Everything Search Command Helper

This skill provides comprehensive guidance for using the ES (Everything Search) command-line interface tool.

IMPORTANT: Always Use -help First

CRITICAL: Before attempting any ES command, always run es -help to get the most up-to-date information. The ES tool is actively maintained and options may change. Using -help ensures you have the latest syntax and available options.

es -help

What is ES?

ES is a command-line interface to Everything, a powerful file search utility for Windows. It provides fast, efficient file searching with advanced filtering and sorting capabilities.

Installation

Check if Everything and ES are Installed

# Check Everything version
es -get-everything-version

# Check ES version
es -version

# Check if es command is available
es -help

If these commands fail, you need to install Everything and ES.

Install Everything and ES using winget

winget is available on Windows 10/11 by default.

Search for Everything and ES:

winget search Everything

Expected results:

• voidtools.Everything - Everything (main application)
• voidtools.Everything.Cli - ES (Everything CLI)

Install Everything:

winget install voidtools.Everything

Install ES (Everything CLI):

winget install voidtools.Everything.Cli

Verify installation:

es -version
es -get-everything-version

Post-Installation Setup

After installation:

1. Start Everything: Launch Everything from Start menu
2. Configure Everything: Let Everything index your files (usually quick)
3. Verify ES connection:

   es -help

Troubleshooting Installation

ES command not found:

• Restart your terminal
• Verify ES is in your PATH: where es
• Reinstall: winget install voidtools.Everything.Cli --force

Everything not running:

• Start Everything from Start menu
• Check if Everything is running in Task Manager

ES cannot connect to Everything:

• Ensure Everything is running
• Restart Everything

Basic Usage

Simple Search

es <search-term>

Limit Results

es -n 10 *.js
es -count 5 package.json

Search by Extension

es ext:exe;ini
es *.txt
es *.js

Search Options

Pattern Matching

• -r <pattern> or -regex <pattern>: Use regular expressions
• -i or -case: Match case (case-sensitive)
• -w or -whole-word: Match whole words only
• -p or -match-path: Match full path
• -prefix: Match start of words
• -suffix: Match end of words

Path Filtering

• -path <path>: Search in specific path
• -parent-path <path>: Search in parent of path
• -parent <path>: Search files with specific parent path

File Type Filtering

• /ad: Folders only
• /a-d: Files only
• /a[RHSDAVNTPLCOIEUPM]: DIR style attributes search (see es -help for details)

Sorting Options

Sort by Property

es -sort name <search-term>
es -sort size <search-term>
es -sort date-modified <search-term>
es -sort extension <search-term>

Sort Order

es -sort name-ascending <search-term>
es -sort size-descending <search-term>

Display Options

Show Specific Columns

es -name -size -extension *.js
es -path-column -date-modified -size *.log
es -full-path-and-name *.txt

Available Columns

• -name: File name
• -path-column: Path
• -full-path-and-name: Full path and name
• -extension or -ext: File extension
• -size: File size
• -date-created or -dc: Creation date
• -date-modified or -dm: Modification date
• -date-accessed or -da: Last access date
• Use es -help for all available columns

Output Formats

es -csv *.js
es -json *.txt
es -tsv *.log
es -txt *.ini

Date Format (IMPORTANT for JSON/CSV exports)

CRITICAL: When using -json, -csv, or other export formats, dates are displayed as FILETIME integers by default, which are not human-readable. Use -date-format to convert to readable format.

# Default (FILETIME - not readable)
es -n 2 -json *.ts
# Output: "date_modified":133564093868587796

# ISO-8601 (local time) - RECOMMENDED
es -n 2 -json -date-format 1 *.ts
# Output: "date_modified":"2024-04-01T09:43:06"

# ISO-8601 (UTC) - for timezone-aware applications
es -n 2 -json -date-format 3 *.ts
# Output: "date_modified":"2024-04-01T01:43:06Z"

# ISO-8601 with full resolution (milliseconds)
es -n 2 -json -date-format 5 *.ts
# Output: "date_modified":"2024-04-01T09:43:06.8587796"

Available date formats:

• 0 - auto (automatic selection)
• 1 - ISO-8601 (local time) - RECOMMENDED
• 2 - FILETIME (default, not readable)
• 3 - ISO-8601 (UTC) - for timezone-aware applications
• 4 - User Locale (system-specific format)
• 5 - ISO-8601 with full resolution (milliseconds)
• 6 - ISO-8601 (UTC) with full resolution

Best practice: Always use -date-format 1 or -date-format 3 when exporting to JSON or CSV for human-readable dates.

Export Options

Export to File

es -export-csv results.csv *.js
es -export-json results.json *.txt
es -export-txt results.txt *.log
es -export-tsv results.tsv *.ini

Use es -help for additional export options.

Statistics and Information

Get Result Count

es -get-result-count *.js

Get Total Size

es -get-total-size *.log

Get Folder Size

es -get-folder-size "C:\path\to\folder"

Version Information

es -version
es -get-everything-version

Advanced Examples

Search and Sort

es -n 20 -sort size -size -name *.log

Search in Specific Path with Custom Columns

es -n 10 -path "C:\Users" -name -size -date-modified *.pdf

Case-Sensitive Whole Word Search

es -i -w "MyFile"

Regex Search

es -r "test_\d+\.txt"

Export Large Results

es -export-json all_files.json *

Search for Folders Only

es /ad -n 20

Search for Hidden Files

es /aH -n 10

Everything Control

Database Operations

es -save-db
es -reindex

Exit Everything

es -exit

Best Practices

1. Always check -help first - ES options may change
2. Use -n to limit results - Prevent overwhelming output
3. Specify columns explicitly - Get only the information you need
4. Use appropriate output format - CSV/JSON for programmatic use, default for human reading
5. Combine filters - Use path, extension, and attributes together for precise searches
6. Export for large result sets - Use -export-* options instead of printing to console

Common Use Cases

Find recently modified files

es -n 50 -sort date-modified-descending *

Export file list for backup

es -export-csv backup_list.csv -path "C:\important\files" *

Troubleshooting

No Results Found

• Check if Everything is running
• Verify the search pattern is correct
• Try a broader search term
• Use -get-result-count to verify search is working

Command Not Found

• Ensure ES is installed and in PATH
• Check Everything is installed on your system

Slow Performance

• Use -n to limit results
• Add path filters to narrow search scope
• Consider using -export-* for large result sets

Notes

• Internal -'s in options can be omitted: -nodigitgrouping
• Switches can start with / instead of -
• Use double quotes to escape spaces and switches
• Switches can be disabled by prefixing with no-: -no-size
• Use ^ prefix or wrap with double quotes to escape special characters

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

• User asks about file searching on Windows
• User needs help with es command syntax
• User wants to search files efficiently
• User asks about Everything search tool
• User needs to export file lists
• User wants to find files by specific criteria (size, date, type, etc.)
• User mentions es command or Everything search