File search only works on top-level home folders even after metadata rebuild

[tcm]

What you were doing when the issue happened?

I try search for a folder or file under my home folder like "~/top_level_folder/other_folder".

Alfred can find "top_level_folder" normally but fails to find "other_folder"

Whether you were able to replicate it a second time by performing the same action (Update any third-party apps and restart your Mac if relevant)

Yes, I restarted Alfred, restarted computer, followed instructions on https://www.alfredapp.com/help/troubleshooting/indexing/ to clean metadata, cleaned Alfred Application Cache. The result remains consistent.

 

Relevant point: this started when I migrated from an Intel Mac to a new Macbook Pro with M1 Max CPU.

Include the Alfred version & build number you are using

Alfred 4.6 [1266]

Include your macOS version

MacOS Monterrey 12.0 (21A344)

 

I've used the troubleshooter to search one folder with the characteristic above and it seemed fine. Pasting the result nonetheless (also saved a diagnostics file that I can't attache in the forum, happy to share it):

In the example below, searching for "code" works, but searching for "static" fails.

 

Starting Diagnostics...

File: 'images'
Path: '/Users/tmoraes/code/static'

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

Check file cache database...

✅ File cache integrity is ok

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

Check if file is readable...

✅ Alfred has permissions to read this file.

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

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

✅ Indexing is enabled on this drive

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

Check direct file metadata...

✅ Direct metadata available

Display Name: images
 Other Names:
Content Type: public.folder
   Last Used:

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

Check mdls file metadata...

✅ Metadata contains required items

_kMDItemDisplayNameWithExtensions      = "images"
kMDItemContentCreationDate             = 2015-06-10 02:25:04 +0000
kMDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking     = 2015-06-10 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate         = 2015-06-10 02:25:04 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate_Ranking = 2015-06-10 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentType                     = "public.folder"
kMDItemContentTypeTree                 = (
    "public.folder",
    "public.directory",
    "public.item"
)
kMDItemDateAdded                       = 2021-11-11 00:16:39 +0000
kMDItemDateAdded_Ranking               = 2021-11-11 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName                     = "images"
kMDItemDocumentIdentifier              = 0
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate             = 2015-06-10 02:25:04 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate                  = 2015-06-10 02:25:04 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode                   = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags                   = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon                 = 0
kMDItemFSInvisible                     = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden             = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery                  = 0
kMDItemFSLabel                         = 0
kMDItemFSName                          = "images"
kMDItemFSNodeCount                     = 1
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID                  = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID                   = 501
kMDItemFSSize                          = 1
kMDItemFSTypeCode                      = ""
kMDItemInterestingDate_Ranking         = 2015-06-10 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemKind                            = "Folder"

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

Check file is in search scope...

✅ File exists within Alfred's default search scope

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

✅ Troubleshooting passed

 

[Vero]

@tcm Welcome to the forum.

 

You're seeing the same issue as discussed in the thread linked below, where users who migrated from another Mac and up to Monterey are seeing temporary indexing issues. It seems that after a proper metadata rebuild (please follow instructions in the linked post closely), the issue's resolved.

 

I'm closing this thread as it's a duplicate and it's best to keep discussion of the same issue in one place.

 

Cheers,
Vero