unified_search_api_draft.md

gistfile1.md

Search

You can use the API to search for knowledge base articles, community posts, or well as external records.

You can call this API from a JavaScript client in a domain other than your Help Center. The API implements Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS). CORS lets a JavaScript client access resources in other domains.

JSON Format

Search are represented as JSON objects with the following properties:

Name	Type	Read-only	Mandatory	Description
results	array	false	true	An array with the base articles, community posts or external records

Unified Search

• GET /api/v2/help_center/search

Returns a default number of 25 search results per page, which can include articles, community posts and external records up to a maximum of 1000 results. See Pagination in the Core API docs. The per_page parameter, if provided, must be an integer between 1 and 100. The page parameter, if provided, must be an integer greater than 0.

The search result objects] returned by the search endpoint will always include the following two properties:

Name	Type	Read-only	Mandatory	Comment
result_type	string	yes	no	This will either be "article", "post" or "external_record".
snippet	string	yes	no	The portion of the search result that is relevant to the search query, with matching words or phrases delimited by <em></em> tags. Example: a query for "carrot potato" might return the snippet "...don't confuse <em>carrots</em> with <em>potatoes</em>..."

You must specify at least one of the following parameters in your request:

• query
• placements
• labels

Allowed for

• Anonymous users
• Authenticated users

Filtering by Date

You can filter the search results by the creation or update date with the following parameters:

• created_before
• created_after
• created_at
• updated_before
• updated_after
• updated_at

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&updated_after=2014-01-01&updated_before=2014-02-01

When filtering by updated_*, the results might not always match the updated_at timestamps for the documents returned. The reason is that not all updates are propagated to the search index. Only updates that are meaningful for search, such as content changes, are re-indexed. As a result, it's possible for an article or community post to have an updated_at timestamp of "2019-10-31" but be returned in a search with the filter updated_before=2019-08-01 if no meaningful content changes have been made to the article or post.

Filtering by Locale

By default, searches are carried out in the default language specified in the Help Center settings. Use the locale parameter to search your content in another language.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&locale={locale}

If you specify an invalid locale or a locale that's not enabled for Help Center, the default locale for the account is used for the search. You can check for valid locales with the API. See List all enabled locales and default locale.

If you use locale=*, search is carried out across all valid locales and returns all article translations in all languages, that match the search criteria.

Filtering by Source

Filtering by Brand

Use the source[brand] parameter to scope the result of your search to a specific brand or brands.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&source[brand]={brand_id}

If you want to scope the result of your search with multiple brands, use the source[brand_id] parameter as above and separate each value with a comma.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&source[brand]={brand_id},{another_brand_id}

Filtering by External Source

Use the source[external_source] parameter to scope the result of your search to a specific external source or external sources.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&source[external_source]={external_source_id}

If you want to scope the result of your search with multiple brands, use the source[external_source] parameter as above and separate each value with a comma.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&source[external_source]={external_source_id},{external_source_id}

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
content_type	string	Query	false	Search across specific content types, specifying whether to search for "ARTICLE", "POST", or "EXTERNAL_RECORD"
created_after	string	Query	false	Limit the search to articles created after a given date (format YYYY-MM-DD).
created_at	string	Query	false	Limit the search to articles created on a given date (format YYYY-MM-DD).
created_before	string	Query	false	Limit the search to articles created before a given date (format YYYY-MM-DD).
labels	string	Query	false	A comma-separated list of label names. See Filtering by Labels
locale	string	Query	false	Search for articles in the specified locale. See Filtering by Locale
placements	integer	Query	false	Search for articles in specific sections or categories, or community posts by topic. See Filtering by Category, Filtering by Section, Filtering by Topic
query	string	Query	false	The search text to be matched or a search string. Examples: "carrot potato", "'carrot potato'".
sort_by	string	Query	false	One of created_at or updated_at. Defaults to sorting by relevance
sort_order	string	Query	false	One of asc or desc. Defaults to desc
source	integer	Query	false	Search across specific brands or external sources. See Filtering by Brand and Filtering by Filtering by External Source
updated_after	string	Query	false	Limit the search to articles updated after a given date (format YYYY-MM-DD).
updated_at	string	Query	false	Limit the search to articles updated on a given date (format YYYY-MM-DD).
updated_before	string	Query	false	Limit the search to articles updated before a given date (format YYYY-MM-DD).

Scoping search to Articles

• GET /api/v2/help_center/search?query={search_string}&content_types=ARTICLE

Returns a default number of 25 articles per page, up to a maximum of 1000 results. The results are sorted by relevance by default. You can also sort the results by created_at or updated_at.

Article search filtering

Filtering by Labels

If you want to search for articles with specific labels, use the labels parameter and pass a comma-separated list of label names to filter the results:

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?labels=photos,camera

Note: Filtering by labels will only return articles in the results, as community posts and external records cannot have labels.

An article must have at least one of the labels to match. Also, matching is not case-sensitive. For example, 'camera' matches both 'Camera' and 'camera'.

This feature is only available on Professional and Enterprise.

Filtering by Category

If you want to scope the result of your search within a given category, use the placements[category] parameter.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&placements[category]={category_id}

If you want to scope the result of your search with multiple categories, use the category parameter as above and separate each value with a comma.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&placements[category]={category_id},{another_category_id}

Filtering by Section

If you want to scope the result of your search within a given section, use the placements[section] parameter.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&placements[section]={section id}

If you want to scope the result of your search with multiple sections, use section parameter as above and separate each value with a comma.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&section={section_id},{another_section_id}

Article Specific Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
labels	string	Query	false	A comma-separated list of label names. See Filtering by Labels
placements[category]	integer	Query	false	Limit the search to this category id. See Filtering by Category
placements[section]	integer	Query	false	Limit the search to this section id. See Filtering by Section
source[brand_id]	integer	Query	false	Search for articles in the specified brand.

Scoping search to Community Posts

• GET /api/v2/help_center/search?query={query}&content_types=POST

Returns a maximum of 25 posts per page, up to a maximum of 1000 results. See Pagination in the Core API docs. The results are sorted by relevance by default. You can also sort the results by created_at or updated_at.

Filtering by Topic

If you want to scope the result of your search within a given topic, use the placements[topic] parameter.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&placements[topic]={topic_id}

Community Post Specific Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
placements[topic]	integer	Query	false	Limit the search to this topic id. See Filtering by Topic
source[brand_id]	integer	Query	false	Search for community posts in the specified brand.

Scoping search to External Content

• GET /api/v2/help_center/search?query={query}&content_types=EXTERNAL_RECORD

Returns a maximum of 25 external records per page, up to a maximum of 1000 results. See Pagination in the Core API docs. The results are sorted by relevance by default. You can also sort the results by created_at or updated_at.

Filtering by External Source

If you want to scope the result of your search within a given source, use the source[external_source] parameter.

GET /api/v2/help_center/search.json?query={search_string}&source[external_source]={external_source_id}

Community Post Specific Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
source[external_source]	integer	Query	false	Search for external records that have come from the specified source.