# Intermittent Content Search Failures (Jan 2026)

| **Severity**   | P1             |
| -------------- | -------------- |
| **Status**     | Resolved       |
| **Start Date** | Jan 22, 2026   |
| **End Date**   | Jan 26, 2026   |
| **Duration**   | 4d             |
| **Tickets**    | ECOHELP-107908 |

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## [#](#overview)Overview

Capable apps (Diagrams, Approval, Calendars, Markdown) are impacted by intermittent Confluence Search API failures, causing unreliable content/user searches and Hystrix/500 errors. Atlassian acknowledges this as P1 but has not posted publicly or provided a timeline for resolution.

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## [#](#incident-description)Incident Description

The `/wiki/rest/api/search` endpoints fail sporadically with 400 BadRequestException: "CQL parsed but search manager unable to execute... Hystrix circuit short-circuited and is OPEN"

Spikes occur \~every 6 hours (45-60 min duration, e.g., 12-13 UTC), affecting all sites. Direct API calls succeed, but calls from Marketplace apps fail, rendering features unusable (e.g., user selection in Approval, search results for diagrams or pages etc.).

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## [#](#how-do-i-know-if-i-m-affected)How do I know if I’m affected?

Any features that depend on using the Confluence Content Search API failed sporadically:

* Browsing diagrams from pages
* Viewing templates
* Searching for content using the search feature
* etc.

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## [#](#workaround)Workaround

We've thoroughly investigated alternative APIs to bypass the failing CQL search, but none fully replicate dynamic content/user querying in Forge apps.

The only workaround for this Confluence Search API issue is retrying the operation after a 5-10 minute delay, aligning with observed 45-60 minute spike cycles.

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## [#](#incident-timeline)Incident Timeline

| **Date**     | **Time**                                                                                                         | **Event**                                                                                      | **Party** |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |
| Jan 22, 2026 | 12:34                                                                                                            | Initial report of P1 incident                                                                  | Capable   |
| 13:19        | P1 Confirmed by Atlassian                                                                                        | atlassian                                                                                      |           |
| Jan 23, 2026 | 01:23                                                                                                            | We confirmed it affects other Marketplace apps                                                 | Capable   |
| 01:29        | Atlassian confirm spikes every 6h (12pm, 6pm, 12am UTC); Engineering teams are investigating                     | atlassian                                                                                      |           |
| 10.50        | Requested progress report, ETA and public acknowledgement on [status.atlassian.com](http://status.atlassian.com) | Capable                                                                                        |           |
| 12.48        | Notified Senior Atlassian engineering staff                                                                      | Capable                                                                                        |           |
| 13.56        | Dev team continuing to work on issue                                                                             | atlassian                                                                                      |           |
| 18.48        | Still occurring, requested public notice                                                                         | Capable                                                                                        |           |
| Jan 24, 2026 | 20.15                                                                                                            | Escalated further via high priority customers                                                  | Capable   |
| Jan 25, 2026 | 10.00                                                                                                            | Incident still ongoing. No communication or updates regarding the issue.                       | Capable   |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 07.49                                                                                                            | Engineering team has deployed changes. We believe the /wiki/rest/api/search issue is resolved. | atlassian |