Paul Harrison

OK thanks very much. That works.  This has been a lot of learning. I understand that Alfred is all about power and flexibility, but all of this underlines to me that the search system isn't the most intuitive - and I still don't understand why I wouldn't want to "search all file types" by default.

OK - here is the diagnostic for a file which is in 'iCloud Drive',  but doesn't show up in search unless "search all file types" is on.

Starting Diagnostics...

File: 'testmp4.mp4'
Path: '/Users/paul/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs'

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check file cache database...

✅ File cache integrity is ok

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check if file is readable...

✅ Alfred has permissions to read this file.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check file is in search scope...

✅ File exists within Alfred's default search scope

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check if volume '/' is indexed by macOS...

✅ Indexing is enabled on this drive

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check direct file metadata...

✅ Direct metadata available

Display Name: testmp4.mp4
 Other Names: 
Content Type: public.mpeg-4
   Last Used: 2020-09-20 20:30:09 +0000

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check mdls file metadata...

✅ Metadata contains required items

_kMDItemDisplayNameWithExtensions      = "testmp4.mp4"
kMDItemAudioBitRate                    = 47
kMDItemAudioChannelCount               = 1
kMDItemCodecs                          = (
    "H.264",
    "MPEG-4 HE AAC"
)
kMDItemContentCreationDate             = 2020-09-20 20:29:44 +0000
kMDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking     = 2020-09-20 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate         = 2020-09-20 20:30:06 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate_Ranking = 2020-09-20 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentType                     = "public.mpeg-4"
kMDItemContentTypeTree                 = (
    "public.mpeg-4",
    "public.movie",
    "public.audiovisual-content",
    "public.data",
    "public.item",
    "public.content"
)
kMDItemDateAdded                       = 2020-09-21 09:17:56 +0000
kMDItemDateAdded_Ranking               = 2020-09-21 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName                     = "testmp4.mp4"
kMDItemDocumentIdentifier              = 39300
kMDItemDurationSeconds                 = 48.179
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate             = 2020-09-20 20:30:06 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate                  = 2020-09-20 20:29:44 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode                   = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags                   = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon                 = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible                     = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden             = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery                  = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                         = 0
kMDItemFSName                          = "testmp4.mp4"
kMDItemFSNodeCount                     = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID                  = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID                   = 501
kMDItemFSSize                          = 889304
kMDItemFSTypeCode                      = ""
kMDItemInterestingDate_Ranking         = 2020-09-20 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemKind                            = "MPEG-4 movie"
kMDItemLastUsedDate                    = 2020-09-20 20:30:09 +0000
kMDItemLastUsedDate_Ranking            = 2020-09-20 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemLogicalSize                     = 889304
kMDItemMediaTypes                      = (
    Video,
    Sound
)
kMDItemPhysicalSize                    = 892928
kMDItemPixelHeight                     = 400
kMDItemPixelWidth                      = 224
kMDItemProfileName                     = "HD (1-1-1)"
kMDItemStreamable                      = 0
kMDItemTotalBitRate                    = 143
kMDItemUseCount                        = 3
kMDItemUsedDates                       = (
    "2020-09-19 23:00:00 +0000"
)
kMDItemVideoBitRate                    = 95

-----------------------------------------------------------

✅ Troubleshooting passed
 

OK, this is now working, I simply had to switch on "Search all file types".   This is presented as a strongly discouraged option, but to me it's essential that search look at all file types.  So I own up to this one.  It's been worthwhile as I've learned more about how Alfred's search works.

Hi Andrew

Thanks for your reply.  I forgot to say that ~/Library/Mobile Documents/ is also added to the search scope.

All diagnostics on the file search troubleshooting are fine.

The file details are:

File: 'Toffee.pdf'
Path: '/Users/paul/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Documents'

This path is included in

~/Library/Mobile Documents/

so it should appear in search results?

I'm a heavy user of iCloud. Why can't Alfred search see any of the files or folders that are there?

I have added ~/Library/CloudStorage/iCloudDrive to the search scope. 

I'm using Alfred 4.1.1 with Mac OS Cataline 10.15.7.