Regex Search and Match¶

Searches the input text using a regular expression and returns all matches. It uses Python’s regex engine to find non-overlapping matches in order, producing a list of results.

Usage¶

Use this node when you need to extract all substrings that match a pattern, such as extracting emails, hashtags, words of a certain length, or other structured tokens from text. Typically placed after a text generation or text input node to parse and collect specific elements.

Inputs¶

Field	Required	Type	Description	Example
text_input	True	STRING	The text to search for matches using the provided regular expression.	The quick brown fox jumps over 2 lazy dogs.
regex_pattern	True	STRING	Regular expression pattern used to find matches. Supports Python regex syntax, including inline flags like (?i) for case-insensitive matching.	\b\w{5}\b

Outputs¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
matches	LIST	List of all non-overlapping matches found in the input text. If the pattern contains capture groups, each match may be a tuple of group values; otherwise, each match is a string.	['quick', 'brown']

Important Notes¶

The matching behavior follows Python's re.findall: results are strings if there are no capture groups, or tuples if the pattern includes groups.
If no matches are found, the output is an empty list.
Regex flags are not separate inputs; use inline flags such as (?i) for case-insensitive or (?s) for dotall within the pattern.
Be mindful of escaping backslashes in patterns (e.g., use \b for word boundary in string literals).
Very large texts or complex patterns can impact performance; simplify patterns or pre-filter text when possible.

Troubleshooting¶

Pattern error (e.g., 'bad character range'): Ensure the regex is valid Python syntax and properly escaped.
Unexpected tuples in output: Remove capture groups or convert them to non-capturing groups using (?:...) to get full-match strings.
Case sensitivity issues: Add (?i) at the start of the pattern for case-insensitive matching.
No matches returned: Verify the pattern, test with simpler patterns, or check that the input text actually contains the target substrings.