Search nodes give you the power to find anything, anywhere in Tana. They are easy to make, and can exist anywhere you can add a node. The many search operators available put advanced tools in your hands to create very specific searches according to your needs.
Search nodes retrieve nodes from any workspace you have access to. Results show up as references to nodes. Editing these nodes will edit the original and every reference of it.
What a search node retrieves is based on the search query. The query specifies what you are looking for, and is made in the Query builder.
Search nodes have a magnifying glass as a bullet icon. So they're recognizable even when collapsed.
Search nodes run queries on your Tana data. Examples of queries include:
Look for recipes with specific ingredients: Find all nodes tagged #recipes with the field Ingredient==Tomatoes, Peppers
Look for filled-out Feedback fields under a draft: Find all nodes with field Feedback==Set that is descendant of the node Q4 workplan draft
Look for unfinished tasks with a date older than a specific date: Find nodes tagged #todo that is NOT DONE, and with a date that is older (less) than January 10
Queries are composed in the Query builder. The builder uses search operators that come in the form of Tana objects. All operators are listed here: Search operators. For an explainer on how to read queries, check out this article.
Search nodes only run when expanded. This means they are not running live in the background while collapsed.
You can add nodes via the list of results. These nodes end up on the daily page of the workspace the search node lives in. It will try to create a node that follows the conditions of the query. If it isn't able to, it will show as a "mismatch".
You can add a view to a search node. You can apply views to all nodes that have children, including search nodes.
Returned results are limited to a maximum of 2500 nodes. If you run searches that return more than 2500 nodes, it will not run and you'll be prompted to change your query to narrow your search even further.
The entire query is wrapped in an AND operator, so by default every search criteria on the the query will return results that match every condition. For example, the screenshot below is looking for all nodes tagged #todo, AND it has to be NOT DONE, AND with a date that is older (less) than January 10 . Nodes have to meet all criteria listed.
Tana objects that can be used in the query builder:
OPERATOR
DESCRIPTION
LINTER
A reference
Inserting a reference will return only descendants of the reference. Tip: Reference a Workspace to limit results to nodes that live in that Workspace only.
DescendantOf:nodeName
A supertag
Inserting a supertag reference will return only instances of that supertag. Type # and a list of supertags will pop up.
Tag:tagName
A field definition
Inserting a field definition will return only nodes that have this field, and a value set for it.
hasField:fieldName
A field with one or more values
Inserting one or more plain text or reference values in a field will return nodes with this field that contain any of these values.
fieldName==Hello world
A plain text node
Inserting a plain text node that is not a reference will return nodes that match the text.
StringMatch:"hello world"
A node with a date
Inserting a date will return nodes whose name contains a date
DateWithin:date
A regular expression between /.../
Inserting a regular expression between the two forward slashes will return nodes that match the regular expression.
All of the clauses in the field values should match. AND is implied at the top level of the query builder as well.
AND
>OR
Any of the clauses in the field values should match.
OR
>NOT
Negates a single clause (if you want to negate multiple, you need multiple NOT statements).
NOT
>LT
LT = Less than. The LT field value should be the field you want to query with a field value (a number/date). This finds nodes that have a value less than the value provided. Also works with dates.
fieldName < fieldValue
>GT
GT = Greater than. The GT field value should be the field you want to query with a field value (a number/date). This finds nodes that have a value greater than than the value provided. Also works with dates.
fieldName > fieldValue
>LINKS TO
The LINKS TO operator finds all nodes that link to the reference in the field value. Only takes references or PARENT/GRANDPARENT. Similar to what is shown in a node's reference section.
LinksTo:nodeName
>CHILD OF
If the field value is a reference, the CHILD OF operator finds nodes/references that are children of the reference. If the field value is a field definition, the operator finds nodes/references that are children of this field.
ChildOf:nodeName
>OWNED BY
The OWNED BY operator finds nodes that are children of and owned by the reference in the field value.
A keyword that finds all nodes with a checkbox, regardless if it is checked or not.
is:Todo
DONE
A keyword that finds any checked todos.
is:Done
DONE LAST [num] DAYS
A keyword that finds any todos that were manually checked within a certain number of days. Replace [num] with a number. Example: DONE LAST 7 DAYS.
DONE LAST 3 DAYS
NOT DONE
A keyword that finds any "not done" nodes, and unchecked todos. Combine with TODO to only find unchecked todos.
NOT is:Done
OVERDUE
An old keyword that finds any unchecked todos 1. using the system-defined Due Date field, and 2. with a date value that is older than today's date. For a more robust overdue search query, see Examples section below.
A keyword that finds any nodes created within a certain number of days. Replace [num] with a number. Example: CREATED LAST 7 DAYS.
