Finderin

Finderin is a cross-platform search and discovery tool designed to help users locate files, documents, media, and other digital assets across local devices and connected storage. It combines fast indexing with a local-first design to protect privacy while enabling rapid search across multiple locations. The project emphasizes simplicity, extensibility, and a consistent user experience across desktop and mobile platforms.

Finderin originated as a community-driven project in 2018, with contributors from several open-source groups. The development is coordinated by the Finderin Project, an informal collaboration that maintains a public codebase, issue tracker, and roadmaps. The software is freely available under an open-source license.

Key features include local-first indexing (data remains primarily on the user’s device), federated search across local drives, network shares, and cloud-synced folders, tag and facet-based navigation, and full-text indexing. Clients are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, with a lightweight desktop experience and a companion mobile app. Finderin supports a modular plugin system, scripting interfaces, and an API for developers to integrate with other tools.

Architecture emphasizes privacy and performance: indexing occurs locally, with optional encrypted cloud sync for cross-device access. The UI focuses on a consistent search workflow, with filters, suggestions, and search-as-you-type results. The project publishes regular releases and security advisories, and emphasizes user control over data provenance and sharing.

See also: Recoll, Everything, Spotlight, Apache Lucene.