find

Find

A privacy-friendly URL router for your browser’s address bar. Type shortcuts like !m tokyo to search Google Maps, !w coffee for Wikipedia, or &gh user/repo to jump to GitHub.

Try it: internet4000.github.io/find

What is Find?

Find lets you customize your browser’s address bar with custom search shortcuts. Instead of typing full URLs or using a single search engine, use simple symbols to route searches anywhere.

Examples:

• !m berlin → Google Maps search for “berlin”
• !w javascript → Wikipedia search for “javascript”
• &gh internet4000/find → This GitHub repository
• +note hello world → Create a quick note
• hello world → DuckDuckGo search (default)

Quick Start

1. Use the hosted version

Visit internet4000.github.io/find and try a query.

2. Add it as your browser’s search engine

Firefox:

1. Visit the Find homepage
2. Click the address bar menu (⋮)
3. Select “Add Search Engine”

Chrome/Edge:

1. Visit the Find homepage
2. Right-click the address bar
3. “Manage search engines” → Add Find manually:
   • Name: Find
   • Keyword: f
   • URL: https://internet4000.github.io/find/#q=%s

Safari: Safari requires extensions for custom search engines. You can use Find by visiting the website directly.

3. Start using shortcuts

Type in your browser’s address bar:

• !g privacy tools - Google search
• !gh username - GitHub user search
• !npm package-name - NPM package
• +sheet Budget 2024 - New Google Sheet

Symbols

Find uses symbols to categorize actions:

• ! search - Find things: !m, !w, !g, !npm, !gh
• + action - Do things: +note, +sheet, +doc, +draw
• & build - Build URLs: &gh user/repo, &mx @user:matrix.org
• # command - Manage Find: #add, #del, #export

See all available shortcuts

Add Custom Shortcuts

#add ! ex https://example.org/search?q={}

Now you can use !ex my search to search example.org.

Delete with:

#del ! ex

Deploy Your Own

GitHub Pages (Easiest)

1. Fork this repository
2. Enable “Pages” in Settings → Pages → Source: “GitHub Actions”
3. Push to main branch
4. Your Find instance deploys automatically to https://username.github.io/find

No configuration needed - the deployment URL is detected automatically.

Netlify / Vercel

Custom Domain

Set the I4K_FIND_URL repository variable in GitHub to your custom domain:

Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Variables → New variable
Name: I4K_FIND_URL
Value: https://your-domain.com

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/internet4000/find.git
cd find
npm install
npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:8000

Features

• Privacy-first: All routing happens client-side, queries never touch our servers
• No build step: Plain HTML/CSS/JavaScript with Web Components
• Customizable: Add your own shortcuts with #add
• Sync-able: Export/import your shortcuts via JSON
• Protocol proxies: Access gemini://, gopher://, ipfs:// through web proxies
• 40+ built-in shortcuts: Maps, GitHub, Wikipedia, NPM, and more

How It Works

1. You type a query in your browser’s address bar
2. Find receives the query as a URL hash parameter (#q=your+query)
3. It parses the query for symbols (!, +, &, #)
4. Builds the correct destination URL
5. Redirects your browser there

All processing happens in your browser. Your searches are private.

Privacy

• No tracking: No analytics, no data collection
• Hash parameters: Queries use #q= (fragment) not ?q=, so they never reach servers
• Client-side only: All URL routing happens in JavaScript in your browser
• Open source: GPL-3.0 licensed, audit the code yourself

Documentation

• Full documentation - All features and engines
• Deployment guide - Deploy to various platforms
• Development guide - Contribute and extend

Support

• GitHub Issues - Bug reports and features
• Matrix Chat - Community discussion

License

GPL-3.0-or-later