Ultra-fast, lightweight native macOS instant file search tool — like Everything for Mac
Download for macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel)
Lokii is a native macOS instant file search tool engineered for developer-grade speed and desktop ergonomics — bringing the beloved, lightning-fast "Everything" file search experience to macOS. Powered by a high-performance in-memory index engine in Rust (lokii-core) bridged to a native Swift/AppKit user interface via UniFFI, Lokii delivers sub-millisecond query latency across hundreds of thousands of files with real-time FSEvents filesystem synchronization.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Instant As-You-Type Search | Sub-millisecond response latency across 500,000+ files with low memory footprint (< 100MB). |
| Multi-Mode Query Engine | Intelligent mode detection supporting substring, wildcard (*, ?), regular expression (^...$), and fuzzy matching. |
| Real-Time FSEvents Stream | Multi-channel FSEvents event stream with dirty-queue debouncing to keep the index in sync without high CPU overhead. |
| Native AppKit Density | High-density virtualized table view, native macOS file icons, zebra striping, and spring-damped micro-interactions. |
| Keyboard-First Workflow | Global shortcut toggle (⌘⇧Space), arrow navigation, Enter to reveal in Finder, ⌘C to copy path, and Esc to hide. |
| Persistent Binary Cache | Versioned bitcode cache with shared string tables, automatic loading of legacy v3 caches, and v4 saves after background verification. |
| Native Settings & FDA | Native Preferences window with custom search roots, exclusion rules, theme switching (Light/Dark/System), and interactive Full Disk Access setup. |
The compact index shares filenames, parent paths, and extensions to reduce duplicate storage. Search materializes only the selected results while preserving matching and ordering behavior. Initialization failures display an error instead of reporting an empty index as ready. Whole-app performance validation is still pending; core-process measurements are not whole-app guarantees.
Lokii runs 100% locally on your Mac. There are no user accounts, no telemetry, no tracking, and zero outbound network connections. Your filenames, directory structures, and search queries never leave your device.
lokii-core/ Rust library — in-memory inverted index, parallel scanner, FSEvents watcher, bitcode cache
Lokii/ macOS Swift/AppKit application — virtualized table, settings, tray integration
scripts/ Build and packaging automation (UniFFI bindings generation, DMG creation)
- macOS 13.0+
- Rust stable (2021 edition)
- Xcode 15+ (Swift 5.9+)
# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/huangy7/lokii.git
cd lokii
# 2. Build the app (generates UniFFI bindings & compiles Swift app)
make
# 3. Launch debug app
cd Lokii && .build/debug/LokiiTo create a distributable .app and .dmg:
# Build for Apple Silicon (arm64)
make package ARCH=arm64
# Build for Intel (x86_64)
make package ARCH=x86_64Output disk images will be generated in output/Lokii-<arch>.dmg.
Released under the MIT License.
Developed and maintained by huangy7