Disclaimer
Is this project open source? Yes
Is this project completely free? Yes
Is this project vibe-coded beyond the author’s ability to comprehend how it works? No
Community Directory: Link VaultDex - Obsidian Plugin
Hello everyone,
I wanted a search experience that felt less like a file filter and more like actually searching — ranked results, highlighted snippets, a more intuitive interface. So I built VaultDex.
![VaultDex home page]
![VaultDex results]
What it does
VaultDex opens as a full workspace tab and indexes your entire vault on
load. Results are ranked by relevance — title and header matches score
higher than body text — and shown with highlighted snippets, breadcrumb
paths, and clickable tags. A PARA category sidebar lets you filter results
to a specific tier with one click.
The aesthetic is intentionally retro. Think AltaVista meets your personal
knowledge base.
Features
- Relevance-scored results — TF-IDF-style ranking weighted by title, tag,
header, and body
- Highlighted snippets — matching terms shown in context for every result
- PARA category sidebar — filter to Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive,
Inbox with one click
- Clickable tags — tap any tag chip to browse all notes with that tag
- Path tooltip — hover a result title to see its full vault path
- folder: scoped search — restrict results to a specific folder
- Phrase and AND search — “exact phrase” and multi-word queries
- Sort by Relevance or Newest
- I’m Feeling Lucky — opens a random note
- Theme-adaptive — uses your theme’s accent color; works with any
community theme in light or dark mode
- Mobile-compatible
Search syntax
| Query |
What it does |
| firewall |
Single word |
| linux firewall |
Both words must appear |
| “ssh key” |
Exact phrase |
| folder:Resources linux |
Scoped to a specific folder |
Install
Search VaultDex in Settings → Community Plugins → Browse, or find it on
GitHub ( GitHub - Reggie86/vaultdex: Search engine plugin with legacy look for Obsidian · GitHub ).
Currently at v1.2.7.
What I’d love feedback on
-
Are there search operators you wish existed?
-
Anything feel clunky in the UI?
-
Suggestions on how to make more useful
Happy to answer questions below. 
Hey thanks! I appreciate your comment!
How would the image above the search field get into the search results? I see those before and after search.
Do you mean the little logo I created?
Yes, I guess that is expected to be shown there.
The retro aesthetic is a great call — AltaVista vibes in a PKM tool is something I didn’t know I wanted. The TF-IDF ranking with title/header weighting makes a lot of sense for vault search. One thing I’d find useful: fuzzy matching for typos. Will give it a try.
Hey thanks for your comment. The fuzzy search is definitely on the radar.
v1.2.12 is out — this is a code quality release with no new features, but worth updating to:
- All Obsidian community portal scan issues resolved (errors and warnings)
If you’re enjoying VaultDex, a 
on GitHub ( GitHub - Reggie86/vaultdex: Search engine plugin with legacy look for Obsidian · GitHub ) goes a long
way toward getting it fully listed in the Obsidian community plugin browser!
VaultDex has come a long way since the initial post — here’s what’s new:
Search improvements
- New FolderName:search syntax — Snippets:music, Electronic:ambient, Resources:linux. More intuitive than the old folder:
prefix, works like site: in Google. Legacy syntax still supported.
- Folder names are now partial-match — Electronic finds Electronic Music
- Filenames are now searchable — notes where the frontmatter title differs from the filename (e.g. a Snippet filed as
Music_2025-06-27.md) show up correctly
- Path tooltip on hover — hover any result title to see its full vault path
Results
- Default max results raised from 25 → 50
- Set max results to 0 in settings for no limit — returns everything matching
Reliability
- Clicking a result for a moved/renamed note no longer silently fails — falls back to filename lookup with a clear notice
if not found
- Full Obsidian community portal compliance — 98% health score
New and Improved Search Syntax
firewall — single word search
linux firewall — both words must appear (AND)
“ssh key” — exact phrase
Snippets:music — search Snippets folder for music
Electronic:ambient — searches Electronic Music folder
Resources:“ssh key” — folder scope with phrase search
Folder search: type the folder name first, then a colon, then your search terms. Partial and case-insensitive — Electronic
matches Electronic Music, Personal matches Personal Notes.
