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Use `/pattern/` syntax to run a regex search. The CLI automatically derives a safe API query term and filters results locally — no manual post-processing needed. Use `--regex-hint` to override the derived term when auto-extraction is too broad.
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## Why not `gh search code`?
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The official [`gh` CLI](https://cli.github.com/) does support `gh search code`, but it returns a **flat paginated list** — one result per line, no grouping, no interactive selection, no structured output.
Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: docs/.vitepress/theme/ComparisonTable.vue
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gcs: true,
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docLink: "/usage/interactive-mode",
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},
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{
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feature: "Regex queries (/pattern/flags)",
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desc: "Use full regular expressions in queries — top-level alternation (A|B|C) maps to GitHub OR, client-side filtering applies the real pattern. GitHub supports regex in the web UI only, not in the REST API or gh CLI.",
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gh: false,
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gcs: true,
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docLink: "/usage/search-syntax",
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},
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{
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feature: "Pagination (up to 1\u202f000 results)",
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desc: "Both tools auto-paginate the GitHub search API \u2014 up to 1\u202f000 results per query.",
headline: "Which repos are pinned to a vulnerable minor version?",
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description:
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"Use regex syntax to target a precise version range — something a plain keyword search cannot do. Find every repo still locked to axios 1.x, react 17.x, or any other outdated pin, then export the list to a migration issue.",
|`--org <org>`| string | ✅ | — | GitHub organization to search in. Automatically injected as `org:<org>` in the query. |
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|`--exclude-repositories <repos>`| string | ❌ |`""`| Comma-separated list of repositories to exclude. Short form (`repoA,repoB`) or full form (`org/repoA,org/repoB`) both accepted. |
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|`--exclude-extracts <refs>`| string | ❌ |`""`| Comma-separated extract refs to exclude. Format: `repoName:path/to/file:index`. Short form (without org prefix) accepted. |
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|`--no-interactive`| boolean (flag) | ❌ |`true` (on) | Disable interactive mode. Interactive mode is **on** by default; pass this flag to disable it. Also triggered by `CI=true`. |
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|`--format <format>`|`markdown`\|`json`| ❌ |`markdown`| Output format. See [Output formats](/usage/output-formats). |
|`--include-archived`| boolean (flag) | ❌ |`false`| Include archived repositories in results (excluded by default). |
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|`--group-by-team-prefix <prefixes>`| string | ❌ |`""`| Comma-separated team-name prefixes for grouping result repos by GitHub team (e.g. `squad-,chapter-`). Requires `read:org` scope. |
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|`--no-cache`| boolean (flag) | ❌ |`true` (on) | Bypass the 24 h team-list cache and re-fetch teams from GitHub. Cache is **on** by default; pass this flag to disable it. Only applies with `--group-by-team-prefix`. |
|`--org <org>`| string | ✅ | — | GitHub organization to search in. Automatically injected as `org:<org>` in the query. |
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|`--exclude-repositories <repos>`| string | ❌ |`""`| Comma-separated list of repositories to exclude. Short form (`repoA,repoB`) or full form (`org/repoA,org/repoB`) both accepted. |
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|`--exclude-extracts <refs>`| string | ❌ |`""`| Comma-separated extract refs to exclude. Format: `repoName:path/to/file:index`. Short form (without org prefix) accepted. |
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|`--no-interactive`| boolean (flag) | ❌ |`true` (on) | Disable interactive mode. Interactive mode is **on** by default; pass this flag to disable it. Also triggered by `CI=true`. |
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|`--format <format>`|`markdown`\|`json`| ❌ |`markdown`| Output format. See [Output formats](/usage/output-formats). |
|`--include-archived`| boolean (flag) | ❌ |`false`| Include archived repositories in results (excluded by default). |
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|`--group-by-team-prefix <prefixes>`| string | ❌ |`""`| Comma-separated team-name prefixes for grouping result repos by GitHub team (e.g. `squad-,chapter-`). Requires `read:org` scope. |
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|`--no-cache`| boolean (flag) | ❌ |`true` (on) | Bypass the 24 h team-list cache and re-fetch teams from GitHub. Cache is **on** by default; pass this flag to disable it. Only applies with `--group-by-team-prefix`. |
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|`--regex-hint <term>`| string | ❌ | — | Override the API search term used when the query is a regex (`/pattern/`). Useful when auto-extraction produces a term that is too broad or too narrow. See [Regex queries](/usage/search-syntax#regex-queries). |
github-code-search "password= language:TypeScript NOT filename:test" --org fulll
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```
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## Regex queries
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`github-code-search` supports regex syntax using the `/pattern/flags` notation, just like the GitHub web UI.
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Because the GitHub Code Search API does not natively support regex, the CLI automatically extracts a representative literal term from the regex to send to the API, then filters the returned results locally with the full pattern. In most cases this is fully transparent.
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```bash
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# Imports using the axios module (any quote style)
When the regex contains a **top-level `|`** (e.g. `TODO|FIXME|HACK`), the CLI sends
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an `A OR B OR C` query to the GitHub API so that **all branches are covered** — no results are missed.
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:::
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### When auto-extraction is not precise enough
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If the extracted term is very short (fewer than 3 characters), the CLI will exit with a warning and ask you to provide a manual hint:
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```text
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⚠ Regex mode — No meaningful search term could be extracted from the regex pattern. Use --regex-hint <term> to specify the term to send to the GitHub API.
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```
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Use `--regex-hint` to override the API search term while still applying the full regex filter locally:
The GitHub Code Search API returns **at most 1,000 results** per query. The regex filter
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is applied to those results; results beyond the API cap can never be seen. Refine the
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query with qualifiers (`language:`, `path:`, `filename:`) to keep the result set small.
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:::
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## API limits
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The GitHub Code Search API returns at most **1,000 results** per query. If your query returns more, refine it with qualifiers (especially `language:` or `path:`) to stay below the limit.
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