> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sourcebot-jminnetian-askskills.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Searching multiple branches and tags

By default, only the default branch of a repository is indexed and can be searched. Sourcebot can be configured to index additional branches (or tags) enabling multi-branch search. This is useful for scenarios such as:

* Searching across different releases
* Searching through feature branches during development
* Tracking changes across multiple maintenance branches simultaneously

## Configuration

<Warning>
  Multi-branch indexing is currently limited to 64 branches and tags. Please see [this issue](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/issues/461) for more details.
</Warning>

Multi-branch indexing is configured in the [connection](/docs/connections/indexing-your-code) using the `revisions.branches` and `revisions.tags` arrays. Glob patterns are supported. For example:

```json theme={null}
{
    "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/main/schemas/v3/index.json",
    "connections": {
        "my-connection": {
            "type": "github",
            // For each of the repositories defined in this connection...
            "repos": [
                "org/repo1",
                "org/repo2"
            ],
            // ... index the default branch, as well as...
            "revisions": {
                // These branches (if they exist):
                "branches": [
                    // Exact matches
                    "dev",
                    "staging",

                    // Glob patterns
                    "feature/*" // Matches: feature/auth, feature/ui, etc.
                ],
                
                // These tags (if they exist):
                "tags": [
                    // Exact matches
                    "v4.0.0-dev",
                    
                    // Glob patterns
                    "v3.*.*", // Matches: v3.0.0, v3.0.1, etc.
                    "rc-*"    // Matches: rc-1, rc-2, etc.
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}
```

For each repo defined in the connection, any branches or tags matching the patterns in `branches` and `tags` array will be indexed.

## Search syntax

To search branches other than the default, the `rev:` prefix can be used followed by the branch (or tag) name:

| Example                            | Explanation                                                                                      |
| :--------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `rev:feature/foo repo:A useEffect` | Search for `/useEffect/` on branch `feature/foo` in repo `A`                                     |
| `rev:feature/foo useEffect `       | Search for `/useEffect/` on branch `feature/foo` across all repos                                |
| `rev:feature/ useEffect`           | Search for `/useEffect/` on branches that contain `feature/` across all repos                    |
| `rev:feature/a rev:feature/b foo`  | Search for `/foo/` on branches `feature/a` and `feature/b`                                       |
| `rev:feature/ -rev:feature/a foo`  | Search for `/foo/` on branches that contain `feature/` *except* for `feature/a` across all repos |

To search across **all** branches, `rev:*`:

| Example                        | Explanation                                                            |
| :----------------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `rev:* repo:A "error message"` | Search for `/error message/` across **all** branches in repo `A`       |
| `rev:* "error message"`        | Search for `/error message/` across **all** branches and **all** repos |

Additional info:

* `refs/heads/` or `refs/tags/` can be included to fully qualify a branch or a tag, respectively. E.g., `rev:refs/heads/foo` will search the branch `foo`, while `rev:refs/tags/foo` will search the tag `foo`.
* `rev:` does **not** support regular expressions or glob patterns. It uses a simple `contains` call between the branch name and the pattern. See [here](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/zoekt/blob/7d1896215eea6f97af66c9549c9ec70436356b51/matchtree.go#L1067).

## Platform support

| Platform              | Multi-branch indexing support |
| :-------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| GitHub                | ✅                             |
| GitLab                | ✅                             |
| Bitbucket Cloud       | ✅                             |
| Bitbucket Data Center | ✅                             |
| Gitea                 | ✅                             |
| Gerrit                | ✅                             |
| Generic git host      | ✅                             |