> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://linkly.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Using the Full-Text Search Launcher

> A global search window that's always a keystroke away: hybrid retrieval, library scoping, type filters, time sorting, and in-place preview. This page covers every capability and every shortcut.

The Launcher is the entry point you'll use most in Linkly AI — a global window much like macOS Spotlight or Raycast. Press one shortcut at any time, type a keyword or a plain sentence, and find the documents on your computer.

Its retrieval is **hybrid**: keyword (BM25) and semantic (vector) search run at the same time and the results are fused into one ranking. So you can search for an exact term, or describe roughly what you're after — and even use one language to find documents written in another.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Keyword search" icon="magnifying-glass" iconType="duotone">
    Type precise keywords to match filenames and body text
  </Card>

  <Card title="Semantic search" icon="brain" iconType="duotone">
    Describe it in natural language — the model understands the meaning and returns relevant documents
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Note>The semantic half only kicks in once the embedding model has finished downloading. While the model is still downloading, search **silently falls back to keyword-only mode** — it works, it just won't find results that mean the same thing in different words. You can check the status under **Settings → Index**; see [Index Settings](/docs/en/indexing) for details.</Note>

***

## Opening and closing

| Action          | How                                                                                    |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Open**        | Global shortcut `⌘ + Shift + L` (macOS) / `Ctrl + Shift + L` (Windows/Linux)           |
| **Alternative** | **Right-click** the L icon in the system tray and pick the first menu item, **Search** |
| **Close**       | Press `Esc`, or click anywhere outside the window                                      |

<Warning>**Left-clicking the tray icon opens the [Chatbot](/docs/en/use-chatbot), not the Launcher.** The tray menu only appears on right-click — that's where **Search**, **Pause Indexing** and the other menu items live.</Warning>

<Tip>The shortcut is rebindable under **Settings → General**. Press `⌘ + /` at any time to pull up the full list of shortcuts.</Tip>

### Pinning the window

By default the Launcher **hides itself the moment it loses focus** — the right behavior for an always-on-call tool, but it gets in the way when you want to keep looking at results while working in another window.

Click the **pin** button in the bottom-right corner to turn on **Pin launcher**, and the window will stop disappearing on blur. `Esc` still closes it. Click the pin again to unpin.

***

## Searching

Just type in the input box — **results update as you type, no need to press Enter**.

### Scoping to a library

Typing `@` switches to library-picking mode: the placeholder changes to **Type library name...** and your [libraries](/docs/en/use-libraries) are listed below. Once you pick one, its tag appears to the left of the input box and every subsequent search runs only inside that library.

To leave the scope: press `Backspace` while the input box is empty.

### Handing it over to AI

When the results aren't enough — or what you actually want is "analyze this for me" rather than "find this for me" — press `Tab`. Whatever you've typed is carried over into the [Chatbot](/docs/en/use-chatbot) and the Launcher closes. The **Ask AI** button to the right of the input box does the same thing.

<Note>`Tab` is only intercepted in ordinary search mode. In `@` library-picking mode, while scoped to a library, or in the preview view, `Tab` keeps its normal behavior.</Note>

### Search history

When the input box is empty, the Launcher shows a **Recent Searches** list — click any entry to run it again. **Clear search history** in the top-right wipes the list in one go.

***

## Narrowing the results

When a search returns too much, there are two sets of tools for narrowing it down, both at the top of the results list.

### Filtering by file type

When the results contain **more than one** file type, a type filter bar appears at the top, ordered by how many results each type has (most first), with the count next to each type. Click one to see only that type; click **All** to stop filtering.

You can also use the keyboard: `⌘ + ↑` / `⌘ + ↓` cycles through **All** and each type.

<Note>The filter bar **only appears when the results contain multiple types**. If this search matched nothing but PDFs, there's nothing to filter and the bar doesn't take up space.</Note>

### Sorting

Results are sorted by **relevance** by default. The sort button at the top switches between three options:

| Option            | Behavior                                                      |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Most Relevant** | Default. Sorted by the hybrid retrieval relevance score       |
| **Newest**        | Sorted by file modification time, most recently changed first |
| **Oldest**        | Sorted by file modification time, oldest first                |

Keyboard: `⌘ + Shift + ↑` / `⌘ + Shift + ↓` cycles through them. Once you switch to a time-based sort, each result shows its modification time.

<Tip>"That thing I edited last week — I can't remember what it's called." For cases like this, search for a rough term first, then switch to **Newest**; two steps is usually enough.</Tip>

***

## Preview and actions

Press `Enter` on a result to enter the preview view.

