ia-search

An interactive terminal browser and downloader for the Internet Archive. Built with fzf and the ia tool to search, play, and download media without leaving the shell.

Features

Interactive Menus: Uses fzf to navigate collections and search results with infinite scrolling.
 Search Options:
History & Examples: The prompt displays your recent queries and useful example searches.
Help Guide: Built-in --help command lists all searchable fields like mediatype and creator.
Sub-Searching: Narrow down large collections or results without reloading the whole list.
Media & Previews:
File Previews: View files within an item before playing/downloading. Auto-retries if a fetch fails.
Subtitle Support: Automatically finds and loads matching .srt, .ass, or .vtt files in mpv.
Integrated Players: Opens video/audio in mpv, images in nsxiv, and PDFs in zathura.
Functional Tools:
Pagination: Results load in pages to keep the interface fast and responsive.
Downloads: Pull videos with yt-dlp or any specific file using curl.
Customizable: Change your default players and icons at the top of the script.

Installation

Install the dependencies listed below.
Move the script to your $PATH:

cp ia-search ~/.local/bin/

Make it executable:

chmod +x ~/.local/bin/ia-search

Usage

Run the script:

ia-search

Check the search syntax guide:

ia-search --help

Browsing

Pick a collection from the main menu or select [🔍 Search all collections] to start a query. The search prompt saves your history so you can quickly re-run previous searches or pick from the examples.

Search Guide

Queries use the standard field:value syntax. Combine terms with AND, OR, or NOT.

Common Fields

Field	Description	Example
`mediatype`	Content category	`mediatype:movies`
`title`	Work title	`title:"Floating weeds"`
`creator`	Author/Director	`creator:"yasujiro ozu"`
`subject`	Keywords/Themes	`subject:"japanese cinema"`
`collection`	Specific collection	`collection:vhsmovies`
`date`	Publication year	`date:[1980 TO 1989]`
`language`	ISO 639-2 code	`language:jpn`

Mediatypes

texts (Books/Documents)
audio (Music/Podcasts)
movies (Video/Films)
software (Games/Apps)
image (Photos/Art)

Language Codes (ISO 639-2)

English: eng
Japanese: jpn
French: fre
German: ger
Chinese: zho

Dependencies

Core

ia (Internet Archive CLI) — Metadata and searching.
fzf — Interactive menus and filtering.
jq — JSON parsing.
curl / pv — Downloading and progress bars.
python3 — Logic and search history.

Media Viewers (Optional)

mpv — Video and audio playback.
nsxiv — Image viewing.
zathura — PDF reading.
yt-dlp — For video downloads.

Configuration

You can change the default apps by editing the variables at the top of the script:

VIDEO_PLAYER="mpv"
AUDIO_PLAYER="mpv"
IMAGE_VIEWER="nsxiv"
PDF_VIEWER="zathura"
VIDEO_DOWNLOADER="yt-dlp"

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README