did not include a `Content-Type` header.
`team_added_to_org`	The workspace associated with your request is currently undergoing migration to an Enterprise Organization. Web API and other platform operations will be intermittently unavailable until the transition is complete.
`request_timeout`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `POST` data was either missing or truncated.
`fatal_error`	The server could not complete your operation(s) without encountering a catastrophic error. It's possible some aspect of the operation succeeded before the error was raised.
`internal_error`	The server could not complete your operation(s) without encountering an error, likely due to a transient issue on our end. It's possible some aspect of the operation succeeded before the error was raised.

Warnings

This table lists the expected warnings that this method will return. However, other warnings can be returned in the case where the service is experiencing unexpected trouble.

Warning	Description
`missing_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, and recommended practice for the specified `Content-Type` is to include a `charset` parameter. However, no `charset` was present. Specifically, non-form-data content types (e.g. `text/plain`) are the ones for which `charset` is recommended.
`superfluous_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, and the specified `Content-Type` is not defined to understand the `charset` parameter. However, `charset` was in fact present. Specifically, form-data content types (e.g. `multipart/form-data`) are the ones for which `charset` is superfluous.