Files
narl-workspace/docs/wiki/Files-and-Search.md
T
nvrl a1f6f6025f nodes: names that cannot be confused, and a search of nothing
Three small things the docs pass turned up.

A search of nothing but punctuation — `!!!`, `--` — gave the FTS query no
terms, and the list handler then fell through to browsing with no parent,
which answered with the spaces as if they were matches. It now finds nothing.

Two spaces could have the same name: the slug was made unique (`work-2`) but
the name kept, so the bar showed two pills that read alike and `:space work`
picked the first. A new space, a space renamed, and a directory made at the
root of the mount are refused when another space has that name in any case or
that slug. Folders and documents may still share names; they are told apart by
where they sit.

A name had no ceiling. A file is called by its name on the mount, where most
filesystems stop at 255 bytes, so a document, folder, file or space is now at
most 200 characters, checked where one is made or renamed.
2026-10-21 12:21:54 +02:00

3.1 KiB

Files and search

Files

A file is a node like a document, only with bytes instead of text. It sits in a folder beside the notes about it, shows its size in the list, and Enter opens it.

Put files in:

  • drop them onto the list;
  • :upload picks files for the folder you are in;
  • :import uploads a whole folder, and :import! a zip (see Not losing things);
  • copy them in over the SFTP mount.

Each upload is written to disk as it arrives, never held in memory, so the only limit is WORKSPACE_MAX_UPLOAD_MB (1024 by default) per request.

What opens in place

  • images, video and audio;
  • PDFs, in the browser's own viewer;
  • text and source code of any kind, with line numbers, up to the first 256 KiB;
  • markdown, rendered, with :source to see it as written;
  • CSV and TSV, as a table of the first 500 rows;
  • certificates, keys and keystores (.pem, .crt, .cer, .der, .csr, .key, .p8, .p12, .pfx), read on the server.

A CSV file as a table

A certificate shows its subject, issuer, validity, key, names, usage and fingerprints, and which key belongs to which certificate. A .p12 or an encrypted key asks for its password, which opens it for that one look and is not stored. Nothing of a private key is sent back but its algorithm and size.

A certificate read on the server

Anything else is a download: :download (:dl) fetches the file under the cursor, and gx opens it in a browser tab of its own. Files are renamed with :name, moved like documents, and deleted into the trash with x.

Uploads are only ever served as types that cannot run in the browser. An HTML file or an SVG, for example, downloads instead of opening.

key searches
/ the space you are in
Ctrl-P every space

Results appear as you type, ranked by relevance, each with the space and folder it is in. Tab or Ctrl-N / Ctrl-P walk them without leaving the line, and Enter opens the one lit. Afterwards n and N open the next and previous result beside the list, and :noh clears the search.

A search that found a line in a log file

Each word you type matches the start of a word, so inge finds "ingest". All the words must be there. Punctuation is ignored, so a search of nothing else finds nothing.

Inside files

A search reads the text files in the tree as well as the documents. A file counts as text by its type, or when its first 8 KiB read as UTF-8 with no NUL byte, which covers .log files and Makefiles. The first 256 KiB of each is indexed, the same part the viewer shows. A file found by its text shows the words around the match under its name.

The text is read when a file arrives, by upload, import or the SFTP mount, again when its bytes change, and at start for any file still missing it. PDFs, office documents and images are not read.

A sealed file is never indexed; see The vault. Sealing a file drops its text in the same step, and decrypting it reads it again.