| name | everything-search |
|---|---|
| description | Search files and folders instantly across Windows drives or within specific project paths using Everything (HTTP REST API or es.exe CLI). Supports sandboxed agents (Docker, WSL, DevContainers) and native desktop environments with automatic dual-mode fallback. |
Everything Search (Dual-Mode: HTTP REST API & CLI)
Ultra-fast, index-powered local file search using Voidtools Everything.
Supports both HTTP REST API mode (essential for sandboxed/containerized agents like Docker, WSL, DevContainers) and native CLI mode (es.exe Win32 IPC) with automatic fallback.
Why Dual-Mode? (Solving Sandboxed Agent IPC Issues)
When an AI agent runs inside a sandbox, Docker container, WSL2, or a Session 0 background service, calling es.exe directly often fails with:
Error 8: Everything IPC window not found. Please make sure Everything is running.
Root Cause: Windows enforces User Interface Privilege Isolation (UIPI) and Session Isolation. Sandboxed processes and non-interactive sessions cannot send Win32 WM_COPYDATA window messages to the host desktop session.
The Solution: Everything provides a high-performance built-in HTTP REST API. Network calls (TCP) bypass Win32 UIPI/session isolation entirely:
- Sandboxed Agent / Container ➡️ HTTP Request (
http://host.docker.internal:8080) ➡️ Host Everything Index (Instant Results!) - Native Desktop Session ➡️ Automatic fallback to
es.exeCLI if HTTP is disabled.
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill whenever you need to:
- Locate files or directories instantly across local drives or inside a project directory
- Search files in sandboxed environments (Docker, WSL, restricted agents) without IPC errors
- Filter by name pattern, extension (
ext:ts;tsx), size (size:>100MB), or date modified (dm:today) - Output structured JSON for automated pipelines without token-costly directory walks
Quick Start: Python Dual-Mode Helper (Recommended)
The skill includes scripts/everything_search.py, which uses only Python standard libraries (zero external dependencies like requests).
# Auto mode: Attempts HTTP on port 8080 first; falls back to es.exe CLI automatically
python scripts/everything_search.py "package.json" -n 20
# Structured JSON output
python scripts/everything_search.py "ext:py model" -n 10 --json
# Restrict search to a specific directory
python scripts/everything_search.py "main.go" -p "C:\MyProject" -n 5
# Explicitly force HTTP REST mode
python scripts/everything_search.py "exact:Dockerfile" --mode http
# Specify custom host/port (e.g. from Docker container to host)
python scripts/everything_search.py "*.json" --url "http://host.docker.internal:8080" -n 10
Sandboxed & Container Environment Configuration
1. Enable HTTP Server on Windows Host (One-time Setup)
In Everything on the host machine:
- Open Everything -> Tools (工具) -> Options (选项).
- Click HTTP Server (HTTP 服务器) in the left menu.
- Check Enable HTTP Server (启用 HTTP 服务器), set Port to
8080, and click OK. (Optional: runscripts/enable_http.ps1to configure automatically).
2. Connect from Docker Container
Run your Docker container with host access:
docker run -e EVERYTHING_HTTP_URL=http://host.docker.internal:8080 --add-host host.docker.internal:host-gateway ...
Inside the container:
python scripts/everything_search.py "ext:rs" -n 10 --json
3. Connect from WSL2
Inside WSL, resolve the Windows host IP:
export EVERYTHING_HTTP_URL="http://$(ip route show | awk '/default/ {print $3}'):8080"
python3 scripts/everything_search.py "ext:md" -n 10
Direct CLI Usage (es.exe for Native Desktop Sessions)
When running directly in a native Windows user desktop session:
# Basic search (ALWAYS specify -n to prevent flooding LLM context)
es.exe -n 20 "settings.json"
# Search inside project folder
es.exe -path "C:\my-repo" -n 20 "index.ts"
# Files only (/a-d) or Folders only (/ad)
es.exe /a-d -n 15 "ext:tsx component"
es.exe /ad -n 10 "node_modules"
# Sort by date modified (newest first)
es.exe -sort-date-modified-descending -n 10 "ext:log dm:today"
Everything Search Syntax Cheatsheet
| Filter | Syntax | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple extensions | ext:<ext1;ext2> | ext:md;txt;json |
| File size | size:>100MB or size:1MB..10MB | size:>500MB /a-d |
| Date modified | dm:<time> | dm:today, dm:last7days, dm:2025 |
| Exact match | exact:<name> | exact:Dockerfile |
| Logical AND | space | auth controller ext:go |
| Logical OR | | (with spaces) | *.jpg | *.png |
| Logical NOT | ! | *.ts !*.test.ts |
| Regex search | -r flag | es.exe -r "src\\api\\.*\.go$" |
Environment Variables
| Variable | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
EVERYTHING_HTTP_URL | http://127.0.0.1:8080 | URL of Everything HTTP service |
EVERYTHING_HTTP_USER | "" | Optional Basic Auth username |
EVERYTHING_HTTP_PASS | "" | Optional Basic Auth password |