---
stage: Data Stores
group: Global Search
info: "To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments"
type: reference
---

# Exact Code Search **(PREMIUM)**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/105049) in GitLab 15.9 [with a flag](../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `index_code_with_zoekt` and `search_code_with_zoekt` which enables indexing and searching respectively. Both are disabled by default.

WARNING:
Exact Code Search is an MVC. For the Exact Code Search feature roadmap, see [epic 9404](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/9404).
When this feature reaches the [**Alpha**](../../policy/alpha-beta-support.md#alpha-features) version, GitLab will dogfood it, and roll it out only to specific customers on GitLab.com who request access to it.
On self-managed GitLab, this feature is available and can be enabled. However, GitLab does not provide support or documentation at this development stage.

## Usage

When performing any Code search in GitLab it will choose to use "Exact Code
Search" powered by [Zoekt](https://github.com/sourcegraph/zoekt) if the project
is part of an enabled Group.

The main differences between Zoekt and [Advanced Search](advanced_search.md)
are that Zoekt provides exact substring matching as well as allows you to
search for regular expressions. Since it allows searching for regular
expressions, certain special characters will require escaping. Backslash can
escape special characters and wrapping in double quotes can be used for phrase
searches.