CREATED LAST 3 DAYS
EDITED BY [user email] LAST [num] DAYS
A keyword that finds any nodes modified by a Tana user within a certain number of days. Replace [user email] with the email of the workspace member, and [num] with a number. Example: MODIFIED BY olaf@tana.inc LAST 7 DAYS.
EDITED BY USER@TANA.COM LAST 3 DAYS
EDITED BY [user email] ANYTIME
A keyword that finds all nodes modified by a Tana user. Example: MODIFIED BY olaf@tana.inc ANYTIME.
EDITED BY USER@TANA.COM ANYTIME
EDITED LAST [num] DAYS
A keyword that finds all nodes edited within a certain number of days relative to today. Example: EDITED LAST 7 DAYS.
Use in any field. Inserts the parent node relative to the search node. Useful for finding nodes with fields that use the parent/grandparent node as a field value, such as every #author node finding all #books they're the >Author of.
fieldName==parentnodeName
GRANDPARENT
Use in any field. Inserts the grandparent node relative to the search node. Useful for finding nodes with fields that use the parent/grandparent node as a field value, such as every #author node finding all #books they're the >Author of.
fieldName==grandparentnodeName
FOR RELATIVE DATE [term]
Use in date fields only. Inserts a date relative to today. Valid terms: yesterday, today, tomorrow, last/this/next week, last/this/next month, NEW: last/this/next year. Example: FOR RELATIVE DATE next week.
Date==RelativeDate:term=yyyy-mm-dd [timezone]
"Set"
A system node you can use in any field. Finds nodes where this field exists and has a value.
fieldName==Set
"Not Set"
A system node you can use in any field. Finds nodes where this field does not exist, or has no value. Warning: will find many nodes.
fieldName==Not set
"Defined"
A system node you can use in any field. Finds nodes where a field is defined/used in a supertag template, but might still be empty.
HasField:fieldName
"Not Defined"
A system node you can use in any field. Finds nodes where a field is not defined/used in a supertag template, or does not exist. Warning: will find many nodes.
Other than inserting the parent/grandparent node relative to the search node, these values have additional features that apply to fields and dates:
They can point to a field on the P/GP node using dot notation.
Example 1: PARENT.Description will point at the Description field on the parent.
Example 2: On a meeting node you could have a search to find other meetings for the related project of this meeting:
#meeting
>Related project==PARENT.Related project
They can be used for date comparisons under any calendar node
Using PARENT in a search node under a week or year node can now be used for date comparisons such as “find all tasks completed this week”. These date items will get the right granularity (day vs. week/month/year)
Also, PARENT that points at a date or a day/week/year node can do simple arithmetic. PARENT-7 on a day node would get the day 7 days earlier, PARENT+3 on a week node will get a date 3 weeks in the future.
Dot notation and date arithmetic can be combined in a field value
You can combine fields with date arithmetic, so PARENT.Due date+3 will be replaced with a date 3 days ahead of the date in the Due date field.
Our Navigators have created a Tana Template full of search examples that allow you to interact with many of the operators below to see how they work. They cover the basics and will continuously be updated as we surface more useful examples from the community. Click below to save the resource in one of your Tana workspaces (opens a new tab):
In the query builder, see marker 4 for the location of the linter.
The linter uses simple "code" to display the query logic without the fluff of the query builder interface.
By reading the output of the linter, you'll be able to tell if your query is configured as intended or not.
You'll know because all search operators show up in the linter in very specific ways. For instance, the linter will often "transform" from one state to the other as you're adding or typing out the operators. These provide clear clues on whether the operators are correctly setup or not.
See the column "Linter" in the list of search operators for what they should appear like in the linter if properly added.
Put a search node in a day supertag template that has a field referencing the PARENT (will show up as "Date: Today, Wed, Oct 18" in linter). This will create searches that find nodes with dates that refer to that day like events, tasks, birthdays.
Put a search node in a supertag template that has a field referencing the PARENT (will show up as INSTANCE in the linter). This will make searches adapt based on the instance. Example: a #person supertag with a search node that looks for all meetings where this #person has attended.
