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Query: find one

Find the one you meant.

Halfword is a keyboard launcher for the Mac. Type a few letters of what you are looking for, and the one you meant is already on top.

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Halfword

Files4

Studio lease, signed.pdf~/Studio/Admin/LeasePDF · 2.1 MB
Studio lease, draft 3 for signature.docx~/Studio/Lease/DraftsEdited 14 Mar
Lease signing checklist.md~/Notes/AdminNote · 9 items
Lease 2019 to 2024, signed scan.pdfArchive-2019Offline drive

Mail2

Re: lease signature pagesOttilie Brandvold12 Mar
Lease: signing on Friday, keys afterOttilie Brandvold9 Mar

Search elsewhere2

Search Mail for lease sig
Search the web for lease sig

Sample data6 results · 10 ms

Query: how fast

How fast the answer arrives

These are the numbers Halfword prints in its own status bar, measured on one test machine with a large sample library.

From a keystroke to the first result
9ms
Typed, on average, before the right file is on top
3.4keys
Files and notes searched on every keystroke
212kitems
Memory in use while it waits for you
31MB

Sample benchmark: a 2023 laptop with 16 GB of memory and a library of 212,480 files and notes. Your numbers will differ.

Query: q3 inv

Also try

Q3 invoices, receipts, quotes

A long drawer of blank index cards. One card is raised a few millimetres and catches the only light.
Halfword

2025 Q35

Q3-015 invoice, Wrenquist Books€1,860.00Overdue
Q3-017 invoice, Kinro Press€7,340.00Sent
Q3-014 invoice, Vellin & Roake€4,210.00Paid
Q3-011 invoice, Tamsin Ode Studio€960.00Paid
Q3-009 invoice, Vellin & Roake€2,100.00Paid

Sample data5 results · 9 ms

We read file names, the text inside PDFs and the folders you saved them in. Type the part you remember, and the one you open most comes first.

Query: kyo win

Also try

Kyoto, in any window or tab

A tray of steel hex nuts in rows. One nut stands on its edge in the only light.
Halfword

Windows6

Q3-019 quote, Kyoto print run.pdfwindowPreview · display 2
Meeting notes, Kyoto print runwindowNotes · display 1
~/Studio/Kyoto/ScanswindowFiles · display 1
Kyoto press check, sheet 3.heicwindowPhotos · display 2
Kyoto print run, budgetwindowNumbers · display 2
Show 1 more in Windows

Q3-019 quote, Kyoto print run.pdf

Preview, display 2, desktop 1

Details

Kind
Window
Where
Display 2, desktop 1
Opened
09:12

Sample windows6 results · 9 ms

Type part of a title to reach a window or tab you already have open, on either display and any desktop. The map shows where it is before you switch.

Query: kyoto press

Jump toRe-ranked on every keystroke.Choose a step to see what it finds.

Kyoto print run, signed off on the press

Every letter narrows your files, notes, mail and calendar at once. By the last one, the note from the press check is on top with its preview open.

Halfword

Files2

Kyoto print run, press sheet scans.zip~/Studio/Kyoto/Scans412 MB
Meeting photos, Kyoto press check.heic~/Pictures/Kyoto38 photos

Notes1

Kyoto print run, press sign-off.md~/Notes/Kyoto12 Sept

Calendar2

Kyoto press visitFri 3 Oct, 09:00
Meet at Kyoto Station, taxi to the pressThu 2 Oct, 08:40

Mail2

Re: Kyoto press check, Thursday at 10Kinro Press29 Sept
Kyoto run: press proofs attachedMei Hoshino11 Sept

Kyoto print run, press sign-off.md

~/Notes/Kyoto

Kinro Press, Thursday 10:00. Kaito, Mei, Tom at the press.

Sheet 4: magenta pulled back one step, approved on the second pull.

Run 3,000 on Kinro 120 g, not 100 g. Stock confirmed.

Cover spot colour runs as a duotone black.

Invoice after delivery, not on proof.

Details

Kind
Markdown note
Modified
12 Sept, 16:40
Opened
9 times this month
Linked
Quote Q3-019, Kyoto print run.pdf

Opened · sample file

Query: what you rem

Search by what you remember

Most of what you look for, you only half remember: a phrase from page 14, or the file someone attached on Wednesday. We built Halfword to start from that half.

Halfword

Kyoto print run22 Aug to 2 Oct

Printing came in on the quote. €1,015.20 more went on paper and travel.

