# Understanding the search syntax

When searching GitHub, you can construct queries that match specific numbers and words.

> \[!NOTE]
> The syntax below applies to non-code search. For more information on code search syntax, see [Understanding GitHub Code Search syntax](/en/search-github/github-code-search/understanding-github-code-search-syntax).

## Query for values greater or less than another value

You can use `>`, `>=`, `<`, and `<=` to search for values that are greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, and less than or equal to another value.

| Query                     | Example                                                                                                                                                                               |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <code>><em>n</em></code>  | **[cats stars:>1000](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+stars%3A%3E1000\&type=Repositories)** matches repositories with the word "cats" that have more than 1000 stars. |
| <code>>=<em>n</em></code> | **[cats topics:>=5](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+topics%3A%3E%3D5\&type=Repositories)** matches repositories with the word "cats" that have 5 or more topics.     |
| <code><<em>n</em></code>  | **[cats size:<10000](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+size%3A%3C10000\&type=Code)** matches code with the word "cats" in files that are smaller than 10 KB.           |
| <code><=<em>n</em></code> | **[cats stars:<=50](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+stars%3A%3C%3D50\&type=Repositories)** matches repositories with the word "cats" that have 50 or fewer stars.    |

You can also use [range queries](#query-for-values-between-a-range) to search for values that are greater than or equal to, or less than or equal to, another value.

| Query                       | Example                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <code><em>n</em>..\*</code> | **[cats stars:10..\*](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+stars%3A10..*\&type=Repositories)** is equivalent to `stars:>=10` and matches repositories with the word "cats" that have 10 or more stars.        |
| <code>\*..<em>n</em></code> | **[cats stars:\*..10](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+stars%3A%22*..10%22\&type=Repositories)** is equivalent to `stars:<=10` and matches repositories with the word "cats" that have 10 or fewer stars. |

## Query for values between a range

You can use the range syntax <code><em>n</em>..<em>n</em></code> to search for values within a range, where the first number N is the lowest value and the second is the highest value.

| Query                               | Example                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <code><em>n</em>..<em>n</em></code> | **[cats stars:10..50](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+stars%3A10..50\&type=Repositories)** matches repositories with the word "cats" that have between 10 and 50 stars. |

## Query for dates

You can search for dates that are earlier or later than another date, or that fall within a range of dates, by using `>`, `>=`, `<`, `<=`, and [range queries](#query-for-values-between-a-range). Date formatting must follow the [ISO8601](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601) standard, which is `YYYY-MM-DD` (year-month-day).

| Query                                                                                     | Example                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| <code>><em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em></code>                                       | **[cats created:>2016-04-29](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+created%3A%3E2016-04-29\&type=Issues)** matches issues with the word "cats" that were created after April 29, 2016.                                                      |
| <code>>=<em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em></code>                                      | **[cats created:>=2017-04-01](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+created%3A%3E%3D2017-04-01\&type=Issues)** matches issues with the word "cats" that were created on or after April 1, 2017.                                             |
| <code><<em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em></code>                                       | **[cats pushed:<2012-07-05](https://github.com/search?q=cats+pushed%3A%3C2012-07-05\&type=Repositories\&utf8=%E2%9C%93)** matches repositories with the word "cats" that were pushed to before July 5, 2012.                                           |
| <code><=<em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em></code>                                      | **[cats created:<=2012-07-04](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+created%3A%3C%3D2012-07-04\&type=Issues)** matches issues with the word "cats" that were created on or before July 4, 2012.                                             |
| <code><em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em>..<em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em></code> | **[cats pushed:2016-04-30..2016-07-04](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+pushed%3A2016-04-30..2016-07-04\&type=Repositories)** matches repositories with the word "cats" that were pushed to between the end of April and July of 2016. |
| <code><em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em>..\*</code>                                    | **[cats created:2012-04-30..\*](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+created%3A2012-04-30..*\&type=Issues)** matches issues created on or after April 30th, 2012 containing the word "cats."                                               |
| <code>\*..<em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em></code>                                    | **[cats created:\*..2012-07-04](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+created%3A*..2012-07-04\&type=Issues)** matches issues created on or before July 4th, 2012 containing the word "cats."                                                |

