cardisoft · franciscoxc · May 31, 2026
diff --git a/cardinal/src-tauri/src/commands.rs b/cardinal/src-tauri/src/commands.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ use search_cache::{
 };
 use search_cancel::CancellationToken;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-use std::{cell::LazyCell, process::Command};
+use std::{cell::LazyCell, fs::File, io::Read, process::Command};
 use tauri::{ActivationPolicy, AppHandle, State};
 use tracing::{error, info, warn};
 
@@ -217,6 +217,8 @@ pub struct NodeInfo {
     pub path: String,
     pub metadata: Option<NodeInfoMetadata>,
     pub icon: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(rename = "contentContext")]
+    pub content_context: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Serialize, Default)]
@@ -335,19 +337,33 @@ pub async fn search(
 pub fn get_nodes_info(
     results: Vec<SlabIndex>,
     include_icons: Option<bool>,
+    content_terms: Option<Vec<String>>,
+    case_insensitive: Option<bool>,
     state: State<'_, SearchState>,
 ) -> Vec<NodeInfo> {
     if results.is_empty() {
         return Vec::new();
     }
 
     let include_icons = include_icons.unwrap_or(true);
+    let content_terms = content_terms
+        .unwrap_or_default()
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(|term| term.trim().to_string())
+        .filter(|term| !term.is_empty())
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+    let case_insensitive = case_insensitive.unwrap_or_default();
     let nodes = state.request_nodes(results);
 
     nodes
         .into_iter()
         .map(|SearchResultNode { path, metadata }| {
             let path = path.to_string_lossy().into_owned();
+            let content_context = if content_terms.is_empty() {
+                None
+            } else {
+                content_context_for_path(&path, &content_terms, case_insensitive)
+            };
             let icon = if include_icons {
                 fs_icon::icon_of_path_ns(&path).map(|data| {
                     format!(
@@ -362,6 +378,7 @@ pub fn get_nodes_info(
                 path,
                 icon,
                 metadata: metadata.as_ref().map(NodeInfoMetadata::from_metadata),
+                content_context,
             }
         })
         .collect()
@@ -397,6 +414,110 @@ pub fn update_icon_viewport(id: u64, viewport: Vec<SlabIndex>, state: State<'_,
     }
 }
 
+const CONTENT_CONTEXT_BEFORE_BYTES: usize = 24;
+const CONTENT_CONTEXT_AFTER_BYTES: usize = 160;
+const CONTENT_SNIPPET_BUFFER_BYTES: usize = 64 * 1024;
+
+fn content_context_for_path(
+    path: &str,
+    content_terms: &[String],
+    case_insensitive: bool,
+) -> Option<String> {
+    content_terms
+        .iter()
+        .find_map(|term| content_context_for_term(path, term, case_insensitive))
+}
+
+fn content_context_for_term(path: &str, term: &str, case_insensitive: bool) -> Option<String> {
+    let needle = if case_insensitive {
+        term.to_ascii_lowercase().into_bytes()
+    } else {
+        term.as_bytes().to_vec()
+    };
+    if needle.is_empty() {
+        return None;
+    }
+
+    let mut file = File::open(path).ok()?;
+    let max_context_bytes = CONTENT_CONTEXT_BEFORE_BYTES.max(CONTENT_CONTEXT_AFTER_BYTES);
+    let overlap = needle.len().saturating_sub(1).max(max_context_bytes);
+    let mut buffer = vec![0u8; CONTENT_SNIPPET_BUFFER_BYTES + overlap];
+    let mut carry_len = 0usize;
+    let mut consumed_bytes = 0usize;
+
+    loop {
+        let read = file.read(&mut buffer[carry_len..]).ok()?;
+        if read == 0 {
+            return None;
+        }
+
+        let chunk_len = carry_len + read;
+        let chunk = &buffer[..chunk_len];
+        let mut searchable;
+        let haystack = if case_insensitive {
+            searchable = chunk.to_vec();
+            searchable.make_ascii_lowercase();
+            searchable.as_slice()
+        } else {
+            chunk
+        };
+
+        if let Some(match_index) = find_bytes(haystack, &needle) {
+            let before_start = match_index.saturating_sub(CONTENT_CONTEXT_BEFORE_BYTES);
+            let after_end =
+                (match_index + needle.len() + CONTENT_CONTEXT_AFTER_BYTES).min(chunk_len);
+            let mut snippet = chunk[before_start..after_end].to_vec();
+
+            let desired_after = match_index + needle.len() + CONTENT_CONTEXT_AFTER_BYTES;
+            let mut has_suffix = after_end < chunk_len;
+            if desired_after > chunk_len {
+                let mut extra = vec![0u8; desired_after - chunk_len];
+                if let Ok(extra_read) = file.read(&mut extra) {
+                    snippet.extend_from_slice(&extra[..extra_read]);
+                    has_suffix = extra_read == extra.len();
+                }
+            }
+
+            let chunk_start = consumed_bytes.saturating_sub(carry_len);
+            let absolute_match_index = chunk_start + match_index;
+            let has_prefix = absolute_match_index > CONTENT_CONTEXT_BEFORE_BYTES;
+            return Some(format_context_snippet(snippet, has_prefix, has_suffix));
+        }
+
+        let keep = overlap.min(chunk_len);
+        if keep > 0 {
+            let start = chunk_len - keep;
+            buffer.copy_within(start..chunk_len, 0);
+        }
+        consumed_bytes += read;
+        carry_len = keep;
+    }
+}
+
+fn find_bytes(haystack: &[u8], needle: &[u8]) -> Option<usize> {
+    haystack
+        .windows(needle.len())
+        .position(|window| window == needle)
+}
+
+fn format_context_snippet(snippet: Vec<u8>, has_prefix: bool, has_suffix: bool) -> String {
+    let normalized = String::from_utf8_lossy(&snippet)
+        .chars()
+        .map(|ch| match ch {
+            '\r' | '\n' | '\t' => ' ',
+            _ => ch,
+        })
+        .collect::<String>();
+    let compact = normalized.split_whitespace().collect::<Vec<_>>().join(" ");
+
+    match (has_prefix, has_suffix) {
+        (true, true) => format!("...{compact}..."),
+        (true, false) => format!("...{compact}"),
+        (false, true) => format!("{compact}..."),
+        (false, false) => compact,
+    }
+}
+
 #[tauri::command]
 pub async fn get_app_status() -> String {
     load_app_state().as_str().to_string()

