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Some (working) search engines are missing from settings/search.json.mozlz4 - where are they?

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I've some search engines which was configured a lot of years ago (or maybe was imported from another browser many years ago). They are working in address bar (e.g. I can enter there "cve something", press Enter and get redirected to https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvekey.cgi?keyword=something), but not listed neither in about:preferences#search nor in my profile's search.json.mozlz4 (I've unpacked and checked it - it contents does match about:preferences#search). I've tried to grep for "cvekey.cgi" in my profile folder but get no results (I suppose these "hidden" search engines are stored in some sqlite file).

I'd like to have these hidden search engines listed in about:preferences#search. I can even manually re-add them, but how can I find complete list of all configured search engines?

I've some search engines which was configured a lot of years ago (or maybe was imported from another browser many years ago). They are working in address bar (e.g. I can enter there "cve something", press Enter and get redirected to https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvekey.cgi?keyword=something), but not listed neither in about:preferences#search nor in my profile's search.json.mozlz4 (I've unpacked and checked it - it contents does match about:preferences#search). I've tried to grep for "cvekey.cgi" in my profile folder but get no results (I suppose these "hidden" search engines are stored in some sqlite file). I'd like to have these hidden search engines listed in about:preferences#search. I can even manually re-add them, but how can I find complete list of all configured search engines?

Chosen solution

The example of cve might be a "keyword bookmark" instead of a search engine. There is long term work under way to consolidate those, but for now, they remain separate.

If you open the Library window to the Bookmarks (Ctrl+Shift+O as in "Organizer") and enter part of the URL in the tiny search box at the upper right, the bookmark should eventually show up. If you single-click it, an editing panel below the list should show any keyword assigned to the bookmark.

Currently, there is no way to directly migrate keyword bookmarks to formal search engines. There is a hidden feature still in development that lets you manually add search URLs and keywords one at a time. Maybe that is worth looking at? This thread has the details, as well as discussion about add-ons: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1365694

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All Replies (6)

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Modified by jonzn4SUSE

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No, the problem is not in looking for a query url for some search engine. I wonder where Firefox stores some already configured search engines in addition to standard place (search.json.mozlz4).

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Chosen Solution

The example of cve might be a "keyword bookmark" instead of a search engine. There is long term work under way to consolidate those, but for now, they remain separate.

If you open the Library window to the Bookmarks (Ctrl+Shift+O as in "Organizer") and enter part of the URL in the tiny search box at the upper right, the bookmark should eventually show up. If you single-click it, an editing panel below the list should show any keyword assigned to the bookmark.

Currently, there is no way to directly migrate keyword bookmarks to formal search engines. There is a hidden feature still in development that lets you manually add search URLs and keywords one at a time. Maybe that is worth looking at? This thread has the details, as well as discussion about add-ons: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1365694

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By the way, I have a tool to generate lists from bookmark backups. One of the options is to list out just the bookmarks with keywords. Obviously not an official tool, but if you need it:

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Actually it's enough to search bookmarks for %s to find all such extra "search engines".

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powerman-asdf said

Actually it's enough to search bookmarks for %s to find all such extra "search engines".

Great tip.