Wildcard queries return data that contain terms matching a wildcard pattern.
A wildcard operator is a placeholder that matches one or more characters. At this point, openFDA supports the * ("star") wildcard operator, which matches zero or more characters. You can combine wildcard operators with other characters to create a wildcard pattern.
This feature is available on all API Endpoints.
Here are some example queries that demonstrate how wildcard searches work.
Example query
This example query looks in the drug/ndc endpoint for drugs where brand_name contains words that begin with child, case insensitive. This will include drugs with brand names that contain "Child", "Children", "Childrens" among others.
Search for records where the field brand_name contains child*, case-insensitive
Example query
This example query looks in the drug/ndc endpoint for drugs where brand_name matches the following pattern, case sensitive: *Night*Cough*Max*. This will produce results including "Tussin DM Nighttime Cough Maximum Strength", "Day and Night Severe Sinus Congestion and Cough Maximum Strength" among others. Since an exact field is being used, the entire field value must match the pattern in a case-sensitive fashion.
Search for records where the entire field brand_name.exact (case-sensitive brand name) matches *Night*Cough*Max*
Example query
This example query looks in the food/enforcement endpoint for recalls where recalling_firm contains words that contain natur, case insensitive. This will include organization names that contain "Natural", "Nature", "Natures" among others.
Search for records where the field recalling_firm contains *natur*, case-insensitive
Example query
This example query looks in the food/enforcement endpoint for recalls where recall_number matches the F-*-2023 pattern, case sensitive.
Search for records where recall_number matches F-*-2023 exactly