Feature Request: VS Code Docs - Search Techniques and Support Exact String Matching

[theReynald]

Description

The VS Code documentation site does not currently provide clear guidance on how its search functionality works or which search techniques are supported.

For example, performing an exact phrase search using quotation marks (e.g. "agent mode") returns the same results as an unquoted search, which suggests that exact string matching is either not supported or not documented.

This makes it difficult to efficiently locate precise documentation, especially as the docs continue to grow and include more AI- and Agent-related content.

Requested Improvements

1. Document search behavior and techniques
   Add a visible section in the VS Code docs explaining:

   • Supported search operators (if any)
   • Whether phrase searches, partial matches, or fuzzy search are used
   • How ranking and relevance are determined
   • Any limitations or known behaviors of the search engine

2. Add support for exact string (phrase) search
   Enable exact phrase matching when users wrap terms in quotation marks (e.g. "agent mode"), so results only return pages containing that exact phrase.

3. Optional UI affordance
   Consider adding a tooltip, help link, or “Search tips” link near the search input to make these capabilities discoverable.

Why This Matters

As VS Code continues to evolve into an AI-first development environment, users increasingly rely on precise terminology such as Agent Mode, orchestration, and tools.

Improving search transparency and supporting exact matching would significantly improve discoverability and reduce friction when navigating the documentation.

Additional Context

See attached video demonstrating the issue, where quoted and unquoted searches return identical results.

[osortega]

We have some search documentation here: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editing/codebasics#_search-across-files
As well as find documentation: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editing/codebasics#_find-and-replace
Both specify behavior as well as the settings that might impact and how it would impact search and find.

We also have a wiki section that talks about limitations and known ripgrep behavior https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/wiki/Search-Issues

Please let me know if this is what you were looking for

/needsMoreInfo

[vs-code-engineering]

Thanks for creating this issue! We figured it's missing some basic information or in some other way doesn't follow our issue reporting guidelines. Please take the time to review these and update the issue.

For Copilot Issues, be sure to visit our Copilot-specific guidelines page for details on the necessary information.

Happy Coding!

[vs-code-engineering]

This issue has been closed as it has been labeled with info-needed and has not received the additional information that was requested from the issue author. It has been labeled as info-needed for 7 days.