Query language (TQL)

TQL, short for Typed Query Language, is a compact way to ask Lar for a set of Objects: “every Movie I rated 4 or higher”, “open Tasks due before October”, “everything tagged launch”. You type it into the search field, and you can save a query as a tab or view to reuse it.

What a query is

A query is a list of terms separated by spaces. An Object must match every term to appear in the results.

A term of the form key:value is a filter, such as type:Book.
A word with no colon is text to search for, such as budget.

type:Task tag:launch budget

This finds Tasks tagged launch whose title, body, or properties mention “budget”.

Filters

Filter	Matches
`type:Book`	Objects of that Type, including Objects of Types that inherit from it. Every Type inherits from `Note`, so `type:Note` matches everything
`mixin:Taskable`	Objects whose Type has that Mixin
`facet:Loaned`	Objects that carry that facet
`tag:reading`	Objects linked to that Tag; capitalization is ignored
`is:pinned`	Pinned Objects (`!is:pinned` for unpinned ones)
`is:deleted`	Objects in the Trash
`prop.rating:>4`	Objects whose `rating` property satisfies the comparison
`order:title`	Not a filter: sets the sort order (see below)

Rules that apply to every filter:

Several values mean “any of these”. type:Book,Person matches Books and People. tag:a,b matches Objects with either tag.
Repeating a filter means “all of these”. tag:a tag:b requires both tags. type:, mixin:, and facet: can appear only once per query.
Put ! in front of a key to exclude. !tag:archived drops archived Objects; !type:Task drops Tasks.
Quote values that contain spaces. type:"Daily Note" works; type:Daily Note does not.
Names are exact. Type, Mixin, facet, and property names must be spelled and capitalized as they appear in Lar. Tag names are the exception.

A Type, Mixin, or facet that does not exist simply matches nothing; Lar does not report an error.

Property filters

Write prop. followed by the property’s name, a colon, and a comparison.

Write	Meaning
`prop.year:2020`	equals
`prop.year:>2020`, `prop.year:>=2020`	greater than, greater than or equal
`prop.year:<2020`, `prop.year:<=2020`	less than, less than or equal
`prop.title:~draft`	contains the text
`prop.deadline:*`	has any value
`!prop.deadline:*`	has no value
`!prop.status:done`	does not equal (also matches Objects with no value)
`prop.status:next-up,in-progress`	equals either value

Things to know:

Dates are written YYYY-MM-DD and compare in calendar order: prop.due:<2026-08-01 finds anything due before 1 August 2026. There are no relative words such as today. A property that also stores a time (2026-08-01T09:00) does not equal a bare date, so use a range: prop.due:>=2026-08-01 prop.due:<2026-08-02.
Select properties with fixed options compare against the option’s stored value, not its display label. The built-in Task statuses are not-started, next-up, in-progress, and done; priorities are low, medium, high, and urgent. Free-form select properties compare against the text as typed.
Multi-select properties hold a list. Use the contains operator, such as prop.genres:~Sci-Fi, rather than equals.
Property names are written as one word. For property names with spaces, checkbox properties, or related-Object properties, use the filter builder of a Saved View instead.

Searching text

Words without a colon search titles, body text, and property text.

Every word must match, and a word matches any part of a longer word: team finds “steam” as well as “team”.
Words shorter than three characters are ignored when the query also contains a longer word. If every word is that short, Lar matches them against titles and aliases only.
Quote a phrase to keep its words together: "weekly review".
Because a colon starts a filter, put quotes around text that contains one: "10:30".

Sorting

Add one order: term. The choices are updated, created, and title, optionally followed by :asc or :desc.

Write	Result
`order:updated`	most recently changed first (the default)
`order:created:asc`	oldest first
`order:title`	A to Z (`order:title:desc` reverses it)

When a query contains text to search for and no order:, results are ordered by how well they match.

TQL has no limit: term. Each place that runs a query decides how many results to show.

