NovaSearch

NovaSearch is a high-performance, system-wide file search utility designed for Linux with native XFCE4 integration. It implements real-time file indexing and a weighted search ranking algorithm. The system provides application discovery across multiple packaging formats and a centralized launching interface.

Screenshots

Features

• Asynchronous Indexing: Monitors filesystem events via the inotify kernel subsystem.
• Database Backend: Optimized SQLite storage for rapid query execution and metadata persistence.
• Application Discovery: Automated indexing of binaries and desktop entries from APT, Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage sources.
• UI Framework: GTK3-based search interface with XFCE4 panel plugin compatibility and system theme inheritance.
• Input Management: Integrated configuration GUI for interactive keyboard shortcut mapping.
• Ranking Algorithm: Prioritizes results based on frequency of access and usage telemetry.
• CLI Interface: Command-line tools for daemon management and manual index control.

Performance Benchmarks

Statistics derived from a production environment containing approximately 200,000 indexed objects:

Metric	NovaSearch Daemon	Context / Comparison
Physical RAM (RSS)	~48.6 MB	Idle state (post-indexing)
Peak Memory	~75.9 MB	Active heavy indexing operations
Indexing Throughput	~5,000 files/sec	25,000 files processed in ~5s
Database Footprint	93 MB	Storage for 188,360 records
CPU Utilization	< 0.1%	Background monitoring state

NovaSearch exhibits up to 70% lower memory consumption compared to GNOME Tracker or macOS Spotlight in similar environments.

Version

Current Version: 0.1.0

Quick Start

Installation (Debian Package)

1. Build and install:

   ./build-deb-manual.sh
   sudo dpkg -i novasearch_0.1.0-1_amd64.deb

2. Initialize Service:

    systemctl --user enable --now novasearch-daemon
   

3. Panel Integration: Right-click XFCE4 panel -> Panel -> Add New Items -> NovaSearch.

4. Execution: Invoke the search window via Super+Space (default) and input queries.

Project Structure

novasearch/ ├── daemon/ # Rust indexing daemon │ ├── src/ │ │ ├── main.rs # Entry point and CLI handler │ │ ├── config.rs # Configuration parser │ │ ├── database.rs # Persistence layer (SQLite) │ │ ├── scanner.rs # Initial filesystem traversal │ │ ├── watcher.rs # inotify event handling │ │ └── paths.rs # Path normalization utilities │ └── Cargo.toml ├── panel/ # GTK3/C XFCE4 panel plugin │ ├── src/ │ │ ├── main.c # UI and desktop entry integration │ │ └── database.c # Client-side database interface │ └── meson.build ├── debian/ # Debian packaging metadata ├── build-deb-manual.sh # Automated build script └── README.md

Dependencies Build Dependencies

Rust toolchain (≥ 1.70)

GCC / Clang

Meson (≥ 0.59) & Ninja

pkg-config

Development Libraries

GTK3 (≥ 3.22)

SQLite3 (≥ 3.0)

libxfce4panel (≥ 4.12)

libxfce4ui

keybinder-3.0

Installation Commands (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential rustc cargo meson ninja-build pkg-config \
  libgtk-3-dev libsqlite3-dev libxfce4panel-2.0-dev libxfce4ui-2-dev \
  libkeybinder-3.0-dev

Configuration

Configuration is managed via ~/.config/novasearch/config.toml.

Indexing Parameters

[indexing] include_paths = ["/home/user"] exclude_patterns = [".", ".tmp", "*.log"]

Application paths (e.g., /usr/share/applications) are indexed by default.

Resource Constraints [performance] max_cpu_percent = 10 max_memory_mb = 100 flush_interval_ms = 1000

Usage

Daemon CLI

novasearch-daemon status: Returns current indexing state.

novasearch-daemon reindex: Triggers a full database refresh.

journalctl --user -u novasearch-daemon -f: Monitors daemon logs.

Application Discovery

The daemon automatically parses .desktop files from:

System paths: /usr/share/applications, /usr/local/share/applications.

User paths: ~/.local/share/applications.

Formats: Snap, Flatpak, AppImage (common locations).

Troubleshooting Indexing Failures

If the database contains no records, execute:

novasearch-daemon reindex
sqlite3 ~/.local/share/novasearch/index.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM files;"

UI Unresponsiveness

Verify the keyboard_shortcut value in config.toml or restart the panel:

xfce4-panel --restart

License

GPL-3.0

Author

Created by Kamil 'Novik' Nowicki

GitHub: https://github.com/novik133

Project: https://github.com/novik133/NovaSearch

Support

Development support via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/novadesktop