If your #tasks have checkboxes and a date field that signifies a due/do date, or deadline, you can build a query in your daily page (important) to find all tasks that are 1. unchecked, and 2. older than today. It will look like this:
improvedIf you create a search under a tagged node, you can now right-click it and in the node editor bar, promote it to related content or to the supertag template. This gives you an easy way to customize the view of the node exactly the way you want, and means we can finally deprecate the use of this FAQ: https://tana.inc/faq/how-can-i-configure-the-view-of-a-search-node-that-exists-in-a-supertag-template
Shoutout to Navigator Darren for providing the stopgap measure! ()
improvedAdded support for search query FOR RELATIVE DATE THIS/NEXT/LAST YEAR ()
fixedFixed bug with creating a new node in a search that uses DATE OVERLAPS. Now it will initialize new nodes with the correct date. ()
fixedFixed bug where hard deleting a search that was a reference in related content would lead to deleting the original node ()
fixedFixed issue where on a node with two fields with the same field definition, sometimes the second field would be preferred for search or done state mapping. We now always look at the first field. ()
fixedFixed bug related to using PARENT+/-number in the "Date from calendar node" system field in searches, and also enabled Date from calendar node to work with a date range. ()
fixedWe no longer open calendar picker when you click in a calendar field in the query builder, to make it easier to type PARENT etc. You can still click the calendar icon or press space to pop up the picker. We also no longer show the yellow validation warning for "wrong" field values in the query builder. ()
fixedFixed bug where search nodes with PARENT/GRANDPARENT expressions with trailing spaces showed incorrect "Missing field" even though search actually ran correctly. ()
newNew search operator DATE OVERLAPS, will match any date or date range that overlaps/intersects with the mentioned date. For example searching for March 3rd 2024 will match March 3rd at 10AM (more specific) just like a normal date search, but also March 3rd-March 4th, March 2nd-March 4th, March 2024, 2024, etc.
How to use:
DATE OVERLAPS:: YourDateField:: dateValueToOverlapWith ()
improvedNew nodes created in a search that has a CHILD OF pointing to a field definition, will now be created in that field on the node the search is under. ()
fixedFixed bug related to creating new nodes in searches with system fields like Date/Due date: we now fill in the correct value ()
fixedWe fixed a bug where the query builder under a heading would look strange. ()
While there isn't a search operator to target URL nodes, they all use a system-defined node to store the URL. You can grab the field definition for it in one of the URLs. and it will retrieve all nodes that use this field, which will be mostly URL nodes.
Note that the pasting of the URL search node into the search is to limit the search to only children within that node.
When creating a search node in a supertag template, you can make it a scoped search which looks at all descendants within each supertag instance by using the search operator PARENTS DESCENDANTS and its variations. For more on scoped search operators, see Search nodes.
Nodes can "clone" attributes from parent/ancestor nodes through field initialization settings. This can help you resurface things based on related attributes.
For instance, if your meeting is about a certain client, your #meeting tag may have a field called Client where your "Acme Inc." client is defined. Then, when you are taking meeting notes and define a #task there, your task can have the same Client field inherit the field value "Acme Inc.", which connects it to the same client as the meeting. Then you can separately search for all tasks that are related to that particular client.
For more on field initialization, check out Fields
The query doesn't run in the template editor and so there are no search results available with which to set sort or group options. Until we have fixed this issue, this is a workaround that has been perfected by community member Darren Brierton (this is part of the new series called Darren's Frequently Answered Questions, or the D'FAQ if you may).
What is the difference between the field operator CHILD OF and the keyword operator PARENTS DESCENDANTS
Feb 13, 2024
The search operators CHILD OF and PARENTS DESCENDANTS are similar, but have some key differences:
With CHILD OF, the target node is the node that you reference in it, and the results will only be direct children of the referenced node, including references
With PARENTS DESCENDANTS, the target node is the parent relative to the search node, and the results will match any descendant (children, grandchildren, great grandchildren etc.) of the target node, ignoring reference nodes
With PARENTS DESCENDANTS WITH REFS, the same as PARENTS DESCENDANTS except it includes reference nodes.
Background: Early on in Tana's history the team wanted a way to find overdue tasks but there was no current way of searching for nodes with dates relative to a certain date. So, the system field "Due Date" along with the search operator OVERDUE was created specifically this reason.
But since the introduction of LT / GT (less than/greater than) operators, there is no reason to use the system Due Date field, along with the OVERDUE search operator.
A user defined field for Date or Due Date offers more flexibility:
You can use initialize feature if desired
Consistent color with other fields
You can hide the field
Example of a query to find nodes with a date that is past a certain time:
How can I find all nodes that have a specific word?
Feb 13, 2024
There are multiple ways to search for a specific word - say you're looking for all nodes with the word bottle in it.
Option 1: Use the global search (Cmd/Ctrl+S) and enter bottle - then Option+Enter - and the search will be made into a search node in your workspace, and shown in a panel
Option 2: Cmd/Ctrl+K > Find nodes with text="bottle" as list
Option 3: In a search node, enter >LINKS TO::@bottle to find only linked items to the node
Option 4: In a search node, if you're searching for a node that has this word within its field's value, enter the field in the search and the value /bottle/ . Be sure to put the slashes as shown, this will run the value as a regex match
It depends on what you want to find, the context of the search (which part of the graph it is made in), and the time scale/granularity you are looking for.
Below are possible queries you can use to find date-related things in Tana. A quick legend: > : Typing this key starts a field anywhere in Tana, so we prefix fields with this sign when writing out queries in text
LT/GT : Less than/Greater than field operators
text : Text in this style is meant to be written out
