Trace

Trace is an experimental spatial file search application for Linux. Its first vertical searches real filenames through plocate, distributes the results deterministically across the window, and lets the user open a file or reveal its location.

Requirements

• Linux
• Node.js 22 or newer
• npm 12 or newer
• plocate with an initialized database

Trace does not install plocate or run updatedb. Install and initialize them with the package and service tools provided by your Linux distribution.

Electron Forge currently pins its @electron/node-gyp fork to a Git commit. The dependency is declared directly in package.json, so npm can authorize only that root Git dependency during installation:

npm install --allow-git=root

Commands

npm start          # Run the Electron application in development
npm test           # Run the automated test suite
npm run verify     # Typecheck, lint, check formatting, and test
npm run package    # Build a local Linux application package

The packaged application is written under out/.

Current scope

The first vertical includes filename search, deterministic spatial placement, selection, opening files, and revealing their locations. Ranking, previews, advanced metadata, animation, zoom, pan, and a custom index remain outside the current scope.