tracker-search(1) Search for content by type or across all types

SYNOPSIS

tracker search [options...] [[expression1] ...]

DESCRIPTION

tracker search searches all indexed content for expression. The resource in which expression matches must exist (see --all for more information). All results are returned in ascending order. In all cases, if no expression is given for an argument (like --folders for example) then ALL items in that category are returned instead.
expression
One or more terms to search. The default operation is a logical AND. For logical OR operations, see -r.

OPTIONS

-f, --files
Search for files of any type matching expression (optional).
-s, --folders
Search for folders matching expression (optional).
-m, --music
Search for music files matching expression (optional).
--music-albums
Search for music albums matching expression (optional).
--music-artists
Search for music artists matching expression (optional).
-i, --images
Search for images matching expression (optional).
-v, --videos
Search for videos matching expression (optional).
-t, --documents
Search for documents matching expression (optional).
-e, --emails
Search for emails matching expression (optional). Returns a list of subjects for emails found.
-c, --contacts
Search for contacts matching expression (optional). Returns a list of names and email addresses found.
--software
Search for software installed matching expression (optional). Returns a list of desktop files and application titles found.
--software-categories
Search for software categories matching expression (optional). Returns a list of urns and their categories (e.g. Settings, Video, Utility, etc).
--feeds
Search through RSS feed information matching expression (optional). Returns a list of those found.
-b, --bookmarks
Search through bookmarks matching expression (optional). Returns a list titles and links for each bookmark found.
-l, --limit=<limit>
Limit search to limit results. The default is 10 or 512 with --disable-snippets.
-o, --offset=<offset>
Offset the search results by offset. For example, start at item number 10 in the results. The default is 0.
-r, --or-operator
Use OR for search terms instead of AND (the default)
-d, --detailed
Show the unique URN associated with each search result. This does not apply to --music-albums and --music-artists.
-a, --all
Show results which might not be available. This might bebecause a removable media is not mounted for example. Without this option, resources are only shown if they exist. This option applies to all command line switches except
--disable-snippets
Results are shown with snippets. Snippets are context around the word that was searched for in the first place. This gives some idea of if the resource found is the right one. Snippets require Full Text Search to be compile time enabled AND to not be disabled with --disable-fts. Using --disable-snippets only shows the resources which matched, no context is provided about where the match occurred.
--disable-fts
If Full Text Search (FTS) is available, this option allows it to be disabled for one off searches. This returns results slightly using particular properties to match the search terms (like "nie:title") instead of looking for the search terms amongst ALL properties. It is more limiting to do this, but sometimes searching without FTS can yield better results if the FTS ranking is off.
--disable-color
This disables any ANSI color use on the command line. By default this is enabled to make it easier to see results.

ENVIRONMENT

TRACKER_SPARQL_BACKEND
This option allows you to choose which backend you use for connecting to the database. This choice can limit your functionality. There are three settings.

With "direct" the connection to the database is made directly to the file itself on the disk, there is no intermediary daemon or process. The "direct" approach is purely read-only.

With "bus" the tracker-store process is used to liase with the database queuing all requests and managing the connections via an IPC / D-Bus. This adds a small overhead BUT this is the only approach you can use if you want to write to the database.

With "auto" the backend is decided for you, much like it would be if this environment variable was undefined.

TRACKER_PRAGMAS_FILE
Tracker has a fixed set of PRAGMA settings for creating its SQLite connection. With this environment variable pointing to a text file you can override these settings. The file is a \n separated list of SQLite queries to execute on any newly created SQLite connection in tracker-store.