Examples

Query	What it returns
`type:Book prop.rating:>4`	Books rated above 4
`type:Task !prop.status:done`	Tasks whose status is not Done
`mixin:Taskable prop.due:<2026-08-01`	Anything task-like, of any Type, due before 1 August 2026
`type:Person tag:client order:title`	People tagged `client`, A to Z
`type:Task prop.priority:high,urgent`	Tasks that are High or Urgent priority
`type:Event prop.start:>=2026-09-01 prop.start:<2026-10-01`	Events that start in September 2026
`"weekly review" type:"Daily Note" order:created`	Daily Notes mentioning “weekly review”, newest first

Book (with its rating, year, and genres properties) and Person stand in for custom Types you create; the other Type and property names are built into Lar.

Ready-made queries

Copy these, then change the dates and names to fit your workspace. They use the built-in Task, Movie, Weblink, and Daily Note Types.

Query	Use it to
`type:Task !prop.status:done prop.deadline:<2026-10-01`	Find open Tasks whose deadline falls before 1 October 2026
`type:Task prop.status:next-up,in-progress`	See what you are working on now
`mixin:Taskable !prop.due:*`	Catch task-like Objects of any Type that have no due date
`type:Task prop.completed:>=2026-09-01`	Review Tasks completed since 1 September 2026
`type:Movie prop.watchStatus:want-to-watch prop.genres:~Sci-Fi order:title`	Pick a science-fiction film from your watchlist
`type:Movie prop.rating:>=4 prop.releaseYear:<2000`	List older films you rated 4 or higher
`type:Weblink prop.url:~youtube.com order:created`	Gather saved YouTube links, newest first
`type:"Daily Note" prop.date:>=2026-09-01 prop.date:<2026-10-01`	List September’s Daily Notes
`tag:launch !tag:done !type:Task`	Collect launch material that is not a Task and not tagged `done`
`is:deleted type:Task`	Find a Task you deleted, so you can restore it from Trash
`is:pinned !type:"Daily Note"`	See everything you pinned except Daily Notes

Where you can use queries

The search field in the header of the desktop app. Type a query instead of plain words and the results update as you type; the field shows the first 25. On a Type’s page the search is limited to that Type unless your query includes its own type:. Choose ★ save beside the field to keep the query as a view.
A Type’s tabs. Choose Add tab on the Type’s page, type a valid query into the search box, and choose New query: ”…” to add it as a tab.
The AI assistant and the local MCP server, which use TQL when they look up Objects for you.

The command palette (⌘K) and the full Search page use their own filter controls rather than TQL; see Search and the command palette. A Saved View built with the filter builder can also combine conditions with AND/OR groups and several sort keys, which TQL cannot.

Query language or search?

Use plain search, ⌘K or the Search page, to find something you remember by words. Use TQL when you want a precise, repeatable set of Objects, such as “all open Tasks due this month”, that you might save as a view.

Error messages

If a query cannot be understood, Lar shows a short message under the search field and shows no results.

Message	What it means and how to fix it
`unknown filter key "done" (expected type\|mixin\|facet\|tag\|is\|order\|prop.X)`	A word before a colon is not a filter. Property filters need the `prop.` prefix (`prop.done:...`), and the tag filter is `tag:`, not `tags:`. If the colon is part of ordinary text, wrap it in quotes.
`missing value for type:`	A filter has nothing after the colon. Add a value. The same message form appears for `mixin:`, `facet:`, `tag:`, `is:`, `order:`, and `prop.NAME:`.
`missing key before ":"`	A term starts with a colon. Add a filter name in front of it or quote the text.
`prop: requires a path (prop.NAME:)`	You wrote `prop.:` without a property name.
`duplicate type: filter`	`type:`, `mixin:`, and `facet:` can each be used once. Combine values with a comma: `type:Book,Person`.
`unknown is: value "x" (expected pinned\|deleted)`	`is:` accepts only `pinned` or `deleted`.
`order: expected updated\|created\|title with optional :asc\|:desc`	The sort field or direction is not recognized.
`order: takes one value` / `order: cannot be negated`	Use a single `order:` value and no leading `!`.
`unterminated quoted string`	A quotation mark was opened but never closed.

Safety

TQL is parsed by Lar’s own small parser and never runs code, so a query cannot change your data; it can only read it.

Next: Layouts and Saved Views.