diff --git a/cardinal/src/App.css b/cardinal/src/App.css
@@ -461,6 +461,7 @@ button:active:not(:disabled) {
   --columns-total: calc(
     var(--w-filename) + var(--w-path) + var(--w-size) + var(--w-modified) + var(--w-created)
   );
+  --columns-total-with-context: calc(var(--columns-total) + var(--w-context));
 }
 
 .scroll-area {
@@ -597,6 +598,14 @@ button:active:not(:disabled) {
   min-width: var(--columns-total);
 }
 
+.scroll-area--with-context .columns {
+  grid-template-columns:
+    var(--w-context) var(--w-filename) var(--w-path) var(--w-size) var(--w-modified)
+    var(--w-created);
+  width: var(--columns-total-with-context);
+  min-width: var(--columns-total-with-context);
+}
+
 /* === Header Row === */
 .header-row-container {
   overflow: hidden;
@@ -628,6 +637,16 @@ button:active:not(:disabled) {
     var(--virtual-scrollbar-width);
 }
 
+.scroll-area--with-context .header-row {
+  width: calc(var(--columns-total-with-context) + var(--virtual-scrollbar-width));
+}
+
+.scroll-area--with-context .header-row.columns {
+  grid-template-columns:
+    var(--w-context) var(--w-filename) var(--w-path) var(--w-size) var(--w-modified)
+    var(--w-created) var(--virtual-scrollbar-width);
+}
+
 .header {
   font-weight: 600;
   color: var(--color-header);
@@ -933,6 +952,13 @@ button:active:not(:disabled) {
   padding: 0 var(--cell-hpad);
 }
 
+.context-text {
+  min-width: 0;
+  overflow: hidden;
+  text-overflow: ellipsis;
+  padding: 0 var(--cell-hpad);
+}
+
 .filename-text {
   flex: 1;
   min-width: 0;

diff --git a/cardinal/src/App.tsx b/cardinal/src/App.tsx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import { useAppPreferences } from './hooks/useAppPreferences';
 import { useAppWindowListeners } from './hooks/useAppWindowListeners';
 import { useFilesTabEffects } from './hooks/useFilesTabEffects';
 import { useFilesTabState } from './hooks/useFilesTabState';
+import { extractContentTerms } from './utils/contentQuery';
 
 function App() {
   const {
@@ -262,6 +263,11 @@ function App() {
   }, []);
 
   const selectedIndexSet = useMemo(() => new Set(selectedIndices), [selectedIndices]);
+  const contentTerms = useMemo(() => extractContentTerms(currentQuery), [currentQuery]);
+  const showContentContext = contentTerms.length > 0;
+  const fileRowsWidth = showContentContext
+    ? 'var(--columns-total-with-context)'
+    : 'var(--columns-total)';
 
