> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.entire.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Search Troubleshooting

> Fix common semantic search and Code Search issues in the CLI, entire.io, and the `search` Skill.

Use this page when Search does not appear or cannot find the work or code you expect.

Before troubleshooting, review [What Is Indexed and When](/guides/search/what-is-indexed). Local-only work, indexing delay, repository scope, and a valid query with no matches can all explain an empty result.

## Login and Setup

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The CLI Says You Are Not Authenticated">
    Run:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire login
    ```

    Search only returns repositories, history, and code your account can access.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="`entire search` Does Not Appear in `entire --help`">
    [Update the Entire CLI](/installation#install-and-update-entire), then check the installed version:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire version
    ```

    `entire checkpoint search` is an equivalent alias in every version.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Your Agent Is Not Using Search

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The Search Skill Returns No Useful History">
    Confirm the agent has the [Skills workflow](/learn/skills) installed and can run `entire search --json`.

    Make the prompt more specific:

    ```text theme={null}
    search past work for duplicate validation in the checkout form
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Results Are Missing or Incomplete

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Recent Work or Code Does Not Appear">
    Confirm the work has been committed and pushed, then give Entire a couple minutes to index it.

    Check that the current repository is Entire-enabled:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire status
    ```

    If the work happened in another repository, use `--repo OWNER/REPO` or `--all-repos`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Search Warns That Results May Be Incomplete">
    A query fans out across regions, and a slow or unreachable one degrades the response instead of hanging it. entire.io reports that some sources were unavailable, and the CLI writes `results may be incomplete` to standard error.

    Run the query again. If the warning persists, scope it to a repository that lives outside the affected region:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire search "retry logic" --repo OWNER/REPO
    ```

    One query fans out to every region holding repositories you can access, so narrowing to a repository in the failing region does not help. That is where the query has to go. Check [status.entire.io](https://status.entire.io/) for a regional incident.

    Semantic search reports this warning on standard error only, so `--json` output carries no sign of it. Code Search reports the affected jurisdictions in its JSON.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Results Are Not What You Expected

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Search Returns Results from the Wrong Scope">
    CLI search is scoped to the current repository by default, while entire.io searches all accessible indexed repositories.

    Search one repository from the CLI:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire search "retry logic" --repo OWNER/REPO
    ```

    Search all accessible repositories:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire search "retry logic" --all-repos
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Search Opens an Interactive View When You Expected Plain Output">
    Use `--json` for scripts, automation, or agent instructions:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire search "auth token refresh" --json
    ```

    Running a semantic search in a terminal opens the interactive results view. Redirected or piped output is JSON automatically.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Past-Work Results Are Too Broad">
    Add a feature name, error message, file, decision, or filter that would have appeared in the prompt, commit, or transcript:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire search "duplicate validation error banner" branch:main date:month
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Code Search Does Not Find the Expected Code">
    Code Search matches literal text, not a description of behavior. Search for a function or variable name, error message, config key, or unique string that appears in the file.

    If you remember the work but not the source text, use semantic and keyword search without `--code`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A Multi-Term Code Search Returns Nothing">
    Code Search matches your query literally, so a phrase of several words often has no match even when each word appears in the repository. Search one distinctive token instead:

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire search --code "import-history"
    ```

    Use semantic search without `--code` when you want to describe the change rather than name the text.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="`author:`, `branch:`, or `date:` Do Not Filter Code Search">
    Code Search supports only the `repo:` inline filter. It reads the other tokens as literal query text. Use semantic search without `--code` when you need author, branch, or date filters.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can Code Search Match Exact Letter Case?">
    Not currently. The CLI accepts `--case-sensitive`, but the search backend does not yet apply it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="`checkpoint explain --repo` Rejects a Commit SHA">
    `entire checkpoint explain` takes a checkpoint ID or a commit SHA, and it resolves a commit through the `Entire-Checkpoint` trailer in your local clone. Adding `--repo` removes that fallback, so a cross-repository lookup needs the full [checkpoint ID](/glossary#checkpoint-id) the result carries rather than a commit SHA.

    ```shell theme={null}
    entire checkpoint explain 01KVBJCWYA4YW6J5M9GP655HZN --repo OWNER/REPO --no-pager
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Continue With

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Search" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/guides/search/overview">
    Compare semantic and keyword search with literal Code Search.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Search in the CLI" icon="terminal" href="/guides/search/search-in-cli">
    Review both CLI search modes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="What Is Indexed and When" icon="database" href="/guides/search/what-is-indexed">
    Check availability, timing, scope, and empty-result expectations.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>