Frequently asked questions¶

Getting started¶

How do I change the hotkey?¶

Open Settings → General, then change Shortcut to a key combination not already in use by your desktop or another app. Click Save.

On Linux Wayland, click Set up GNOME shortcut to create the binding in your desktop.

More: Custom hotkeys.

Open Settings → General, turn on Start Sevak when I sign in, and click Save. It starts in the background for your account on Windows, macOS and Linux; press your shortcut to open it. The Windows installer offers the same opt-in. If it does not start, check the warning beneath that setting and your OS's startup controls. See Start Sevak after sign-in.

Why doesn't my search show any results?¶

Check that the plugin is enabled in Settings → Plugins (e.g., Applications, Files)
If searching files with f, make sure the folder is added in Settings → Files & bookmarks → Folders to search
Reload the index: click the tray icon and select Reload index

Why is a recent app or file missing?¶

After installing an app or adding files, choose Reload index from the tray menu to refresh Sevak's index. New results appear on the next search.

How do I search inside a folder?¶

Type the path: ~/Documents/ (note the trailing slash). Sevak lists the contents. Use ↑/↓ to select and Tab to drill down. Shift+Tab goes back up.

For ordinary searches to also show file results, turn on Settings → Search → Show in global results.

Universal Actions¶

What is Universal Actions?¶

Press Ctrl+Alt+Space (or your configured hotkey) to show what you can do with what you have selected: text, a link, or files in a file manager.

Sevak copies the selection, shows the available actions and puts your clipboard back. Read more: Universal Actions.

Why doesn't Universal Actions work on Wayland?¶

Applications on Wayland cannot read each other's selections or send keystrokes. Workaround: enable Use the clipboard if the selection can't be read in Settings → General, copy the text yourself, then press Ctrl+Alt+Space.

Why doesn't Universal Actions work in terminal windows?¶

On Windows and Linux, Sevak skips terminal windows (because Ctrl+C would interrupt the running program). Select the text with your mouse and use the clipboard fallback instead.

Appearance and display¶

How do I use a dark theme?¶

Open Settings → Appearance and set Theme to Dark. Click Save.

Or set [appearance] theme = "dark" in config.toml.

Can I customize the colors?¶

Yes. Open Settings → Appearance:

Accent color: set the highlight color (#rrggbb or rgb(…))
Custom stylesheet: name a CSS file in your config folder to override any theme variable

More: Themes and appearance.

The launcher is too small or too big. Can I resize it?¶

Open Settings → Appearance and adjust Window width. The height scales with the font size.

To change the font size, adjust Font size under Appearance (affects the whole launcher).

Files and searching¶

How do I search only files?¶

Type the keyword followed by a space and filename. Default keyword is f: f project.

Change or disable the keyword in Settings → Files & bookmarks → Keyword.

More: File search.

Can Sevak search inside document text?¶

Yes, through your operating system's own file index: type in and the words, for example in invoice 2026. ff report searches file names anywhere on the disk. f still searches names in the folders you chose. The queries go only to the local index (Windows Search, Spotlight, Tracker or Baloo), never over the network. See Whole-disk and content search.

The file index is incomplete or seems stuck.¶

Check in Settings → Files & bookmarks that the folder is listed
Check that Folder depth is enough for your nested folders
Choose Reload index from the tray menu
Wait for indexing to finish (check the launcher: it shows a status message if indexing is running)

If a folder is slow or unreachable, indexing continues without blocking.

Calculations and conversions¶

Why doesn't currency conversion work?¶

Currency conversion is off by default because it needs a network connection. Turn it on in Settings → Plugins under Currency conversion. Click Save.

On the first search, Sevak downloads exchange rates from the European Central Bank and caches them for 24 hours.

Can I use other currencies?¶

Sevak supports 30+ ISO currency codes and symbols. Use 100 usd in eur, 50 € to $, or $100 in eur. See Currency conversion.

How do I calculate percentages?¶

The % operator is remainder, not percentage. For 15% of 200, type 200*15/100 or 200*0.15.

More: Calculator.

Customization and advanced¶

How do I add a keyboard shortcut that runs a command?¶

In Settings → Hotkeys, click Add hotkey:

Set the key (e.g., Ctrl+Alt+T)
Choose Query and type > to open the launcher with a shell command ready
Or choose Run and type a result ID (e.g., system:lock)

More: Custom hotkeys.

Can I add my own search engine?¶

Yes. Open Settings → Web search, click Add engine and fill in:

Keyword: what you type (e.g., so for Stack Overflow)
Name: display name
URL: search URL with {query} placeholder (e.g., https://stackoverflow.com/search?q={query})

Click Save.

More: Web search keywords.

Can I preview a file without opening it?¶

Yes. Tap Shift or press Ctrl+Y to open the preview pane under the results: text files, images, the first page of a PDF, folders, links, snippets and clipboard entries. Ctrl+T opens a long text in a scrollable view. See Preview, Text View and Grid View.

