Overview

Full-text search is supported on message content and metadata, and on
user metadata. User metadata is attached to messages as they are
indexed, so messages are searchable by user metadata as it was at the
time the message was posted (which may of course vary from the live
values).

Compound searches are available through query strings using boolean
algebra – combining subterms with AND, OR, and NOT. The search engine
supports exact matches for terms and phrases, fuzzy matches, wildcards,
and range matches for ordered metadata fields (e.g. the timestamp).

In addition, it supports specialised search modes such as more like
this
, which attempts to find posts as similar as possible to the text
sample, and fuzzy like this, which performs an equivalent search but
with fuzzy matching on the search terms.

It is possible to combine search terms so as to perform (for example) a
search for a specific term in messages from a particular city, posted
during a given week, and written in a specified language.

Search is available as an on-demand API and as a streaming filter. See
the Filter API for more details on the latter use.

Query Examples

MethodExampleResult
simplerabbitFinds messages containing the word “rabbit”
rabbi*Finds messages containing words beginning with “rabbi”
rabbi?Finds messages containing words beginning with “rabbi” with one additional letter at the end
rabbit~Find words similar to “rabbit”
compoundrabbit AND carrotFinds messages containing both “rabbit” and “carrot”
rabbit OR bunnyFinds messages containing either word
(rabbit OR bunny) AND carrotFinds messages containing either rabbit or bunny, and carrot
rabbit OR bunny AND carrotFinds messages containing either “rabbit”, or both “bunny” and “carrot” (probably not what you intended)
rabbit NOT carrotFinds messages containing “rabbit” but not “carrot”
+rabbit carrotFinds messages containing “rabbit” and optionally carrot
rabbit -carrotFinds messages containing “rabbit” but not “carrot”
fieldsbio.about:rabbitsFinds messages where the user’s bio.about field mentions rabbits
bio.about:(rabbit OR bunny)Finds messages where the user’s bio.about fields mentions rabbits or bunnies
geo.cc:AUFinds messages sent from Australia
bio.\*:rabbitFinds messages where any bio field contains the word “rabbit”
_exists_:bio.religionFinds messages where the bio metadata contains a religion field
_missing_:bio.aboutFinds messages where there is no bio.about field
bio.about:rabbit AND carrotFinds messages where the bio mentions rabbits and the content mentions carrots
rangebio.age:[18 TO 24]Finds messages where the user’s age range is between 18 and 24 (assuming the age is supplied in the bio metadata)
proximity“rabbit carrot”~5Finds messages where the word “carrot” appears within 5 words of “rabbit”
addressingto:[email protected]Finds messages sent to user [email protected]
from:[email protected]Finds messages sent by user [email protected]
cc:[email protected]Finds messages cc’d to user [email protected]
bcc:[email protected]Finds messages bcc’d to user [email protected]
attn:[email protected]Finds messages marked to the attention of [email protected]
datestime:[1340150400 TO 1340236799]Finds messages posted on 2012-06-20 (all system times are GMT)
time:{1340150400 TO 1340236799}Finds messages posted on 2012-06-20 (all system times are GMT) excluding the endpoints

Advanced Search

Advanced search functions are available via the Grab and Engagement APIs.

The Grab API and Grab builder allow the creation of filters based on:

  • Content source (SocialOS, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Facebook, and others)
  • Tags, names, keywords and bio
  • Selective exclusion of tags, names, and other terms
  • Links, media content, likes, reposts, and comments
  • Engagement, trending, and highlight scoring
  • Location and language
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Smart filters for low-quality posts, including profanity, spam, and bot detection
712

The Engagement API supports simple searches with complex functionality. Terms are automatically matched against:

  • Full and partial names
  • Organisation and job title
  • Email address, phone number, web site, and social identities
  • Location (country, state, county, city, street)
  • Bio text and recent social posts