search indexing collection manager + search usage questions

haakon-e commented

2026-03-24 10:21:40 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

First-time user..

I'm trying to understand the search configuration:

Based on my up/down arrow strokes, it seems there should be more options than only "Dirs", is that right?
Given my terminal size, is there any way to increase the collection manager window size? For example, the current size means that not all sessions are displayed, even though I, in principle, have sufficient vertical and horizontal space.

Another few usage questions:

I work on a project that is spread across ~10 registered packages. I regularly need functionality from these related projects when writing code in the "top-level" project. Assuming I put all these packages into one directory, is there a convenient way I can index all of them simultaneously, so search can be seamlessly performed across all projects? Or should I index them individually?
I'm also somewhat confused about the relationship between the gate and the search index. Does the gate need to be active for me to perform searches? Or is that only for the initial indexing?

As seen in the image above, I indexed a project (not sure why it says stale, but ok..). When I then try to search, I get a status error

what's going on here?

First-time user.. I'm trying to understand the search configuration: <img width="1398" height="757" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1170b690-00a3-4101-95fd-9b9eaff9c000" /> - Based on my up/down arrow strokes, it seems there should be more options than only "Dirs", is that right? - Given my terminal size, is there any way to increase the collection manager window size? For example, the current size means that not all sessions are displayed, even though I, in principle, have sufficient vertical and horizontal space. Another few usage questions: - I work on a project that is spread across ~10 registered packages. I regularly need functionality from these related projects when writing code in the "top-level" project. Assuming I put all these packages into one directory, is there a convenient way I can index all of them simultaneously, so search can be seamlessly performed across all projects? Or should I index them individually? - I'm also somewhat confused about the relationship between the gate and the search index. Does the gate need to be active for me to perform searches? Or is that only for the initial indexing? As seen in the image above, I indexed a project (not sure why it says stale, but ok..). When I then try to search, I get a status error <img width="995" height="401" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c228f35a-247c-4891-b6cb-77b83edd4d0b" /> what's going on here?

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 02:45:01 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Thanks for the detailed questions! Let me address each:

Yes, there are more fields below "Dirs" — but you'll need the new version, there's a UI bug that's blocking some of them.

Window sizing

The Collection Manager is a modal overlay. Its size is currently fixed relative to the terminal — you can't resize it independently. Making the terminal window larger will give it more space. We'll look at making the modal sizing more adaptive in a future release.

Indexing multiple packages

Two approaches:

Index each package individually — each gets its own Qdrant collection (e.g., mypackage_a, mypackage_b). You can search a specific collection with qdrant_search_code(query="...", collection="mypackage_a") or search across all with smlabnotes_search if you have the SMLabNotes extension.
Add all packages as external projects in the Collection Manager — press a to add each project path. They'll each get their own collection but all appear in the search UI. You can then search any of them by selecting the collection in the Search tab.

There isn't currently a single "search all collections at once" in the core Qdrant tools — each search targets one collection. This is a known limitation we're considering for a future release.

Gate vs Search relationship

The gate and search are independent. You do NOT need an active gate session to perform searches. The search system uses:

Qdrant — a vector database that runs as a separate service (needs to be running)
Ollama — for generating embeddings (needs to be running with a compatible model)

The gate is only needed for the ex tool (code execution), session management, etc. Indexing and searching are purely Qdrant + Ollama.

"Status error" on search

The error in your screenshot indicates either:

Qdrant is not running — start it with qdrant (if installed via Docker: docker run -p 6333:6333 qdrant/qdrant)
Ollama is not running — start it with ollama serve
The embedding model isn't pulled — run ollama pull qwen3-embedding:0.6b

Check the Search tab status indicators — they show whether Qdrant and Ollama are reachable. Both need green indicators for search to work.

The "stale" label means the index hasn't been synced recently — it's not an error, just informational. It will auto-sync when files change if a gate session is connected to that project.

Let me know if you have more questions!

