Power Apps Search Series : Querying Dataverse with Full-Text Search

In the previous post, we introduced Dataverse Search and when to use it over traditional query methods. Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get hands-on with the Query API, which allows you to programmatically search Dataverse data using full-text, relevance-based search.

What Is the Query API?

The Dataverse Search Query API allows developers to perform full-text searches across indexed tables and columns using REST-based or SDK-based methods.

You can pass a search term and get ranked results that match across multiple entities, fields, and even partial words.

Sample API Request

Here’s a typical API call to search for “Contoso” in your Dataverse environment:

POST https://<env>.crm.dynamics.com/api/search/v1.0/query HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAi...
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "searchTerm": "Contoso",
  "entities": [
    {
      "name": "account"
    },
    {
      "name": "contact"
    }
  ]
}

This request searches across account and contact tables for anything matching “Contoso” in a searchable field.

Response Explained

Here’s a simplified version of a sample response:

{
  "value": [
    {
      "entityName": "account",
      "entityId": "12345...",
      "score": 5.67,
      "highlightedFields": [
        {
          "fieldName": "name",
          "fieldValue": "<em>Contoso</em> Ltd."
        }
      ],
      "document": {
        "name": "Contoso Ltd.",
        "accountnumber": "A12345"
      }
    },
    ...
  ]
}

Key Response Fields

This makes it ideal for building responsive search experiences where the most relevant data is surfaced first.

Advanced Query Options

Entity Filters

"entities": [
  {
    "name": "account",
    "filter": "statecode eq 0"
  }
]

You can limit results to records that match certain OData filter expressions (e.g., only Active records).

Paging

"pagingInfo": {
  "pageNumber": 1,
  "count": 10
}

Paginate through results efficiently.

Facets (Aggregation)

"facets": [
  {
    "field": "customertypecode"
  }
]

Get grouped counts (e.g., number of matches per customer type).

When to Use the Search Query API

SDK Usage Example

In C# (via Dataverse SDK):

var request = new SearchQueryRequest
{
    SearchTerm = "Contoso",
    Entities = new List<EntityQuery>()
    {
        new EntityQuery("account"),
        new EntityQuery("contact")
    }
};
var response = (SearchQueryResponse)service.Execute(request);
foreach (var result in response.Results)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{result.EntityName} - {result.Document["name"]}");
}