The Pathways API allows you to search for items in the portal, Collaboration, or Publisher, as well as for users (experts). All search queries use a standard set of query parameters. For a detailed list of parameters, see Pathways API Search Query Parameters. You can also retrieve specific items or lists of items without using a search query; for details, see Retrieving Data Using the Pathways API. To create and manage saved searches, see Creating and Managing Saved Searches Using the Pathways API.

For example, the request below submits a search for items containing the text “Planetary Science” with the result set constrained to two items:

GET /pathways/api/items?format=XML&query=planetary+science&resultCount=2

The response contains the search results, as shown in the example below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<soc:PResultList xmlns:soc="http://social.bea.com/pathways">
    <item>
        <activityRank>0.0</activityRank>
        <classId>18</classId>
        <description>...featured a hit piece on Dr. S. Fred Singer, the esteemed Professor Emeritus of environmental &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;science&lt;/span&gt; at the University of Virginia...featured a hit piece on Dr. S. Fred Singer, the esteemed Professor Emeritus of environmental &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;science&lt;/span&gt; at the University of Virginia. In a segment disgracefully entitled &amp;quot;Welcome to 'The Denial Machine...scientists that disagree with what your saying. The IPCC, NASA, NOAA, the National Academy of &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;Sciences&lt;/span&gt;, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological...cyclicity in varves and turbidites from the Arabian Sea: hypothesis of tidal origin (Global and &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;Planetary&lt;/span&gt; Change, Volume 34, Issues 3-4, Pages 313-325, November 2002) - W. H. Bergera, U...M. Kauffman, Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, MIT, USA Joel Schwartz, B.S. Chemistry, M.S. &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;Planetary&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;Science&lt;/span&gt;, California Institute of Technology, USA John Brignell, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Department of Electronics &amp;amp; Computer...</description>
        <folderClassId>17</folderClassId>
        <folderId>200</folderId>
        <folderName>\Knowledge Directory\Test</folderName>
        <iconLink>plumtree/portal/public/img/sml{52a5a5a0-84c9-11d2-a0c5-0060979c42d8}.gif</iconLink>
        <isFavorite>false</isFavorite>
        <lastModified>2008-03-24T05:38:00-07:00</lastModified>
        <name>ABC's Global Warming Hit Piece &quot;Welcome to 'The Denial Machine'&quot; | NewsBusters.org</name>
        <objectId>8267</objectId>
        <path>\Knowledge Directory\Test</path>
        <rank>1</rank>
        <resultScore>2.84252</resultScore>
        <source>PTPORTAL</source>
        <type>Document</type>
        <URL>http://smahendr03.amer.bea.com:8080/portal/server.pt?open=18&amp;objID=8267&amp;mode=2&amp;in_hi_userid=1</URL>
        <viewDetailURL>http://smahendr03.amer.bea.com:8080/portal/server.pt?objID=8267&amp;open=18&amp;mode=3&amp;subspace=mySubspaceKey&amp;space=Opener</viewDetailURL>
    </item>
    <item>
        <activityRank>0.0</activityRank>
        <classId>18</classId>
        <description>...Coverage of &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;science&lt;/span&gt; by SignOnSanDiego.com and The San Diego Union-Tribune...Pension Crisis Special Reports Video Multimedia Photo Galleries Topics Education Features Health | Fitness Military Politics &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;Science&lt;/span&gt; Solutions Opinion Columnists Steve Breen Forums Weblogs Communities U-T South County U-T East...asteroid to determine whether it is on a potentially disastrous collision course with Earth, The &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;Planetary&lt;/span&gt; Society announced Tuesday. WASHINGTON, 2:01 p.m. Feb. 25 (AP) Limiting fish catch to...Museum of Man San Diego Natural History Museum SDSU College of Engineering SDSU College of &lt;span class=&quot;ptHighlight&quot;&gt;Sciences&lt;/span&gt; San Diego Supercomputer Center San Diego Zoological Society Scripps Institution of Oceanography Scripps Research Institute...</description>
        <folderClassId>17</folderClassId>
        <folderId>200</folderId>
        <folderName>\Knowledge Directory\Test</folderName>
        <iconLink>plumtree/portal/public/img/sml{52a5a5a0-84c9-11d2-a0c5-0060979c42d8}.gif</iconLink>
        <isFavorite>false</isFavorite>
        <lastModified>2008-03-24T05:41:00-07:00</lastModified>
        <name>SignOnSanDiego.com &gt; News &gt; Science</name>
        <objectId>9238</objectId>
        <path>\Knowledge Directory\Test</path>
        <rank>2</rank>
        <resultScore>2.68074</resultScore>
        <source>PTPORTAL</source>
        <type>Document</type>
        <URL>http://smahendr03.amer.bea.com:8080/portal/server.pt?open=18&amp;objID=9238&amp;mode=2&amp;in_hi_userid=1</URL>
        <viewDetailURL>http://smahendr03.amer.bea.com:8080/portal/server.pt?objID=9238&amp;open=18&amp;mode=3&amp;subspace=mySubspaceKey&amp;space=Opener</viewDetailURL>
    </item>
    <totalCount>102</totalCount>
</soc:PResultList>