Searching

Gaivota's search helps you find emails instantly with progressive search that combines local and remote results.

Opening Search

Press / to open the search bar, or click the search icon.

Type your query and results appear as you type.

Basic Search

Just type keywords to search:

• meeting tomorrow - finds emails containing both words
• invoice - finds emails with "invoice" anywhere

Search looks in:

• Subject lines
• Sender names and addresses
• Email body content

Search Operators

Use operators for more precise searches:

Operator	Example	Description
from:	from:john@example.com	Emails from a specific sender
to:	to:team@company.com	Emails sent to an address
subject:	subject:meeting	Search only in subject lines
has:attachment	has:attachment	Emails with attachments

Combining Operators

Combine operators for powerful searches:

from:boss@company.com subject:urgent has:attachment

This finds emails from your boss with "urgent" in the subject that have attachments.

Progressive Search

Gaivota uses a tiered search approach for fast, comprehensive results:

Tier 1: Local Current Folder (Instant)

First, Gaivota searches your currently selected folder using the local cache. Results appear immediately.

Tier 2: Local All Folders

Next, Gaivota expands the search to all folders in your local database. This uses full-text search indexing for speed.

Tier 3: Remote Server

Finally, Gaivota queries your email server (Microsoft or Gmail) for results that may not be cached locally.

Results from all tiers are merged and ranked by relevance.

Search Results

Results are displayed in the email list:

• Matching emails replace the normal folder view
• Search terms are highlighted
• Click any result to view the full email

Navigating Results

Use standard navigation in search results:

• j / k to move between results
• Enter to open an email
• u to return to search results

Clearing Search

To exit search and return to normal folder view:

• Press Escape
• Click the X in the search bar
• Click on a folder in the sidebar

Search Tips

Finding Recent Emails

If you know the email is recent, search in your inbox first. Local searches are faster than remote.

Exact Phrases

Put phrases in quotes for exact matching:

"project proposal"

This finds emails with the exact phrase, not just both words separately.

Sender Searches

Can't remember the exact email? Try partial matches:

from:john

This finds emails from any sender with "john" in their address.

Finding Attachments

Looking for a document someone sent you?

from:sarah has:attachment report

Indexing

Gaivota maintains a local search index for fast results:

• Emails are indexed automatically when synced
• Full-text search uses SQLite FTS5
• Index updates happen in the background

The first sync may take time to index all emails. Subsequent searches are instant.