   const handleRowContextMenu = useCallback(
     (event: ReactMouseEvent<HTMLDivElement>, path: string, rowIndex: number) => {
@@ -289,7 +295,7 @@ function App() {
           <div
             key={`placeholder-${rowIndex}`}
             className="row columns row-loading"
-            style={{ ...rowStyle, width: 'var(--columns-total)' }}
+            style={{ ...rowStyle, width: fileRowsWidth }}
           />
         );
       }
@@ -299,11 +305,13 @@ function App() {
           key={item.path}
           rowIndex={rowIndex}
           item={item}
-          style={{ ...rowStyle, width: 'var(--columns-total)' }}
+          style={{ ...rowStyle, width: fileRowsWidth }}
           isSelected={selectedIndexSet.has(rowIndex)}
           selectedPathsForDrag={selectedPaths}
           caseInsensitive={!caseSensitive}
           highlightTerms={highlightTerms}
+          contentTerms={contentTerms}
+          showContentContext={showContentContext}
           onContextMenu={handleRowContextMenu}
           onSelect={handleRowSelect}
           onOpen={openResultPath}
@@ -314,6 +322,9 @@ function App() {
       handleRowContextMenu,
       handleRowSelect,
       highlightTerms,
+      contentTerms,
+      showContentContext,
+      fileRowsWidth,
       caseSensitive,
       selectedIndexSet,
       selectedPaths,
@@ -335,6 +346,7 @@ function App() {
       ({
         '--w-filename': `${colWidths.filename}px`,
         '--w-path': `${colWidths.path}px`,
+        '--w-context': `${Math.max(420, Math.floor(window.innerWidth * 0.4))}px`,
         '--w-size': `${colWidths.size}px`,
         '--w-modified': `${colWidths.modified}px`,
         '--w-created': `${colWidths.created}px`,
@@ -426,6 +438,9 @@ function App() {
               onSortToggle={handleSortToggle}
               sortDisabled={sortButtonsDisabled}
               sortDisabledTooltip={sortDisabledTooltip}
+              showContentContext={showContentContext}
+              contentTerms={contentTerms}
+              caseInsensitive={!caseSensitive}
             />
           )}
         </div>

diff --git a/cardinal/src/components/ColumnHeader.tsx b/cardinal/src/components/ColumnHeader.tsx
@@ -27,18 +27,30 @@ type ColumnHeaderProps = {
   onSortToggle: (sortKey: SortKey) => void;
   sortDisabled: boolean;
   sortDisabledTooltip: string | null;
+  showContentContext: boolean;
 };
 
 // Column widths are applied via CSS vars on container; no need to pass colWidths prop.
 export const ColumnHeader = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, ColumnHeaderProps>(
   (
-    { onResizeStart, onContextMenu, sortState, onSortToggle, sortDisabled, sortDisabledTooltip },
+    {
+      onResizeStart,
+      onContextMenu,
+      sortState,
+      onSortToggle,
+      sortDisabled,
+      sortDisabledTooltip,
+      showContentContext,
+    },
     ref,
   ) => {
     const { t } = useTranslation();
     return (
       <div ref={ref} className="header-row-container">
         <div className="header-row columns" onContextMenu={onContextMenu}>
+          {showContentContext ? (
+            <span className="context-text header header-cell">{t('columns.context')}</span>
+          ) : null}
           {columns.map(({ key, labelKey, className }) => {
             const label = t(labelKey);
             const sortKey = sortableColumns[key];

diff --git a/cardinal/src/components/FileRow.tsx b/cardinal/src/components/FileRow.tsx
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ type FileRowProps = {
   selectedPathsForDrag?: string[];
   caseInsensitive?: boolean;
   highlightTerms?: readonly string[];
+  contentTerms?: readonly string[];
+  showContentContext?: boolean;
 };
 
 export const FileRow = memo(function FileRow({
@@ -34,6 +36,8 @@ export const FileRow = memo(function FileRow({
   selectedPathsForDrag = [],
   caseInsensitive,
   highlightTerms,
+  contentTerms,
+  showContentContext = false,
 }: FileRowProps): React.JSX.Element {
   const pendingSelectRef = useRef<{
     isShift: boolean;
@@ -148,6 +152,19 @@ export const FileRow = memo(function FileRow({
       aria-selected={isSelected}
       title={path}
     >
+      {showContentContext ? (
+        item.contentContext ? (
+          <MiddleEllipsisHighlight
+            className="context-text"
+            text={item.contentContext}
+            highlightTerms={contentTerms}
+            caseInsensitive={caseInsensitive}
+            ellipsisMode="end"
+          />
+        ) : (
+          <span className="context-text muted">—</span>
+        )
+      ) : null}
       <div className="filename-column">
         {item.icon ? (
           <img src={item.icon} alt="icon" className="file-icon" />