SharePoint Document Issues

How to Troubleshoot Power Automate Keyword Search Failures in SharePoint

Khadija Khan Sep 28, 2026 869 views

Question details

Users are experiencing issues where a Power Automate flow successfully searches SharePoint categories but fails to match specific keywords, phrases, or synonyms within the Title or Description fields.

How to Troubleshoot Power Automate Keyword Search Failures in SharePoint

Product: Power Automate and SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Using a Power Automate flow, often integrated with a custom bot in Microsoft Teams or Azure, to search for specific items in a SharePoint list based on user queries.
Observed behavior: The flow successfully returns items when searching by Category but fails to return correct matches when searching for multiple keywords, phrases, or synonyms in the Title or Description fields.

Before you start

Before troubleshooting your flow, ensure you have edit permissions for the Power Automate flow and access to the connected SharePoint list to verify the internal column names.

Solution 1Recommended

Verify HTTP Request Trigger and Compose Action Mappings

Check how the search query is received and processed within the flow to ensure Title, Description, and Category fields are properly mapped.

When integrating custom bots registered in Azure with Microsoft Teams, the flow relies heavily on the JSON payload received from the HTTP request trigger. If the JSON schema incorrectly maps the user's input, the subsequent search actions will fail to find keywords in the Title or Description.

Inspect the HTTP Trigger

Open your Power Automate flow in Edit mode, locate the 'When an HTTP request is received' trigger, and verify that the JSON schema accurately captures the keyword inputs from the bot.

Check Compose Actions

Locate the 'Compose' actions (e.g., 'Compose_Final_JSON' or 'Compose Print Item') that build the current SharePoint item and ensure they reference the correct dynamic content.

Verify Column Mappings

Confirm that the Title and Description fields from SharePoint are accurately mapped to the outputs being searched against in your final Compose row.

Verify HTTP Request Trigger and Compose Action Mappings

Sanitize Your Data: Always remove private or sensitive information from your JSON payloads and screenshots before sharing them for testing or support.

Solution 2

Adjust OData Search Logic for Multiple Keywords

Ensure the SharePoint 'Get items' action is configured to handle multiple terms or substrings correctly using OData filter queries.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Power Automate flow find categories but not keywords?

This usually happens because the Filter Query in the 'Get items' action uses an exact match ('eq') for the Category field but isn't properly configured to search for partial text or substrings within the Title or Description fields. You need to use the 'substringof' function for text-heavy columns.

How do I handle multiple search terms in a SharePoint Power Automate flow?

To handle multiple terms, you need to split the user's search string into individual words and dynamically build an OData Filter Query. You can achieve this by using a combination of the 'split' function and an 'Apply to each' loop to append 'substringof' conditions separated by 'or' operators.

What information should I provide when seeking support for custom bot flows?

When troubleshooting custom bots registered in Azure that integrate with Teams, you should provide the raw JSON schema from the HTTP request trigger, specify the exact bot type, and share sanitized screenshots of your Compose Print Item and Compose Row actions.

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