GET /public/beta/documents/search
Find documents from a natural-language query. PandaDoc AI interprets the query and returns the matching documents.
PandaDoc offers two document search tools: this AI-powered search and the structured List Documents endpoint.
Document Search Tools Guide — click to expand
When to use AI Search (this endpoint)
- The query is in natural language (e.g., "show me all completed documents from Q2 2026")
- The query mentions people by name (e.g., "contracts shared with John Smith")
- The query uses relative date expressions (e.g., "last week", "this quarter")
- You want the system to automatically determine the best filtering strategy
- You want follow-up suggestions to help refine the search
When to use List Documents
- You already have exact, structured filter parameters (specific status codes, precise ISO-8601 date ranges)
- You need to paginate through a large result set (explicit page/count control)
- You need faster, more predictable response times
- You need deterministic, repeatable queries for automation workflows
Comparison
| Feature | AI Search | List Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Input | Single natural-language query | Search query + optional structured filters |
| Date handling | Understands relative dates ("last week", "Q2 2026") | Requires explicit ISO-8601 date range |
| Status filtering | Interprets from query ("completed", "sent") | Requires numeric status codes |
| Contact/owner search | Resolves people by name | Not supported |
| Pagination | Returns top 100 results | Supports explicit page and page size (up to 100) |
| Suggestions | Returns follow-up suggestions for refinement | No suggestions |
| Best for | Conversational, exploratory search | Precise, structured, repeatable queries |
The response may return fewer items than the total matches. The
search caps the returned list based on query complexity: count
shows the number of items returned in results. When the query
matches more documents than returned, use one of the returned
suggestions as a stricter follow-up query to narrow the results.
🚧 Beta
This endpoint is currently in beta and may change without notice.
Servers
- https://api.pandadoc.com
Query parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
q |
String | Yes |
Natural-language search query. Supports filtering by status, owner, dates, and folder. Also supports keyword content search across document titles and body text. |
How to start integrating
- Add HTTP Task to your workflow definition.
- Search for the API you want to integrate with and click on the name.
- This loads the API reference documentation and prepares the Http request settings.
- Click Test request to test run your request to the API and see the API's response.