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@gokhanarkan gokhanarkan commented Aug 6, 2025

Fix duplicate filter issues across all search tools

Closes: #817

Problem

Multiple search tools were incorrectly adding duplicate filters to user queries, causing GitHub API validation errors when users provided queries that already contained these filters. This affected three main areas:

1. Search Issues & Pull Requests (search_issues, search_pull_requests)

  • Added duplicate is: and repo: filters
  • Caused "More than five AND/OR/NOT operators were used" errors
  • Broke complex queries with existing filters

2. User & Organization Search (search_users, search_orgs)

  • Added duplicate type: filters unconditionally
  • Caused HTTP 422 validation errors for queries already containing type:user or type:org

Example bugs:

  • Issues: "repo:github/repo is:issue""is:issue repo:github/repo is:issue"
  • Users: "type:user location:seattle""type:user type:user location:seattle"

Solution

Implemented comprehensive duplicate filter prevention across all search tools with a unified approach:

Core Helper Functions

// Detect specific filter:value combinations
func hasSpecificFilter(query, filterType, filterValue string) bool

// Detect any filter of a given type  
func hasFilter(query, filterType string) bool

// Convenience functions for common cases
func hasRepoFilter(query string) bool
func hasTypeFilter(query string) bool

Fixed Search Handlers

Issues/Pull Requests (searchHandler):

// Only add is:searchType if exact filter doesn't exist
if !hasSpecificFilter(query, "is", searchType) {
    query = fmt.Sprintf("is:%s %s", searchType, query)
}

// Only add repo filter if none exists  
if owner != "" && repo != "" && !hasRepoFilter(query) {
    query = fmt.Sprintf("repo:%s/%s %s", owner, repo, query)
}

Users/Organizations (userOrOrgHandler):

// Only add type filter if none exists
if !hasTypeFilter(query) {
    searchQuery = "type:" + accountType + " " + query
}

Enhanced Debugging & Observability

Added comprehensive logging to track filter logic and API interactions:

  • Server initialization: Token validation and API endpoint logging
  • Query construction: Shows original vs final queries with filter addition logic
  • API responses: Detailed HTTP status, headers, and error bodies
  • Authentication tracking: Masked token logging for security

This helps diagnose issues and validates that our fixes are working correctly in production.

What This Fixes

search_issues: No more duplicate is:issue or repo: filters
search_pull_requests: No more duplicate is:pr or repo: filters
search_users: No more duplicate type:user filters
search_orgs: No more duplicate type:org filters
Complex queries: OR operators and parentheses work without hitting API limits
User experience: Existing filters in queries are always preserved
Debugging: Clear logging shows exactly what's happening at each step

Testing

Added extensive test coverage across all affected areas:

Unit Tests:

  • 25+ test cases for helper functions covering edge cases
  • Integration tests for each search tool with duplicate filter scenarios
  • Complex query tests with OR operators and parentheses
  • Regression tests ensuring existing functionality is preserved

Manual Validation:

  • Verified fix works with authentication in place
  • Tested against live GitHub API with various query patterns
  • Confirmed logging provides clear visibility into filter logic

Real-World Impact

This fix resolves the frustrating experience users had when their perfectly valid GitHub search queries would fail with cryptic API errors. Now users can:

  • Use complex queries with confidence: "repo:owner/repo is:issue (label:bug OR label:enhancement OR label:feature)"
  • Provide queries with existing filters without worrying about duplicates
  • Get clear debug information when issues occur
  • Have a consistent experience across all search tools

Alternatives Considered

  1. API-level deduplication: Let GitHub handle duplicate filters

    • Discarded: GitHub returns validation errors, poor UX
  2. Query rewriting: Parse and reconstruct queries to remove conflicts

    • Discarded: Too complex, fragile, could break edge cases
  3. Per-tool fixes: Fix each search tool individually

    • Discarded: Code duplication, inconsistent behavior
  4. User education: Document that users shouldn't include certain filters

    • Discarded: Bad UX, GitHub's own UI includes these filters

The chosen approach provides a clean, maintainable solution that works consistently across all search tools while preserving user intent and providing excellent debugging capabilities.

Migration Notes

This is a backward-compatible fix. Existing queries will continue to work exactly as before, but queries that previously failed due to duplicate filters will now succeed.

