Views

A view is a saved bundle of ranking rules, plus optional defaults such as region, language, time range, or file type, that you switch on for a search. It is a mode for one kind of searching: programming, academic, recipes, the small web, and so on.

View modes

Every view has a mode that decides how its sites are used:

• Boost — the view's sites are raised, but everything else still appears. Use it for "I prefer these sources."
• Restrict — results are limited to the view's sites (an allow-list). Use it for "only these sources."
• Filter — the view carries no sites, only a search constraint (for example, PDFs only).

A view can also carry excluded sites: those are blocked while the view is active — even in Boost mode.

Built-in views

Suede ships a curated set every account can use at once. Each built-in shows a one-line description of its intent in Settings → Search Control:

The Small Web view is powered by an open, publicly maintained index of independent sites and feeds, so its reach goes far beyond a hand-picked list while staying fully inspectable.

Activating a view

Four interchangeable ways:

1. View picker — choose a view from the search box; it stays on for follow-up searches until you clear its chip above the results.
2. @ context — type the view's slug as an @ token to switch it on for one search, e.g. @programming async iterator. Every view has this, built-in or yours.
3. Your own activation code — give any of your views a shorter @ code of your choosing on its edit page (for example @ml), and it works exactly like the slug. The code is an alias backed by a snap.
4. URL — append ?view=<slug> to a results URL, e.g. /search?q=async+iterator&view=programming.

@recipes weeknight pasta
@academic protein folding

The picker lists every view — built-in and your own — in your order: drag rows into place in Settings → Search Control, or use their up/down buttons, and the picker follows. Switching a view off hides it from the picker without deleting anything.

Several contexts at once

@ tokens stack, so a view can share a search with other views, snaps, and ad-hoc domains. Each scoped context runs as its own sub-search — its sites, under its own time, region, and other Filters — and the results merge into one page. A view's time range therefore applies within that view's scope, not to the whole search: if your releases view is restricted to vendor changelog sites with a past-month time range, @releases @docs kernel scheduler searches the changelog sites from the past month and your docs sites with no time limit, together.

The exception is a standalone time code: @day outside any AND-group limits the whole search and overrides each view's own range.

Custom views

Create a view in Settings → Search Control with a name (the slug is derived from the name and never changes), a mode, and — optionally — a starting list of sites, so it works from the first search. You can also grow a view as you browse: every result's Adjust menu offers Add site to a view and New view….

Each view has an edit page organized around its mode:

• Sites ("Only these sites" only) — the sources. Results come only from these plain domains (example.com, docs.example.com), and the list is the single source of truth: removing a site also removes any boosts that depended on it, after a confirmation — and one Undo restores everything.
• Boost — sites and keywords, in separate lists, that rank higher when they match. Site entries accept wildcards (*.substack.com, *.gov) and URL prefixes (github.com/WebKit/*). In "Only these sites" mode, only results from your Sites can be boosted.
• Exclude — sites and keywords never shown while the view is on, in every mode.
• Filters — optional defaults applied whenever the view is active: region, language, file type, and a time range or custom date range.
• Search integration — an Activation code (the shorter @ alias, backed by a snap); whether the view's keywords join your search suggestions while it's active; and a layout override (Auto, Standard, or Square — Square renders web results as cards using your Square design).

A Filter-mode view carries only its Filters — it has no site or keyword lists.

Deleting a view asks you to confirm and can be undone for a short while afterwards — it comes back with its sites, keywords, and activation code.

Sharing a view

A view you have built can be shared (published as an unlisted link or to the public community directory) so other members can subscribe to it or add a copy of their own. See Sharing & community lists.

Views and your other rules

An active view composes with your personal rules, so a personal block still applies while a view is on. See Domain ranking for how overlapping rules are resolved.