GoEverything

Fast local file indexing and search for macOS, Windows, and Linux (Everything-style), built with Go.

Platform status: GoEverything officially supports macOS, Windows, and Linux. Windows scans use an NTFS metadata backend when available and automatically fall back to a portable filesystem walk. Linux uses a portable filesystem walk and discovers accessible mounts while excluding virtual filesystems.

What is GoEverything?

GoEverything (ge) helps you quickly find files and folders using a local SQLite + FTS5 index.

Use it when you want to:

• Find files by name or partial text
• Filter by extension or root path
• Keep results updated with a watcher
• Use an interactive TUI for day-to-day search

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Install

Option 1: Install from release script (recommended)

macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andre-carbajal/GoEverything/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andre-carbajal/GoEverything/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Linux packages (.deb and .rpm) are also published with each release. The optional desktop actions use xdg-open or gio; moving files to the trash uses gio or trash-put from trash-cli.

Windows (PowerShell)

iwr https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andre-carbajal/GoEverything/main/scripts/install.ps1 -UseB | iex

You can also install a specific version:

• macOS: bash -s -- v0.1.0
• Windows: .\install.ps1 -Version v0.1.0

Option 2: Build locally

mkdir -p ./bin
go build -o ./bin/ge ./cmd/ge
mv ./bin/ge /usr/local/bin/ge
ge --help

Option 3: Package manager (official)

Homebrew

brew tap andre-carbajal/tap
brew install goeverything

Scoop

scoop bucket add andre-carbajal https://github.com/andre-carbajal/scoop-bucket
scoop install andre-carbajal/goeverything

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Quick start (5 mins)

1) Open the TUI

ge

The TUI opens a location picker first. The input is focused immediately: choose Home, System, a mounted volume/drive, or type a folder path. Suggestions are completed one directory level at a time. After confirming, the selected location is scanned and the progress panel is shown before search opens. The selected location is not persisted. If the scan fails or is canceled, the picker is shown again.

Useful shortcuts:

• ↑ / ↓ move through search results
• In the location picker, ↑ / ↓ select suggestions and Tab / → accept completion
• In the location picker, Enter scans the selected root/path and Esc cancels
• Enter open selected result
• Ctrl+U open the disk-usage view; Enter/→ opens files or drills into directories and h/← goes back
• Ctrl+D / Delete remove selected result
• Click select, double-click open, right-click delete
• Ctrl+G scan now
• Ctrl+X stop scan
• Ctrl+Q quit

2) Check default roots

ge roots

3) Index your home folder

ge scan --root "$HOME"

Windows PowerShell:

ge scan --root $env:USERPROFILE

4) Search from CLI

ge search -q safari
ge search -q "*report*" --format json

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Common workflows

Index my home folder

ge scan --root "$HOME"

Windows PowerShell:

ge scan --root $env:USERPROFILE

Find files by name/ext

# By name/query
ge search -q invoice

# By extension
ge search -q report --ext pdf

# Only files or only directories
ge search -q docs --only-files
ge search -q src --only-dirs

Keep index updated with watch

# One-shot watch on a root
ge watch --root "$HOME"

Windows supports foreground watch:

ge watch --root $env:USERPROFILE

The watcher stays in the foreground. If a persistent watcher is needed, manage it with the native service tooling for the target operating system.

Rebuild search index (without rescanning)

ge reindex

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Configuration

Portable data paths:

• Config and database are stored below os.UserConfigDir()/ge for the current platform.
• Existing legacy files under ~/.config/ge (and the previous Windows locations) are migrated on load.

Example ~/.config/ge/config.json:

{
  "db_path": "~/.config/ge/goeverything.db",
  "theme": "tokyonight",
  "delete_mode": "trash",
  "last_search": "report",
  "excludes": [
    ".git",
    "node_modules",
    "Library/Caches/*"
  ]
}

Notes:

• db_path: SQLite database location
• Scan location: selected per TUI execution and never persisted as a default
• last_search: last non-empty TUI query, displayed as the next search suggestion
• delete_mode: trash or permanent for deletes from the TUI
• excludes: ignore names or root-relative glob patterns

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Troubleshooting

No results after scan

• Re-run scan on expected root: ge scan --root "$HOME"
• Search with broader query: ge search -q a --limit 200
• Confirm DB path if using custom --db

Permission issues

• Some directories require extra platform permissions.
• Start with folders you own ($HOME) and expand gradually.
• On Linux, check Unix permissions, ACLs, and mount options when a directory is inaccessible. Virtual filesystems are excluded automatically when scanning the system root.
• On Windows, the NTFS backend may require an elevated terminal for full-volume scans. In --backend auto mode, GoEverything falls back to the portable walker if NTFS metadata access is unavailable.

Scan feels slow

• Tune workers and batch size:

ge scan --root "$HOME" --workers 16 --batch 3000

• Add excludes for heavy folders (node_modules, caches, build outputs).
• On Windows, use --backend ntfs to require NTFS metadata scanning, --backend walk to force the portable scanner, or the default --backend auto to try NTFS first and fall back automatically.

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Advanced options (short)

Scan tuning

• --workers: concurrent index workers
• --batch: DB upsert batch size (default: 2000)
• --exclude: skip names or root-relative globs
• --all-roots: scan default platform roots (/, Linux data mounts, /Volumes/*, or Windows drive roots like C:\)

Example:

ge scan \
  --all-roots \
  --workers 16 \
  --batch 3000 \
  --exclude .git \
  --exclude node_modules \
  --exclude "Library/Caches/*"

Database migrations

ge db status
ge db version

Migrations run automatically when the database is opened. Existing databases using the compatible goose_db_version table are resumed without destructive resets; rollback is not supported.

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Command reference

For full command details:

ge --help
ge <command> --help

Examples:

ge scan --help
ge search --help
ge watch --help