Recoll - how to exclude indexing everything, then I'll add only a couple back in

Question

How do I set Recoll to exclude everything? I will then add a small number of directories. But I mostly want it to NOT index most of the computer.

I currently have the default excluded directory in Skipped path:

/media

And I have 2 folders in Top directories (which I understand will overwrite anything in the Skipped path):

/home/mary/Mango

/home/mary/Pineapple

I want to have all of the rest of the computer NOT be indexed. What would I add to the Skipped path to do that?

Thank you.

Answer 1

In recoll, you configure starting directories. So if you just want to index two of them, specify them as starting directories.

See topdirs in official documentation:

Parameters affecting what documents we index

topdirs

Space-separated list of files or directories to recursively index. Default to ~ (indexes $HOME). You can use symbolic links in the list, they will be followed, independently of the value of the followLinks variable.

[ . . . ]

followLinks

Follow symbolic links during indexing. The default is to ignore symbolic links to avoid multiple indexing of linked files. No effort is made to avoid duplication when this option is set to true. This option can be set individually for each of the 'topdirs' members by using sections. It can not be changed below the 'topdirs' level. Links in the 'topdirs' list itself are always followed.

It's also in the GUI under "Preferences" -> "Index configuration".