United Entry

United Entry is VNote's command-driven quick search. Instead of opening a panel and setting options, you activate a single box, type a short entry command followed by your search criteria, and jump straight to a folder, note, or file — all from the keyboard.

Activation

By default, press Ctrl+G, G to activate United Entry. You can change this by editing "UnitedEntry": "Ctrl+G, G" in the configuration file (see Settings) to whatever shortcut you prefer.

Once open, typing an entry command filters the box to that command's mode. Adding a space after the command triggers a second, detailed help display for that command.

Entry commands

United Entry ships with four built-in commands plus a few short aliases for common searches. Combine a command with a keyword to run the query.

Built-in commands:

Command	Description
find	Search for files in notebooks
help	Help information about United Entry
history	Recently opened files
windows	Open windows across workspaces

Default aliases (shortcuts for common find queries):

Alias	Description	Expands to
n	Search files by name in the current notebook	find --scope notebook --object name
g	Search files by content in the current notebook	find --scope notebook --object content
b	Search files by content in open buffers	find --scope buffer --object content
f	Search files by name in the current folder	find --scope folder --object name

You can also call find directly with options for full control:

• -s, --scope — buffer, folder, notebook, or all_notebook.
• -b, --object — name, content, tag, or path.
• -p, --pattern — a wildcard file pattern to restrict the search.
• -c, --case-sensitive — match case exactly.
• -r, --regular-expression — treat the keyword as a regular expression.

Adding your own aliases

The four default aliases cover only a slice of what find can do. You can define your own single-letter (or short) aliases in the configuration file under core.unitedEntry.alias (see Settings). Each alias is an object with a name (what you type), a description (shown in the help list), and a value (the find command it expands to):

"core": {
    "unitedEntry": {
        "alias": [
            {
                "name": "q",
                "description": "Search for files by name in all notebooks",
                "value": "find --scope all_notebook --object name"
            },
            {
                "name": "a",
                "description": "Search for files by content in all notebooks",
                "value": "find --scope all_notebook --object content"
            },
            {
                "name": "z",
                "description": "Search for files by tag in all notebooks",
                "value": "find --scope all_notebook --object tag"
            },
            {
                "name": "e",
                "description": "Search for files by name in current notebook",
                "value": "find --scope notebook --object name"
            },
            {
                "name": "c",
                "description": "Search for files by tag in current notebook",
                "value": "find --scope notebook --object tag"
            },
            {
                "name": "t",
                "description": "Search for files by name in open buffers",
                "value": "find --scope buffer --object name"
            }
        ]
    }
}

Mix and match any --scope with any --object (name, content, tag, path) to build the shortcuts you use most. Restart VNote for new aliases to take effect.

Migrating aliases from older VNote

Older VNote versions used a top-level united_entry.alias key and a --target file|folder|notebook option. In the current version, aliases live under core.unitedEntry.alias and find no longer takes --target — use --scope and --object instead.

Examples

• n 02 — find files whose name contains 02 in the current notebook.
• g interface — search the current notebook for notes whose content contains interface.
• b task — find task among the currently open buffers.
• find -b tag -s all_notebook java — find notes tagged java across all notebooks.

Locating a result

This behaves differently per operating system

macOS — after results appear, press Tab to move the cursor into the results list below, then press Enter to open the target.

Windows — after searching, the first result is selected by default, so you can press Enter to open it immediately, or move the selection first and then open.

United Entry vs. the search panel

United Entry is fastest when you know what you want and want to jump. When you need browsable results and refinement options (regex, case sensitivity), use the Search Panel instead — both use the same underlying search.