Search & Quick Find

Kiln includes a built-in Quick Find search bar that lets you instantly filter notes and folders in the Explorer sidebar. As you type, the file tree updates in real time to show only matching items — no server round-trips, no waiting.

Quick Find is available in the default and legacy layouts. The [simple layout](../User Interface/Layouts.md) does not include a search bar.

How to Use Quick Find

The search input sits at the top of the left sidebar, directly above your file tree. Start typing a word or phrase and the Explorer immediately hides every item that does not match.

1. Click the search field (or tab into it) at the top of the sidebar.
2. Type your query — results filter with every keystroke.
3. Click a result to navigate to that page.
4. Clear the field to restore the full file tree.

Because navigation in Kiln is powered by [client-side page swaps](./Client Side Navigation.md), the search field retains focus even after you navigate to a new page, so you can continue refining your query without clicking back into the input.

How the Search Works

Quick Find runs entirely in the browser. It performs a case-insensitive substring match against every item visible in the sidebar — notes, folders, canvas files, and base files. There is no server request and no external search index, which means zero latency: results appear the instant you press a key.

Smart Folder Expansion

When a matching file is buried inside collapsed directories, Kiln automatically opens every parent folder along the path so the result is visible. Non-matching items are hidden to keep the list focused.

• Filtering: Files and folders whose names do not contain the search term are hidden.
• Auto-Expand: Parent directories of every match are opened automatically, no matter how deeply nested the file is.
• Auto-Collapse on Clear: Clearing the search field restores the sidebar to its previous state.

What Quick Find Searches

Quick Find currently matches against file and folder names (the titles displayed in the sidebar). It does not yet search note content, tags, or frontmatter fields. Full-text content search is planned for a future release — see the Roadmap for upcoming features.

Practical Examples

Matching is case-insensitive, so typing setup, Setup, or SETUP all return the same results.

Tips for Navigating Large Vaults

• Use specific terms. In a vault with hundreds of notes, a short query like a matches almost everything. Start with two or three characters for faster filtering.
• Combine with tags. If Quick Find returns too many results, open a tag page to browse notes by topic instead of by name.
• Prefix file names with numbers to control sort order in the Explorer. Searching for the prefix (e.g., 01-) lets you jump straight to a section.
• Leverage folders for broad categories and Quick Find for pinpointing a specific note within them.

Limitations

• Name-only search — file content, tags, and frontmatter are not searched.
• Substring matching — there is no fuzzy matching or typo tolerance. The query must appear exactly as a substring of the item name.
• No keyboard shortcut — the search field must be clicked or tabbed into; there is no global hotkey to focus it.