Limit KeywordQuery search scope in Sharepoint to only a specific site?

Question

I have a client application that is connecting to our corporate SharePoint Online site. This application has only been registered on specific sites, not the root tenant (and I don't believe doing so would be an option, for security reasons.) I can do basic functionality in the sites where the application has permission (read, write, etc) but I'm having problems getting the KeywordQuery to works so I can run searches against the document libraries.

Currently, my code for the function to do a keyword lookup looks like this:

        public List<SP.Search.Query.ResultTable> SearchByKeyword(string _keyword)  
        {  
  
            SP.Search.Query.KeywordQuery query = new SP.Search.Query.KeywordQuery(_context);  
  
            query.QueryText = _keyword;  
  
            SP.Search.Query.SearchExecutor searchExecutor = new SP.Search.Query.SearchExecutor(context);  
              
            SP.ClientResult<SP.Search.Query.ResultTableCollection> results = searchExecutor.ExecuteQuery(query);  
  
            _context.ExecuteQuery();  
  
            List<SP.Search.Query.ResultTable> list = results.Value.ToList<SP.Search.Query.ResultTable>();  
              
            return list;  
        }  

NOTE: variable "_context" is defined globally in my class and should be assumed is a valid context object for a connection to my subsite (https://my.sharepoint.site/sites/mysubsite). Using this context object, I can read and write from the document libraries and lists without any problem.

When the code gets to the ExecuteQuery() call, an exception is thrown that reads:

"No User or App Context found"

I've seen other people post about this problem online and it appears that the solution is to make sure that the application has read/write permissions to the SharePoint site. But my app can't have permissions to the entire site and instead must rely on permissions to only specific subsites. I believe the KeywordQuery is querying from the root instead of the subsite that the context object is for.

Has anyone run into something similar or have any suggestions on narrowing the scope of the search? I tried adding " AND PATH:https://my.subsite.path/sites/mysite" to the QueryText property, but that doesn't seem to help--again, I'm assuming that's because the search is actually happening at the root tenant level and not within my own subsite where the application has permissions.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi @Daniel A Okarma ,

According to my research and testing, When this error "No User or App Context found" appears, you need to make sure that the application has Sites.ReadAll permissions.

And you can use the following code to search in a specific site:

keywordQuery.QueryText = "sharepoint path:https://tenant.sharepoint.com/sites/test";  

Similar issue for reference :
CSOM: Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ServerException: No User or App Context found
CSOM Search limit to single site

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