If you look in the ".conan" directory directly under one of your local Conan repositories, for instance, "conan-local/.conan", you will find a "packages.ref.json" file. But, what exactly is this file?
The "packages.ref.json" is a Conan repository file that serves as an index to the Conan repository itself and lists all indexed packages that reside in the repository. Consequently, if you encounter issues with the Conan search, you will need to examine this file.