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Enabling unified search for your enterprise

In this article

You can allow users to include repositories on GitHub.com in their search results when searching from your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

Who can use this feature

Enterprise owners can enable unified search between GitHub Enterprise Server and GitHub.com.

When you enable unified search, users can view search results from content on GitHub.com when searching from your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

You can choose to allow search results for public repositories on GitHub.com, and you can separately choose to allow search results for private repositories on GitHub Enterprise Cloud. If you enable unified search for private repositories, users can only search private repositories that they have access to and that are owned by the connected enterprise account. For more information, see "About searching on GitHub."

Users will never be able to search your GitHub Enterprise Server instance from GitHub.com, even if they have access to both environments.

After you enable unified search for your GitHub Enterprise Server instance, before individual users can see search results from private repositories on GitHub.com in your GitHub Enterprise Server instance, each user must also connect their user account on GitHub Enterprise Server with a user account on GitHub.com. For more information, see "Enabling GitHub.com repository search from your private enterprise environment."

Searching via the REST and GraphQL APIs does not include GitHub.com search results. Advanced search and searching for wikis in GitHub.com are not supported.

Before you can enable unified search, you must enable GitHub Connect. For more information, see "Managing GitHub Connect."

  1. Sign in to GitHub Enterprise Server and GitHub.com.

  2. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .

  3. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.

  4. In the left sidebar, click Enterprise overview.

  5. In the enterprise account sidebar, click GitHub Connect.

  6. To the right of "Unified search", click Enable.

    Screenshot of the "Unified search" option on the GitHub Connect page. The "Enable" button is highlighted with an orange outline.

  7. Optionally, to the right of "Users can search private repositories on ENTERPRISE ACCOUNT when searching from Enterprise Server", click Enable.

    Screenshot of the "Unified search" option on the GitHub Connect page. To the right of the setting to allow search of private repositories, the "Enable" button is highlighted with an orange outline.