# Settings

Everything adjustable in SearchBox lives on one page: click the **gear icon** in the top-right of the home screen. This guide walks the sections in the order they appear, with a plain-English note on when you'd actually touch each one.

![The Settings page](img/settings-overview.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: The top of the Settings page showing the header and the first two sections (Account and Vault Security) so the overall layout is clear. -->

## Account

Your local login — remember, this account exists only on your PC.

- **Email** — the address you signed up with (shown for reference).
- **Recovery Key** — click **Generate Recovery Key** to create and download a fresh spare key. Do this if you've lost the one from setup, then store it somewhere safe. [Why this matters →](./vault.md#your-recovery-key--the-spare-key-to-everything)
- **Change Password** — updates your login password. Because the [vault](./vault.md) is encrypted with your password, SearchBox handles re-securing it as part of the change.
- **Sign Out** — logs you out of this browser/window session.

## Vault Security

The health panel for your encrypted vault.

- Normally it shows **Vault Active** — files are encrypted at rest.
- After a restart it shows **Vault locked** with a password box — type your password and click **Unlock**. This re-lock is a security feature, not a bug ([explained here](./vault.md#locked-after-a-restart--thats-on-purpose)).
- **Reset Vault** permanently deletes everything in the vault. It asks you to type `RESET` because there's no undo.

## Search Engine

SearchBox's search smarts come from a small companion program (Meilisearch) that runs quietly alongside the app. You'll rarely need this section — it exists for when search stops responding.

- **Status** — whether the search engine is running, with start/stop controls.
- **Binary Path** — where the Meilisearch program lives. Installed versions of SearchBox include it automatically; only fill this in if you're running a custom setup.
- **Port** — the local "door number" it listens on (default 7700). Change it only if another program on your PC already uses that port.
- **Auto-start** — keep this on so the engine starts with SearchBox.

> 💡 **Tip:** If searches suddenly return nothing, come here first — see [Troubleshooting](./troubleshooting.md#search-returns-nothing-or-search-engine-not-running).

## AI Search

The optional, fully local AI features — result summaries and smarter suggestions. Off by default.

- **Enable AI Search** — the master switch.
- **Ollama** settings — **Server URL** (usually `http://localhost:11434`), **Model** (which AI model to use), **Timeout**, **Auto-connect**, plus a **Connection Status** check and a list of **Available Models** once connected.

Setting this up from scratch? Follow the [AI summaries with Ollama tutorial](./tutorials/ai-with-ollama.md) — it covers installing Ollama and picking a model.

> 🔒 The AI runs on your own machine. Turning this on does not send your files, searches, or anything else to the internet.

## Bookmarks

One switch: **Enable Bookmarks**. Turns the five [home-screen tiles](./bookmarks-and-history.md) on or off.

## Indexed Folders

The list of folders SearchBox is watching, with controls to add more, remove one, or **Sync** to pick up recent changes — the same controls as the upload window's Index Folder tab. Details in [Folders and archives](./folders-and-archives.md).

## qBittorrent

For people who download with qBittorrent: switch on **Enable Integration**, fill in the **Host**, **Port**, **Username**, and **Password** of qBittorrent's Web UI, and SearchBox will index your *finished* downloads so they're searchable like everything else. The **Connection Status** row confirms it's talking to qBittorrent.

> 🔒 The password you enter here is stored encrypted on disk, not as plain text.

If you don't use qBittorrent, leave this off and forget it exists.

## Search History

- **AI Enhancement** — when your local AI is set up, lets it improve the [suggested searches](./bookmarks-and-history.md#suggested-searches) on the home screen.

## About SearchBox

- **Website & interactive demo** — opens the built-in demo page (**View demo**). It's served from inside the app, so even the demo doesn't touch the internet.
- **Automatically check for updates** — off by default. When on, SearchBox asks GitHub once at startup whether a newer version exists. This is the only time SearchBox ever phones out, and only if you opt in.
- **Software updates** — **Check for updates** on demand; if there's a newer release, **Update now** downloads the installer, verifies it, and launches it. (On Linux there's no in-app installer — you'll get a link to the [releases page](https://github.com/SourceBox-LLC/SearchBox/releases) instead.)

![The About section with the update controls](img/settings-about.png)
<!-- SCREENSHOT NEEDED: Settings → About SearchBox, showing the Website & interactive demo row, the auto-update toggle, and the Software updates row with the Check for updates button. -->

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