Search for conversations

The Search Conversations endpoint allows you to search for conversations in team and private inboxes using the Core API.

https://api2.frontapp.com/conversations/search/lost shipment

https://api2.frontapp.com/conversations/search/lost%20shipment

https://api2.frontapp.com/conversations/search/is:archived is:unassigned

https://api2.frontapp.com/conversations/search/is%3Aarchived%20is%3Aunassigned

Access

The search results are limited to the scope of the API token.

For example, an API token with a Shared Resources scope has access to all team inboxes . An API token with a scope limited to a specific team can only search for conversations in that team inbox. An API with a scope set to Private Resources can access personal inboxes, assuming the individual teammates or an admin have allowed API access to personal data in the settings.

Search results

The API returns conversations that match the search query ordered by last activity date. There is no way to change the sort order at the moment. The API also returns the _total number of results and adheres to the Core API pagination pattern.

Basic Query Syntax

To search for conversations, pass a URL encoded query to the Search Conversations endpoint.

https://api2.frontapp.com/conversations/search/{query}

The query is made up of search text (that searches the subject and body) and filters such as tags or recipients, separated by spaces. The syntax for the query is as follows:

<text> <filter_name>:<filter_value>

Example: Search for “feedback”

feedback

feedback

Example: Search for “feedback” and “urgent”

Separate multiple words with a space. The API only returns results that include all the words searched for.

feedback urgent

feedback%20urgent

Example: Search for phrases

Enclose phrases in quotations. The following example returns conversations that include the exact phrase “urgent feedback” in the subject or body.

"urgent feedback"

%22urgent%20feedback%22

Example: Search for conversations sent to the email address “[email protected]”

to:[email protected]

to%3Aexample%40example.com

👍

Tip

You can search across multiple filters simultaneously.

Example: Search for conversations sent to the email address “[email protected]” that contain the word “conference” in the subject or body

conference to:[email protected]

conference%20to%3Aexample%40example.com

👍

Tip

You can search across multiple filters simultaneously.

Supported search filters

The following table lists the search filters that the Core API supports.

Search across multiple filters

To search for conversations using multiple filters at once, separate the filters with a space. You can search up to 15 filters simultaneously.

The query syntax for multiple filters is as follows:

<filter_name>:<filter_value> <filter_name>:<filter_value>

For example, to search for conversations that have been sent to “[email protected]” and have the status “snoozed”, use the following query:

is:snoozed to:[email protected]

is%3Asnoozed%20to%3Aexample%40example.com

How filters interact with each other

When searching across multiple filters, results are limited to conversations that match all the filters specified. In other words, the search filters are combined with AND logic.

For example, when using a query that specifies a recipient and a tag, the results include only the conversations that include the recipient AND the tag. The results do not include conversations that match on the recipient but not the tag, or vice versa.

The following query returns conversations tagged with a tag ID of tag_16qsy5 and in which “[email protected]” is a recipient.

recipient:[email protected] tag:tag_16qsy5

recipient%3Adale.cooper%40frontapp.com%20tag%3Atag_16qsy5

Exception to the filter interaction rule

The following filters use OR logic whenever you include multiple instances of the same filter in the search query (that is, the exception applies to from:[email protected] from:[email protected] but not from:[email protected] to:[email protected])

• from
• to
• cc
• bcc

For example, if you search for conversations from “[email protected]” or “[email protected]”, the API returns conversation from either Dale OR Laura.

from:[email protected] from:[email protected]

from%3Adale.cooper%40frontapp.com%20from%3Alaura.palmer%40frontapp.com

However, if you search for conversations from “[email protected]” to “[email protected]”, the API only returns conversations that were sent from Dale AND in which Laura received the conversation.

from:[email protected] to:[email protected]

from%3Adale.cooper%40frontapp.com%20to%3Alaura.palmer%40frontapp.com

Similarly, if you combine multiple instances of the from, to, cc, or bcc filters with any other filter, the API returns conversations that match on any of the recipient filters AND the rest of the query. For example, if you search for conversations that CC “[email protected]” or “[email protected]” and include a tag filter for the tag ID tag_16qsy5m, the API returns conversations that have the tag ID tag_16qsy5m AND were sent as CC to either Dale OR Laura.

cc:[email protected] cc:[email protected] tag:tag_16qsy5

cc%3Adale.cooper%40frontapp.com%20cc%3Alaura.palmer%40frontapp.com%20tag%3Atag_16qsy5

Conversation statuses

If you are filtering conversations by the is filter, the following information will be helpful to you. Conversation statuses have a bit of complexity in how they relate to each other (an "assigned" conversation cannot be "unassigned", but it can be "open", although it cannot be "open" and "archived"). Refer to the following tables to learn more about these relationships.

Example: Given the above information, you could search for a conversation that is:assigned and is:archived, but it would not make sense to also include is:trashed within that same filter because it conflicts with the archived filter.

Furthermore, it maybe helpful to see how these filters relate to the status field returned by Conversation responses. This field only returns four statuses compared to the seven search filters that exist, so there is overlap between the states represented by the conversation response status and the filter combinations. The conversation responses have additional properties in their response that round out the information received.

The following table describes this relationship.

Example: Given the above information, if you were looking for conversations that are open and unassigned, you would use the filters is:open and is:unassigned to filter for them. The conversations returned by the search endpoint would include a status value of unassigned (they would never have a status value of opened) and would have an assignee property equal to null.

Example: Conversely, if you were looking for conversations that are archived and unassigned, you would use the filters is:archived and is:unassigned to filter for them. The conversations returned by the search endpoint would include a status value of archived and would have an assignee property equal to null.

Example: If you were looking for conversations that are snoozed and assigned, you would use the filters is:snoozed and is:assigned to filter for them. The conversations returned by the search endpoint would include a status value of archived but would have scheduled_reminders and assignee properties that are not null or empty.

Putting it all together

The following example is a complex query that searches from conversations that:

• Contain the phrase “the owls are not what they seem”
• Contain the word “blue”
• Have messages from [email protected] or [email protected]
• Are tagged with the tag ID tag_14nmdp
• Contain messages created before Tue Apr 19 2022 10:30 GMT+0000

"the owls are not what they seem" blue from:[email protected] from:[email protected] tag:tag_14nmdp before:1650364200

%22the%20owls%20are%20not%20what%20they%20seem%22%20blue%20from%3Adale.cooper%40frontapp.com%20from%3Alaura.palmer%40frontapp.com%20tag%3Atag_14nmdp%20before%3A1650364200

https://api2.frontapp.com/conversations/search/%22the%20owls%20are%20not%20what%20they%20seem%22%20blue%20from%3Adale.cooper%40frontapp.com%20from%3Alaura.palmer%40frontapp.com%20tag%3Atag_14nmdp%20before%3A1650364200