* **Full body text**, with search terms highlighted and automatic scrolling to the first match
* **Source / Preview** toggle (only for documents that have a rendered form, such as Markdown)
* **Details panel**: press `⌘ + I` to expand it — Title, Path, Match, Size, Words, Modified, Created, Keywords
* **Show in Folder**: `Shift + Enter`, or the **Show in Folder** button in the top-right, selects the file in Finder / File Explorer
* **Copy path**: `⌘ + Shift + C` copies the file's absolute path
* **Export Markdown**: for documents whose parsed result is Markdown (structured text converted from PDF, DOCX and the like), one click copies the whole structured Markdown to the clipboard — paste it straight into any AI

Press `Esc` or `Backspace` to return to the results list.

<Note>`Shift + Enter` **reveals the file in its folder**; it does not open it in the default application. That way you can check its location and the files around it before deciding what to do with it.</Note>

***

## Status badges on results

Some results carry a grey **Not indexed · …** badge, meaning **this file can only be found by filename — its content was not indexed**. Hover over the badge to see why:

| Badge                                  | Reason                                                                                   |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Not indexed · cloud placeholder**    | Your cloud provider hasn't actually downloaded the file to this device yet               |
| **Not indexed · signature mismatch**   | The file's real content doesn't match its extension (usually a placeholder or stub file) |
| **Not indexed · no audio track**       | This media file has no audio track, so there's nothing to transcribe                     |
| **Not indexed · transcription failed** | Audio or video transcription couldn't complete (undecodable or unsupported audio)        |

The first two are usually caused by a cloud drive's "files on-demand" feature; once the file is downloaded locally it gets re-indexed automatically. See the corresponding section in the [FAQ](/docs/en/faq).

***

## Keyboard shortcuts

### Global

| Shortcut                                                     | Function        |
| ------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------- |
| `⌘ + Shift + L` (macOS) / `Ctrl + Shift + L` (Windows/Linux) | Toggle Launcher |

### Search view

| Shortcut              | Function                                                              |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `↑` / `↓`             | Move between results                                                  |
| `Enter`               | Preview the selected document                                         |
| `Shift + Enter`       | Show the file in its folder                                           |
| `⌘ + Shift + C`       | Copy the file's absolute path                                         |
| `Tab`                 | Hand the current input over to the AI chat                            |
| `⌘ + ↑` / `⌘ + ↓`     | Switch the file type filter                                           |
| `⌘ + Shift + ↑` / `↓` | Switch the sort order                                                 |
| `@`                   | Enter library-picking mode                                            |
| `Backspace`           | When the input is empty: leave library-picking mode / clear the scope |
| `⌘ + /`               | Open the shortcuts list                                               |
| `⌘ + ,`               | Open Settings                                                         |
| `Esc`                 | Close the Launcher                                                    |

### Preview view

| Shortcut            | Function                      |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| `⌘ + I`             | Toggle the details panel      |
| `Shift + Enter`     | Show the file in its folder   |
| `⌘ + Shift + C`     | Copy the file's absolute path |
| `⌘ + ,`             | Open Settings                 |
| `Esc` / `Backspace` | Return to the results list    |

<Note>In the tables above, `⌘` corresponds to `Ctrl` on Windows and Linux.</Note>

***

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Results feel purely literal — is semantic search not working?">
    The most common reason is that the embedding model hasn't finished downloading, or the download failed — and **the search interface gives you no hint about this at all**; it silently degrades to keyword-only.

    Check the **Semantic Search** row in the status breakdown under **Settings → Index**, and confirm the model status under **Settings → AI → Embedding model**. Full troubleshooting steps are in [Index Settings](/docs/en/indexing).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It says 'Indexing in progress' at the top — does that affect search?">
    No, the results may just be incomplete. Indexing is layered: filenames become searchable first, then body keywords, and finally semantic vectors. Search works normally while indexing runs, and the same query will be more accurate once indexing finishes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why can't I find the sort or filter buttons?">
    Both appear **only when relevant**:

    * Sort button: only when there are real results (not on the loading skeleton, empty results, or in library-picking mode)
    * Type filter: only when the results contain **two or more** file types
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The Launcher disappears whenever I click elsewhere — how do I keep it open?">
    Click the pin in the bottom-right corner to turn on **Pin launcher**. Once pinned it no longer auto-hides on blur; `Esc` still closes it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can notes be found in the Launcher?">
    Yes. [Notes](/docs/en/use-notes) are ordinary Markdown files under `~/LinklyAI`, indexed and searched just like any other document.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can it search Cloud Library content?">
    No. The Launcher searches **what's indexed on this machine**. [Cloud Libraries](/docs/en/use-cloud-library) are for AI assistants querying through the cloud gateway; they don't appear in local Launcher results.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Further reading

* [Index Settings](/docs/en/indexing) — the switches that decide what can be found
* [Using Libraries](/docs/en/use-libraries) — where the `@` candidates come from
* [Using AI Chat](/docs/en/use-chatbot) — where `Tab` takes you
* [Using Notes](/docs/en/use-notes) — they show up in search results too
* [FAQ](/docs/en/faq) — indexing time, privacy, and troubleshooting