Searchfox Query Language Documentation 

Searchfox provides a powerful query language for searching code repositories. The system is designed with simplicity in mind - you can start with basic searches and refine them interactively, while also supporting advanced query syntax for power users.

Basic Search 

The simplest way to search is to just type what you’re looking for. No special syntax is required:

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/search?q=AudioContext

This will search for:

Text occurrences in files
Symbol/identifier matches (prefix-based)
File names containing the term

The path filter input on the right hand side supports glob patterns that supports the following features:

* : matches any characters except path separators (/)
** : matches any characters including path separators
? : matches any single character
{a,b,c}: matches any of the comma-separated alternatives
^ and $: regex anchors (preserved as-is)
Literal parentheses, pipes, and dots are escaped

The same syntax is used whenever globbing is expected in searchfox.

Query Parameters 

Searches can be customized using URL parameters:

Case Sensitivity 

Parameter: case
Values: true for case-sensitive, anything else for case-insensitive (default)

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/search?q=AudioContext&case=true

Regular Expressions 

Parameter: regexp
Values: true to treat query as regex, anything else for literal search
Note: Regex mode only performs textual content search, not semantic search unless symbol: or id: prefixes are used

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/search?q=AudioContext%3A%3A.*Panner*&regexp=true

Path Filtering 

Parameter: path
Description: Filter results by file paths using glob patterns
Example: ?q=MyFunction&path=src/main/*

For example, finding media playback tests (not Web Audio tests that are in dom/media/webaudio/tests) that use an AudioContext:

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/search?q=path%3Adom%2Fmedia%2Ftest+AudioContext&path=&case=false&regexp=false

Advanced Query Syntax 

The query language supports term:value syntax for more precise searches.

Important: term:value syntax must be placed before any search terms. The search endpoint stops parsing once it encounters an unrecognized term.

`path:`

Filters results by file paths using glob patterns (same as path parameter):

path:src/components/* MyFunction

`pathre:`

Filters results using regular expressions for paths:

pathre:^src/(main|test)/.*\.js$ MyFunction

Example, finding all tests for the PannerNode, in WPT and Mochitests:

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/search?q=pathre%3Atesting%5C%2Fwpt%7Cdom%5C%2Fmedia%5C%2Fwebaudio%5C%2Ftest+PannerNode

Context 

Allows displaying the result and surrounding context. A current limitation is that this only works with fulltext search via text: or re: and if you forget to use one, you may get semantic results without any context.

context:3 re:AudioContext::.*Create

Search for all factory methods of an AudioContext, with 3 lines of context, above and below the search hit:

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/search?q=context%3A3+re%3AAudioContext%3A%3A.*Create

Search Type Terms 

`symbol:`

Search only for symbols/identifiers

symbol:cubeb_stream_init

Multiple symbols can be comma-separated: symbol:Foo,Bar
Dot notation is normalized to hash: symbol:obj.method becomes symbol:obj#method
Note: in C++, this requires the mangled symbol name, and so it is best access by clicking on a member

`id:`

Exact-match identifier search (not prefix-based like the default search):

id:main

This means id:creategain won’t match createGainNode() calls, that are also present indexed code.

`text:`

Exact text match, this escapes regexp characters

text:function main()

`re:`

Treat remainder of query as regular expression

re:get\w+Value

Diagramming Features 

Important: These diagramming features use the /query endpoint, not /search. If you type this syntax in the regular search box, it won’t work. It’s easiest to access these features through context menus.

Enabling Diagramming: To use diagramming features, visit the settings page and change the “Default feature gate” from “Release” to “Alpha”, or use the “Diagramming feature gate” setting.

Language Support: Diagramming currently works for C++ and languages with SCIP indexing support (Java/Kotlin/Python), but not JavaScript/TypeScript.

Accessibility Note: The diagrams currently do not generate a usable accessibility tree and are considered alpha quality.

Basic Diagramming Queries 

Inheritance diagram (alpha)

inheritance-diagram:'nsIInputStream' depth:4

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=inheritance-diagram%3A%27nsIInputStream%27%20depth%3A4

Class diagram (alpha)

class-diagram:'mozilla::GraphDriver' depth:3

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=class-diagram%3A%27mozilla%3A%3AGraphDriver%27+depth%3A3

Function call diagram (alpha)

This works both directions.

calls-from:'mozilla::dom::AudioContext::CreateDynamicsCompressor' depth:2
calls-to:'mozilla::dom::AudioContext::CreateDynamicsCompressor' depth:4

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=calls-from%3A%27mozilla%3A%3Adom%3A%3AAudioContext%3A%3ACreateDynamicsCompressor%27+depth%3A2 https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=calls-to%3A%27mozilla%3A%3Adom%3A%3ADynamicsCompressorNode%3A%3AThreshold%27+depth%3A4

Note: calls-from now avoids traversing into methods like NS_DebugBreak that would otherwise clutter diagrams. Similarly, calls-to and calls-between avoid problematic interfaces like nsIObserver::Observe and nsISupports methods.

Class layout (alpha)

Displays the layout of a class or struct, including inherited members, and holes.

field-layout:'nsTString'

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=field-layout%3A%27nsTString%27

Advanced Diagramming: Calls Between 

The calls-between functionality allows you to discover how different classes or methods interact with each other. This is particularly useful for understanding complex code relationships.

Basic calls-between 

Find paths between any methods of two classes:

calls-between:'mozilla::ProcessPriorityManager' calls-between:'nsTimer'

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=calls-between-source%3A%27mozilla%3A%3AProcessPriorityManager%27%20calls-between-target%3A%27nsTimer%27

Directional calls-between 

For more precise control, use calls-between-source and calls-between-target:

calls-between-source:'nsDocShell' calls-between-target:'nsExternalHelperAppService' depth:10

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=calls-between-source%3AnsDocShell%20calls-between-target%3AnsExternalHelperAppService%20depth%3A10

Specific method targeting 

When you know specific methods, you can target them directly:

calls-between-source:'nsGlobalWindowInner::SetTimeout' calls-between-source:'nsGlobalWindowInner::ClearTimeout' calls-between-target:'nsTimer' depth:9

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/query/default?q=calls-between-source%3A%27nsGlobalWindowInner%3A%3ASetTimeout%27+calls-between-source%3A%27nsGlobalWindowInner%3A%3AClearTimeout%27+calls-between-target%3A%27nsTimer%27+depth%3A9+paths-between-node-limit%3A12000

Note: You must now provide absolute pretty identifiers. If your class is foo::Bar, you can’t just use Bar - you need the full path to avoid ambiguity.

hier:pretty - Default hierarchy based on pretty symbol name
hier:flat - Disable hierarchy, use old flat layout
hier:subsystem - Group by bugzilla component mapping
hier:file - Fine-grained file-level hierarchy
hier:dir - Group by directories

Graph Layout 

graph-layout:dot - Default orderly layout (recommended)
graph-layout:neato - Force-directed layout for less orderly appearance
graph-layout:fdp - Force-directed with variable edge lengths

Limits and Depth 

depth:N - Limit graph traversal to N levels of depth (1-based)
node-limit:N - Maximum nodes in resulting graph (up to 1k)
path-limit:N - Nodes with more than N in-edges will be excluded (default: 96)
paths-between-node-limit:N - Maximum nodes for path-finding algorithm (up to 16k)

Advanced Options 

fmus-through-depth:N - Include “field member uses” for pointer relationships (use 0 for depth 0 nodes only)