diff --git a/compiler/kernel/vexpr.go b/compiler/kernel/vexpr.go
index eeb9137aee..cd42566cfa 100644
--- a/compiler/kernel/vexpr.go
+++ b/compiler/kernel/vexpr.go
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
+	"github.com/brimdata/super"
 	"github.com/brimdata/super/compiler/dag"
 	"github.com/brimdata/super/pkg/field"
+	"github.com/brimdata/super/runtime/sam/expr"
 	"github.com/brimdata/super/runtime/sam/expr/function"
 	vamexpr "github.com/brimdata/super/runtime/vam/expr"
 	vamfunction "github.com/brimdata/super/runtime/vam/expr/function"
 	"github.com/brimdata/super/zson"
+	"golang.org/x/text/unicode/norm"
 )
 
 func (b *Builder) compileVamExpr(e dag.Expr) (vamexpr.Evaluator, error) {
@@ -27,8 +30,8 @@ func (b *Builder) compileVamExpr(e dag.Expr) (vamexpr.Evaluator, error) {
 		return vamexpr.NewLiteral(val), nil
 	//case *dag.Var:
 	//	return vamexpr.NewVar(e.Slot), nil
-	//case *dag.Search:
-	//	return b.compileSearch(e)
+	case *dag.Search:
+		return b.compileVamSearch(e)
 	case *dag.This:
 		return vamexpr.NewDottedExpr(b.zctx(), field.Path(e.Path)), nil
 	case *dag.Dot:
@@ -47,8 +50,8 @@ func (b *Builder) compileVamExpr(e dag.Expr) (vamexpr.Evaluator, error) {
 		return b.compileVamCall(e)
 	//case *dag.RegexpMatch:
 	//	return b.compileVamRegexpMatch(e)
-	//case *dag.RegexpSearch:
-	//	return b.compileVamRegexpSearch(e)
+	case *dag.RegexpSearch:
+		return b.compileVamRegexpSearch(e)
 	case *dag.RecordExpr:
 		return b.compileVamRecordExpr(e)
 	//case *dag.SetExpr:
@@ -244,6 +247,36 @@ func (b *Builder) compileVamRecordExpr(e *dag.RecordExpr) (vamexpr.Evaluator, er
 	return vamexpr.NewRecordExpr(b.zctx(), elems), nil
 }
 
+func (b *Builder) compileVamRegexpSearch(search *dag.RegexpSearch) (vamexpr.Evaluator, error) {
+	e, err := b.compileVamExpr(search.Expr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	re, err := expr.CompileRegexp(search.Pattern)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return vamexpr.NewSearchRegexp(re, e), nil
+}
+
+func (b *Builder) compileVamSearch(search *dag.Search) (vamexpr.Evaluator, error) {
+	val, err := zson.ParseValue(b.zctx(), search.Value)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	e, err := b.compileVamExpr(search.Expr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if super.TypeUnder(val.Type()) == super.TypeString {
+		// Do a grep-style substring search instead of an
+		// exact match on each value.
+		term := norm.NFC.Bytes(val.Bytes())
+		return vamexpr.NewSearchString(string(term), e), nil
+	}
+	return vamexpr.NewSearch(search.Text, val, e), nil
+}
+
 func (b *Builder) compileVamArrayExpr(e *dag.ArrayExpr) (vamexpr.Evaluator, error) {
 	elems, err := b.compileVamListElems(e.Elems)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/bytes.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/bytes.yaml
index 5383f9ee09..7a6576aba1 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/bytes.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/bytes.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? 0x or 0x0e00924c694c98b6c11ef56f025f3255904f4e45'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: &input |
   {a:0x}
   {a:0x0e00924c694c98b6c11ef56f025f3255904f4e45}
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/esc-quote.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/esc-quote.yaml
index 925e27c558..1ab7d3e48a 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/esc-quote.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/esc-quote.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? "foo\"bar"'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {s:"foo\"bar"}
   {s:"foobar"}
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/glob-numeric.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/glob-numeric.yaml
index 4188c3094c..189dd3ed0b 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/glob-numeric.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/glob-numeric.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? *1'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   "1"
   "a1"
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/in-requires-space.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/in-requires-space.yaml
index 705e09e0b0..0d82b17a9a 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/in-requires-space.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/in-requires-space.yaml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # longer doing this
 zed: '? x==1 inaction'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {x:1,text:"inaction"}
 
