Sitecore query syntax

Remarks#

Template Names vs. Template IDs vs. Item Names in Queries:

I strongly recommend that you use Template IDs and not Template Names or Item Names in your queries. This will ensure that your queries will still work, even when templates and/or items are renamed.

The one exception to this is when working with OOTB templates, while querying an OOTB structure, e.g. /sitecore/content or /sitecore/system/Marketing Control Panel. In these situations, the loss of readability is often greater than the risk of queries breaking, since these templates are far less likely to be renamed.

Note that template names were used in my examples, above, for sake of readabiltiy. Those queries should not be used in production, unless the template names are replaced with template IDs.

Reference Sheet:

I noticed that the Sitecore Query Cheat Sheet is no longer available for download on the web (all of the Sitecore-hosted links now redirect to 404 pages). Fortunately, I had a copy on my machine, and have added a screenshot, below:

Select by item path

Query:

query:/sitecore/content/home/foo/bar

Result

bar

Relative query

Current Item:

bar (path: /sitecore/content/home/foo/bar)

Query:

query:./child/grandchild

Result:

grandchild (path: /sitecore/content/home/foo/bar/child/grandchild)

Item attributes query

Query:

query:/sitecore/content/[@@templatename='Homepage']

Result:

home (name: home, path: /sitecore/content/home, template name: Homepage)

Site-specific query

Tree structure:

/sitecore
    /content
        /foo-site
            /home
                /my-account
        /bar-site
            /home
                /my-account
        /baz-site
            /home
                /my-account

The template of each site item (foo-site, bar-site, baz-site) is named Site Node.
The template of each home item (home, home, home) is named Homepage
The template of each user account item (my-account, my-account, my-account) is named User Account Page

Current Item:

The current item could be the home item or any page underneath the home item for any of the given sites, and this query will still work (provided that there are no items with the Homepage template underneath the home items that are an ancestor of the current item).

Query:

query:./ancestor-or-self::*[@@templatename='Homepage']/*[@@templatename='my-account']

Result:

If querying from the home item or one of its descendants in the foo-site site:

/sitecore/content/foo-site/home/my-account

If querying from the home item or one of its descendants in the bar-site site:

/sitecore/content/bar-site/home/my-account

If querying from the home item or one of its descendants in the baz-site site:

/sitecore/content/baz-site/home/my-account