dexter

Create and authenticate a user with Google OIDC

$ dexter auth [[-i|--client-id]] [client_id] [[-s|--client-secret]] [client_secret]

$ dexter auth [[-i|--client-id]] [client_id] [[-s|--client-secret]] [client_secret] [[-k|--kube-config]] [sample/config]

dexter init|index|search [--path PATH] [options]

--path, -p
    Path to Dex directory (default: current directory)

--config
    Path to custom config file

--verbose, -v
    Enable verbose logging

--quiet, -q
    Suppress output

init
    Initialize the Bleve index in Dex directory

index
    Build or update the full-text index

search <query>
    Search index with query string, supports phrases and fields

Dexter is a lightweight command-line tool designed to index notes from the Dex note-taking application, enabling fast full-text search across Markdown files. Dex organizes notes in a directory structure with an SQLite database for metadata, and dexter leverages the Bleve search library to create a searchable index.

Key features include initializing an index in the Dex directory, incrementally updating the index with new or modified notes, and performing efficient searches with ranking and highlighting. It's particularly useful for users with large note collections, providing sub-second query times even on thousands of notes.

Dexter assumes Dex is installed and configured. The index is stored as a Bleve index alongside the Dex SQLite file, ensuring compatibility without altering the original data. Written in Go, it's cross-platform but commonly used on Linux for terminal workflows. Ideal for developers, researchers, and power users seeking quick knowledge retrieval without leaving the CLI.

Requires Dex installed; index can grow large with many notes; Bleve index not human-readable; run index after note changes.

go install github.com/kclejeune/dexter/cmd/dexter@latest
Requires Go 1.20+. Binaries available via GitHub releases.

dexter init --path ~/notes
dexter index
dexter search 'linux kernel'
Outputs ranked results with snippets.

Developed by Kevin C. Lejeune in 2023 as open-source Go project on GitHub (kclejeune/dexter). Created to address Dex's lack of built-in full-text search. Actively maintained with releases tied to Dex updates.

dex(1), ripgrep(1), fd(1), sqlite3(1)