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Usage Guide

The interface

File Hunter uses a three-panel layout similar to a desktop file manager:

  • Left panel · Navigation tree with locations and folders
  • Center panel · File list for the selected folder
  • Right panel · Detail view (file preview, stats, or dashboard)

Panel widths are resizable by dragging the dividers and persist across sessions. The toolbar at the top provides actions, and the status bar at the bottom shows connection and scan status. Click the “Locations” header at the top of the tree panel to return to the dashboard view at any time.

Adding locations

Click + Add Location in the toolbar or press N. Enter a name and browse to the folder path. The location appears in the tree immediately. A location can be any accessible directory · USB drives, network mounts, local folders.

You can add multiple locations from the same physical disk. Each is tracked independently.

Scanning

Select a location in the tree and click “Scan”, or press S. The scan runs as a background task · you can close the browser and it keeps going.

Scanning progresses through three stages:

  1. Walk · Discovers all files and folders
  2. Partial hash · Computes xxHash64 on the first and last 64KB of each file
  3. Duplicate resolution · Files that share a size and partial hash are narrowed with a fast hash (xxHash64 over the full file). You can optionally request a SHA-256 strong hash on any file for absolute certainty.

Incremental rescans are fast · only new or modified files (detected by size and modification time) are re-hashed. Files that have been deleted since the last scan are marked stale.

Scan queue

You can queue multiple location scans. They run one after another in FIFO order. All connected browsers see real-time progress via WebSocket.

Scheduled scans

Select a location and open the “Scheduled Scan” section. Pick days of the week and a time. Scans enqueue automatically at the scheduled time. Offline locations are silently skipped.

Browsing files

Click a location or folder in the tree to see its files in the center panel. Click a file to see its details in the right panel, including preview (images, video, audio, text, PDF), metadata, hash values, tags, and description.

The tree loads lazily · expanding a node fetches only its immediate children. This keeps the UI responsive even with millions of files.

Offline browsing

When a location’s underlying media is disconnected, the location shows an “offline” badge. You can still browse the full folder tree, see all file metadata, search, and review duplicates. Only operations that require physical file access (preview, download, delete, move) are blocked.

Search

Press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) or click the search icon. The search panel provides several filters that can be combined:

  • Name · match anywhere in the filename (default), or choose “Starts with”, “Ends with”, or “Exact” from the dropdown for precise matching
  • Type · filter by file type (image, video, audio, document, text, etc.)
  • Description / Tags · search within file metadata
  • Size range · minimum and maximum file size (supports KB, MB, GB suffixes)
  • Date range · filter by modification date
  • Include files / Include folders · search files, folders, or both. Uncheck “Include files” and check “Include folders” to find folders by name
  • Duplicates only · restrict results to files that have at least one duplicate elsewhere in the catalog

Results span all locations · online and offline · and are paged and sortable by name, type, size, date, or duplicate count. When you have a location or folder selected, a scope checkbox appears to restrict the search to that context.

Advanced search

Click “Advanced” to switch to the query builder. Build complex searches with multiple include and exclude conditions across all fields. Each condition can target a different field and match mode.

Saved searches

Save any search · basic or advanced · and recall it later. Saved searches appear below the search panel for quick access.

Click a file in the results and use Show in Folder to navigate the tree to its containing folder with the file selected and scrolled into view, regardless of which page it falls on.

Duplicate detection

After scanning, files with matching SHA-256 hashes are identified as duplicates across all locations · local and remote. Duplicate counts are computed live so they are always accurate, even immediately after a scan completes.

Files with duplicates show a badge in the file list with the number of other copies. Click the badge to see all copies in a paged, sortable list. The detail panel shows up to ten duplicates with their locations and paths. When more than ten exist, an “and N more…” link opens the full list.

Consolidation

Consolidation deduplicates files on disk. Select duplicates and choose a consolidation mode:

  • Keep in place · The first copy stays, all others are replaced with .moved stubs
  • Copy to destination · The canonical copy is moved to a chosen destination folder, all copies (including the original) are stubbed

Every consolidation creates a .sources file alongside the kept copy, recording every original path. Stubs are tiny text files that record where the canonical copy now lives.

If any duplicates are on offline locations, their stubs are queued and written automatically the next time that location is scanned.

Merge folders

Merge an entire location or folder into another. Choose copy or move mode. A preview step shows exactly what will happen before anything runs · which files will transfer, which are duplicates, which collide. Unique files transfer preserving directory structure, duplicates are stubbed at the source. Filename collisions are handled with safe renaming. Runs as a background task with a full CSV result log viewable in the UI.

Slideshow & playlist

Any folder, location, or search result that contains images offers a Slideshow button in the detail panel. Folders with video get a Playlist button. One click loads every matching file and launches a full-screen viewer.

Navigation

  • ← / → · Previous / next image
  • Space · Toggle auto-advance (1, 2, 5, or 10 second intervals)
  • Esc · Close the slideshow
  • Click the image to close the slideshow and navigate to that file in the tree

Triage: mark files for action

While browsing you can mark files for bulk action using the same keys as the file list:

  • D · Mark/unmark for delete
  • C · Mark/unmark for consolidate
  • T · Mark/unmark for tag
  • M · Mark/unmark for move

A counter in the header tracks how many files are marked. Pressing the same key again removes the mark. When you close, a confirmation dialog appears for each action type.

Both operations are fire-and-forget · the dialog closes immediately and the work runs in the background. Progress appears in the activity log and via toast notifications. The UI stays fully responsive while operations complete.

File management

  • Upload · Drag and drop or use the upload button. Files are hashed on arrival.
  • Move · Move files and folders within or across locations.
  • Copy · Copy files and folders within or across locations.
  • Rename · Rename files and folders inline.
  • Delete · Delete files and folders. Confirmation required.
  • Download · Download individual files or entire folders as ZIP.
  • New folder · Create folders in any location.

Batch operations

Multi-select files with checkboxes, Shift+click for range selection, or Ctrl/Cmd+click for individual selection. Batch actions include delete, move, tag, and download as ZIP.

Tags and descriptions

Select a file and use the detail panel to add free-text descriptions and tags. Both are searchable and persist in the catalog even when the drive is offline.

Storage treemap

Select a location and click “Storage Map”. An interactive squarified treemap shows disk usage by folder size. Click to drill into subfolders, click a file to navigate to it in the main UI. Colours adapt to your chosen theme.

Themes

File Hunter ships with built-in themes ranging from retro CRT terminals to clean corporate light modes. Switch themes at runtime from Settings. Open the theme editor to create your own · every theme controls colours, fonts, glows, and treemap palette.

Authentication

File Hunter uses token-based authentication. On first run, create an admin account. Additional users can be added from Settings. All users share full access · there are no permission levels. Passwords are hashed with PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256.

Keyboard shortcuts

General

  • N · New location
  • S · Scan selected location
  • / · Focus search
  • Esc · Clear search / close modal
  • ↑ ↓ · Navigate tree and file list
  • Enter · Expand/collapse tree node, open file
  • Tab · Cycle panels
  • Delete · Delete selected file(s)

Slideshow & playlist

  • ← → · Previous / next
  • Space · Toggle auto-advance
  • D · Mark/unmark for delete
  • C · Mark/unmark for consolidate
  • T · Mark/unmark for tag
  • M · Mark/unmark for move
  • Esc · Close