1. A method for flattening a subset of configuration user interface (UI) panels in a hierarchy of UI panels, the method comprising: establishing a search index of configurable artifacts of an application, wherein configuration parameters for the configurable artifacts are receivable in a hierarchy of UI panels, wherein the search index includes different keywords associated with the configurable artifacts along with a reference to a corresponding one of the UI panels in the hierarchy with which the corresponding one of the UI panels is retrieved directly; executing, in a data processing system including a host computer with at least one processor and memory, a query against the search index of the configurable artifacts; receiving a result set of artifacts from the search index for the query; identifying UI panels in the hierarchy corresponding to artifacts in the result set; and, displaying a single window in the application with an arrangement of the identified UI panels.