Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.io
Aug 17, 2026, 11:27 AMMastodon tip that I saw someone post recently: you can use the search term "in:library" to specifically search among your own posts, likes and bookmarks.
Replies
Joshkrnlg@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 1:15 PM@sanityinc
Omg. Genuinely useful.
anne.💫ann3nova@corteximplant.comAug 17, 2026, 1:28 PM@krnlg @sanityinc from:me and has:url are good ones too
🔻Amber🔻candi@kinkycats.orgAug 17, 2026, 7:32 PM@ann3nova
Thank you for this great tip. 🙏 😊
@krnlg @sanityinc
sarcoptus scabiumthegarbagebird@theblower.auAug 17, 2026, 1:16 PM@sanityinc if you want only your own posts, you can do "from:me"
Eric BonoEricBono@beige.partyAug 17, 2026, 1:37 PM@sanityinc Thanks. Was truly just wondering about this
OddOpinions5failedLyndonLaRouchite@mas.toAug 17, 2026, 1:46 PM"serious question"
20 years ago, we would have expected that mastodon produce a decent, well written user guide, available as a pdf
in 2026, no one seems to care that mastodon doesn't do this; we, the users are left to scramble around and use the not very good search engine here to find random posts
????
and this goes 10x for bluesky, which actually has a lot of VC money; the VCs are to friggin cheap to spend US $65k a year to hire an English or History grad to write a user manual
wtf ????????
Aug 17, 2026, 2:45 PM
Gin KangarooGinevraCat@toot.communityAug 17, 2026, 3:01 PM@sanityinc THANK-YOU!!!
ARGVMI~1.PIFargv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.orgAug 17, 2026, 3:04 PMTo search specifically among your own posts, you can also download your archive, open outbox.json, and Ctrl+F.
This will avoid burdening your server, which is probably funded by like $3.50 in annual donations, so taking a load off it is always a good idea.
You might want to run outbox.json through `jq .` first, to format it into something readable.
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 3:14 PM
@argv_minus_one That specific case ("from:me") is going to be extremely lightweight for the server. Even a naive substring search across several thousand rows found with an index is trivial. But yes, occasionally exporting for offline searching is an option too.
- ARGVMI~1.PIFargv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.orgAug 17, 2026, 3:20 PM
No, it's not. Clicking on my own icon to see a few of my own recent posts creates a noticeable delay before I actually see them. The server clearly has to work to prepare that page.
Searching through the entire set of my own posts is undoubtedly even harder.
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 3:34 PM
@argv_minus_one Well yes, if your server struggles to even show your own posts, searching will also be hard for it. But so would exporting an archive!
- ARGVMI~1.PIFargv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.orgAug 17, 2026, 5:55 PM
Exporting an archive is hard, yeah, but you can do it only occasionally and search it over and over. You can also do it at night or something, when people aren't otherwise using the server.
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 6:11 PM
@argv_minus_one This sounds more like a shared dialup line in a 90s student flat than a social media server, but I respect the minimalism.
- ARGVMI~1.PIFargv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.orgAug 17, 2026, 6:24 PM
Most Fedi sites are funded by some guy's day job and a trickle of donations.
Treating them like a shared dialup line in a '90s student flat is entirely reasonable.
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 6:42 PM
@argv_minus_one 100%. I'm lucky to be on a bigger reasonably-funded server, and if I switched it would be to a self-hosted solo instance. The middle ground is a tricky one.
Noodlemaznoodlemaz@mstdn.gamesAug 17, 2026, 9:13 PM@argv_minus_one @sanityinc if you have a server that only has people in one time zone on it???
- ARGVMI~1.PIFargv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.orgAug 17, 2026, 9:54 PM
Yeah, if it's a region-specific server or something. Not all servers are aimed at a worldwide audience.
Tom Haywardhattom@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 3:06 PM@sanityinc I've been using this, it's great when combined with a bookmark-often approach to reading :)
Ditolditol@freiburg.socialAug 17, 2026, 3:39 PM@sanityinc
Great. Why isn't this implemented in a useful way? How are we non-techie users supposed to use the search engine in mastodon? There is not even an easily accessible option to see my postings without reposts. Seriously, I am so frustrated with mastodon and its client apps. Just make some goddamn tabs and checkboxes. It's not like graphic user interface was invented just yesterday.- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 3:50 PM
@ditol Agree some affordances would be nice, but don't let it spoil your day 😂
Fwiw, I've never seen a comparable social network provide a specific UI element for searching your own posts/likes/bookmarks like this. The closest would be "advanced search" options, and the Mastodon web interface indeed has a shortcut for "in:" searches, so that's a start.
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 4:12 PM
@ditol P.S. for your original question ("an easily accessible option to see my postings without reposts") the profile page of the web interface has that too:
- Ditolditol@freiburg.socialAug 17, 2026, 4:20 PM
@sanityinc
Thank you! Didn't see that. 
