Confluence Search API (/wiki/rest/api/search) Not Returning Accurate Results Compared to UI Search

[Himanshu Ganglani]

Problem Statement: 
We are using the Confluence Cloud API for advanced search with CQL, but we are experiencing discrepancies between the search results from the Confluence UI and the API. We are using following CQL query

API doc: 
https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/advanced-searching-using-cql/ 

CQL :  title~"custom"++OR+title~"applications"

In the UI, the results differ significantly from those returned by the API.

Expected Behavior:

The API search should return the same results as the UI search when using equivalent search criteria.

Actual Behavior:

The API search should be similar to ui search results

Needs Investigation ?

1. Are there any differences in how the API and UI interpret CQL queries?
2. Could there be permission issues that affect API searches differently from UI searches?
3. Are there any known limitations or bugs with the API search functionality?
4. How can we debug the API request to understand why it's not returning results?

[Marc - Devoteam]

Hi @Himanshu Ganglani 

Welcome to the community.

Can you share the results and the difference from both searches?

Do mind the documentation you used is based on an on-prem installation of Confluence not Cloud!

The APi's are very different.

Cloud documentation on CQL, advanced-searching-using-cql 

[Himanshu Ganglani]

Hi @Marc - Devoteam ,

We're using the Cloud API and a cloud instance for Confluence.

Could you please help me correct the CQL so that it returns the same results in the API as in the UI search?

[Marc - Devoteam]

Hi @Himanshu Ganglani 

What are the differences you see, searching via the GUI or API?

And in my opinion the API call should be: cql=title~"test"%20OR%20title~"jira"

Keep in mind that the limit of returned information is 25 results.