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search.messages method

Facts​

DescriptionSearches for messages matching a query.
Method Access
GET https://slack.com/api/search.messages
Scopes
User token:
Content types
application/x-www-form-urlencoded
application/json
Rate LimitsTier 2: 20+ per minute

Arguments​

Required arguments

tokenstringRequired

Authentication token bearing required scopes. Tokens should be passed as an HTTP Authorization header or alternatively, as a POST parameter.

Example: xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx
querystringRequired

Search query.

Example: pickleface

Optional arguments

countintegerOptional

Pass the number of results you want per "page". Maximum of 100.

Default: 20
highlightbooleanOptional

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

Example: true
pageintegerOptional
Default: 1
cursorstringOptional

Use this when getting results with cursormark pagination. For first call send * for subsequent calls, send the value of next_cursor returned in the previous call's results

sortstringOptional

Return matches sorted by either score or timestamp.

Default: score
Example: timestamp
sort_dirstringOptional

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

Default: desc
Example: asc
team_idstringOptional

encoded team id to search in, required if org token is used

Usage info​

This method returns messages matching a search query.

The team_id is only relevant when using an org-level token. This field will be ignored if the API call is sent using a workspace-level token.

Response​

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
}

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

When using a user token with this method, search results will be affected by the search filters set in the Slack UI. When a search query matches multiple messages in close proximity to one another, 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.

Note: Previously, search results might be returned with matches on the previous, previous_2, next, or next_2 messages, but not the message itself. However, the previous, previous_2, next, or next_2 fields are now deprecated and will no longer be provided in responses beginning December 3, 2020.

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 parameter in the response.

Error
Description
access_denied

Access to a resource specified in the request is denied.

accesslimited

Access to this method is limited on the current network

account_inactive

Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace when using a bot token.

deprecated_endpoint

The endpoint has been deprecated.

ekm_access_denied

Administrators have suspended the ability to post a message.

enterprise_is_restricted

The method cannot be called from an Enterprise.

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.

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_arguments

The method was called with invalid arguments.

invalid_array_arg

The method was passed an array as an argument. Please only input valid strings.

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.

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.

method_deprecated

The method has been deprecated.

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.

missing_scope

The token used is not granted the specific scope permissions required to complete this request.

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.

not_allowed_token_type

The token type used in this request is not allowed.

not_authed

No authentication token provided.

org_login_required

The workspace is undergoing an enterprise migration and will not be available until migration 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

team_access_not_granted

The token used is not granted the specific workspace access required to complete this request.

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.

token_expired

Authentication token has expired

token_revoked

Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace or the app has been removed when using a user token.

two_factor_setup_required

Two factor setup is required.