Using the search-ms Protocol
The search-ms application protocol is a convention for querying the Windows Search index. The protocol enables applications, like Windows Explorer, to query the index with parameter-value arguments, including property arguments, previously saved searches, Advanced Query Syntax, Natural Query Syntax, and language code identifiers (LCIDs) for both the Indexer and the query itself. The search-ms protocol uses the following standard URL-encoded syntax:
search-ms:parameter=value[¶meter=value]&
The syntax begins by identifying the protocol itself (search-ms:). The parameter/value pairs are arguments passed to the Search engine, as described in the following table.
| Parameter | Value | Description | Version |
|---|
| query | URL-encoded text | The query text entered by the user. | Windows XP, and later |
| inputlocale | Any valid LCID | The LCID that identifies the input language for the query. | Windows XP, and later |
| keywordlocale | Any valid LCID | The LCID that identifies the language of the international version of the Indexer. The default is 1033 (en-us). | Windows XP, and later |
| crumb | AQS statement | This argument restricts the scope being searched. In Windows Vista, search-ms supports full AQS as well as a special implementation for a location argument. In Windows XP, search-ms also supports full AQS, except for a special implementation of kind and store. | Windows XP, and later |
| syntax | NQS, AQS (not case sensitive) | The query syntax to use to search the index: either Natural Query Syntax or Advanced Query Syntax (AQS). AQS is the default and is always assumed parsed and supported. | Windows Vista, and later |
| stackedby | Any valid property from the property system | A property that specifies the column to stack results by. | Windows Vista, and later |
| subquery | A fully specified path for a Saved Search file (*.search-ms) | The results of the subquery are used as the source for the query. That is, the query terms are searched for against the results of the subquery. | Windows Vista, and later |
| displayname | URL-encoded string | The name of the current search. | Windows Vista, and later |
Examples
search-ms:query=microsoft&
search-ms:query=vacation&subquery=mydepartment.search-ms&
search-ms:query=seattle&crumb=kind:pics&
search-ms:query=seattle&crumb=folder:C:\MyFolder&
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