X-Git-Url: https://git.cworth.org/git?a=blobdiff_plain;f=faq.mdwn;h=1cc224e8ed5d3c1602366c0a8e2a80a8db4f80a8;hb=9361fd7119813de5424ad16de8edde0363452d1b;hp=c2a878442d2c5a1b425907a0ca26e4829dd520e8;hpb=0c99e1bff4334dfb6df4eebe5e72d217366207b6;p=notmuch-wiki

diff --git a/faq.mdwn b/faq.mdwn
index c2a8784..1cc224e 100644
--- a/faq.mdwn
+++ b/faq.mdwn
@@ -41,3 +41,15 @@ Next, use that to query the messages:
 
         $ notmuch search $(notmuch search --output=tags \* | \
                 sed 's/^/not tag:/;2~1s/^/and /')
+
+## How do I search for punctuation, specific special characters, or regexp?
+
+Please see the [[notmuch-search-terms manual
+page|manpages/notmuch-search-terms-7]] first,
+
+The main thing to understand is that Xapian, and therefore Notmuch, searches are
+closer to natural language searches than regular expression
+searches. Punctuation is mostly ignored.
+
+The boolean prefix searches (see Boolean and Probabilistic Prefixes in the man
+page), such as tag: or path: searches, need an exact match.