Web Search

The native interface supports quick web searches via URL templates. Type a keyword followed by your query to open search results in your default browser.

Note

Web search is only available in native mode. It is not available when using Fuzzel mode.

Overview

Define custom search engines with keywords and URL templates. When you type a keyword and query, Raffi opens your browser with the search results.

Configuration

Configure web searches in your raffi.yaml:

addons:
  web_searches:
    - name: "Google"
      keyword: "g"
      url: "https://google.com/search?q={query}"
      icon: "google"

    - name: "DuckDuckGo"
      keyword: "ddg"
      url: "https://duckduckgo.com/?q={query}"
      icon: "duckduckgo"

    - name: "GitHub"
      keyword: "gh"
      url: "https://github.com/search?q={query}"
      icon: "github"

    - name: "Wikipedia"
      keyword: "wiki"
      url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search={query}"
      icon: "wikipedia"

Configuration Fields

name string (required)

Display name shown in the search row (e.g., “Search Google for…”)

keyword string (required)

Text that activates the web search (e.g., “g”, “ddg”)

url string (required)

URL template with {query} placeholder for search terms

icon string

Icon name from your icon cache to display next to the search row

Usage

Type a keyword followed by your search query:

g rust traits
# Opens: https://google.com/search?q=rust%20traits

ddg wayland compositor
# Opens: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=wayland%20compositor

gh iced-rs
# Opens: https://github.com/search?q=iced-rs

wiki functional programming
# Opens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=functional%20programming

How It Works

1. Type Keyword

   Type the configured keyword (e.g., g)

2. Add Query

   Type your search query after the keyword

3. See Preview

   Raffi displays “Search [Name] for [query]”

4. Execute Search

   Press Enter to open browser with search results

URL Encoding

The {query} placeholder is automatically percent-encoded for safe URL use:

• Spaces become %20
• Special characters are encoded (e.g., & → %26)
• Unreserved characters remain unchanged (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, -, ., _, ~)

Simple Query

g hello world
→ https://google.com/search?q=hello%20world

Special Characters

g rust + traits
→ https://google.com/search?q=rust%20%2B%20traits

Complex Query

g "exact phrase" -exclude
→ https://google.com/search?q=%22exact%20phrase%22%20-exclude

Pre-configured Search Engines

Common search engines you can add:

General Search

- name: "Google"
  keyword: "g"
  url: "https://google.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "google"

- name: "DuckDuckGo"
  keyword: "ddg"
  url: "https://duckduckgo.com/?q={query}"
  icon: "duckduckgo"

- name: "Bing"
  keyword: "b"
  url: "https://www.bing.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "bing"

Development

- name: "GitHub"
  keyword: "gh"
  url: "https://github.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "github"

- name: "Stack Overflow"
  keyword: "so"
  url: "https://stackoverflow.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "stackoverflow"

- name: "Crates.io"
  keyword: "crate"
  url: "https://crates.io/search?q={query}"
  icon: "rust"

- name: "NPM"
  keyword: "npm"
  url: "https://www.npmjs.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "npm"

- name: "Docker Hub"
  keyword: "docker"
  url: "https://hub.docker.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "docker"

Reference

- name: "Wikipedia"
  keyword: "wiki"
  url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search={query}"
  icon: "wikipedia"

- name: "MDN"
  keyword: "mdn"
  url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/search?q={query}"
  icon: "firefox"

- name: "Rust Docs"
  keyword: "rdoc"
  url: "https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/?search={query}"
  icon: "rust"

Media

- name: "YouTube"
  keyword: "yt"
  url: "https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query={query}"
  icon: "youtube"

- name: "Reddit"
  keyword: "r"
  url: "https://www.reddit.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "reddit"

- name: "Twitter"
  keyword: "tw"
  url: "https://twitter.com/search?q={query}"
  icon: "twitter"

Shopping

- name: "Amazon"
  keyword: "amz"
  url: "https://www.amazon.com/s?k={query}"
  icon: "amazon"

- name: "eBay"
  keyword: "ebay"
  url: "https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw={query}"
  icon: "ebay"

Custom Search Engines

You can add any search engine that accepts a query parameter:

Finding the URL Template

1. Perform a Search

   Go to the website and search for “test”

2. Copy URL

   Look at the browser address bar:

   https://example.com/search?q=test

3. Replace Query

   Replace “test” with {query}:

   https://example.com/search?q={query}

4. Add to Config

       - name: "Example"
         keyword: "ex"
         url: "https://example.com/search?q={query}"

Examples

Site-Specific Search

- name: "Search Rust Reddit"
  keyword: "rr"
  url: "https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/search?q={query}&restrict_sr=1"
  icon: "reddit"

Google Images

- name: "Google Images"
  keyword: "img"
  url: "https://www.google.com/search?q={query}&tbm=isch"
  icon: "google"

Language-Specific

- name: "Python Docs"
  keyword: "pydoc"
  url: "https://docs.python.org/3/search.html?q={query}"
  icon: "python"

Use Cases

Quick Research

wiki quantum computing

Code Search

gh iced-rs
so rust async error

Package Lookup

crate serde
npm express

Documentation

mdn fetch api
rdoc hashmap

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Enter: Open search in default browser
• Esc: Cancel and return to normal mode

Requirements

Caution

Requires xdg-open to open URLs in your default browser (standard on most Linux distributions)

Tips

Tip

Use short, memorable keywords like g for Google, gh for GitHub, etc.

Tip

Add site-specific searches for frequently visited websites (e.g., your company’s internal docs)

Tip

You can override the query parameter name if a site uses something other than q: url: "https://example.com/find?search={query}"

Tip

Common search engines are often pre-configured in example configs. Check the Raffi repository for ready-to-use templates.

Example Configuration

Here’s a complete example with popular search engines:

addons:
  web_searches:
    # General
    - name: "Google"
      keyword: "g"
      url: "https://google.com/search?q={query}"
      icon: "google"

    - name: "DuckDuckGo"
      keyword: "ddg"
      url: "https://duckduckgo.com/?q={query}"

    # Development
    - name: "GitHub"
      keyword: "gh"
      url: "https://github.com/search?q={query}"
      icon: "github"

    - name: "Stack Overflow"
      keyword: "so"
      url: "https://stackoverflow.com/search?q={query}"

    - name: "Crates.io"
      keyword: "crate"
      url: "https://crates.io/search?q={query}"
      icon: "rust"

    # Reference
    - name: "Wikipedia"
      keyword: "wiki"
      url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search={query}"
      icon: "wikipedia"

    - name: "MDN"
      keyword: "mdn"
      url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/search?q={query}"

    # Media
    - name: "YouTube"
      keyword: "yt"
      url: "https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query={query}"
      icon: "youtube"