balooctl

Display the status of the indexer

$ balooctl status

$ balooctl [enable|disable]

$ balooctl purge

$ balooctl suspend

$ balooctl resume

$ balooctl indexSize

$ balooctl check

$ balooctl [[-h|--help]]

balooctl [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGUMENTS]

status
    Show the current status of the Baloo indexing service.

start
    Start the Baloo file indexing daemon.

stop
    Stop the Baloo file indexing daemon.

suspend
    Temporarily suspend Baloo file indexing without stopping the daemon.

resume
    Resume Baloo file indexing after it has been suspended.

disable
    Permanently disable Baloo file indexing.

enable
    Re-enable Baloo file indexing if it was previously disabled.

purge
    Delete the entire Baloo index. This will require a full re-indexing.

check
    Check the integrity of the Baloo index for errors.

config
    Configure various Baloo settings, such as excluded folders or indexing levels.

monitor
    Display real-time indexing activity, showing files being processed.

query
    Search the Baloo index for files matching the specified term.

index
    Force re-indexing of a specific file or directory at path.

exclude
    List all folders that are currently excluded from indexing.

add-exclude
    Add a specific path to the list of folders to be excluded from indexing.

remove-exclude
    Remove a specific path from the list of excluded folders.

indexing-level [level]
    Show or set the indexing level. level can be 'basic' (filenames only) or 'full-text' (filenames and content).

--version
    Display the version information of balooctl.

--help
    Display a help message with available commands and options.

balooctl is a command-line utility designed to interact with and manage the Baloo file indexing and search framework, which is an integral part of the KDE Plasma desktop environment. Baloo provides a robust, real-time file indexing service that allows users to quickly search for files based on filenames, content, and metadata. This command-line tool offers comprehensive control over the Baloo daemon, enabling users to perform various administrative tasks. These tasks include starting, stopping, suspending, or resuming the indexing process, purging the entire index, checking its integrity, and configuring indexing options like excluded folders or indexing levels. Furthermore, balooctl allows users to query the indexed files directly from the terminal, making it a powerful tool for both system administrators and advanced users who prefer command-line interactions or need to script Baloo operations.

Baloo indexing can be resource-intensive, especially during initial setup or after significant file changes, consuming CPU and disk I/O. Users might need to manage its resource usage via suspension or exclusion settings. While Baloo indexes content locally, privacy-conscious users should be aware that full-text indexing stores file contents on disk. Additionally, the effectiveness of searches depends entirely on the completeness and integrity of the index.

balooctl is frequently used for troubleshooting Baloo indexing issues, such as when searches aren't returning expected results (e.g., balooctl check, balooctl purge), or when Baloo is consuming too many resources (e.g., balooctl suspend, balooctl stop). It's also invaluable for scripting maintenance tasks, like regularly purging the index or ensuring indexing is enabled on system startup.

balooctl is the command-line interface for Baloo, the file indexing and search framework that was introduced in KDE Plasma as a successor to the Nepomuk semantic desktop framework. Baloo was designed to be more efficient and performant than its predecessor, focusing primarily on fast file indexing and search capabilities. Its development has been driven by the KDE community to provide a robust, modern, and privacy-respecting local search solution for the Plasma desktop environment. The balooctl utility has evolved alongside Baloo to provide comprehensive control over its operations from the terminal.

baloo_file(8), find(1), grep(1), locate(1)