Search

What is content search?

Content search is the process of querying the portal service to find users, groups, or different types of items such as maps, scenes, layers, files, services, or apps from templates and builders.

You can use content search to:

Search for public or private items.
Find different types of items.
Sort search results.
Return pages of search results.

How to search the portal

To search for items, you make an HTTPS request to the portal service and use the search operation. The search operation supports a query string with fields, and operators, such as AND, OR, and NOT. You can perform an open search for text using the default fields or you can search for text in specific fields such as the title, description, or tags. You can also specify a location to search near, or a bounding box to search in by defining the bbox parameter.

The general steps to search for items are:

Define the URL to the portal service: https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search.
Provide the text for your search. For example, "Streets", or "Elevation level".
Define the item type for your search. For example, Web Map or Feature Service.
Set the sort order for your return results.
Any additional fields, such as tags, date created, or last modified.

Search for different types of content items in the ArcGIS portal.

URL request

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https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search?<parameters>

Key parameters

Name	Description	Examples
`q`	The text or formatted query with text.	q="streets", q="streets AND highways", q=(title:"streets" OR description:"streets")
`sortField`	The primary sort field.	sortField=numviews, sortField=created, sortField=modified
`sortOrder`	Return results in ascending or descending order.	sortOrder=asc, sortOrder=desc

Additional parameters: To refine the search further, you can use parameters such as bbox, num, start, and categories.

Query structure

Here are a some of the general rules for formatting queries:

For an open search, specify the text at the beginning. e.g. q="streets"
To search specific fields, use a colon : after the field name.
Use double quotes "text" around all search text.
Capitalize all AND, OR, and NOT operators.
Use () to group operators.
Use the type: field to define the type of items to return. e.g. type: Web Map

For example:

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https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search?f=json&q=title:"London Tube" AND type:"Web Map" AND tags:Transportation

Default fields

When searching for text in items or groups, if you do not provide fields, the following default fields are searched.

Items	Groups
title	title
tags	tags
description	description
snippet	snippet
tagKeywords	owner

For example:

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https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search?f=json&q="Seven Natural Wonders of the World"

Examples

The following examples illustrate how to format queries to search for different types of content in the ArcGIS portal. Most APIs set the default portal URL to https://www.arcigs.com/sharing/rest.

Search for text

Find any type of item with the keywords title or description.

APIs

ArcGIS REST JSArcGIS REST JSArcGIS API for JavaScriptArcGIS API for PythonArcGIS Runtime API for iOS
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import { searchItems } from "@esri/arcgis-rest-portal"
// Define a query
const query = new SearchQueryBuilder()
  .match("Seven Natural Wonders of the World")
  .in("title")
  .or()
  .match("Seven Natural Wonders of the World")
  .in("description")

searchItems(query, { portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" })
  .then((response) => {
    console.log(response);
});
Go to API reference

REST API

cURL

HTTP

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curl https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search \
-d 'q=title:"Seven Natural Wonders of the World" OR description:"Seven Natural Wonders of the World"' \
-d 'f=pjson'

View in Postman

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{
  "query": "title:\"Seven Natural Wonders of the World\" OR description:\"Seven Natural Wonders of the World\"",
  "total": 15,
  "start": 1,
  "num": 10,
  "nextStart": 11,
  "results": [
      {
          "id": "1772830e6d4d42c6a9fb12c333d41e1d",
          "owner": "olaoluwaatere",

Search for tags and an owner

Find items by searching for tags and an owner name.

APIs

ArcGIS REST JSArcGIS REST JSArcGIS API for JavaScriptArcGIS API for PythonArcGIS Runtime API for iOS
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import { searchItems } from "@esri/arcgis-rest-portal"
// Define a query
const query = new SearchQueryBuilder()
  .match("USA Demographics")
  .in("tags")
  .and()
  .match("esri")
  .in("owner");

searchItems(query, { portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" }).then(
  (response) => {
    console.log(response);
  }
);
Go to API reference

REST API

cURL

HTTP

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curl https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search \
-d 'q=tags:"USA Demographics" AND owner:"esri"' \
-d 'f=pjson'

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{
  "query": "tags:\"USA Demographics\" AND owner:\"esri\"",
  "total": 36,
  "start": 1,
  "num": 10,
  "nextStart": 11,
  "results": [
      {
          "id": "d77560f788c04f1ea186cbdab654b053",
          "owner": "esri",

Search for a type of item

Find items by searching for a type of item. Learn more about the types of items in items.