No configuration changes or user action required - the fix is transparent and automatic.

gokhanarkan and others added 3 commits August 6, 2025 19:58
…ions

- Added multiple test cases for searching issues with various query filters in `issues_test.go`.
- Introduced utility functions in `search_utils.go` to check for specific filters and extract repository information from queries.
- Created comprehensive tests in `search_utils_test.go` to validate the new filtering logic and ensure accurate query parsing.
- Renamed `extractRepoFilter` to `hasRepoFilter` to simplify the function's purpose.
- Updated test cases in `search_utils_test.go` to reflect the new function name and logic.
- Adjusted tests to focus on the presence of the `repo:` filter rather than extracting owner and repo details.
@shreyabaid007
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shreyabaid007 commented Aug 9, 2025

Thanks @gokhanarkan for taking up my issue #817. This is a good approach to fixing the duplicate filter issue.

I know this is still in draft. However, I've identified that the exact same pattern as the original bug also exists in the userOrOrgHandler function and needs to be addressed as well.

DUPLICATE FILTER ISSUE IN search.go

searchQuery := "type:" + accountType + " " + query
  • Impact: If user query already contains type:user or type:org, creates duplicates and results in HTTP 422 Validation Failed

  • Total Affected Tools: search_users, search_pull_requests, search_users and search_orgs

gokhanarkan and others added 2 commits August 11, 2025 18:17
…y functions

- Added new test cases for searching pull requests and users with various query filters in `pullrequests_test.go` and `search_test.go`.
- Implemented a utility function `hasTypeFilter` in `search_utils.go` to check for the presence of `type:` filters in queries.
- Updated the search handler to conditionally prepend the `type:` filter based on the presence of existing filters, improving query handling.
@gokhanarkan
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Thanks @gokhanarkan for taking up my issue #817. This is a good approach to fixing the duplicate filter issue.

I know this is still in draft. However, I've identified that the exact same pattern as the original bug also exists in the userOrOrgHandler function and needs to be addressed as well.

DUPLICATE FILTER ISSUE IN search.go

searchQuery := "type:" + accountType + " " + query
  • Impact: If user query already contains type:user or type:org, creates duplicates and results in HTTP 422 Validation Failed
  • Total Affected Tools: search_users, search_pull_requests, search_users and search_orgs

@shreyabaid007 I've fixed it using the same approach as the is: filter fix.

What I fixed:

  • Added hasTypeFilter() helper function
  • Modified userOrOrgHandler to only add type: when not already present
  • Added comprehensive tests for search_users and search_orgs
  • Extended search_pull_requests tests to prevent regressions

The fix:

// Before: always added type: filter (broken)
searchQuery := "type:" + accountType + " " + query

// After: only add if missing (fixed)
if !hasTypeFilter(query) {
    searchQuery = "type:" + accountType + " " + query
}

This prevents duplicate type:user and type:org filters that were causing HTTP 422 errors. Same pattern as your original issue, same solution!

Thanks for the thorough analysis - this will help a lot of users avoid those validation errors. 🚀

@gokhanarkan gokhanarkan changed the title Fix duplicate filter addition in search_issues tool Fix duplicate filter issues across all search tools Aug 11, 2025
@gokhanarkan gokhanarkan marked this pull request as ready for review August 11, 2025 16:31
@gokhanarkan gokhanarkan requested a review from a team as a code owner August 11, 2025 16:31
@Copilot Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings August 11, 2025 16:31
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Pull Request Overview

This PR fixes duplicate filter issues across all GitHub search tools by implementing comprehensive filter detection and prevention logic. The changes prevent GitHub API validation errors that occurred when users provided queries already containing filters that the tools would automatically add.

  • Adds helper functions to detect existing filters in search queries using regex patterns
  • Updates all search handlers to conditionally add filters only when not already present
  • Includes extensive test coverage for both filter detection logic and search tool integration

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
pkg/github/search_utils.go Implements core filter detection functions using regex patterns
pkg/github/search.go Updates user/org search handler to prevent duplicate type: filters
pkg/github/search_utils_test.go Comprehensive unit tests for all filter detection helper functions
pkg/github/search_test.go Integration tests for user/org search with existing type: filters
pkg/github/issues_test.go Integration tests for issue search with existing is: and repo: filters
pkg/github/pullrequests_test.go Integration tests for PR search with existing is: and repo: filters

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Bug: search_issues tool creates duplicate filters causing 422 validation errors
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