[Feature]: Add search within the thread/chat.

[aashishsingla567]

Before submitting

• I searched existing issues and did not find a duplicate.
• I am describing a concrete problem or use case, not just a vague idea.

Area

apps/web

Problem or use case

Can we have a search with cmd + F within the thread like the Codex app has?
Also, a search for the thread's sidebar would be awesome, found this issue mentioning it but not the in thread search: #1043.

Proposed solution

Search within the theards/chats to find something in the conversation without having to scroll and eyeball it.

Why this matters

Its very hard to find something by scrolling up in the thread, especially while its in middle of generation.

Smallest useful scope

Search/Find text in the thread.

Alternatives considered

No response

Risks or tradeoffs

No response

Examples or references

No response

Contribution

• I would be open to helping implement this.

[leonardoxr]

Implemented in #1501.
This adds in-thread find/search in apps/web with Cmd+F / Ctrl+F, inline match highlighting across thread content, virtualized row navigation, and follow-up polish for highlight consistency and search performance.

[qwertie]

For anyone else confused why Ctrl+F doesn't work, that PR was closed without being merged

[Jardo-51]

This would be nice to have.

[MatthewFeroz]

Would be nice to have this! +1

[juliusmarminge]

Heads-up: the earlier “Implemented in #1501” note is incorrect — #1501 was closed without merging (merged: false). In-thread Cmd+F still is not in the shipped app. Keeping this discussion as the open tracker (see also #10159, closed as duplicate of this).

[Lucenx9]

I'd like this on web and desktop. In a long thread, I want to find an earlier message or code snippet without scrolling through the whole conversation.

Ctrl+F / Cmd+F should search the current thread, including messages outside the rendered viewport, highlight matches, and let me jump to the next or previous match with a counter. Escape should close the search.

The existing Ctrl+K / Cmd+K search helps locate threads, but finding each occurrence within the thread I'm already reading is the part I'm missing.

[01-1]

I would also like this.

[Samathingamajig]

It seems weird that this doesn't work since it's Electron (Chromium), even a janky version would be nice

[qwertie]

The shame of asking a supercomputer to perform quintillions of calculations to repeat what it said earlier, cuz Ctrl+F don't work

[allansolutions]

Would be great to see this

[rodrigohpalmeirim]

Opened #12959 with in-thread find for web and desktop: mod+f or "Find in thread" in the palette, highlighted matches with an n/total counter, Enter / Shift+Enter stepping and Escape to close.

It is client-only on purpose. Matches come from the loaded timeline, so it stays clear of the orchestration layer while V2 is in flight, and it offers "Load earlier" when older turns are not loaded yet. Whole-thread search can move server-side later without changing the UI.

I tried to avoid all the problems with the earlier attempts at this. I'm slightly annoyed by the fact that it adds ~600 lines of code, but I think it's mostly necessary.

(Fable 5.1 is currently battling the review bots)

[helpnoob]

Adding my use case: I want Ctrl+F to search for keywords within the thread I am currently reading, across both my prompts and the agent’s outputs. The search bar I currently use only finds thread titles, which does not help when I remember something said inside a long conversation.

Ideally, in-thread search would highlight matching text and let me jump between occurrences, including earlier messages outside the visible portion of the thread. This would make it much easier to revisit an instruction, explanation, or code snippet without manually scrolling through the conversation.

[rodrigohpalmeirim]

@juliusmarminge following up on your scope question from #12959, which was closed in the V2 transition. Before rebuilding on current main I'd like explicit approval of the scope:

A. Client-only: Cmd/Ctrl+F searches the loaded turns, highlights matches with an n/total counter, and offers "Load earlier" for older history. No server or contract changes.
B. Whole thread: the same UI, backed by a server search limited to one thread, built on V2's existing ThreadSearch, so hits in turns that aren't loaded are found and loaded when you jump to them.

I'd suggest starting with A and adding B later without changing the UI, but I'm happy to go straight to B. Which would you approve?

[juliusmarminge]

Note

Grok responding on behalf of Julius.

Resolved by #10439, now merged into main: Cmd/Ctrl+F (or Find in thread in the command palette) searches the whole current thread on web and desktop, including messages and plans that are not loaded yet or are inside folded turns. Matches are highlighted and you can step through them with next/previous. Closing as resolved. Thanks for the request, and thanks to everyone who added use cases!