Project-Wide Search

Project search scans all files across the open workspace.

Opening Search#

• Search: Cmd + Shift + F (macOS) / Ctrl + Shift + F (Windows / Linux).
• Toggle Replace: Cmd + Shift + R (macOS) / Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows / Linux) in JetBrains preset (or Cmd + Shift + H / Ctrl + Shift + H in VS Code preset).
• Click the + (Add Pane) button on any dock group header and select Search.

Options & Filters#

• Match Case (Aa): Exact casing.
• Match Whole Word (W): Boundary matches only.
• Regular Expression (.*): Regular expression patterns.
• Files to Include: Search only files that match these globs, separated by commas (e.g. *.dart, ./lib/**). Put ! before a glob to leave its files out.
• Files to Exclude: Leave out files that match these globs (e.g. *.g.dart, build/).
• Folders: With several workspace folders, pick which ones to search. See Searching Some Folders.
• .gitignore patterns are respected automatically. The eye button in Files to Include searches Git-ignored files too.
• Some folders are always skipped, also with the eye button on, here and on a remote host: version control and editor metadata (.git, .idea, .vscode, …), dependency caches (node_modules, .dart_tool, .fvm) and build output (build, target, obj). A bin folder is searched, as Dart and Go keep sources there; where it holds build output, .gitignore usually leaves it out.

File Patterns#

A glob matches a file's path inside its workspace folder, such as lib/src/app.dart, never the folders above the workspace folder. It matches a file, or a folder and every file in it. A glob that doesn't start with ./ or **/ matches at any depth, as if it began with **/.

• With several workspace folders, ./<label>/ always names the workspace folder with that label: with a folder labelled lib, ./lib/** is that folder, not the lib folders inside the others; write /lib/** for those. A hint under the patterns says so when a glob names a folder by its label.
• Commas separate globs, except inside {} and [].
• A glob starting with /, or with the path of a workspace folder, starts at that folder.
• Letter case matters on Linux and not on macOS or Windows, as for their file systems.
• Excludes win over includes. Folders a glob excludes are not searched at all, which makes excluding large folders fast, also on a Remote SSH host, which skips them itself. A host running an older Lumide server skips only plain names, such as node_modules or build/, and the other excludes leave out its matches afterwards.

Searching Some Folders#

• Find in Folder: right-click a folder in the Files tree and choose Find in Files…, or press the search shortcut with a folder selected in the tree, to search only that folder. Folders with the same name are never mixed up.
• Folder picker: with several workspace folders, or after Find in Folder, the button under the file patterns names the folders searched. Pick All Folders, or one folder; pick more folders to add them, and pick a picked one again to drop it.
• The workspace remembers the folders for its next search until you pick others, also after you reopen it. The picker follows the workspace: folders that join, come back or leave show at once, and a folder that leaves drops out of the folders searched.
• To scope a single glob to one folder instead, start it with ./ and the folder's label: ./api/**/*.dart. A label glob for a folder outside the picked folders matches nothing.

Reviewing & Replacing Results#

• Hits are grouped by file with occurrence counts.
• Click any hit to jump to that file, line, and column.
• Replace:
  • Click the replace icon on an individual hit to replace one occurrence.
  • Click the replace icon on a file header to replace all hits in that file.
  • Click Replace All to replace every match across the project.
  • When regex mode is active, use $1, $2 capture variables in the replacement field.

Next Steps#

• Navigation History — Jump back and forward.
• Split Panes — Organize editor panes.