Thanks for the detailed questions! Let me address each: ### Collection Manager navigation Yes, there are more fields below "Dirs" — but you'll need the new version, there's a UI bug that's blocking some of them. ### Window sizing The Collection Manager is a modal overlay. Its size is currently fixed relative to the terminal — you can't resize it independently. Making the terminal window larger will give it more space. We'll look at making the modal sizing more adaptive in a future release. ### Indexing multiple packages Two approaches: 1. **Index each package individually** — each gets its own Qdrant collection (e.g., `mypackage_a`, `mypackage_b`). You can search a specific collection with `qdrant_search_code(query="...", collection="mypackage_a")` or search across all with `smlabnotes_search` if you have the SMLabNotes extension. 2. **Add all packages as external projects** in the Collection Manager — press `a` to add each project path. They'll each get their own collection but all appear in the search UI. You can then search any of them by selecting the collection in the Search tab. There isn't currently a single "search all collections at once" in the core Qdrant tools — each search targets one collection. This is a known limitation we're considering for a future release. ### Gate vs Search relationship The gate and search are **independent**. You do NOT need an active gate session to perform searches. The search system uses: - **Qdrant** — a vector database that runs as a separate service (needs to be running) - **Ollama** — for generating embeddings (needs to be running with a compatible model) The gate is only needed for the `ex` tool (code execution), session management, etc. Indexing and searching are purely Qdrant + Ollama. ### "Status error" on search The error in your screenshot indicates either: 1. **Qdrant is not running** — start it with `qdrant` (if installed via Docker: `docker run -p 6333:6333 qdrant/qdrant`) 2. **Ollama is not running** — start it with `ollama serve` 3. **The embedding model isn't pulled** — run `ollama pull qwen3-embedding:0.6b` Check the Search tab status indicators — they show whether Qdrant and Ollama are reachable. Both need green indicators for search to work. The "stale" label means the index hasn't been synced recently — it's not an error, just informational. It will auto-sync when files change if a gate session is connected to that project. Let me know if you have more questions!

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 02:48:14 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@haakon-e Hi, thanks for trying things out here. In addition to Claude's response looking at your issues, I wanted to do the human thing too!

Many of these issues are being worked on currently in the 1.1 branch. That's been a little messy due to another unreleased dependency, but now that Tachikoma 2.0.0 was released tonight, the 1.1 branch is looking good and should be easy to install.

I put up a Gist which could automate this, it looks for old versions of those packages and attempts to set you up with the latest and greatest. You'll see some of your concerns have been addressed, maybe not all of them yet. Would you give it a try and then perhaps let me know what remains on your list?

julia --startup-file=no -e 'include(download("https://gist.githubusercontent.com/kahliburke/fbe523b4a67dacfaab3a69562dcc82bb/raw/install_kaimon.jl"))'

@haakon-e Hi, thanks for trying things out here. In addition to Claude's response looking at your issues, I wanted to do the human thing too! Many of these issues are being worked on currently in the 1.1 branch. That's been a little messy due to another unreleased dependency, but now that Tachikoma 2.0.0 was released tonight, the 1.1 branch is looking good and should be easy to install. I put up a Gist which could automate this, it looks for old versions of those packages and attempts to set you up with the latest and greatest. You'll see some of your concerns have been addressed, maybe not all of them yet. Would you give it a try and then perhaps let me know what remains on your list? ``` julia --startup-file=no -e 'include(download("https://gist.githubusercontent.com/kahliburke/fbe523b4a67dacfaab3a69562dcc82bb/raw/install_kaimon.jl"))' ```

haakon-e commented

2026-03-25 09:50:16 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Thank you for the detailed comments! I was able to install v1.1 as an app, really neat workflow!

Q: It seems like the gist adds Kaimon as an app, but I think I still need to add it as a package in my global env in order for Gate.serve() to work correctly?
Assuming yes: Unfortunately Kaimon and JuliaFormatter cannot both be installed in the base environment due to incompatible versions of CommonMark. I removed JuliaFormatter for now (they also have an App workflow) to continue experimenting with this package.

