I'm not sure if it's intentional, but it looks like the web ui defaults to including the file namespace in search, where the api does not. Getting the results for files from api can be done by specifying the namespace you want:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=search&srsearch=dave%20vanian&utf8=&srnamespace=6

On Wed, Dec 6, 2017 at 10:54 AM, Gheorghe Postelnicu <gheorghe.postelnicu@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,

First, many thanks for maintaining this API!

I am writing as I am having trouble using the full text search API on Commons. Namely, I would like to get the following list back via the API:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&profile=images&search=dave+vanian&fulltext=1

however the full text search doesn't produce the same results when using the API:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=search&srsearch=dave%20vanian&utf8=

A suggestion to nudge me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for the help.

Best regards,
Gheorghe

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