TL;DR: Microsoft <a href="https://github.blog/changelog/2023-03-10-changes-to-the-code-search-api/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">killed</a> one of GitHub’s most beloved features and developers are <a href="https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/52932" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">FURIOUS</a>
Remember when GitHub was the developers’ paradise? When you could actually find code that was relevant and recent? Those days are officially over, and the developer community is not staying quiet about it.
In March 2023, GitHub/Microsoft made what might be the most tone-deaf decision in the platform’s history: they completely removed the sort:indexed feature from code search. This wasn’t just any feature—it was the lifeblood of how millions of developers found current, relevant code examples.
What Actually Happened?
Picture this: You’re debugging a tricky API integration. You search GitHub for recent implementations, expecting to see fresh, working code from 2023. Instead, you get flooded with examples from 2015 that use deprecated libraries and obsolete patterns. Welcome to the new GitHub reality.
The sort:indexed feature let developers sort search results by when files were last indexed—essentially showing the freshest code first. It was simple, it worked, and developers loved it. Then Microsoft decided it was too “complex” for their shiny new search engine.
The Technical Excuse That Nobody’s Buying
GitHub’s official response? “It’s complicated.” They claim their new search index (rebuilt in Rust, because of course it is) makes sorting by recency “technically difficult” because they rebuild the index frequently.
But here’s the kicker: Google has solved this problem for decades. Every search engine on the planet can sort by date. Yet somehow, Microsoft—a company worth $3 trillion—can’t figure out how to sort code by when it was last updated.
Developer <a href="https://github.com/johndpope" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">@johndpope</a> summed it up perfectly:
<blockquote>
Is there really a problem where you can’t actually sort by date? I don’t believe this. I can get all the results - get the dates - and order the results.
</blockquote>
<img src="https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--HKwYJ_oO--/f_auto/v1759144362/ugc/content_38a43ef5-eddf-426b-a5b2-71b46fdd0763?_a=BAMAK+ZW0" alt="image">

miztizm

GitHub removed the sort:indexed feature from code search in March 2023, eliminating developers' ability to find recent, relevant code examples. The change forces users to sift through outdated code from years past instead of current implementations. Microsoft claims technical complexity with their new Rust-based search engine, but developers argue this is a solvable problem that other search engines handle routinely. The developer community has expressed significant frustration over losing this essential workflow feature.

The GitHub Code Search Disaster That Broke a Million Developer Workflows

I noticed the same thing. Ever since AI bots took over, search results feel way more limited. Back then, you could genuinely find a needle in the haystack, now it seems like results are being throttled or restricted. Honestly, it looks less like a “technical limitation” and more like a push to funnel developers toward premium products like Copilot.

Personally, I’ve been using <a href="https://sourcegraph.com/search" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">sourcegraph</a> for this purpose and it works really well.

Looks like its time to split and start again. Its been a fantastic decade+ with github, Now we have people with other interest that are very different from the developers who love and use the tool, I bet it sinks like a rock soon!

Leave Britney Alone! OMG Im old man!

“Rebuilt in Rust” says it all.