A few nits that would improve my experience:

In search > m > a, I add the path. Most subdirs are automatically added, however:
- they are displayed horizontally, and with full paths. My primary suggestion would be to display relative paths if they're subdirs relative to the project path, then of course allow for absolute paths as needed. See attached screenshot visualizing this.
- As I go left/right to inspect the added paths, it seems cmd+arrow or option+arrow is not available to move word-by-word (instead of character-by-character). This is mostly an annoyance because the paths are absolute, so a lot of total characters need to be scrolled past.
- Alternatively, would it be possible to support cursor clicks to move the cursor position?
- Also: is it possible to "select" text by dragging the cursor. I have found myself wanting to copy text¹, but this seems not possible right now.

Okay, so I added the path with a, but it's not related any active session, so there's no indicator in the collection manager for which collection this is. It would be useful if I could add a "name" (suggestion: by default use the relative path from the nearest .git root), see:

Then, I try to add a second project with a. I save, but it does not appear in the collection manager. Am I doing this incorrectly?
- For now, I will try to start a session in each project and index these instead, as per your second suggestion.

I'm still not able to get the search functionality working. qdrant is running in docker, ollama is running. One new piece of progress in the collection manager is that as I'm pressing s (sync) repeatedly, I see the number of Vectors increase. That said, still getting the bad request from above. Will try to tinker a bit more with this.

The other location where I've wanted to copy text is in the activity tab. Sometimes the AI tries to run something that I'd want to experiment with manually, but it seems I'm not able to copy text. ↩︎

Thank you for the detailed comments! I was able to install v1.1 as an app, really neat workflow! - Q: It seems like the gist adds Kaimon as an app, but I think I still need to add it as a package in my global env in order for `Gate.serve()` to work correctly? - Assuming yes: Unfortunately `Kaimon` and `JuliaFormatter` cannot both be installed in the base environment due to incompatible versions of `CommonMark`. I removed `JuliaFormatter` for now (they also have an `App` workflow) to continue experimenting with this package. A few nits that would improve my experience: - In search > `m` > `a`, I add the path. Most subdirs are automatically added, however: - they are displayed horizontally, and with full paths. My primary suggestion would be to display relative paths if they're subdirs relative to the project path, then of course allow for absolute paths as needed. See attached screenshot visualizing this. - As I go left/right to inspect the added paths, it seems `cmd+arrow` or `option+arrow` is not available to move word-by-word (instead of character-by-character). This is mostly an annoyance because the paths are absolute, so a lot of total characters need to be scrolled past. - Alternatively, would it be possible to support cursor clicks to move the cursor position? - Also: is it possible to "select" text by dragging the cursor. I have found myself wanting to copy text[^1], but this seems not possible right now. [^1]: The other location where I've wanted to copy text is in the activity tab. Sometimes the AI tries to run something that I'd want to experiment with manually, but it seems I'm not able to copy text. <img width="1224" height="365" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1c60155c-0d56-44b5-a7db-27e6456f0856" /> - Okay, so I added the path with `a`, but it's not related any active session, so there's no indicator in the collection manager for which collection this is. It would be useful if I could add a "name" (suggestion: by default use the relative path from the nearest `.git` root), see: <img width="572" height="213" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2d319392-c5ee-49b4-9cc2-0e65d8e266ab" /> - Then, I try to add a second project with `a`. I `save`, but it does not appear in the collection manager. Am I doing this incorrectly? - For now, I will try to start a session in each project and index these instead, as per your second suggestion. I'm still not able to get the search functionality working. `qdrant` is running in docker, `ollama` is running. One new piece of progress in the collection manager is that as I'm pressing `s` (sync) repeatedly, I see the number of Vectors increase. That said, still getting the bad request from above. Will try to tinker a bit more with this.

❤️ 1

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 20:23:35 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@haakon-e Hey glad to see you using stuff here, although you're not necessarily using it the way I intended :)

The thing you show about the name not showing up after add looks like a legit bug I'll fix shortly.

The reason the interface is fairly minimal here is that you're actually not supposed to need to do much if anything inside of it.

