Finder
A Finder is a scoped search on a single dataset with filters to modify the results.
How it works
What is a finder
Depending on context, “finder” can mean:
- The “finder pattern”
- The “finder technology”, ie. a product used to generate finders using content-store and finder-frontend)
- A specific finder including the content it exposes is sometimes called a “finder” by editors
What does a finder do?
Finders allow users to easily browse a comprehensive library of similarly formatted specialist documents relating to a particular topic.
Finders help users find a specific document, or set of documents, within a topic.
Finders also help users who need to know when a document is published or updated relating to a specific topic or subtopic.
Live examples
- Case studies: Real-life examples of government activity (opens in a new tab)
- Departments, agencies and public bodies (opens in a new tab)
- Groups (opens in a new tab)
- Contact HM Revenue & Customs (opens in a new tab)
- All ministers and senior officials on GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
- Search (opens in a new tab)
- AAIB: Air Accidents Investigation Branch reports (opens in a new tab)
- Statistical data sets (opens in a new tab)
- Guidance and regulation (opens in a new tab)
- Topical Events (opens in a new tab)
- Worldwide organisations (opens in a new tab)
Complete list of examples available and page data on Content Data (opens in a new tab).
| Date | Description | Document | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | Following the brand refresh, the page headers, which use the brand blue background, didn’t contrast well visually with the new Welcome to GOV.UK header. Several options were explored, as shown in the attached Figma file, and the header was updated to a 95% tint of the brand blue for a more balanced look. |
Blue header with blue banners (opens in a new tab) | Figma |
| July 2024 | This document outlines the reasons and benefits to improve specialist finder |
Proposal to improve Specialist Finder development and efficiency (opens in a new tab) | Google Docs |
| May 2024 | An analysis led to the recommendataion to Migrate 10 finders to Vertex in order to improve keyword search relevance. Some further analysis is needed before a decision can be made. |
Should we move finders to Google Vertex AI Search? (opens in a new tab) | Google Docs |
How to report an issue
If you happen to come across an issue:
- Report it on Github (opens in a new tab).
- Once the issue has been added, update this document by adding the title and Github Issue’s link.
- Give yourself a high-five.
Help improve this page
To help make sure that this page is useful, relevant and up to date, submit a GitHub issue (opens in a new tab) with your proposed updates.