Query Language Guide

Hister provides a query language that allows you to search through your content with precision. This guide explains the different query types and search techniques available.

Basic Search

Simply type any word to search across all fields:

hister

This searches for “hister” in the title, text content, URL, and domain of all indexed pages.

Quoted Phrases

Use double quotes to search for exact phrases:

"privacy policy"

This finds pages containing the exact phrase “privacy policy” (not just pages with both words separately).

Examples:

"self-hosted applications"
"data privacy regulations"
"end-to-end encryption"

Field-Specific Searches

You can search within specific fields using the field:value syntax:

Available Fields

  • title: - Search in page titles only
  • text: - Search in page content only
  • url: - Search in URLs only
  • domain: - Search in domain names only

Examples:

title:encryption

Finds pages with “encryption” in the title.

domain:github.com

Finds all pages from github.com.

url:*/security/*

Finds pages with “security” in the URL path.

text:"GDPR compliance"

Finds pages with “GDPR compliance” in the body text.

Privacy & Security Examples

title:privacy domain:mozilla.org
title:"security audit" text:vulnerability
url:*/privacy-policy
domain:privacyguides.org text:encryption

Wildcard Searches

Use asterisks (*) for wildcard matching:

secur*

Matches: security, secure, securing, etc.

*privacy*

Matches: privacy, myprivacy, privacytools, etc.

Field-specific wildcards:

domain:*.github.io
url:*/docs/*
title:*firewall*

Negation

Prefix terms with a minus sign (-) to exclude results:

privacy -facebook

Finds pages about privacy but excludes results containing “facebook”.

encryption title:-tutorial

Finds pages about encryption but not those with “tutorial” in the title.

Field-specific negation:

security domain:-facebook.com
title:hister url:-*/issues/*
privacy -"social media"

Alternation Expressions

Use parentheses with pipe (|) to create OR conditions:

(security|privacy|encryption)

Finds pages containing any of these terms.

title:(firewall|vpn|proxy)

Finds pages with firewall, VPN, or proxy in the title.

Combining with Other Queries

"data protection" (GDPR|CCPA|HIPAA)

Finds pages about data protection mentioning any of these regulations.

domain:(github.com|gitlab.com) title:security

Finds security-related pages from GitHub or GitLab.

Combining Query Types

You can combine all query types for powerful searches:

title:encryption "end-to-end" domain:(signal.org|whatsapp.com) -deprecated

This finds pages where:

  • “encryption” appears in the title
  • Contains the phrase “end-to-end”
  • From signal.org OR whatsapp.com domains
  • Does NOT contain “deprecated”

Real-World Examples

Finding privacy tools:

(privacy|security) tools "open source" -commercial

Research on specific topics:

"threat model" (encryption|authentication|authorization) -tutorial

Documentation searches:

title:(setup|installation|configuration) domain:(*.io|*.dev) hister

Security vulnerabilities:

(CVE|vulnerability|exploit) (2024|2025|2026) -"not affected"

Self-hosting resources:

"self-hosted" (docker|kubernetes|compose) title:(guide|tutorial)

Tips

1. Case Insensitivity

All searches are case-insensitive:

Privacy = privacy = PRIVACY

2. Wildcards and Performance

  • Leading wildcards (*term) are slower than trailing wildcards (term*)
  • Starting query with * immediately tries to find every document, that can lead to performance issues
  • Use field-specific wildcards when possible for better performance

3. Empty Alternations

Alternations must contain at least one option:

()           # Invalid
(a)          # Valid - single option
(a|b)        # Valid - multiple options

Query Best Practices

Start Broad, Then Narrow

# Start with:
encryption

# Refine to:
encryption privacy

# Further refine:
"end-to-end encryption" (signal|matrix) -deprecated

Use Field Searches for Precision

Instead of:

github security issue

Try:

domain:github.com title:(security|vulnerability) -closed

Combine Phrases with Alternations

"privacy policy" (updated|changed|revised) (2025|2026)

Common Use Cases

Finding Documentation

title:(docs|documentation|guide) domain:*.io hister

Research Topic

"zero-knowledge" (encryption|proof|architecture) -marketing

Tracking Updates

domain:mozilla.org (firefox|thunderbird) "release notes"

Security News

(vulnerability|CVE|security) "disclosure" -duplicate

Privacy Tools Comparison

"privacy" (comparison|vs|versus) (browser|vpn|email)

Troubleshooting Queries

No Results Found

  • Remove field restrictions and try a broader search
  • Check spelling and try wildcards
  • Remove negations to see what’s being excluded
  • Simplify alternations

Too Many Results

  • Add field-specific searches
  • Use quoted phrases for exact matches
  • Add negations to filter out unwanted content
  • Specify domains to narrow scope

Unexpected Results

  • Ensure quotes are properly closed
  • Check that parentheses are balanced
  • Verify field names are spelled correctly (title, text, url, domain)
  • Remember searches are case-insensitive