When you run kaimon for the first time, it should prompt you about installing it into the global environment. That's there to allow any Julia REPL you start to connect and be available as a "Gate session". If you don't want to do so, you don't have to, you'd just need to add it to the project(s) you wish to use. You could have a Julia startup file you use with those projects, or you can start things manually if you want. Look at the code added to ~/.Julia/config/startup.jl and you'll see that it's just a couple lines of code:

using Kaimon
Gate.serve()

In the search the paths are relative to the project root. So I never have ~ in there and actually doubt that it would interpret ~ properly. It should look more like this:

I don't disagree that there could be more refinement here or there, but isn't that always the case? The configuration is just there to get it pointed towards your source code and get it indexing. In general the only reason to even 'add' a project manually here is if it's not a Julia project but you still want it indexed.

In general the workflow is, simply julia --project in a project directory, then if the source is in a standard place it will just work. It also will autodetect file types etc.

If you're on the Discourse please feel free to reach out and maybe we can address whatever you're being blocked by.

@haakon-e Hey glad to see you using stuff here, although you're not necessarily using it the way I intended :) The thing you show about the name not showing up after `add` looks like a legit bug I'll fix shortly. The reason the interface is fairly minimal here is that you're actually not supposed to need to do much if anything inside of it. When you run `kaimon` for the first time, it should prompt you about installing it into the global environment. That's there to allow any Julia REPL you start to connect and be available as a "Gate session". If you don't want to do so, you don't have to, you'd just need to add it to the project(s) you wish to use. You could have a Julia startup file you use with those projects, or you can start things manually if you want. Look at the code added to `~/.Julia/config/startup.jl` and you'll see that it's just a couple lines of code: ``` using Kaimon Gate.serve() ``` In the search the paths are relative to the project root. So I never have ~ in there and actually doubt that it would interpret ~ properly. It should look more like this: <img width="435" height="277" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8c0c24b8-de4c-4ea0-a233-224850c5c79c" /> I don't disagree that there could be more refinement here or there, but isn't that always the case? The configuration is just there to get it pointed towards your source code and get it indexing. In general the only reason to even 'add' a project manually here is if it's not a Julia project but you still want it indexed. In general the workflow is, simply `julia --project` in a project directory, then if the source is in a standard place it will just work. It also will autodetect file types etc. If you're on the Discourse please feel free to reach out and maybe we can address whatever you're being blocked by.

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 20:27:06 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@haakon-e This issue has become a bit sprawling. I have identified one concrete bug which I am going to fix in reference to this issue #. Then I'm going to close this issue but I hope you do not take that as me dismissing your questions. I just would like to move the conversation to a different venue. If you're on the Julia discourse, that might be a good approach or perhaps I can get GH discussions set up for this project.

I greatly appreciate the feedback and the time you took to write it up, please submit another issue with specifics as they come up. I'm happy to continue the conversation.

@haakon-e This issue has become a bit sprawling. I have identified one concrete bug which I am going to fix in reference to this issue #. Then I'm going to close this issue but I hope you do not take that as me dismissing your questions. I just would like to move the conversation to a different venue. If you're on the Julia discourse, that might be a good approach or perhaps I can get GH discussions set up for this project. I greatly appreciate the feedback and the time you took to write it up, please submit another issue with specifics as they come up. I'm happy to continue the conversation.

haakon-e commented

2026-03-25 21:00:52 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Thanks again for helping me grasp the basics here! I did eventually realize that adding

using Kaimon
Gate.serve()

to my startup.jl file indeed is the most convenient approach.

Let me clarify that I realize that some of the comments/suggestions above are at great level of specificity, mostly during the initial phase of familiarizing myself with the tool, and in no way detracts from the immense joy I've had actually using it with Claude code. Really, it's orders of magnitude better than the countless julia -e '....' iterations of the past.

I do have a discourse account and will adopt that for "usage questions" in the future. Thank you again for engaging with me!

Thanks again for helping me grasp the basics here! I did eventually realize that adding ```julia using Kaimon Gate.serve() ``` to my `startup.jl` file indeed is the most convenient approach. Let me clarify that I realize that some of the comments/suggestions above are at great level of specificity, mostly during the initial phase of familiarizing myself with the tool, and in no way detracts from the immense joy I've had actually using it with Claude code. Really, it's orders of magnitude better than the countless `julia -e '....'` iterations of the past. I do have a discourse account and will adopt that for "usage questions" in the future. Thank you again for engaging with me!

