Quick Start

Launch Ghost

After installation, launch Ghost from your applications menu or desktop shortcut.

The Omnibox

Ghost’s primary interface is a unified Omnibox — a single intelligent input that auto-detects whether you want to search or chat.

Open the Omnibox

Platform	Shortcut
Windows/Linux	Ctrl + Space
macOS	Cmd + Space

Search Mode

Type a filename, keyword, or path pattern:

budget.xlsx
project proposal
*.rs indexer

Ghost returns hybrid results combining:

• FTS5 keyword search (<5ms) — finds exact text matches
• Semantic vector search (<500ms) — finds conceptually similar content
• RRF ranking — combines both for the best results

Chat Mode

Type a natural language question:

What files did I work on yesterday?
Summarize my project notes
Explain the search algorithm

Ghost auto-detects chat intent via heuristics:

• Questions starting with “what”, “how”, “why”, “explain”
• Conversational starters like “tell me”, “help me”
• Sticky mode: once in chat, stays in chat until cleared

Toggle Modes

Click the mode indicator (🔍/💬) or use the auto-detection to switch between search and chat.

Keyboard Navigation

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Navigate results
Enter	Open selected file / Send chat message
Escape	Dismiss Ghost
Ctrl+D	Toggle debug panel
Ctrl+,	Open settings

Settings

Access Settings via the gear icon or Ctrl+,:

• General: Launch on startup, theme preferences
• AI Models: Choose chat model, configure Ollama
• Directories: Add/remove watched folders for indexing

Next Steps

• Learn about Search features
• Explore the Native AI engine
• Set up MCP integrations