search.messages

Searches for messages matching a query.

Facts

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

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 returns messages matching a search query.

Arguments

tokenRequired

Authentication token bearing required scopes.

Examplexxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx

queryRequired

Search query.

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 matching items are returned as hashes containing contextual messages. This response envelope also contains paging and result information.

Typical success response

{
    "messages": {
        "matches": [
            {
                "channel": {
                    "id": "C12345678",
                    "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": "cb64bdaa-c1e8-4631-8a91-0f78080113e9",
                "permalink": "https://hitchhikers.slack.com/archives/C12345678/p1508284197000015",
                "team": "T12345678",
                "text": "The meaning of life the universe and everything is 42.",
                "ts": "1508284197.000015",
                "type": "message",
                "user": "U2U85N1RV",
                "username": "roach"
            },
            {
                "channel": {
                    "id": "C12345678",
                    "is_ext_shared": false,
                    "is_mpim": false,
                    "is_org_shared": false,
                    "is_pending_ext_shared": false,
                    "is_private": false,
                    "is_shared": false,
                    "name": "random",
                    "pending_shared": []
                },
                "iid": "9a00d3c9-bd2d-45b0-988b-6cff99ae2a90",
                "permalink": "https://hitchhikers.slack.com/archives/C12345678/p1508795665000236",
                "team": "T12345678",
                "text": "The meaning of life the universe and everything is 101010",
                "ts": "1508795665.000236",
                "type": "message",
                "user": "",
                "username": "robot overlord"
            }
        ],
        "pagination": {
            "first": 1,
            "last": 2,
            "page": 1,
            "page_count": 1,
            "per_page": 20,
            "total_count": 2
        },
        "paging": {
            "count": 20,
            "page": 1,
            "pages": 1,
            "total": 2
        },
        "total": 2
    },
    "ok": true,
    "query": "The meaning of life the universe and everything"
}

Typical error response

{
    "error": "No query passed",
    "ok": false
}

Messages are searched primarily inside the message text themselves, with a lower priority on the messages immediately before and after. Search results may be returned in which matches are only on the previous, previous_2, next, or next_2 messages, but not the message itself. When a search query matches more than one message in close proximity to each other only one match will be returned. Using the highlights=true parameter you can identify which items match the query, and which are provided for context only.

If more than one search term is provided, users and channels are also matched at a lower priority. To specifically search within a channel, group, or DM, add in:channel_name, in:group_name, or in:@UserID. To search for messages from a specific speaker, add from:@UserID or from:botname.

For IM results, the type is set to "im" and the channel.name property contains the user ID of the target user. For private group results, type is set to "group".

All search methods support the highlight parameter. If specified, the matching query terms will be marked up in the results so that clients may replace them with appropriate highlighting markers (e.g. <span class="highlight"></span>). The UTF-8 markers we use are:

start: "\xEE\x80\x80"; # U+E000 (private-use)
end  : "\xEE\x80\x81"; # U+E001 (private-use)

Please note that the max count value is 100 and the max page value is 100.

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.
`not_allowed_token_type`	The token type used in this request is not allowed.
`is_bot`	This method cannot be called by a bot user.
`invalid_arguments`	The method was either called with invalid arguments or some detail about the arguments passed are invalid, which is more likely when using complex arguments like blocks or attachments.
`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.
`ratelimited`	The request has been ratelimited. Refer to the `Retry-After` header for when to retry the request.
`request_timeout`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `POST` data was either missing or truncated.
`service_unavailable`	The service is temporarily unavailable
`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.

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