Search
Four ways to find content: global search for quick lookups, list view filters for detailed queries, full-text search for content matching, and saved Queries for raw SQL.
Global Search
Open with Cmd+K (macOS) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux), or click the Search button in the header.
How It Works
- Type at least 2 characters
- Results appear as a flat list ranked by relevance, each with a type badge
- Use arrow keys to navigate, Enter to open, Escape to close
What Gets Searched
| Entity Type | Searched Fields |
|---|---|
| Resources | Name, Description, OriginalName |
| Notes | Name, Description |
| Groups | Name, Description |
| Tags | Name, Description |
| Categories | Name, Description |
| Resource Categories | Name, Description |
| Queries | Name, Description |
| Note Types | Name, Description |
| Relation Types | Name, Description |
Relevance Scoring
When full-text search is unavailable, results are ranked by LIKE-based scoring:
| Condition | Score |
|---|---|
| Exact name match | 100 |
| Name starts with search term | 80 |
| Name contains search term | 60 |
| Description contains search term | 40 |
| Other match | 20 |
Caching
- Server-side LRU cache with 60-second TTL
- Default result limit: 20 (server max: 50). The frontend requests 15 by default.
- Cache invalidates on entity create, update, or delete
- Frontend performs additional client-side caching (30-second threshold)
List View Filters
Each entity list page has filtering controls in the sidebar.
Common Filters
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Text search in name field |
| Description | Text search in description |
| Tags | Filter by assigned Tags (AND logic) |
| Owner | Filter by owning Group |
| Created Before/After | Date range filters |
Resource-Specific Filters
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Content Type | Filter by MIME type |
| Original Name | Search original filename |
| Original Location | Search source URL |
| Hash | Find by content hash |
| Min/Max Width | Image dimension filters |
| Min/Max Height | Image dimension filters |
| Show Without Owner | Only Resources with no owner |
| Show With Similar | Only images with perceptual hash matches |
MetaQuery Filters
Filter by JSON metadata fields using key:value or key:OPERATOR:value syntax.
Operators
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
LI | LIKE (default when no operator specified) |
EQ | Equals |
NE | Not equals |
NL | Not like |
GT | Greater than |
GE | Greater than or equal |
LT | Less than |
LE | Less than or equal |
HAS_KEYS | Key exists (value is ignored) |
Value Type Detection
| Input | Parsed As |
|---|---|
true / false | Boolean |
null | Null |
"quoted text" | Exact string |
42, 3.14 | Number |
| anything else | String (for LIKE matching) |
Examples
MetaQuery=author:Jane
MetaQuery=priority:EQ:high
MetaQuery=score:GT:80
MetaQuery=status:NE:archived
Group MetaQuery supports parent.key and child.key prefixes to search parent or child Group metadata.
Popular Tags Quick Filter
The top of filter sections shows the 20 most-used Tags for the current query. Click a Tag to toggle it as a filter.
Applying Filters
- Fill in desired filter fields
- Click Search
- The URL updates to reflect your filters (bookmarkable and shareable)
Sorting
Sort Syntax
Sort columns use space-separated direction:
SortBy=name desc
SortBy=created_at asc
Default sort for all entities: created_at desc.
Sort by Metadata
Sort by JSON metadata values using the meta->>'key' syntax:
SortBy=meta->>'priority' desc
Multi-Field Sorting
Pass multiple SortBy parameters. The first is primary; others break ties:
GET /v1/resources?SortBy=content_type asc&SortBy=created_at desc
Full-Text Search
Full-text search indexes all searchable entity types: Resource names, descriptions, and original names; Note names and descriptions; Group names and descriptions; and Tag, Category, Query, Relation Type, Note Type, and Resource Category names and descriptions.
Database Engines
| Database | Engine | Details |
|---|---|---|
| SQLite | FTS5 | Requires fts5 build tag |
| PostgreSQL | tsvector | Uses ts_rank for relevance |
Search Modes
| Syntax | Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
word | Prefix (default for terms with 3+ characters) | Matches words starting with the term |
word* | Explicit prefix | Matches words starting with the term |
~word | Fuzzy | Trigram matching in PostgreSQL, LIKE fallback in SQLite |
=word or "word" | Exact | Matches the exact term only |
Both engines fall back to LIKE-based search when full-text search is disabled.
Disabling Full-Text Search
./mahresources -skip-fts
Saved Queries
Saved Queries execute raw SQL through the query runner. For database-level write protection, configure DB_READONLY_DSN as a truly read-only connection.
Creating a Query
- Navigate to Queries > New Query
- Enter a Name (unique)
- Write SQL in the Text field
- Optionally add a Template for result display
- Click Save
Named Parameters
Queries use :param syntax for named parameters:
SELECT * FROM resources WHERE name LIKE :searchTerm
When running the Query, a form appears for each parameter.
Write PostgreSQL :: casts normally in saved queries:
SELECT meta::jsonb FROM resources WHERE id = :id
The query runner escapes casts automatically before named-parameter binding.
Query Examples
Find large Resources:
SELECT id, name, file_size
FROM resources
WHERE file_size > :minSize
ORDER BY file_size DESC
Count Resources by content type:
SELECT content_type, COUNT(*) as count
FROM resources
GROUP BY content_type
ORDER BY count DESC
Recent Notes with Tags:
SELECT n.id, n.name, GROUP_CONCAT(t.name) as tags
FROM notes n
LEFT JOIN note_tags nt ON n.id = nt.note_id
LEFT JOIN tags t ON nt.tag_id = t.id
WHERE n.created_at > :since
GROUP BY n.id
ORDER BY n.created_at DESC
Database Schema
Use GET /v1/query/schema to retrieve all table names and column names for writing Queries.
Query Security
Queries execute with full database read access. Only trusted users should create Queries. This is acceptable because Mahresources is designed for private network deployments.