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/ipv6.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/ipv6.yaml
index 4d42f11a88..9b1324f957 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/ipv6.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/ipv6.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? fe80::58d2:2d09:e8cb:a8ad OR ::58d2:2d09:e8cb:a8ad OR 2d09:e8cb:a8ad:: OR ::'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: &input |
   {a:fe80::58d2:2d09:e8cb:a8ad}
   {a:::58d2:2d09:e8cb:a8ad}
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/leading-quotation-mark.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/leading-quotation-mark.yaml
index a3bed3a13b..f64930f0a4 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/leading-quotation-mark.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/leading-quotation-mark.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? \"foo'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {s:"foo"}
   {s:"\"foo"}
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/match-parentheses.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/match-parentheses.yaml
index 16234e5765..77a382233f 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/match-parentheses.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/match-parentheses.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? (10.0.0.0/8 or 172.16.0.0/12 or 192.168.0.0/16)'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {a:1.1.1.1,b:172.16.0.1}
   {a:192.168.0.1,b:2.2.2.2}
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/search.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/search.yaml
index 8e11e525b1..9e43dcb5e1 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/search.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/search.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '?bar'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {s1:"foo",s2:"bar"}
   {s1:"foo",s2:null(string)}
diff --git a/compiler/parser/ztests/unicode-keyword.yaml b/compiler/parser/ztests/unicode-keyword.yaml
index 89db1868d5..00c4fed3ca 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/ztests/unicode-keyword.yaml
+++ b/compiler/parser/ztests/unicode-keyword.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? bjørndal'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: '"bjørndal"'
 
 output: |
diff --git a/compiler/ztests/regexp-search.yaml b/compiler/ztests/regexp-search.yaml
index 32362c6c06..8ba71d3d31 100644
--- a/compiler/ztests/regexp-search.yaml
+++ b/compiler/ztests/regexp-search.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: yield grep(*foo*)
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   "foo"
   1
diff --git a/compiler/ztests/search-regexp-not-glob.yaml b/compiler/ztests/search-regexp-not-glob.yaml
index d2e51d5e67..5dcce751b6 100644
--- a/compiler/ztests/search-regexp-not-glob.yaml
+++ b/compiler/ztests/search-regexp-not-glob.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 zed: |
   ? /.*/
 
+vector: true
+
 input: &input |
   "a"
 
diff --git a/compiler/ztests/search-type-value.yaml b/compiler/ztests/search-type-value.yaml
index 6c5160e698..f18edffed7 100644
--- a/compiler/ztests/search-type-value.yaml
+++ b/compiler/ztests/search-type-value.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 zed: |
   ? <{x:int64}>
 
+vector: true
+
 input: <int64> <string> <{x:int64}>
 
 output: |
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/filter.go b/runtime/sam/expr/filter.go
index d1630e64ec..bb183bead3 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/filter.go
+++ b/runtime/sam/expr/filter.go
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ func (s *searchByPred) Eval(ectx Context, val super.Value) super.Value {
 	return super.False
 }
 
-// stringSearch is like strings.Contains() but with case-insensitive
+// StringContainsFold is like strings.Contains but with case-insensitive
 // comparison.
-func stringSearch(a, b string) bool {
+func StringContainsFold(a, b string) bool {
 	alen := len(a)
 	blen := len(b)
 
