# /ifixit/guides/search

`POST /api/ifixit/guides/search`

Price: 5 credits

Search iFixit repair guides by keywords, device, component and difficulty

## How to use it

The way in to iFixit when all you have is words: a device name, a symptom or a component. Each result carries the guide id the guide endpoint takes, so use this to resolve a name into an id rather than guessing one. device, device_category and part match iFixit's own catalogue names exactly rather than as free text, so put loose wording in query and keep these for names you have already seen in a result or on a device page. Rows arrive ordered by score, iFixit's own popularity ranking, so do not read the head of the list as the newest work.

## Parameters

- `access-token` (string, required)

## Request body

- `timeout` (integer) — Max scrapping execution timeout (in seconds) (default: 300; min: 20; max: 1500)
- `query` (string, nullable) — Words to match in the guide title and body. Omit to browse by filters alone
- `count` (integer, required) — Max number of results (min: 1; max: 1000)
- `language` (string) — Which language edition of the guide catalogue to search (default: "en"; one of: "en", "de", "es", "fr", "it", "jp", "ko", "nl", "pt", "ru", "tr", "zh")
- `device` (array) — Exact device names, as written on the device page. Several values widen the result (default: []; examples: ["iPhone 13"])
- `device_category` (array) — Names of any device category above the guide's device, from the broad class down to the model family (default: []; examples: ["Phone"])
- `part` (array) — The component the guide works on (default: []; examples: ["Battery"])
- `guide_type` (array) — Kind of procedure the guide documents (default: []; one of: "replacement", "technique", "disassembly", "teardown")
- `flags` (array) — Editorial markers the guide carries, such as GUIDE_STARRED for staff-picked guides (default: []; examples: ["GUIDE_STARRED"])
- `difficulty_min` (integer, nullable) — Lowest difficulty rating to accept (min: 1)
- `difficulty_max` (integer, nullable) — Highest difficulty rating to accept (min: 1)
- `min_view_count` (integer, nullable) — Only guides read at least this many times (min: 0)
- `modified_after` (integer, nullable) — Only guides edited at or after this unix timestamp, in seconds (min: 0)
- `modified_before` (integer, nullable) — Only guides edited at or before this unix timestamp, in seconds (min: 0)

## Response

### 200 — Successful Response

- `@type` (string) (default: "IfixitGuideSearchResult")
- `id` (string, required)
- `name` (string, required)
- `url` (string, nullable)
- `summary` (string, nullable)
- `text` (string, nullable)
- `image` (string, nullable)
- `device` (string, nullable)
- `device_ancestors` (array) (default: [])
- `part` (string, nullable)
- `guide_type` (string, nullable)
- `difficulty_level` (integer, nullable)
- `language` (string, nullable)
- `is_public` (boolean, nullable)
- `is_teardown` (boolean, nullable)
- `view_count` (integer, nullable)
- `modified_at` (integer, nullable)
- `score` (integer, nullable)
- `tags` (array) (default: [])
- `flags` (array) (default: [])
- `team_ids` (array) (default: [])
- `author_id` (string, nullable)

## Errors

### 422 — Validation Error

The request body did not validate

What to do: Check the fields against this schema. A URN with the wrong prefix is the most common cause.

- `detail` (array)
  - `loc` (array, required)
  - `msg` (string, required)
  - `type` (string, required)
  - `input` (any)
  - `ctx` (object)

### 408

The request ran past its time limit

What to do: Raise `timeout` in the request body, up to the maximum this endpoint documents. Lowering `count` or turning off the `with_*` flags also helps, because less work finishes sooner.

### 412

The entity was not found, or a precondition failed

What to do: Retrying will not help: either the entity does not exist, or the input points at a different one.

### 429

Too many requests: a rate limit or a usage window is exhausted

What to do: When the response carries an X-Retry-After header, wait that many seconds and retry: the same number is in the body as `detail.retry_after`, and the limit clears once that window passes. The message in the body names the limit that was hit.

### 500

Something broke on our side

What to do: Retrying will not help. If it keeps happening, send us the X-Request-ID from the response headers.

### 529

Rate limit reached, or the endpoint is overloaded

What to do: Wait at least 30 seconds, then retry.

## Response envelope

Success: Array of objects (may be empty if no results)

Error: Error may coexist with partial results if it occurs mid-execution. Check X-Error header and status code.

Every response carries these headers:

- `X-Error` — Error message text (present only on error)
- `X-Request-ID` — Unique request identifier
- `X-Execution-Time` — Execution time in seconds
- `X-Result-Count` — How many records the body carries. 0 means an empty result, which is a normal answer and not by itself an error. A non-zero count can come back together with X-Error when the failure happened partway through — read this header and X-Error independently.
- `X-Total-Available-Results` — How many records exist for this query, when the endpoint can say. On a `dry_run` request this is the answer and the body is empty. It saturates: the endpoint's documented maximum means 'at least that many', any smaller number is exact.
- `X-Warning` — Present when the request body carried keys this endpoint does not document. They were ignored, so any filter you meant to apply through them did not apply. Check the spelling against this schema and retry.
- `X-Retry-After` — Seconds to wait before retrying. Present only on 429.