---
title: "Reddit search syntax"
url: "https://pitchghost.com/docs/search-syntax/reddit"
description: "The operators and rules for Reddit content finder search queries, and how to write queries that find enough posts and comments."
---

A search query decides which posts and comments your Reddit content finder Ghost reads. Your [goal](/docs/ghosts/goals) decides which of them become Finds. Keep queries broad and let the goal do the judging.

Queries are keyword searches of up to 3000 characters, and a Ghost takes up to 15 of them. Write keywords, not sentences.

## Operators

| Operator | What it matches | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| word word | Every word must appear, in any order. A space means AND. | watching now |
| "exact phrase" | The exact phrase, word for word. | "happy hour drinks" |
| OR | Either term, or both. Write it in capitals. | love OR hate |
| -word | Leaves out posts and comments with the word or quoted phrase. | indie hacker -hiring -"for hire" |
| ( ) | Groups a list of OR options so it combines with the other terms. | favorite (movie OR show) |

## Rules

-   A query can be up to 3000 characters long.
-   A Ghost can have up to 15 queries.
-   No colons (:) and no \* wildcard.
-   Do not write AND or NOT outside quotes, in any capitalization. A space already means AND, and - leaves a word out.
-   Write OR in capitals. Any other or outside quotes is rejected, so put natural-language text inside a quoted phrase.
-   OR joins single words or quoted phrases only. When an OR list sits next to other terms, wrap it in parentheses: roofing ("pen and paper" OR whiteboard).
-   Parentheses go one level deep and cannot hold a - exclusion. Put exclusions after the group: (tax OR compliance) -crypto.
-   OR cannot start or end a query, and cannot sit next to another OR or a - exclusion.
-   Common words such as my, the and with are ignored by the search, so do not rely on them.
-   Use straight double quotes ("). Curly quotes (“ ” ‘ ’) and the + sign are rejected.
-   Every opening quote and parenthesis needs a closing one.

## Examples

| Query | What it finds |
| --- | --- |
| "need help with" (bookkeeping OR accounting) | Posts and comments with the phrase "need help with" and also bookkeeping or accounting. |
| ("recommend me" OR "suggest me") (movie OR film) | Posts and comments with "recommend me" or "suggest me", and also movie or film. |
| (tax OR compliance) -crypto | Posts and comments with tax or compliance that do not mention crypto. |

## Write queries that find enough

A broad query with a precise goal beats a long exact-phrase query. Every quoted phrase and every extra word cuts volume.

-   Words match by their root, so `switching` also matches “switch” and “switched”. You don’t need to list every form.
-   Quote a phrase only when the words mean something different apart, such as `"payroll provider"`.
-   Put the sentence in the goal and the keywords in the query. “Looking for a payroll app that handles contractors” is a goal.
-   Describe what makes a post good or bad in the goal instead of adding more keywords.

For a payroll software company, `"payroll provider" (switching OR leaving OR cancel) -hiring` finds posts such as “We’re switching payroll providers after three bad months” and leaves out hiring posts.

## Choose subreddits with filters

Where something was posted is a filter, not part of the query. Use Subreddits to search only where your customers post and Excluded subreddits to skip the ones that produce noise.

## Mistakes that get a query rejected

| Rejected | Write instead |
| --- | --- |
| payroll software or service | payroll (software OR service) |
| payroll not working | "payroll not working" |
| (payroll OR -crypto) | (payroll OR wages) -crypto |
| "need help" payroll OR taxes | "need help" (payroll OR taxes) |

Quotes pasted from a document are often curly. Retype them as straight quotes.