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func (s *search) Eval(ectx Context, val super.Value) super.Value {
 	}
 	if errMatch == val.Walk(func(typ super.Type, body zcode.Bytes) error {
 		if typ.ID() == super.IDString {
-			if stringSearch(byteconv.UnsafeString(body), s.text) {
+			if StringContainsFold(byteconv.UnsafeString(body), s.text) {
 				return errMatch
 			}
 			return nil
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ func NewSearchString(term string, expr Evaluator) Evaluator {
 		term: term,
 		expr: expr,
 		fnm: NewFieldNameMatcher(func(b []byte) bool {
-			return stringSearch(byteconv.UnsafeString(b), term)
+			return StringContainsFold(byteconv.UnsafeString(b), term)
 		}),
 	}
 }
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func (s *searchString) Eval(ectx Context, val super.Value) super.Value {
 	}
 	if errMatch == val.Walk(func(typ super.Type, body zcode.Bytes) error {
 		if typ.ID() == super.IDString &&
-			stringSearch(byteconv.UnsafeString(body), s.term) {
+			StringContainsFold(byteconv.UnsafeString(body), s.term) {
 			return errMatch
 		}
 		return nil
diff --git a/runtime/vam/expr/search.go b/runtime/vam/expr/search.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ca162f72dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/vam/expr/search.go
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+package expr
+
+import (
+	"net/netip"
+	"regexp"
+	"slices"
+	"unsafe"
+
+	"github.com/brimdata/super"
+	"github.com/brimdata/super/runtime/sam/expr"
+	"github.com/brimdata/super/vector"
+)
+
+type search struct {
+	e          Evaluator
+	vectorPred func(vector.Any) vector.Any
+	stringPred func([]byte) bool
+	fnm        *expr.FieldNameMatcher
+}
+
+func NewSearch(s string, val super.Value, e Evaluator) Evaluator {
+	stringPred := func(b []byte) bool {
+		return expr.StringContainsFold(string(b), s)
+	}
+	var net netip.Prefix
+	if val.Type().ID() == super.IDNet {
+		net = super.DecodeNet(val.Bytes())
+	}
+	eq := NewCompare(super.NewContext() /* XXX */, nil, nil, "==")
+	vectorPred := func(vec vector.Any) vector.Any {
+		if net.IsValid() && vector.KindOf(vec) == vector.KindIP {
+			out := vector.NewBoolEmpty(vec.Len(), nil)
+			for i := range vec.Len() {
+				if ip, null := vector.IPValue(vec, i); !null && net.Contains(ip) {
+					out.Set(i)
+				}
+			}
+			return out
+		}
+		return eq.eval(vec, vector.NewConst(val, vec.Len(), nil))
+	}
+	return &search{e, vectorPred, stringPred, nil}
+}
+
+func NewSearchRegexp(re *regexp.Regexp, e Evaluator) Evaluator {
+	return &search{e, nil, re.Match, expr.NewFieldNameMatcher(re.Match)}
+}
+
+func NewSearchString(s string, e Evaluator) Evaluator {
+	pred := func(b []byte) bool {
+		return expr.StringContainsFold(string(b), s)
+	}
+	return &search{e, nil, pred, expr.NewFieldNameMatcher(pred)}
+}
+
+func (s *search) Eval(this vector.Any) vector.Any {
+	return vector.Apply(true, s.eval, s.e.Eval(this))
+}
+
+func (s *search) eval(vecs ...vector.Any) vector.Any {
+	vec := vector.Under(vecs[0])
+	typ := vec.Type()
+	if s.fnm != nil && s.fnm.Match(typ) {
+		return vector.NewConst(super.True, vec.Len(), nil)
+	}
+	if typ.Kind() == super.PrimitiveKind {
+		return s.match(vec)
+	}
+	n := vec.Len()
+	var index []uint32
+	if view, ok := vec.(*vector.View); ok {
+		vec = view.Any
+		index = view.Index
+	}
+	switch vec := vec.(type) {
+	case *vector.Record:
+		out := vector.NewBoolEmpty(n, nil)
+		for _, f := range vec.Fields {
+			if index != nil {
+				f = vector.NewView(f, index)
+			}
+			out = vector.Or(out, toBool(s.eval(f)))
+		}
+		return out
+	case *vector.Array:
+		return s.evalForList(vec.Values, vec.Offsets, index, n)
+	case *vector.Set:
+		return s.evalForList(vec.Values, vec.Offsets, index, n)
+	case *vector.Map:
+		return vector.Or(s.evalForList(vec.Keys, vec.Offsets, index, n),
+			s.evalForList(vec.Values, vec.Offsets, index, n))
+	case *vector.Union:
+		return vector.Apply(true, s.eval, vec)
+	case *vector.Error:
+		return s.eval(vec.Vals)
+	}
+	panic(vec)
+}
+
+func (s *search) evalForList(vec vector.Any, offsets, index []uint32, length uint32) *vector.Bool {
+	out := vector.NewBoolEmpty(length, nil)
+	var index2 []uint32
+	for j := range length {
+		if index != nil {
+			j = index[j]
+		}
+		start, end := offsets[j], offsets[j+1]
+		if start == end {
+			continue
+		}
+		n := end - start
+		index2 = slices.Grow(index2[:0], int(n))[:n]
+		for k := range n {
+			index2[k] = k + start
+		}
+		view := vector.NewView(vec, index2)
+		if toBool(s.eval(view)).TrueCount() > 0 {
+			out.Set(j)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func (s *search) match(vec vector.Any) vector.Any {
+	if vec.Type().ID() == super.IDString {
+		out := vector.NewBoolEmpty(vec.Len(), nil)
+		for i := range vec.Len() {
+			str, null := vector.StringValue(vec, i)
+			// Prevent compiler from copying str, which it thinks
+			// escapes to the heap because stringPred is a pointer.
+			bytes := unsafe.Slice(unsafe.StringData(str), len(str))
+			if !null && s.stringPred(bytes) {
+				out.Set(i)
+			}
+		}
+		return out
+	}
+	if s.vectorPred != nil {
+		return s.vectorPred(vec)
