# Find+ — advanced search sidebar for the Node-RED editor

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/find-advanced-search-sidebar-for-the-node-red-editor/101479>\
**Category:** Share Your Projects\
**Tags:** search, plugin\
**Created:** [16 July 2026 05:34 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/find-advanced-search-sidebar-for-the-node-red-editor/101479 "2026-07-16T05:34:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CincellaAiazzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@CincellaAiazzi](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/CincellaAiazzi)\
**Post date:** [16 July 2026 05:34 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/find-advanced-search-sidebar-for-the-node-red-editor/101479/1 "2026-07-16T05:34:35Z")

</div>

Hi all,

I use Node-RED extensively for a large personal home-automation project.

As the project grew, the limitations of the built-in search became increasingly noticeable. Finding a specific value across many flows, node properties and thousands of lines of Function code can produce a large number of loosely related results, making it difficult to identify the exact occurrence being searched for.

This is particularly noticeable when searching for:

- exact numeric values;

- case-sensitive text;

- complete words or phrases;

- recurring code patterns;

- values limited to a specific flow or node type.

For example, searching for `810` may also return values such as `1810` and `8100`, even when the actual numeric value `810` is the only relevant result.

Find+ was created to provide a more precise and practical search tool for large Node-RED projects.

It is an editor plug-in that adds an independent advanced-search sidebar with exact-number, case-sensitive, whole-word and regular-expression searches, together with filters, grouped results and direct navigation between matching nodes.

Find+ does not replace or modify the built-in Node-RED search. It simply adds an alternative search tool to the editor sidebar.

4.1.11

 ![search4](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/d/2/d2aca6cdd3801da1c714700bff900b7d26dca9bd.png)

5.0.1

 ![search5](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/8/9/89240f4642600aee62f3110912dad8dd5e60cd58.png)

## Main features

- Search node properties and Function node source code
- Exact-number search
- Case-sensitive search
- Whole-word search
- Regular expressions
- Restrict results to the current flow
- Filter by node type using `type:...`
- Optionally include configuration nodes
- Display the matching property and line number
- Reveal a node without closing the Find+ sidebar
- Light and dark theme support

## Search examples

```plaintext
alarm
"exact phrase"
case:Echo
word:camera
num:810
type:function alarm
flow:current alarm
re:id\s*:\s*810

```

Prefixes can also be combined:

```plaintext
type:function flow:current case:Echo

```

## Compatibility

Find+ has currently been tested with:

- Node-RED 4.1.11
- Node-RED 5.0.1

It adds no runtime nodes and does not participate in message processing. Searches are performed locally in the browser against the flow model already loaded by the Node-RED editor.

## Installation

For now, Find+ is distributed through GitHub rather than npm or the Node-RED Flow Library.

Repository:

> **[GitHub - CincellaDegliAiazzi/node-red-find-plus: An advanced search sidebar plug-in for the...](https://github.com/CincellaDegliAiazzi/node-red-find-plus)**
>
> An advanced search sidebar plug-in for the Node-RED editor.

Download the `.tgz` file from the GitHub Releases page:

> **[Releases · CincellaDegliAiazzi/node-red-find-plus](https://github.com/CincellaDegliAiazzi/node-red-find-plus/releases)**
>
> An advanced search sidebar plug-in for the Node-RED editor. - CincellaDegliAiazzi/node-red-find-plus

Then install it on the machine running Node-RED:

```bash
cd ~/.node-red
npm install /actual/path/node-red-plugin-advanced-search-0.4.1.tgz

```

Replace `/actual/path/` with the real directory containing the downloaded file.

Restart Node-RED:

```bash
node-red-restart

```

or, depending on the installation:

```bash
sudo systemctl restart nodered

```

Finally, reload the editor with `Ctrl+F5`. A **Find+** tab should appear in the sidebar.

## Project status

This is still an experimental project.

Some of the editor APIs used to read the loaded node model and reveal nodes are not all formally documented as stable public APIs, so future Node-RED versions may require compatibility updates.

I would be interested in feedback, particularly from users with:

- large flows;
- different browsers;
- other Node-RED 4.x or 5.x versions;
- unusual node or property structures.

Reproducible problems and suggestions can be submitted through GitHub Issues.