You can also add optional time information `THH:MM:SS+00:00` after the date, to search by the hour, minute, and second. That's `T`, followed by `HH:MM:SS` (hour-minutes-seconds), and a UTC offset (`+00:00`).

| Query                                                                                                          | Example                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <code><em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em>T<em>HH</em>:<em>MM</em>:<em>SS</em>+<em>00</em>:<em>00</em></code> | **[cats created:2017-01-01T01:00:00+07:00..2017-03-01T15:30:15+07:00](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+created%3A2017-01-01T01%3A00%3A00%2B07%3A00..2017-03-01T15%3A30%3A15%2B07%3A00\&type=Issues)** matches issues created between January 1, 2017 at 1 a.m. with a UTC offset of `07:00` and March 1, 2017 at 3 p.m. with a UTC offset of `07:00`. |
| <code><em>YYYY</em>-<em>MM</em>-<em>DD</em>T<em>HH</em>:<em>MM</em>:<em>SS</em>Z</code>                        | **[cats created:2016-03-21T14:11:00Z..2016-04-07T20:45:00Z](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=cats+created%3A2016-03-21T14%3A11%3A00Z..2016-04-07T20%3A45%3A00Z\&type=Issues)** matches issues created between March 21, 2016 at 2:11pm and April 7, 2016 at 8:45pm.                                                                                        |

## Exclude results that match a qualifier

You can narrow down search results by excluding one or more subsets. To exclude all results that are matched by a qualifier, prefix the search qualifier with a hyphen (`-`).

| Query                            | Example                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <code>-<em>QUALIFIER</em></code> | **[`cats stars:>10 -language:javascript`](https://github.com/search?q=cats+stars%3A>10+-language%3Ajavascript\&type=Repositories)** matches repositories with the word "cats" that have more than 10 stars but are not written in JavaScript. |
| <code>-<em>QUALIFIER</em></code> | **[`mentions:defunkt -org:github`](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=mentions%3Adefunkt+-org%3Agithub\&type=Issues)** matches issues mentioning @defunkt that are not in repositories in the GitHub organization.                   |

## Exclude results with specific keywords

You can exclude results containing a certain word, using the `NOT` syntax. The `NOT` operator can only be used for string keywords. It does not work for numerals or dates.

| Query | Example                                                                                                                                                         |
| ----- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `NOT` | **[hello NOT world](https://github.com/search?q=hello+NOT+world\&type=Repositories)** matches repositories that have the word "hello" but not the word "world." |

## Use quotation marks for queries with whitespace

If your search query contains whitespace, you will need to surround it with quotation marks. For example:

* [cats NOT "hello world"](https://github.com/search?utf8=✓\&q=cats+NOT+"hello+world"\&type=Repositories) matches repositories with the word "cats" but not the words "hello world."
* [build label:"bug fix"](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&q=build+label%3A%22bug+fix%22\&type=Issues) matches issues with the word "build" that have the label "bug fix."

## Queries with usernames

If your search query contains a qualifier that requires a username, such as `user`, `actor`, or `assignee`, you can use any valid username to specify a specific person, `@me` to specify the current user, or `@copilot` to specify Copilot.

| Query                | Example                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `QUALIFIER:USERNAME` | [`author:nat`](https://github.com/search?q=author%3Anat\&type=Commits) matches commits authored by @nat                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| `QUALIFIER:@me`      | [`is:issue assignee:@me`](https://github.com/search?q=is%3Aissue+assignee%3A%40me\&type=Issues) matches issues assigned to the person viewing the results                                                                                                                                        |
|                      |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| `QUALIFIER:@copilot` | [`is:pr reviewed-by:@copilot`](https://github.com/search?q=is:pr+reviewed-by:@copilot\&type=pullrequests) matches pull requests reviewed by Copilot. For more information, see [Using GitHub Copilot code review](/en/copilot/how-tos/use-copilot-agents/request-a-code-review/use-code-review). |
|                      |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |

You can only use `@me`  or `@copilot`  with a qualifier, and not as a search term, such as `@me main.workflow`.