+	}
+	return vector.NewConst(super.False, vec.Len(), nil)
+}
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-escaped-asterisk.yaml b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-escaped-asterisk.yaml
similarity index 87%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-escaped-asterisk.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/expr/search-escaped-asterisk.yaml
index 3f1d9067fb..a4305623fa 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-escaped-asterisk.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-escaped-asterisk.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? A\=\*'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {s:"A=B"}
   {s:"A=*"}
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-escaped-equal-sign.yaml b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-escaped-equal-sign.yaml
similarity index 87%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-escaped-equal-sign.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/expr/search-escaped-equal-sign.yaml
index 91e8915c19..0c0f6d8b0d 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-escaped-equal-sign.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-escaped-equal-sign.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? A\=B'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {s:"A=B"}
   {s:"A=*"}
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/glob.yaml b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-glob.yaml
similarity index 92%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/glob.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/expr/search-glob.yaml
index e5413fc2d1..8ec29474e9 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/glob.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-glob.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? foo*'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {a:"hello",b:"there"}
   {a:"foox",b:"there"}
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-nested-field-regexp.yaml b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-nested-field-regexp.yaml
similarity index 95%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-nested-field-regexp.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/expr/search-nested-field-regexp.yaml
index 2072dbc72d..d2433d7f8f 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-nested-field-regexp.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-nested-field-regexp.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? *ar'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {a:[{bar:"foo"}]}
   {a:[{car:"foo"}]}
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-nested-field.yaml b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-nested-field.yaml
similarity index 94%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-nested-field.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/expr/search-nested-field.yaml
index 37765b9989..1df16e5387 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-nested-field.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-nested-field.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '?b'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {a:[{b:"foo"}]}
   {a:[{c:"foo"}]}
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-primitives.yaml b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-primitives.yaml
similarity index 83%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-primitives.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/expr/search-primitives.yaml
index ead6d54e17..9ee849edec 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/search-primitives.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-primitives.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '?foo'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   "foo"
   "bar"
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-unescaped-asterisk.yaml b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-unescaped-asterisk.yaml
similarity index 88%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-unescaped-asterisk.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/expr/search-unescaped-asterisk.yaml
index 41f7c2fea4..09367d9931 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/filter-unescaped-asterisk.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/expr/search-unescaped-asterisk.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 zed: '? A\=*'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: |
   {s:"A=B"}
   {s:"A=*"}
diff --git a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/regexp-escapes.yaml b/runtime/ztests/search-regexp-escapes.yaml
similarity index 93%
rename from runtime/sam/expr/ztests/regexp-escapes.yaml
rename to runtime/ztests/search-regexp-escapes.yaml
index 352b9d2ad7..49004c8c42 100644
--- a/runtime/sam/expr/ztests/regexp-escapes.yaml
+++ b/runtime/ztests/search-regexp-escapes.yaml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # (https://github.com/brimdata/super/issues/3041).
 zed: '? /\f\t\n\r\(\)\*\+\.\/\?\[\]\{\}/'
 
+vector: true
+
 input: &input |
   {a:"\f\t\n\r()*+./?[]{}"}