Can Sevak expand text as I type, like a text expander?¶

Yes, opt-in. Give a snippet a keyword and turn on Settings → Plugins → Expand snippets as you type. While it is on, Sevak watches your keystrokes (the last 64 characters, in memory only). See Expand snippets as you type.

What is the difference between a script plugin and a workflow?¶

A script plugin adds a keyword whose results come from your script. A workflow chains a trigger (a keyword, a hotkey, Universal Actions, sevak --trigger) to several steps, such as running a script, transforming text, opening a link, pasting and showing a notification, built visually in Settings → Workflows. Both ask for permission before they run code.

How do I write a script plugin?¶

Script plugins let you add custom keywords without rebuilding Sevak. Put a folder with a plugin.toml and a script in the plugins folder next to config.toml.

See Script plugins and the Plugins guide. Eight examples are in examples/plugins/ (the three above and five more offline Python plugins), and the opt-in gallery offers them as one-click installs.

Privacy and data¶

Does Sevak send my data anywhere?¶

No. Your searches, files, clipboard and settings stay on your machine. The network requests Sevak itself makes are:

Links you open: web searches and bookmarks open in your browser
Update checks (on by default, [general] check_for_updates): checks GitHub at startup, every six hours and when you open it; an update is downloaded only after you agree
Currency rates (off by default): downloads ECB daily rates once per day if you enable it
Theme gallery and workflow gallery: only when you click Browse online themes or Load gallery, and a package only when you click Install

Nothing is uploaded. Read the full privacy policy.

Where are my settings and data stored?¶

See Files and data locations.

Can I sync my config to another machine?¶

Yes. Copy your config folder to another computer (or store it in a synced folder like Dropbox). Sevak reads it on startup.

See Files and data locations for where your config is stored.

Troubleshooting¶

The launcher won't open. What do I do?¶

Check that Sevak is running: look for it in your system processes
Try the CLI: open a terminal and run sevak or sevak --toggle
Restart Sevak: run sevak --quit, then open it again
Check the logs: Settings → Open config file folder, look for logs

More: Troubleshooting guide.

I see an error message in Settings. What does it mean?¶

Validation errors appear under the field that has a problem (shown in red). Fix the value and try again. Common issues:

Hotkey already in use: the key is registered by another app. Choose a different one.
Invalid path: the file or folder does not exist or is not accessible. Check the path.
Invalid format: the value does not match the required format (e.g., color must be #rgb or #rrggbb)

More: Troubleshooting.

Sevak takes a long time to start. Can I speed it up?¶

Reduce the number of indexed folders in Settings → Files & bookmarks → Folders to search
Lower Folder depth to skip deep nested directories
Disable plugins you don't use in Settings → Plugins
If indexing is slow, exclude large generated directories (e.g., node_modules, .git) — they are usually pruned automatically, but check your index

You can run Sevak in the background with sevak --background and press the hotkey to show it when you need it.

How do I reset Sevak?¶

Sevak reads config.toml at startup. To reset to defaults:

Close Sevak: sevak --quit
Open the config folder (Settings → Open config file folder)
Delete config.toml
Restart Sevak; a fresh config is created with defaults

Settings, usage history and clipboard history are in the same folder on Windows and macOS (see Files and data for Linux).

Wayland (Linux)¶

Why doesn't the shortcut work on GNOME Wayland?¶

Wayland prevents apps from registering global hotkeys directly. Sevak asks you to run sevak --setup-hotkey to create a GNOME desktop shortcut instead.

In Settings, click Set up GNOME shortcut to do this automatically, or run the command from a terminal.

More: Setting up the hotkey on Linux.

Can I use Sevak on other Wayland desktops (KDE, Weston, etc.)?¶

Partial support. On KDE and other desktops, you can:

Use sevak --toggle from a terminal or custom keybind
Leave Sevak running and use the tray icon

Global hotkeys are not possible without desktop-specific setup (if available). Universal Actions and pasting do not work on Wayland.

See Installing on Linux.

macOS¶

How do I allow pasting and Universal Actions?¶

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility: add Sevak to the list. This permission lets Sevak paste results and read your selection for Universal Actions.

Why doesn't Cmd+Space work?¶

Cmd+Space is Spotlight's key and Sevak's default. The first time it cannot register it, Sevak asks whether it may turn off Spotlight's shortcut; if you said No, it uses Option+Space instead. You can change your mind in Settings → General (Let Sevak use Cmd+Space, or Restore Spotlight's shortcut). See Win+Space, Cmd+Space and Super+Space.

Performance and limits¶

How many files can Sevak index?¶

The index is capped at 100,000 entries. If you hit the limit, reduce the number of folders or lower the depth.

Is there a limit to how many snippets I can create?¶

No hard limit, but very large configs (100+ entries) may slow down loading slightly.

Why is search slow when I have thousands of files?¶

File search uses fuzzy matching on filenames, which is fast. If search is slow, check:

Are you searching a very large folder tree? Reduce Folder depth or add specific folders only
Is indexing still running? Look for a status message in the launcher
Are you on a slow or network drive? Local drives are faster

Questions?¶

Still stuck? Check the Troubleshooting guide or open an issue on GitHub.