Do not index HTML comments in markdown fields
Problem to solve
Description comments (<!--
) in issues, merge requests, and epics are currently indexed and searchable. This leads to search results that are more, if not completely, irrelevant to your search.
For example, see:
- https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/issues?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=opened&search=regression
- https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=opened&search=discussion
This will get even worse in the long run, since many issue and merge request templates are widely using comments. Some issue templates that heavily use comments include Bug, Documentation, and Feature proposal.
See also slack discussion (internal).
Intended users
This affects most, if not all, users.
Further details
GitLab Flavored Markdown (GFM) is using CommonMark.
Proposal
There's no solid proposal at the moment.
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
Search will remain accurate with no irrelevant search results.
Edited by James Ramsay (ex-GitLab)