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Search messages

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By default, / in a conversation or Ctrl-F in the chat list opens local search. :search [regex] explicitly selects local search. Type a regular expression and press Enter. Tab cycles through the open chat, selected folder, and this account. Searching works offline and never requests Telegram history. The header identifies the scope; the results report the cached message count and date range. This is cache coverage, not a claim that the account's full history has been downloaded. A range can contain gaps.

Results are newest first, with 100 hits per page. Up/Down selects a result; PageUp/PageDown moves ten rows; Enter opens it with cached neighboring messages. Ctrl-N/Ctrl-P changes result pages, Ctrl-F returns to the query, and Esc closes search. Press / again from the conversation to return to the retained results. G returns from an old result to the latest messages. Opening a historical result does not itself mark the chat's unseen history as read.

Examples: (?i)invoice (case insensitive), error.*timeout, ^TODO, or 東京|上海. Syntax follows the maintained Rust regex crate. Lookaround and backreferences are not supported. Invalid patterns display an editable error; patterns are limited to 4096 bytes and compiled with memory limits. Only message text is matched, including captions; attachment contents are not indexed.

Search runs on a dedicated blocking worker with one active scan and one replaceable pending request. Esc, a new query, or switching accounts cancels it. Deletions and edits already persisted in the cache are reflected in new searches. A hit is revalidated before opening; deleted or evicted hits ask you to run the search again.

Use :search --cloud in an open chat for Telegram's server search. The same panel shows Telegram search, the captured chat, active filters and Telegram's result count. Text follows Telegram's word search, not Rust regex syntax. This mode requires a connection and searches only that chat; Tab does not change its scope. Press Esc and use :search --cloud ... again to change filters or the target chat. / returns to retained results, including cloud results; :search returns to local regex search.

Examples:

:search --cloud release notes
:search --cloud --from me --media file
:search --cloud --from @alice --after 2026-09-01 --before 2026-10-01 release
:search --cloud --media photo
:search --cloud -- --literal-leading-dash

Put filter flags before the text. --from accepts me, @username, or a known Telegram peer ID. A username resolves once per search so subsequent pages keep the same sender identity. --media accepts all, photo, video, file, music, voice, round (round video), gif, link, and poll. Dates use YYYY-MM-DD at midnight UTC: --after is strictly later than that instant, and --before strictly earlier. Both must fit Telegram's 32-bit timestamp range; the UI validates 1970-01-02 through 2038-01-19. These filters use Telegram's messages.search API. Only cloud arguments use the existing Yazi platform quoting rules (Unix shell quotes on Unix, Windows command-line quotes on Windows); no shell is executed. Unprefixed local regex arguments retain their backslashes and trailing spaces.

Cloud pages contain at most 100 results, with bounded lookahead to identify the next page. A filter-only command opens the text field; press Enter to search without text, or enter optional words. If Telegram rejects a query, the panel keeps the query editable. Enter on a result fetches the original and up to 79 preceding messages, then selects the original without marking unseen history read. G returns to latest messages. Draft text and attachments stay intact.

Esc or a new search cancels the previous cloud task; a late result cannot replace the new query. Cloud results are reconciled with incoming edits and deletions before display and persistence. They populate the same bounded cache without advancing its sync cursor. Existing results reflect live edits/deletions; rerun search to refresh matching membership and server counts. Counts and pages are not a frozen snapshot when chat history changes. A history resync invalidates old results and asks you to search again. Cache limits still apply; cloud search does not download the entire chat.

All controls are configurable in the search context. Actions are open, cancel, up, down, page_up, page_down, search_scope, search_query, search_more, and search_previous.

Ctrl-R (refresh) reruns the search from the first page. g m / :mentions uses the same paging and original-message navigation for unread mentions.

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