> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Smart Search

> Compares how your samples sound with an audio model that runs on this Mac, for similarity sorting, Find Similar, Duplicates, collection suggestions and tags from the sound. Switch on Smart sample search under Settings → Library.

## Turn on Smart Search

Switch on `Smart sample search` under `Settings → Library → Smart Search`. Gridshift downloads the models once and listens to every sample in the background.

## Browse by sound

Select a sample track and press `⌥S` with nothing typed. The library is sorted by how close each sample sounds to the track's current one, the closest match on top. Arrow down to hear them in place.

## Search by description

In the `⌥S` picker, type what you are after, such as `dusty vinyl snare`. Samples whose name, tags or folders match come first; samples that only sound like the words follow after them.

## Good to know

* **Smart Search is off until you turn it on.** The [first-launch setup](/get-started/first-launch.md) offers it ticked. The models download once, about 170 MB, and new imports join automatically.
* **No audio leaves your Mac.** Listening runs at full pace in the background, half while you work. It pauses during playback, on a hot Mac and in Low Power Mode.
* **Progress shows at the bottom of the library window and in Settings**, as samples listened to out of the total.
* **Tags from the sound name what a name does not.** A sample like `texture_04.wav` gets a tag when the ten samples that sound most like it all but agree on one. They filter and search like any tag: [Organize Samples](/library/organize-samples.md).
* **It also powers [Find Similar and Duplicates](/library/find-samples.md)** and the collection suggestions in [Organize Samples](/library/organize-samples.md).

> **Details**
>
> * **An interrupted download resumes on the next launch.** A failed one, for example offline, turns the switch back off, and the switch and the library's status line say why. Switch it on again to retry.
> * **An earlier Smart Search re-listens after an update.** The improved model downloads on the next launch. Until it finishes, results cover only the samples already done.
> * **Manage Tags… lists sound tags with Sound as their origin.** A removed sound tag stays off, the same as a tag read from a file name. Sound tags reach the [iPhone](/sync/iphone-library.md) too.
> * **Sound tags do not change stretching.** Fitting a picked sample to the project tempo still follows names, folders and your own tags.
> * **Turning Smart Search off** returns the picker to name-based search, hides **Duplicates** and **Find Similar**, and removes the sound tags. Turned on again, it picks up where it left off, without a new download or a second listen.
> * **Command Palette → Smart Sample Search On/Off** flips the same switch.

> **Modes**
>
> | Mode | Trigger | Behavior |
> | - | - | - |
> | **Similarity browse** | Open the picker with an empty query, on a track that already has a sample | The library is sorted by acoustic similarity to the current sample; the top entry is the closest sonic match |
> | **Name and description search** | Type letters | Samples whose name, tags or folders match the typed words come first. Among them, acoustic similarity to the track's current sample leads (0.7), then the filename match (0.2) and how close the words are to how the sample sounds (0.1). With no sample on the track, or for a sample Smart Search has not listened to yet, the filename match leads (0.8) and the description nudges (0.2). Samples that only *sound* like the words follow after every name match |

> **Tags from the sound**
>
> | Tag | Given when |
> | - | - |
> | **kick**, **snare**, **hat**, **clap**, **perc**, **bass**, **vocal**, **fx**, **synth** | The ten samples that sound most like it all but agree on it |
> | **drums** | Added for a drum word |


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