it happens because + is the restriction token for tags, so c++ says "search for c++ in tagged bookmarks" that restricts the search to bookmarks. Another common string that may be broken atm, is searching for a percentage, like "51%". The cases you pointed out are also valid, though those are less likely to be typed or have less severe restrictions. We do this so that you can restrict a search typing a restriction token just after your search string without having to add an artificial space, but it's of course breaking use cases. Probably for any restriction token that is not "?" we should require a space. The "?" case is a special because it may be common to type a question and expect a search, and it's natural to write a question with the "?" attached to the last word. I must also note that even searching for "++i" may not work, for a similar reason, we allow to type a restriction token immediately followed by a search string. I think the breakage is less sever in that case, just because it's less likely users start a search with a special char. This may be a dupe because it's known from some time, I didn't search for similar bugs yet.
Bug 1636961 Comment 2 Edit History
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it happens because + is the restriction token for tags, so c++ says "search for c++ in tagged bookmarks" that restricts the search to bookmarks. Another common string that may be broken atm, is searching for a percentage, like "51%". The cases you pointed out are also valid, though those are less likely to be typed or have less severe restrictions. We do this so that you can restrict a search typing a restriction token just after your search string without having to add an artificial space, but it's of course breaking use cases. Probably for any restriction token that is not "?" we should require a space. The "?" case is special because it may be common to type a question and expect a search, and it's natural to write a question with the "?" attached to the last word. I must also note that even searching for "++i" may not work, for a similar reason, we allow to type a restriction token immediately followed by a search string. I think the breakage is less sever in that case, just because it's less likely users start a search with a special char. This may be a dupe because it's known from some time, I didn't search for similar bugs yet.