QuickSearch

A fast local file search tool. QuickSearch indexes the folders you choose, keeps that index fresh automatically. It finds files by name or by text content as fast as you type.

AI Disclaimer

QuickSearch has a core designed by its developer and built by hand, however the majority of its codebase including its GUI was designed by a human and built using AI agents with human review, improvements, and testing.

Home & GitHub Mirror

The primary home of this software is:

• https://quicksearch.karsttech.com
• https://code.karsttech.com/jeremy/quick_search

The code is also mirrored to GitHub for easier bug reporting and issue tracking: https://github.com/DataScienceDIY/quick_search

Features

• Search as you type — ranked results appear instantly and update with every keystroke, matching file names, folder paths, and file contents.
• Typo tolerance — an optional fuzzy mode finds repot when you meant report.
• Query filters — narrow a search by kind, date, or location, e.g. budget type:Document modified:>=2024-01-01, with wildcards and regular expressions for power users. The in-app "?" popup documents the syntax.
• Live results — results on screen notice renames, edits, and deletions within a second, even while indexing is paused.
• Duplicate finder — groups files that appear identical, and can verify any group byte for byte on request. It only reports; it never deletes.
• Always fresh — folders are watched for changes and reindexed periodically, or switch to manual mode and index only when you say so.
• Password protection — optionally encrypt the index, since it contains the names and text of everything indexed. The password can be remembered in your system keychain.
• Global shortcut — Ctrl+Shift+F brings up the window from anywhere while QuickSearch is running, and quicksearch --toggle can be bound in your desktop's keyboard settings to also start it.
• Terminal search — quicksearch <query> prints ranked, pipe-friendly paths; --long adds sizes, dates, and highlighted snippets.
• Portable mode — keep the program, its config, and its index together in one folder that can be moved between devices.

The in-app Help tab and first-start tour cover usage; every setting is explained on hover in the Settings tab.

Build & run

./build.sh          # Linux
build.bat           # Windows

These take a fresh machine to a running app: they install missing build dependencies (with your permission), build a release binary, and launch it.

cargo build --release -p quicksearch-gui   # binaries: target/release/quicksearch{,-cli}
cargo run -p quicksearch-gui               # or just run it
cargo test -p quicksearch-core             # test suite

Install

• Debian / Ubuntu: ./packaging/build-deb.sh, then sudo apt install ./dist/quicksearch_<version>_amd64.deb.
• Other Linux: download the AppImage from the release page, make it executable, and run it. If your distribution lacks FUSE, run it with APPIMAGE_EXTRACT_AND_RUN=1.
• Windows: run the setup .exe from the release page, or unpack the .zip anywhere for an install-free copy.

Configuration

Settings live in ~/.config/quicksearch/config.toml (Windows: %APPDATA%\quicksearch\config.toml), created on first run and edited live by the GUI. config_example.toml is the full reference for every key. A config.toml placed next to the binary enables portable mode.

More

Design choices and the reasoning behind them are described in DESIGN.md; the code and its comments are the detailed reference. QuickSearch is open source under the terms in LICENSE.