Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher

Enhancement: Improve Search Score Algorithm for Program Plugin

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#3433 opened on Apr 9, 2025

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Description

Checks

  • I have checked that this issue has not already been reported.

  • I am using the latest version of Flow Launcher.

Problem Description

When using the program plugin to start a program, I encounter an issue where my search string is not found as I would expect it. Given a shortcut to a program named metis Client Prod (cprod), I cannot select it by typing cprod, as I would expect, but only if I type (cprod.

Image

To Reproduce

  1. Create a shortcut to a program in a location that is indexed by Flow Launcher and name it metis Client Prod (cprod).
  2. Try to launch the shortcut by typing cprod.

Screenshots

No response

Flow Launcher Version

1.19.5

Windows Build Number

10.0.26100.3476

Error Log

Not relevant; no error reported by Flow Launcher

Contributor guide

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
desktopsearch
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
C#Search algorithm concepts
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
75
Research direction
Examine the scoring function in the Program plugin (likely in `Plugins/Program/` directory) that calculates relevance based on search string. Investigate how parentheses are handled in tokenization. Implement a fix to consider the substring without parentheses for matching. Refer to existing tests to ensure no regression.