08-search-filter

Search and the filter bar

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Iris has two complementary tools for finding photos: the search field in the toolbar (fast, full‑text, fuzzy) and the filter bar (precise, predicate‑based, exact).

Toolbar search

The search field in the toolbar searches your entire library, instantly, as you type.

It looks across:

  • Filenames and folder paths
  • EXIF metadata — camera model, lens, GPS coordinates, etc.
  • OCR text — anything Iris extracted from the image
  • Content tags — labels Iris's AI assigned (objects, scenes, activities)
  • People names you've assigned
  • Location names you've created
  • Transcribed audio from videos (if transcription is enabled)

Ranked search

By default, search results are sorted by date (newest first). To sort by relevance instead, prefix your query with !

!birthday cake

This returns the items where "birthday cake" matches most strongly — useful for finding a specific photo you remember but can't date.

Multiple terms

Type multiple words separated by spaces and Iris treats them as AND — every term must match. So yosemite waterfall 2019 matches items that involve all three.

Clearing search

A Search Results node appears temporarily in the sidebar while a search is active. Click any other sidebar node, or click the X in the search field, to clear the search.

To focus the search field from anywhere, press ⌘F.

The filter bar

For more surgical control — "show me every photo taken with my old film camera at f/1.4 on weekends" — use the Filter bar.

  • Choose View → Filter Items (⌘⌥F) to show it.

The filter bar lets you build a compound condition by adding rows. Each row matches a single attribute; rows are combined with AND or OR.

Available filter fields

  • Media Type - image / video
  • Favorite - yes / no
  • Screenshot - yes / no
  • Aesthetic Score - How "good" does the photo look? (0 to 1)
  • Date Captured - when the item was captured (if available)
  • Date Added - when the item was added to Iris
  • Day or Night - based on date + GPS location
  • Golden Hour - yes / no (based on date + GPS location)
  • Blue Hour - yes / no (based on date + GPS location)
  • Seconds Past Midnight
  • Approximate Date Captured - for items where you've entered a manual estimated date
  • Date was Guessed - items without a date that Iris guessed the date via the filename
  • Image Text - text contained within the image
  • Video Transcription - speech detected in a video file
  • Number of Faces - count of (human) faces detected in an image or video thumbnail
  • Person - specific people in an item
  • Confirmed Person - specific person you have confirmed is in an item
  • Unconfirmed Person - specific person Iris has suggested is in an item
  • Tagged - automatically generated tags based on what is visually in the item
  • Latitude - in degrees
  • Longitude - in degrees
  • Altitude - in meters
  • Filename
  • File Size - in bytes
  • Full Path - full path to item on disk
  • Pixel Width
  • Pixel Height
  • Video Duration - in seconds
  • Camera Maker
  • Camera Model
  • Captured By - the person who took the photo
  • 35mm Focal Length
  • Aperture
  • Colorspace Name
  • Exposure Compensation
  • Flash Mode
  • ISO
  • Image Direction - compass direction (in degrees 0 - 360) the camera was facing when capturing the item
  • Metering Mode
  • Shutter Speed
  • White Balance
  • Source - the Source the item belongs to
  • SHA1 Hash - hash of the item's raw bytes on disk
  • UUID - internal UUID generated by Iris for each item

Combining conditions

Click + to add a row. Each new row gets an AND/OR selector. Drag rows to nest them into sub‑groups for complex queries — for example, (Camera = X OR Camera = Y) AND ISO > 1600.

Results update live as you build the filter. To clear it, click the X next to each row, or hide the filter bar (⌘⌥F again).

Filtering inside a sidebar selection

The filter bar narrows whatever you've selected in the sidebar. So you can:

  1. Click Harper in the People section.
  2. Open the filter bar.
  3. Add a condition: Date Captured is after 2020.
  4. Type "snow" in the Search field
  5. See every photo of Sarah taken after 2020 where snow was seen in the image.

The filter is scoped — it doesn't override your sidebar selection, it intersects with it.

Combining search and filter

You can use both at once. Toolbar search runs first, narrowing your library to text matches; the filter bar then narrows that result further. This is helpful when, for example, you remember "the photo had a sign that said 'Sunset Pier'" (search) "and it was taken with my Sony" (filter on camera make).

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