DFM-SEARCHER(1)

📦 version 1.4.4, in ubuntu stonking

💖 DFM-SEARCHER 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're talking about dfm-searcher, the file search tool for DDE. yes, that one. the one that finds your stuff when your folder organization is giving chaos demon energy. she's got range, she's got flags, and she's about to be your new main character. 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

dfm-searcher [options] <keyword> [search_path]

that's it. keyword in, files out. literally that simple. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

  • --semantic, -s — turns on semantic natural language search, so you can just talk to it like a person instead of thinking in keywords. iconic behaviour honestly.
dfm-searcher -s "recent 3 days images" /home/user

🎀 Search Types

  • --type=<filename|content|ocr> — picks the search type. default is filename, no cap.
    • filename — search by file name
    • content — search by file content
    • ocr — search by OCR text in images (yes, it reads the words inside your pictures, obsessed)

🌈 Search Options

  • --method=<indexed|realtime> — search method. default is indexed.
  • --query=<simple|boolean|wildcard> — query type. default is simple. for boolean, you separate keywords with | for OR, and & or , for AND.
  • --wildcard — enable wildcard search using * and ? patterns. living that throwback regex-adjacent life.
  • --case-sensitive — enable case sensitivity, for when you're feeling ✨particular✨.
  • --include-hidden — include hidden files. peek behind the curtain, bestie.
  • --pinyin — enable pinyin search (for filename search).
  • --pinyin-acronym — enable pinyin acronym search (for filename search).
  • --file-types=<types> — filter by file types, comma separated.
  • --file-extensions=<exts> — filter by file extensions, comma separated.
  • --exclude=<paths> — exclude directories from the search, comma separated. ghost them.
  • --max-results=<number> — maximum number of results (0 for unlimited).
  • --max-preview=<length> — max content preview length (for content/ocr search).
  • --offset=<n> — content offset: start reading from the n-th character (preview only, default 0).
  • --filename=<keyword> — search by filename in the content/ocr index.

⏰ Time Range Filter Options

  • --time-field=<birth|modify> — which time field to filter on (birth=creation, modify=modification).
  • --time-last=<N><unit> — rolling time window: N units ago up to now. the units are: m=minutes, h=hours, d=days, w=weeks, M=months, y=years. examples: --time-last=3d (last 3 days), --time-last=2h (last 2 hours).
  • --time-today — filter files from today.
  • --time-yesterday — filter files from yesterday.
  • --time-this-week — filter files from this week.
  • --time-last-week — filter files from last week.
  • --time-this-month — filter files from this month.
  • --time-last-month — filter files from last month.
  • --time-this-year — filter files from this year.
  • --time-last-year — filter files from last year.
  • --time-range=<start>,<end> — custom time range, formatted as YYYY-MM-DD or "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM". example: --time-range="2025-01-01,2025-12-31".

📏 File Size Range Filter Options

  • --size-min=<size> — minimum file size (e.g., 1K, 10M, 1G, 512). units: K=KB, M=MB, G=GB, T=TB (default: bytes).
  • --size-max=<size> — maximum file size (e.g., 1K, 10M, 1G, 512). units: K=KB, M=MB, G=GB, T=TB (default: bytes). example: --size-min=1M --size-max=100M.

👑 Output Options

  • --json, -j — output results in JSON format. machine-readable slay.
  • --verbose, -v — enable verbose output with detailed result information.
  • --features — list supported features and exit.
  • --help — display this help.
  • --version — show version information and exit.

🧚 EXAMPLES 🧚

# Basic filename search
dfm-searcher "document" /home/user

# Content search
dfm-searcher --type=content "hello world" /home/user/Documents

# OCR search in images
dfm-searcher --type=ocr "screenshot" /home/user/Pictures

# Realtime search with time filter
dfm-searcher --method=realtime --time-last=7d "report" /home/user

# Semantic search: find recent images
dfm-searcher --semantic "recent 3 days images" /home/user

# Semantic search with JSON output
dfm-searcher -s -j "content contains meeting notes" /home/user

# Filename search with file size filter (1MB to 100MB)
dfm-searcher --size-min=1M --size-max=100M "video" /home/user

🫶 Content Preview (on-demand)

dfm-searcher preview [<keyword>] <path1> [path2 ...] [--type=<content|ocr>] [--offset=<n>] [--max-preview=<length>] [-j]

this one fetches content snippets for specific files without running a full search. so efficient of her.

  • with a keyword: it returns a snippet from the keyword match position (and the search starts at --offset).
  • without a keyword: it returns the exact content starting from --offset (that's the full content if --max-preview is omitted).
  • the search type is auto-detected by file extension; use --type to force a specific index.
# Fetch highlighted snippet for a single file
dfm-searcher preview "hello" /home/user/doc.txt

# Fetch full content (no keyword)
dfm-searcher preview /home/user/doc.txt

# Read content from offset 100, 50 chars max
dfm-searcher preview /home/user/doc.txt --offset=100 --max-preview=50 -j

# Search keyword from offset 150
dfm-searcher preview "keyword" /home/user/doc.txt --offset=150 -j

# Batch fetch highlighted snippets with JSON output
dfm-searcher preview "screenshot" img1.png img2.png -j

# Force a specific search type
dfm-searcher preview --type=ocr "screenshot" photo.png
💀 reminder bestie: this is a search tool, so it's gonna go read your files when you ask it to search content. read the flags, love the flags. 💖

and that's the whole page, periodt. this gorgeous thing is dfm-searcher 1.4.4, dated September 2026 — go forth and find your files, my love. 🌟💜🎀

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