Cardinal

A fast file searching tool for macOS.

Using Cardinal · Building Cardinal

Grab the latest packaged builds from GitHub Releases.

Need a different language? Click the 🌍 button in the status bar to switch instantly.

Cardinal's search box understands several pattern styles to help you locate files fast:

• substr – return files whose names contain substr as a contiguous fragment.
• /prefix – keep files whose names start with prefix.
• suffix/ – match files whose names end with suffix.
• /exact/ – only list files that exactly match exact.
• a/part/of/path – search for substrings anywhere in the path, letting you mix directory and filename segments.

Both case-sensitive and regular-expression modes are available via the toggles next to the search input, so you can tighten queries whenever needed.

• Space – Quick Look the currently selected row without leaving Cardinal.
• Cmd+R – reveal the highlighted result in Finder.
• Cmd+F – jump focus back to the search bar.
• Cmd+C – copy the selected file's path to the clipboard.
• Cmd+Shift+Space – toggle the Cardinal window globally via the quick-launch hotkey.

Happy searching!

• macOS 12+
• Rust toolchain
• Node.js 18+ with npm
• Xcode command-line tools & Tauri prerequisites (https://tauri.app/start/prerequisites/)

cd cardinal
npm run tauri dev -- --release --features dev

cd cardinal
npm run tauri build