File finder

Introduced in GitLab 8.4.

The file finder feature allows you to search for a file in a repository using the GitLab UI.

You can find the Find File button when in the Files section of a project.

For those who prefer to keep their fingers on the keyboard, there is a shortcut button as well, which you can invoke from anywhere in a project.

Press t to launch the File search function when in Issues, Merge requests, Milestones, even the project's settings.

Start typing what you are searching for and watch the magic happen. With the up/down arrows, you go up and down the results, with Esc you close the search and go back to Files

How it works

The File finder feature is powered by the Fuzzy filter library.

It implements a fuzzy search with the highlight and tries to provide intuitive results by recognizing patterns that people use while searching.

For example, consider the GitLab FOSS repository and that we want to open the app/controllers/admin/deploy_keys_controller.rb file.

Using a fuzzy search, we start by typing letters that get us closer to the file.

Tip: To narrow down your search, include / in your search terms.