❤️ 1

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 21:42:18 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@haakon-e

So there is a configuration that you're encouraged to set up which does the startup snipped automatically (press g in Config tab for global gate setup):

But it essentially just adds that.

I fixed the add project index bug, it was basically just not parsing the project name from paths which ended in '/'

@haakon-e So there is a configuration that you're encouraged to set up which does the startup snipped automatically (press g in Config tab for global gate setup): <img width="471" height="238" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/87cc1abc-9ed0-4335-9625-0280a4cb1238" /> But it essentially just adds that. I fixed the add project index bug, it was basically just not parsing the project name from paths which ended in '/' ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6c59d778-e00f-400c-8d99-2ad509ebaa14)

❤️ 1

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 21:45:37 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@haakon-e If you're wondering about the magic that creates GIFs like the one above, well that's from our good friend Tachikoma.jl which this project is built on.

If you'd like to send me a 'recording' of a session inside Kaimon and what's happening, you can press ctrl-r to start the recording and then ctrl-r again to save it. There is an option to save a gif/svg if you have the font set up but regardless what it will save is the .tach file which is a recording of all the frame rendering in a compressed format. Send it to me and I can see exactly what you were doing along the way. Just one option.

@haakon-e If you're wondering about the magic that creates GIFs like the one above, well that's from our good friend Tachikoma.jl which this project is built on. If you'd like to send me a 'recording' of a session inside Kaimon and what's happening, you can press ctrl-r to start the recording and then ctrl-r again to save it. There is an option to save a gif/svg if you have the font set up but regardless what it will save is the .tach file which is a recording of all the frame rendering in a compressed format. Send it to me and I can see exactly what you were doing along the way. Just one option.

👍 1

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 21:50:39 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Really, it's orders of magnitude better than the countless julia -e '....' iterations of the past.

Thank you for that feedback, that's exactly why I use this tool 24/7. When you get it dialed in, I think it's really super. Happy to help you get there if I can. Also, no complaints about putting this into the GitHub issue, I'm grateful to hear about your experiences, to assist in smoothing out any rough edges, and to continue to improve this platform. 1.1 has a lot of neat things in it which you probably haven't gotten to yet, such as extensions, TCP based remote session, and more.

>Really, it's orders of magnitude better than the countless julia -e '....' iterations of the past. Thank you for that feedback, that's exactly why I use this tool 24/7. When you get it dialed in, I think it's really super. Happy to help you get there if I can. Also, no complaints about putting this into the GitHub issue, I'm grateful to hear about your experiences, to assist in smoothing out any rough edges, and to continue to improve this platform. 1.1 has a lot of neat things in it which you probably haven't gotten to yet, such as extensions, TCP based remote session, and more.

kahliburke commented

2026-03-25 22:19:19 -07:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Fixed the concrete bug: basename returned empty string for paths ending in /, causing blank collection names on add. Fix: String(rstrip(abspath(path), '/')) in the collection manager save path.

Also addressed in 1.1:

Adaptive modal sizing (80-85% terminal width)
TextInput fields for dirs/exts/exclude with tab completion
Enter on fields 1-3 advances to next field instead of saving
Empty path guard on save
Custom embedding model selection in search options

Thanks @haakon-e for the detailed feedback!

Fixed the concrete bug: `basename` returned empty string for paths ending in `/`, causing blank collection names on add. Fix: `String(rstrip(abspath(path), '/'))` in the collection manager save path. Also addressed in 1.1: - Adaptive modal sizing (80-85% terminal width) - TextInput fields for dirs/exts/exclude with tab completion - Enter on fields 1-3 advances to next field instead of saving - Empty path guard on save - Custom embedding model selection in search options Thanks @haakon-e for the detailed feedback!

Rows
Columns

search indexing collection manager + search usage questions #15

Collection Manager navigation

Window sizing

Indexing multiple packages

Gate vs Search relationship

"Status error" on search