Suede
On this page

Search Control: the unified syntax

Last updated

Search Control is Suede's one-line command language for steering results. Two sigils carry it — ! means go, @ means context — and five tools extend the basic operators ("exact phrase", -word, site:, filetype:), all driven from the same search box:

  • Bangs (!) — hand the query to another site's search, inline: about 13,500 DuckDuckGo-compatible bangs plus your own.
  • Snaps & context (@) — set the search's context: saved site groups, views, time ranges, verticals, and one-off domains. Tokens stack, and + joins them into AND-groups.
  • Views — saved bundles of ranking rules you switch on from the search box; every view activates as an @ token by its slug.
  • Domain ranking — permanently block, lower, raise, or pin sites, with a per-result Adjust control.
  • Redirects — rewrite result links before you click them (for example, reddit.com to old.reddit.com).

How a query is read

Suede parses your text once for Search-Control tokens, then runs the search on what remains:

  1. A leading \ (or a bare ! anywhere) means feeling lucky — go straight to the first result.
  2. A leading run of @ tokens sets the context — snaps, views, time ranges, verticals, ad-hoc domains. The first unrecognized token ends the run and stays literal text.
  3. A bang (!…) routes the query to another site — the first recognized bang wins, and any @ context is dropped, since an external engine can't honor it.
  4. Anything not recognized becomes ordinary search terms. An unknown bang or @ token is left in the query untouched, so a search never breaks.
TEXT
!g vintage cameras        → routes to Google
@images old cameras       → image search for "old cameras"
@docs http client         → search "http client" scoped to your "docs" snap
@docs+week http client    → the docs sites AND the past week

Where it all lives

Manage your bangs, snaps, views, and ranking rules under Settings → Search Control. Search Control is part of personalization: the master personalization toggle governs it, and you can switch it off for a single search by appending ?pz=0 to the results URL (or by following the raw results link on the results page).

Each feature has its own page. Begin with Bangs (!) and Snaps & context (@).

Was this page helpful?