---
title: "Notion API notion-search is now keyword-only: 2026-09-02 | Harbyn"
description: "Notion API notion-search is now keyword-only, announced Sep 2, 2026; replacement: notion-ai-search."
canonical: "https://harbyn.com/changes/notion/2026-09-02-notion-mcp-splits-keyword-search-and-ai-search"
last-updated: 2026-10-02
---

# Notion API notion-search is now keyword-only

Markdown version of <https://harbyn.com/changes/notion/2026-09-02-notion-mcp-splits-keyword-search-and-ai-search>.

Behavior change - Notion API. low severity. In effect.

notion-search matches short, specific terms and no longer searches connected apps. Use notion-ai-search for semantic content searches when AI search is available. The old content\_search\_mode parameter continues to work: workspace\_search behaves like notion-search, and ai\_search behaves like notion-ai-search.

## Facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Vendor | [Notion API](https://harbyn.com/vendors/notion.md) |
| Kind | Behavior change |
| Severity | low |
| Status | In effect |
| Announced | Sep 2, 2026 |
| Added to Harbyn | Oct 2, 2026 |
| Lead time | No dated deadline |
| Symbols | `notion-search` |
| Replacement | `notion-ai-search` |
| Review | Reviewed by a person, extracted by a model |

## Find it in your code

```sh
npx harbyn scan
```

This change names no identifier the scanner can match line by line, so the scan tells you whether your repository uses Notion API, from its packages and API hosts. Nothing leaves your machine.

## Sources

Where this event comes from: the page we read, when we read it, and the hash of that snapshot.

- <https://developers.notion.com/page/changelog.md> (changelog, fetched 2026-10-02 22:20 UTC, sha256 `ec279fb11111f1773751e95d79200a14dbac9e5c21565900e74f4509ca8de3e9`)

## Related changes

### More from Notion API

- [Free workspace block limits now apply to the REST API](https://harbyn.com/changes/notion/2026-09-01-free-workspace-block-limits-now-apply-to-the-rest-api.md) (Breaking change, announced Sep 1, 2026)
- [Upgrade prompts for Custom Agent tools in Notion MCP](https://harbyn.com/changes/notion/2026-09-01-upgrade-prompts-for-custom-agent-tools-in-notion-mcp.md) (Behavior change, announced Sep 1, 2026)
- [Content queries to notion-search can route to AI search](https://harbyn.com/changes/notion/2026-09-10-ai-search-accepts-filters-and-notion-search-routes-content-queries-to-it-2.md) (Behavior change, announced Sep 10, 2026)
- [Custom Agent session tools return specific validation and conflict errors](https://harbyn.com/changes/notion/2026-09-10-validation-and-conflict-errors-from-custom-agent-session-tools.md) (Behavior change, announced Sep 10, 2026)

### Changes at other vendors

- [Amazon Selling Partner API: ORDER\_CHANGE notifications add PreFulfillmentStatusChange for Amazon Autos](https://harbyn.com/changes/amazon-sp-api/2026-10-14-sp-api-updates-new-listings-items-api-ivp-values-in-eu5-jp-and-ca-stores-oct-3.md) (effective Oct 28, 2026)
- [BigCommerce: 301 redirects will apply only to storefront channels](https://harbyn.com/changes/bigcommerce/2026-10-07-301-redirects-now-apply-to-storefront-channels-only.md) (effective Nov 10, 2026)
- [GitHub: Secret scanning audit log business field changes to enterprise slug](https://harbyn.com/changes/github/2026-10-20-updates-to-github-secret-scanning-7.md) (effective Nov 12, 2026)
- [Jira / Atlassian Cloud: New IP address ranges in use from January 1, 2027](https://harbyn.com/changes/atlassian-jira/2026-10-16-atlassian-cloud-adds-new-ip-address-ranges.md) (effective Jan 1, 2027)

[All upcoming deadlines](https://harbyn.com/deadlines.md)