FR: Search Labels / Saved Scopes

[salmanuc]

For users with multiple indexed locations and advanced search workflows, it would be useful to create custom search scopes that can group directories, volumes, shares, and even saved search expressions under a user-defined label.

Example Scopes

NAS

• /Volumes/Media
• /Volumes/Documents
• /Volumes/Photos

Work

• ~/Projects
• /Volumes/WorkShare

Archive

• /Volumes/Archive

Requested Behavior

Allow users to define custom scopes and associate one or more indexed locations with each scope.

However, scopes should not be limited to path-based filtering. A scope should also be able to encapsulate any search restriction, operator, filter, or function supported by Cardinal.

This would allow scopes to function as reusable saved searches rather than merely collections of folders.

Example Saved Scopes

NAS

path:/Volumes/Media OR path:/Volumes/Documents

Recent PDFs

ext:pdf modified:<30d

Large Videos

(ext:mkv OR ext:mp4) size:>1GB

Work Documents

tag:work AND (ext:pdf OR ext:docx)

Code Projects

(ext:py OR ext:js OR ext:ts OR ext:go)

Search Bar Integration

In addition to query operators, scopes should be exposed directly in the search UI through a dropdown selector similar to Everything for Windows.

[ Search query________________ ] [ All ▼ ]
[ Search query________________ ] [ NAS ▼ ]

Selecting a scope would automatically apply the saved search criteria associated with that scope.

For example:

[ invoice ] [ Recent PDFs ▼ ]

could internally execute:

(ext:pdf modified:<30d) AND invoice

Query Syntax

For power users, scopes should also be accessible through search operators:

scope:nas movie
scope:work presentation
scope:archive tax return

or

scope:recent-pdfs invoice
scope:large-videos documentary

Benefits

• Faster searching across large indexes.
• Easier organization of local folders, external drives, and NAS shares.
• One-click access to frequently used searches.
• No need to remember complex operators.
• Discoverable for new users through the UI dropdown.
• Efficient workflow for power users through query syntax.
• Similar to Smart Folders, Search Folders, bookmarks, and saved searches found in mature desktop search tools.

Possible Extensions

• Nested scopes/groups.
• Multiple scopes per location.
• Scope inheritance.
• Scope-specific inclusion/exclusion rules.
• Scope-specific sorting and result layouts.
• Favorite or pinned scopes.
• Keyboard shortcuts for scope selection.
• Export/import or sharing of scopes between devices.

[hsqStephenZhang]

it looks like a macro expansion, where user could define their own macro, which is a combination of filters.

could design an approach to save/preview the macros. (so then typing MACRO1 and ext:pdf, so user could know the final query instead of query with unexpanded MACRO1 there)

[salmanuc]

I was thinking of something closer to the Everything UI rather than a pure macro system.
My idea was to allow users to create named scopes that can contain one or more indexed locations (e.g. NAS shares, folders, external drives) and optionally saved filters.

These scopes would then appear in a dropdown next to the search box, similar to Everything's filter selector, allowing users to quickly restrict searches without remembering operators or macro names.

For example:
All
NAS
Work
Archive
Recent PDFs

Selecting NAS would automatically limit the search to the paths associated with that scope, while selecting Recent PDFs could apply a saved filter such as ext:pdf modified:<30d.
Under the hood this could certainly be implemented using macro expansion, but exposing it as a first-class UI feature would make it more discoverable and convenient for users who don't want to memorize custom query syntax.

[ldm0]

The new UI on master branch would help, might release a new version after fixing my Apple certification issue. 😓