9,465.20EUR

Spent so far, quotes not counted

Invoices
2
Receipts
4
Quote
1

Where it went3 lines

Printing89%€8,450.00
Paper7%€650.40
Travel4%€364.80

Related files4

Q3-019 quote, Kyoto print run.pdf22 Aug
Kyoto print run, press sign-off.md12 Sept
Meeting costs, Kyoto print run.xlsx13 Sept
Kyoto delivery notes.pdf2 Oct

Sample ledger7 entries · 9,465.20 EUR

Query: kyo cost

What the Kyoto print run cost

Halfword

Pages5

Autumn catalogue, final proofs.pdfp. 14Cover: the spot colour becomes a duotone black, as agreed on the 12th.
Q3-019 quote, Kyoto print run.pdfp. 2One spot colour on the cover, reference to be confirmed at proof.
Kinro Press, ink specification.pdfp. 6Spot colours are mixed on press and checked against the drawdown.

2 more pages further down

Autumn catalogue, final proofs.pdf

Page 14 of 323 hits in this file

Printed on Kinro 120 g throughout, 3,000 copies.

Cover: the spot colour becomes a duotone black, as agreed on the 12th.

Endpapers stay uncoated. No varnish on the cover.

Sample PDFs5 pages in 5 files · 11 ms

Query: spot col

The page that says spot colour

Halfword

September 2025←→

Fri 12 SeptKinro Press, Kyoto38

Press check, sheet 1 of 810:12
Light booth, sheet 1 against the proof10:20
Cover drawdown, duotone black10:41
Kinro 120 g, the paper stack11:05

34 more from this day

Sample library38 photos · 12 Sept

Query: photos 12 sept

The photos from 12 Sept, by the hour

Halfword

Autumn catalogue, proofs6 messages

Tom AldridgeThu 11 Sept, 09:30

Proof corrections, pages 4 and 14.pdf820 KB

Kaito MoriWed 10 Sept, 16:40

Catalogue proofs v2, pages 1 to 32.pdf18.2 MB

Kaito MoriMon 8 Sept, 09:14

Cover proof v1.pdf2.1 MB

4 other files in this thread

Kaito MoriWed 10 Sept, 16:40

“Here are the proofs for all 32 pages. Please mark changes by Friday.”

Sample mail3 of 7 files

Query: att proof

The attachment with the proofs

Halfword

Autumn catalogue copy.docx6

Sent to printSentv9Tom Aldridge · 22 Sept, 17:30
Signed off by RuthSign-offv8Ruth Adeyemi · 18 Sept, 16:02
Draft 7, last changes+124−36v7Tom Aldridge · 18 Sept, 11:40
Draft 6+310−88v6Mei Hoshino · 17 Sept, 22:10
Draft 5+42−12v5Tom Aldridge · 16 Sept, 09:05
Draft 4+506−140v4Mei Hoshino · 15 Sept, 18:44

Sample history6 versions

Query: draft bef sign

The draft from before sign-off

Query: type first

What they type first

Six sample people, invented for this page, and the query each of them types first thing in the morning. Search them by role.

Halfword

Matches1

Kwame MensahProducercue ep12

Everyone else5

Nadia OkaforManaging editorruiz ms
Daniel ChoSite reliability engineerpg prod
Rosa LinaresParalegal;cite
Meera SolvangResearcherpdf hl
Tom AldridgeStudio managerq3 inv
Portrait of Kwame Mensah

Kwame Mensah

Producer

“Every episode comes with forty takes and a cue sheet. I type the episode and the kind of file, and the right one is first.”

Also typesscript ep12take 31
Types first
cue ep12
Opens Halfword
about 140 times a day
Using since
2022

1 match for prod6 people

Move↑↓

Query: arch 2021

Also try

Archives from 2019 to 2021, searchable while unplugged

Plug a drive in once and we keep a small index of it on your Mac. Unplug it, and its files still turn up in results, marked with the drive to connect.

A long shelf of plain grey archive boxes. One box is pulled a hand's width forward into the only light.
Offline index, 3 drivesHalfword

Archive-20215

Archive 2021, Vellin & Roake rebrand1,204 filesOffline
Archive 2021, Kinro Press catalogue860 filesOffline
Archive 2021, tax return and receipts212 filesOffline
Archive 2021, studio photos, raw3,418 filesOffline
Archive 2021, invoices Q1 to Q4.zip48 MBOffline

Drives1

Archive-2021, unplugged 12 Aug14,210 indexedOffline

Sample index6 results · 10 ms

Query: long reply

Also try

A long reply, unrolled from a short word

Give a reply you send every week a short keyword. Type it anywhere and the whole reply unrolls, with the name and the invoice number already filled in.

A rack of rolled blank paper in square cells. One roll is drawn halfway out into the only light.
Halfword

Replies3

Long reply, overdue invoice;late
Long reply, late proof changes;proof
Long reply, moving a print run;move

Unrolls as

Hi Ruth, a short note that invoice Q3-015 for €1,860.00 fell due on 12 September. If it is already paid, thank you, and please ignore this. The bank details are on page two. Best, Tom

Pastes intoMail, reply to Wrenquist Books

Sample snippets3 results · 10 ms

Query: put away

Put it all away. It stays found.

Halfword is free for one person. Half a word is enough.

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