# How to index your library for AI search > Open AI (Alt+3), click Download model (438 MB, once), then Index library. Indexing runs on your PC and unlocks description search, similar photos and tags. Source: https://firelet.media/help/index-library-for-ai-search Published: 2026-09-30 · Updated: 2026-09-30 Applies to: Windows, macOS, Linux To index photos for AI search in firelet.media Gallery, open the **AI** panel ([[Alt]]+[[3]]), click **Download model** (a one-time 438 MB download), then click **Index library**. The gallery looks at each picture on your own PC and stores what it sees in your library, so you can then find photos by describing them, find similar ones and generate tags. Nothing is uploaded. ## What it means to index photos for AI search The AI features in firelet.media Gallery (marked "✦ beta") run on a model called CLIP. Indexing shows every picture to that model once and saves a compact summary of it, sometimes called an embedding, in the library database on your PC. Searching then compares your words, or another picture, against those saved summaries, which is why a search answers in moments instead of re-reading every file. - **Photos and videos** are both indexed; a video is indexed from a frame of it. - **Online-only cloud files** (the ones with a cloud badge) are skipped, so nothing is downloaded to index them. - **Your files are only read.** The index lives in the library, not in the pictures. The panel shows how far you have got, for example "1,204 of 3,550 images embedded", or "none of 3,550 images embedded — run Index library". ## Steps: download the model The model is not included in the installer, so the AI tools do nothing until you fetch it. Until then the panel shows "AI model not installed" with the note "The search, tag, duplicate and grouping tools all need it." 1. Press [[Alt]]+[[3]] to open **AI**. 2. Read the line "Not installed. 438 MB will be downloaded from Hugging Face." 3. Click **Download model**. 4. Wait for "Model ready" to appear. ![The AI panel before setup, with 'AI model not installed' and the Download model button](https://firelet.media/help/media/shot-ai-model-download.webp "The model is a one-time 438 MB download from Hugging Face") The download is checked against a pinned checksum, and if it is interrupted it resumes rather than starting again. It is the only time AI needs the internet. The model is kept in `%LOCALAPPDATA%\PictureGallery\models\`, and uninstalling asks before removing it (keeping it is the default). ## Steps: Index library 1. Stay in the **AI** panel and open the **Search** section. 2. Click **Index library**. 3. Watch the status line count up: "Indexing… 250 / 3,550". 4. Wait for "Indexed 3,550 images", or come back later. ![The AI panel after indexing, showing every image embedded and the list of AI tools](https://firelet.media/help/media/shot-ai-panel.webp "Once every picture is embedded, all the AI tools are ready") You can stop at any time with **Stop** in the status bar: "What it had already done is kept." Clicking **Index library** again carries on with the pictures that are still missing, and says "Everything is already indexed" when there is nothing left. > [!IMPORTANT] > Indexing adds to the library, so it is one of the things that pause when the 14-day trial ends without a licence. Anything indexed during the trial stays searchable. See [how the free trial works](https://firelet.media/help/free-trial). ## How long it takes (GPU vs CPU) It depends on how many pictures you have and on your hardware. On Windows the gallery uses your graphics card through DirectML when it can, and falls back to the processor automatically if it can't. The results are identical either way; only the speed differs. | | Windows | macOS and Linux (being finished) | |---|---|---| | Where the AI runs | Graphics card when possible, otherwise the processor | Processor | | Search quality | The same | The same | | First indexing | Faster with a graphics card | Takes longer on large libraries | A graphics card is optional. For a large library, start indexing at the end of the day and let it run; you only pay this cost once per picture. The [system requirements](https://firelet.media/help/system-requirements) list the disk space the model needs. ## What the index unlocks: search, similar, tags, groups, duplicates Once pictures are indexed, every tool in the AI panel works on them: - **Search**: describe a photo in English ("snow on a mountain lake") and press [[Enter]]. **How strict** chooses between **Everything, ranked** and the best 20%, 5%, 1% or 100. See [how to find a photo by describing it](https://firelet.media/help/find-photos-by-description). - **Similar**: **Similar to selected tile**, or press [[S]] in the viewer. - **Tags**: **Generate tags** scores each picture against 50 fixed English tags, up to 5 per picture. - **Groups**: sorts the library into themed groups (12 by default) named from the tags. - **Unique photos**: **Find unique photos** shows the odd ones out. - **Duplicates**: **Scan for duplicates** lists resized and re-saved copies a checksum would miss, in pairs for you to review; nothing is deleted. See [how to find and remove duplicate photos](https://firelet.media/help/find-and-remove-duplicate-photos). The index also gives each photo an aesthetic score (roughly 1 to 10), which powers the **Most aesthetic** sort and the aesthetic filter, with no extra download. ## New photos and re-indexing The index does not update itself. After you attach a folder, import from a card or receive pictures from a phone, click **Index library** again; it adds only the pictures that are missing and leaves the rest alone. If a search status ends with "not shown, not indexed yet — run “Index library”", some pictures in the grid haven't been indexed and can't be ranked. Run **Index library** and search again. > [!NOTE] > Your photos never leave your computer during any of this. The model and the index stay on your PC; the only network use is the one-time model download. ## Questions ### Where does the model come from? It is a 438 MB download from Hugging Face, fetched once when you press Download model and checked against a pinned checksum. After that it works offline. ### Do I have to index again after adding photos? New photos need indexing before they appear in AI results. Click Index library again and it adds only what is missing. ### Is the index uploaded? No. The index is stored in the library database on your computer, and the model runs there too.