Find things
Everything you keep is a search away. Type into the search field, jump anywhere with quick search, follow a tag, open your Faves, or ask AI Mode to find and change things for you.
The search field
Every workspace grid has a search field: under the logo on a computer, docked at the bottom of the screen on a phone. Click into it and its placeholder reads Search all workspaces.
- Type 3 or more characters. After a short pause the results replace the grid.
- It matches names, tags and content, in every workspace you own or belong to. Things in Trash are left out.
- Results are grouped under each workspace's name, the one you are in first. A nested thing shows its parent under its name.
- Click a result (or press
Enteron it) to open it. - Press
↓to move from the field into the results, and↑from the top row to get back.Escclears the field.
Search by voice
In browsers that support speech recognition, the field carries a mic button (Voice input). Speak, and your words fill the field to search with. Press it again (Stop listening) to stop. This needs no API key.
On the phone
The phone app has the same field at the bottom of the workspace, with its own mic using your phone's speech recognition. It also offers Create, which makes a thing from what you typed.
Quick search
Press Ctrl K (⌘ K on a Mac) on any page of the app to open quick search over whatever you are doing.
- Before you type, it lists Recent: the 8 things changed most recently across your workspaces.
- Type 2 or more characters to search names, tags and content, the same way the search field does.
- Each row shows the thing's emoji and name, with its parent and workspace underneath.
- Use
↑↓to move andEnterto open, or click a row. PressCtrl/⌘Kagain orEscto close.
Tags
Tags group things across folders and workspaces. Give a thing tags while editing it, and they show as chips under its content.
- Open a thing and click ✏️ to edit it.
- Type tags into the Tags field, separated by spaces or commas, for example
recipe, dinner. Each tag is one word, saved in lowercase. - Save. The tags appear as chips such as #recipe.
Click a chip to open that tag's page. It lists every thing carrying exactly that tag in every workspace you can open, with a count at the top, and ← Back to workspace returns you to the grid. A tag matches whole words only: art finds things tagged art, and leaves out things tagged cart.
Faves
Faves keep the things you reach for most one tap from the grid.
- Open a thing and click the ⭐ in its header (Add to Faves). Click it again to remove it.
- Once you have a fave in a workspace, a ⭐ Faves tile appears after the things on its grid. It opens your faves for that workspace, newest first.
- In the Faves view, drag a tile onto the round ✕ target that appears in the corner to take it out of Faves. The thing itself stays where it is.
Faves are yours and belong to one workspace: a thing you star in one workspace doesn't show in another's Faves. Under the hood the ⭐ is a mark, which Marks explains.
The Inbox
When an AI agent asks you a question, the workspace grid shows a 📥 Inbox tile beside Faves, with the number of questions waiting.
The tile appears only while a question is open. It opens the Inbox, which lists each question with the thing it is about, so you can answer right there or open the thing. Things where an agent is waiting also carry a ❓ on their tile. Questions, inbox & @Agent covers answering.
AI Mode
AI Mode takes a request in your own words, spoken or typed, and carries it out in your workspaces: “add milk to my groceries thing”, “move the trip notes under Plans”, “what did I write about the boiler?”
Set it up
- Get an API key from OpenAI or Anthropic.
- Open Settings and find AI Provider.
- Choose OpenAI or Anthropic, paste the key and click Save Key. The key is encrypted before it is stored.
Where to get an API key, beside the card, walks through getting one from either provider.
Open it
- Click into the search field and choose the AI Mode tab under it. Type your request (
ShiftEnteradds a line) and pressEnteror Send to AI. - Click the mic button at the bottom right of the screen (on wider screens; phones use the tab).
- Press
CtrlShiftV(⌘ShiftVon a Mac). The first press opens AI Mode; after that the shortcut starts and stops listening.
Talk or type
The AI Mode panel opens along the bottom of the screen. Tap the mic and speak, and your request is sent when you stop talking; or type into Type a command.... While it works the panel says Thinking, then shows its answer.
AI Mode knows which workspace and thing you have open, so “add a sub-thing here” works. The panel stays open as you move around the app, keeping the conversation, until you close it with ✕ or Esc. Clear conversation starts over.
| It can | For example |
|---|---|
| Find | Search your things across every workspace and read one in full. |
| Create | Add a thing at the top level or under another thing, with an emoji. |
| Edit | Change a thing's name, content, emoji or tags. |
| Move | Put a thing under another parent in the same workspace, or back at the top level. |
| Delete | Move a thing to Trash, where you can restore it. |
| Comment | Add a comment to a thing. |
| Open | Open a thing or a workspace for you, and list what a workspace or thing holds. |
| Workspaces | List your workspaces, create one, or rename one. |
Marks, restoring from Trash and duplicating stay with you in the app. AI Mode is on every plan, and the phone app has it too: there it stays on across workspaces and thing pages until you close the panel.
Your AI Provider key powers AI Mode inside Everythings. Connecting an outside agent such as Claude or ChatGPT is a separate thing, covered in Connect an agent.
Search from Slack and agents
You can search your workspaces without opening the app.
Slack
With the Everythings Slack app installed and your account linked, type /things and what to look for, for example /things groceries. Up to 10 matching things come back as cards only you can see, each with Post to channel to share it with the conversation. See Slack.
AI agents
A connected agent searches with the same rules: names, tags and content across every workspace you can open. Ask Claude, ChatGPT or another agent to find something and it uses the search_things tool. See Connect an agent and the Tools reference.
Questions
Does search look inside the text of a thing?
Yes. The search field and quick search match names, tags and content, so you find a shopping list by an item written on it. Things in Trash are left out.
Why don't I see the AI Mode tab?
AI Mode appears once you save an OpenAI or Anthropic API key under Settings › AI Provider. Without a key the search field stays a plain search.
Does AI Mode cost anything?
AI Mode is on every plan, Free included. It runs on your own API key, so your AI provider bills you for what it uses, at their rates.
Are my Faves visible to other members?
Your Faves tile lists only the things you starred in that workspace. The ⭐ is a mark, so members can see it on a thing like any other mark, unless the owner chose Only own marks for the workspace.
Can I search only the workspace I'm in?
Search always covers every workspace you can open, and the results come grouped by workspace with the one you are in listed first.
Why does a two-letter search show nothing?
The search field starts searching at 3 characters. Quick search (Ctrl/⌘ K) starts at 2.