Jeff GriggJeffGrigg@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 4:40 PMOh, man; that's exactly what I've been looking for and wanting! And it's been "right there" all along. ("Hidden" in a drop-down.)
😱 💕
Thanks!!!
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 4:46 PM
@JeffGrigg @ditol 🤜🤛
Kalle Kniiviläkallekn@mastodonsweden.seAug 17, 2026, 8:23 PM@ditol @sanityinc This and loads of other stuff works great in #pachli
😻- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 8:29 PM
Ulrike HeißUlrikeHeiss@eldritch.cafeAug 17, 2026, 3:49 PM@sanityinc Bookmarked.
groxxgroxx@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 4:43 PM@sanityinc the official app desperately needs affordances to show this kind of stuff :/ a bare text field is an awful experience
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 4:45 PM
@groxx Yep! Perhaps some other apps will lead the way. As I posted elsewhere in the replies, there are at least hints in the web interface search dropdown. Haven't looked in the official mobile app.
- groxxgroxx@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 4:51 PM
@sanityinc nothing at all, rather ridiculously
![Search screen with just "in" entered, hoping for an "in:[library, etc]" hint: nope, just "posts with #in/go to @in@.../posts with 'in'/people with 'in'" and some initial results like #infosec and @MeanwhileInCanada](https://cdn.mastodon.coffee/cache/media_attachments/files/117/111/880/616/563/317/small/adb3dba5d86e0865.png)
Kevin Russellkevinrns@mstdn.socialAug 17, 2026, 9:15 PMSo make one.
Niknikclayton@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 10:06 PM- Kevin Russellkevinrns@mstdn.socialAug 17, 2026, 10:48 PM
Yay! Ta da!
Scotty Treesscottytrees@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 5:52 PM@sanityinc yeah that’s definitely a step for nerds. I’m gonna forget this in about two seconds and…. I’ve already forgotten it.
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 6:12 PM
@scottytrees if only there were a way to search for this post again later when you need it!
fan boy 🪭notyourfanboy@kolektiva.socialAug 17, 2026, 6:37 PM@sanityinc
I can't get any searches to work- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 6:39 PM
@notyourfanboy Aww, probably due to how your server is set up, an admin could advise. I'm not sure that every server necessarily supports fancy searching.
- 🔻Amber🔻candi@kinkycats.orgAug 17, 2026, 7:32 PM
@sanityinc
Thank you so very much.
For this great tip. 🙏 😊 
VissViss@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 9:20 PM@sanityinc it may have been meeee!
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 10:01 PM
@Viss aha, I think it might! 🙏
- VissViss@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 10:03 PM
@sanityinc :D
- Steve Purcellsanityinc@hachyderm.ioAug 17, 2026, 10:10 PM
@Viss Ah, it wasn't you, in fact! I searched for in:library "in:library" to check 😂 ... and it was here: https://chaos.social/@Bubu/117101297790598118
(But keep up the good work!)
- VissViss@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 10:11 PM
@sanityinc heh, my post from way back
Luc P. Pelletierlukechairwalker@jasette.facil.servicesAug 17, 2026, 9:37 PMHi Steve,
The following
"To search just your own posts, include the phrase from:me in your search. If you want to also search posts that you’ve interacted with (such as bookmarks, likes, boosts), include the phrase in:library in your search."
is from this website
maintained by this mastodon account
followed by more than 235000 users which I encourage you to follow !!
Tagomagotagomago@mastodon.socialAug 17, 2026, 9:46 PM@sanityinc Let’s bookmark this.
Jeffovereducatedredneck@bitbang.socialAug 17, 2026, 10:32 PM@sanityinc I have grepped my mastodon backup to find posts before. (For anyone who wishes they could use Unix tools to solve this problem.)
Good to know there's a built-in solution via the web interface.
Maxi 12x 💉frumble@chaos.socialAug 17, 2026, 11:18 PM@sanityinc "from:me" does search only your own posts.
They really should put "me" in the help hint when you click in the search field in Mastodon Web.
Paul Giulanpgiulan@federate.socialAug 18, 2026, 12:51 AM@sanityinc related tutorial among multiple other by @Gargron
Glyphglyph@mastodon.socialAug 18, 2026, 1:06 AM@sanityinc @SnoopJ wait, *likes* also show up in:library!?
Karen E. Lund 💙💛Karen5Lund@mastodon.socialAug 18, 2026, 1:20 AM@sanityinc How did you know I was wondering about that earlier today?
The 54 Studio 🪩🕺🏻💊👃🍬rosenbergite@petrous.vislae.townAug 18, 2026, 2:56 AM@sanityinc I was dreading my search of bookmarks, but these tips may help me out. Thanks!
![Search screen with just "in" entered, hoping for an "in:[library, etc]" hint: nope, just "posts with #in/go to @in@.../posts with 'in'/people with 'in'" and some initial results like #infosec and @MeanwhileInCanada](https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/117/111/867/310/652/869/original/09dbc8a500faf650.png)