APIs

ArcGIS REST JSArcGIS REST JSArcGIS API for JavaScriptArcGIS API for PythonArcGIS Runtime API for iOS
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import { searchItems } from "@esri/arcgis-rest-portal"
// Define a query
const query = new SearchQueryBuilder()
  .match("London Map")
  .in("title")
  .and()
  .match("Web Map")
  .in("type");

searchItems(query, { portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" })
  .then((response) => {
    console.log(response);
});
Go to API reference

REST API

cURL

HTTP

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Copy

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curl https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search \
-d 'q=title:"London Map" AND type:"Web Map"' \
-d 'f=pjson'

View in Postman

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{
  "query": "title:\"London Map\" AND type:\"Web Map\"",
  "total": 57,
  "start": 1,
  "num": 10,
  "nextStart": 11,
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "1c0ae668422341f298b72d08c1a6ddfe",
      "owner": "alexhhorton",

Search for a group

Find groups by searching for a text in the title.

APIs

ArcGIS REST JSArcGIS REST JSArcGIS API for JavaScriptArcGIS API for PythonArcGIS Runtime API for iOS
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import { searchGroups } from "@esri/arcgis-rest-portal"
// Define a query
const query = new SearchQueryBuilder()
    .match("Hikers")
    .in("title")

searchGroups(query, { portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" })
.then((response) => {
  console.log(response);
});
Go to API reference

REST API

cURL

HTTP

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curl https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/community/groups \
-d 'q=title:"hikers"' \
-d 'f=pjson'

View in Postman

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{
  "query": "title:\"hikers\"",
  "total": 7,
  "start": 1,
  "num": 10,
  "nextStart": -1,
  "results": [
      {
          "id": "a015574916894dfd8dc2ca2e48272e35",
          "title": "Citizen Problem Reporter -Hikers",

Search near a location

Find items near point or a bounding box (extent).

APIs

ArcGIS REST JSArcGIS REST JSArcGIS API for JavaScriptArcGIS API for PythonArcGIS Runtime API for iOS
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import { searchItems } from "@esri/arcgis-rest-portal"
// Define a query
const query = new SearchQueryBuilder()
  .match("Food carts")
  .and()
  .match("Web Map")
  .in("type")

  const params = {
    bbox: "-122.6750,45.5051 ,-122.6750,45.5051" // Portland, Oregon
  }

  searchItems(query, params, { portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" })
  .then((response) => {
      console.log(response);
});
Go to API reference

REST API

cURL

HTTP

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curl  https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/search \
-d 'bbox=-122.6750,45.5051, -122.6750,45.5051' \
-d 'q="food cart" AND type:"web map"' \
-d 'f=pjson'

View in Postman

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{
  "query": "\"food cart\" AND type: \"web map\"",
  "total": 9,
  "start": 1,
  "num": 10,
  "nextStart": -1,
  "results": [
      {
          "id": "e3fc8d6a8bd44c61868d11ff7ee88978",
          "owner": "ross34_pdxedu",

Tutorials

Use tools to create different types of content and build content-driven applications.

Web maps

Create a web map

Use Map Viewer to create a web map for your application.

Style layers in a web map

Use Map Viewer to style layers in a web map.

Display a web map

Create and display a map from a web map.

Web scenes

Create a web scene

Use Scene Viewer to create a web scene for your application.

Style layers in a web scene

Use Scene Viewer to style layers in a web scene.

Display a web scene

Create and display a scene from a web scene.

Feature layers

Import data as a feature layer

Use data management tools to import and create hosted feature layers.

Manage a feature layer

Set the properties and capabilities of a hosted feature layer.

Add a feature layer

Access and display point, line, and polygon features from a feature service

Vector tile layers

Publish a vector tile layer

Use ArcGIS Online to publish a vector tile layer.

Add a vector tile layer

Access and display a vector tile layer in a map.

Basemap layers

Create a custom basemap style

Use the Vector tile style editor to style a vector tile basemap layer.

Display a custom basemap style

Add and display a styled vector tile basemap layer.

Services

Portal service

Store, manage, and access private and public content.

API support

	Search	Items	Users	Groups
ArcGIS API for JavaScript			¹	¹
ArcGIS Runtime API for Android			¹	¹
ArcGIS Runtime API for iOS			¹	¹
ArcGIS Runtime API for Java			¹	¹
ArcGIS Runtime API for .NET			¹	¹
ArcGIS Runtime API for Qt			¹	¹
ArcGIS API for Python
Esri Leaflet	²	²	²	²
MapLibre GL JS	²	²	²	²
OpenLayers	²	²	²	²
ArcGIS REST JS

Full supportPartial supportNo support

1. Limited operations, use HTTP requests.
2. Access via ArcGIS REST JS.

Tools

Developer dashboard

Manage API keys, service usage, and data with the ArcGIS Developers website.

ArcGIS Online

Create, manage, and share content and data with cloud-based GIS tools.

Map Viewer

Create, explore, and share web maps for 2D applications.

Scene Viewer

Create, explore, and share web scenes for 3D applications.

Vector tile style editor

Style vector tile basemap layers for applications.

ArcGIS Pro

Explore, visualize, and analyze both 2D and 3D data with desktop GIS tools.

Mapping APIs and location services

Search

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