FIND | Vault Developer Portal

Use FIND to search documents and Vault objects.

When using FIND on documents, Vault searches all queryable document fields. You can configure object references to search additional object fields by configuring Searchable Object Fields. Learn more in Vault Help.

FIND for documents is available in Vault API v8.0+
FIND for standard volume Vault objects is available in Vault API v14.0+
FIND is not supported on raw Vault objects or in attachment subqueries
FIND is supported in SELECT statements. In 25.3+, you can also use FIND in all subqueries except attachment subequeries.

You can scope your search to specific fields, document content, or both. When using FIND without SCOPE, VQL uses SCOPE PROPERTIES by default.

VQL automatically adds wildcards to most search terms. Learn more about wildcarding, search tokenization, stemming, order of evaluation, and other topics in Searching & Filtering.

Syntax

SELECT {fields}
FROM {query target}
FIND ('{search phrase}')

The FIND search phrase must be enclosed in single quotation marks. The entire FIND statement (search phrase and scopes) must be enclosed in parentheses.

The maximum search term length is 250 characters. The minimum search term length is 1 character.

The search phrase is not case sensitive.

Functions & Options

You can use the following functions and query target options in the FIND clause. For full technical details, see the VQL Functions & Options reference.

Refining Search Scope

These options control which fields or content are searched.

Name	Goal	API Version
`SCOPE ALL`	Search all fields and document content.	v8.0+
`SCOPE CONTENT`	Search document content only.	v8.0+
`SCOPE {fields}`	Search one specific document field or up to 25 object fields.	v15.0+
`SCOPE PROPERTIES`	Search all picklists and text-based fields (default scope).	v8.0+

Advanced Matching

These functions and options provide more granular control over search results.

Name	Goal	API Version
`DISTANCE`	Enable fuzzy search with an edit distance of up to 2.	v26.1+
`FILENAME()`	Search by Attachment file name instead of file handle.	v24.3+

Operators

You can use the following logical operators in the FIND clause:

Name	Syntax	Description
`AND`	`FIND ('{v1} AND {v2}')`	All terms in the search string must match.
`NOT`	`FIND (NOT '{phrase}')`	Results must not match the specified search string.
`OR`	`FIND ('{v1} OR {v2}')`	At least one term in the search string must match.

Query Examples

The following are examples of queries using FIND.

Query: Find Documents with a Search Term Match

The following query returns the latest version of all documents that contain the search term insulin (case insensitive):

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND ('insulin')

Response

{
   "responseStatus": "SUCCESS",
   "responseDetails": {
       "find": "('insulin')",
       "pagesize": 1000,
       "pageoffset": 0,
       "size": 3,
       "total": 3
   },
   "data": [
       {
           "id": 200,
           "name__v": "Test Doc Nyaxa Insulin"
       },
       {
           "id": 198,
           "name__v": "Test Doc Diabetes Insulin"
       },
       {
           "id": 197,
           "name__v": "Test Doc Nyaxa Diabetes Insulin"
       }
   ]
}

Query: Find Objects with a Search Term Match

The following query returns the ID, compound ID, and abbreviation of all Product records that contain the search term cc in one or more fields (case insensitive):

SELECT id, compound_id__c, abbreviation__c
FROM product__v
FIND ('cc')

Response

{
    "responseStatus": "SUCCESS",
    "responseDetails": {
       "find": "('cc')",
       "pagesize": 1000,
       "pageoffset": 0,
       "size": 2,
       "total": 2
    },
    "data": [
       {
           "id": "00P000000000302",
           "compound_id__c": "CC-123",
           "abbreviation__c": "CC"
       },
       {
           "id": "00P000000000301",
           "compound_id__c": "CC-127",
           "abbreviation__c": null
       }
    ]
}

Query: Find Documents with Any Search Term

To search document fields containing any of the provided search terms, use the OR operator between them.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND ('insulin OR diabetes')

Query: Find Documents with All Search Terms

To search document fields containing all search terms, use the AND operator between each search term.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND ('insulin AND diabetes AND Nyaxa')

Query: Find Documents with an Exact Search Term Match

To search for an exact match, enclose the string in double quotes within the single quotes.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND ('"blood sugar"')

Query: Find Documents Using Strict Matching

A FIND search phrase without operators uses strict matching.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND ('insulin diabetes gludacta')

Query: Find Documents with a Partial Search Term Match

The following query uses the wildcard character (*) to retrieve partial matches.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND ('ins* dia* glu*')

Query: Find Documents Without a Search Term Match

Use NOT with FIND to exclude results from a query.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND (NOT 'insulin')

Query: Search Only Document Content

The following example uses the SCOPE CONTENT option.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM documents
FIND ('insulin' SCOPE CONTENT)

Query: Filter Search Results with WHERE

WHERE must be placed after the FIND clause.

SELECT id, name__v
FROM product__v
FIND ('phosphate' SCOPE generic_name__vs)
WHERE therapeutic_area__vs = 'cardiology__vs'

Query: FIND with Inner Join Subqueries

SELECT id, name__v
FROM product__v
WHERE id IN (SELECT id FROM dosages__vr FIND ('standard' SCOPE name__v))

Query: FIND with Outer Join Subquery

SELECT id,
(SELECT id, name__v FROM dosages__vr FIND ('standard' SCOPE name__v))
FROM product__v