The Black Vault – JFK Files Search

This search engine is currently in beta and focuses exclusively on the 2025 release of JFK assassination records. Additional releases from prior years will be added as this tool continues to evolve. The metadata used to index these documents is primarily sourced from government-produced spreadsheets, which often contain inconsistencies, typos, and formatting issues. These will be refined over time, but the database will remain fluid as long as the U.S. government continues to release new files or update existing ones.

Also a special thanks to Mike M / @hlywdufo on X for developing jfkdiffs.com — a powerful resource that visually highlights the differences between the 2025 release and previous versions of the same documents. By comparing redactions and updates, that site makes it easy to see what information remained secret until 2025. Some of the metadata compiled there was also used in part to help shape and enhance the search engine below that is available on The Black Vault.

For select documents, a visual comparison file is available that highlights exactly what was newly unredacted in 2025 compared to prior releases. These "diff" files (created by Mike M) are linked when available as “See What’s New in 2025 (“Diff File”)” alongside the regular PDF.

Search Tips:
Use quotes for exact phrases (e.g. "lee harvey oswald")
Use OR between terms (e.g. oswald OR ruby)
Use minus sign to exclude terms (e.g. oswald -cia)
The search engine uses fuzzy matching and basic word stemming to account for OCR errors or term variations.
Diff files (if available) will appear as a third option to see what was newly unredacted.