CQL Guide

Master Confluence Query Language for searching content with MCP Atlassian

CQL (Confluence Query Language) is used by confluence_search to find content. You can also use simple text queries that automatically use siteSearch.

Basic Syntax

CQL queries follow the pattern: field operator value

type = page AND space = "DEV"

Common Operators

Operator	Description	Example
=	Exact match	type = "page"
!=	Not equal	type != "comment"
~	Contains text	title ~ "meeting notes"
IN	Match any in list	space IN ("DEV", "TEAM")
>, <, >=, <=	Comparison	created >= "2024-01-01"

Common Fields

Field	Description	Example
type	Content type	type = "page" or type = "blogpost"
space	Space key	space = "DEV"
title	Page title	title ~ "architecture"
text	Full text search	text ~ "API documentation"
label	Content label	label = "approved"
creator	Created by	creator = "john.doe"
created	Creation date	created >= "2024-01-01"
lastModified	Last modified	lastModified >= "2024-06-01"
ancestor	Parent page ID	ancestor = "12345678"
parent	Direct parent ID	parent = "12345678"

Search Types

CQL Query

Pass a CQL string directly:

type=page AND space=DEV AND title~"Meeting Notes"

Simple Text Search

Pass plain text — confluence_search auto-detects and uses siteSearch:

project documentation architecture

Practical Patterns

Pages in a Space

type = page AND space = "DEV" ORDER BY lastModified DESC

Recently Modified Content

type = page AND lastModified >= "2024-06-01" ORDER BY lastModified DESC

Content with Specific Label

type = page AND label = "architecture" ORDER BY title ASC

Personal Space Search

space = "~username" AND type = page

Personal space keys starting with ~ must be quoted in CQL: space = "~username"

Pages Under a Parent

ancestor = "12345678" AND type = page ORDER BY title ASC

Full Text Search in Space

space = "DEV" AND text ~ "database migration" ORDER BY lastModified DESC

Tips

For simple searches, just pass plain text to confluence_search — it uses siteSearch by default, which mimics the Confluence web UI search.

Use siteSearch for relevance-ranked results: siteSearch ~ "important concept"

CQL syntax can differ slightly between Cloud and Server/DC. Test your queries if migrating between platforms.