officialasishkumar · Nov 12, 2026 · Nov 13, 2026
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+Enhancement: Add a --force flag to the search index command
+
+`ocis search index` skipped every file that was already indexed and had not
+changed since. There was no way to index such files again, for example after
+enabling OCR in Tika, other than deleting the whole search index, which makes
+search unavailable until it has been rebuilt.
+
+The command now has a `--force` flag. With it, every file of the given space,
+or of all spaces, is extracted and indexed again, while the existing index
+entries stay searchable. Without the flag the behaviour is unchanged.
+
+https://github.com/owncloud/ocis/issues/9106
@@ -323,6 +323,10 @@
         },
         "userId": {
           "type": "string"
+        },
+        "force": {
+          "type": "boolean",
+          "description": "force indexes all resources again, including those that are already\nindexed and unchanged."
         }
       }
     },

@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@ message SearchIndexResponse {
 message IndexSpaceRequest {
   string space_id = 1;
   string user_id = 2;
+  // force indexes all resources again, including those that are already
+  // indexed and unchanged.
+  bool force = 3;
 }
 
 message IndexSpaceResponse {

@@ -170,6 +170,14 @@ ocis search index --all-spaces
 
 Note that either `--space $SPACE_ID` or `--all-spaces` must be set.
 
+By default, files that are already indexed and have not changed since are skipped. To index them again anyway, for example after enabling OCR in Tika so that existing files get their text extracted, add `--force`:
+
+```shell
+ocis search index --all-spaces --force
+```
+
+The existing index entries stay searchable while they are being replaced, so there is no search downtime for the space.
+
 The command does not open the index itself: it asks the running search service to do the indexing over gRPC. The search service must therefore be running, and the command works with the default `SEARCH_ENGINE_BLEVE_SCALE=false` (see [Scaling](#scaling)); the service's exclusive lock on the index does not block it.
 
 The command waits for the service to walk the space and gives up after 10 minutes by default. The walk is cancelled when that happens, so a large space, or one where the content extractor is slow on a few files, may need a longer limit: `--timeout 2h` (a Go duration; `0` waits indefinitely).

@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ func Index(cfg *config.Config) *cli.Command {
 				Name:  "all-spaces",
 				Usage: "index all spaces instead. This or --space is required.",
 			},
+			&cli.BoolFlag{
+				Name:  "force",
+				Usage: "index all files again, even those that are already indexed and have not changed, e.g. after enabling OCR in Tika. Without it, unchanged files are skipped.",
+			},
 			&cli.DurationFlag{
 				Name:  "timeout",
 				Usage: "how long to wait for the indexing to finish before giving up, e.g. 2h. The walk is cancelled when the timeout expires. 0 waits indefinitely.",
@@ -78,6 +82,7 @@ func Index(cfg *config.Config) *cli.Command {
 			c := searchsvc.NewSearchProviderService("com.owncloud.api.search", grpcClient)
 			_, err = c.IndexSpace(context.Background(), &searchsvc.IndexSpaceRequest{
 				SpaceId: ctx.String("space"),
+				Force:   ctx.Bool("force"),
 			}, func(opts *client.CallOptions) { opts.RequestTimeout = timeout })
 			if err != nil {
 				fmt.Println("failed to index space: " + err.Error())

@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func HandleEvents(s Searcher, bus events.Consumer, logger log.Logger, cfg *confi
 	}
 
 	indexSpaceDebouncer := NewSpaceDebouncer(time.Duration(cfg.Events.DebounceDuration)*time.Millisecond, func(ctx context.Context, id *provider.StorageSpaceId) {
-		if err := s.IndexSpace(ctx, id); err != nil {
+		if err := s.IndexSpace(ctx, id, false); err != nil {
 			logger.Error().Err(err).Interface("spaceID", id).Msg("error while indexing a space")
 		}
 	})

@@ -32,7 +32,12 @@ var _ = DescribeTable("events",
 		})
 
 		for _, mck := range mcks {
-			s.On(mck, mock.Anything, mock.Anything).Return(nil).Run(func(args mock.Arguments) {
+			args := []any{mock.Anything, mock.Anything}
+			if mck == "IndexSpace" {
+				// events never force a re-index of unchanged files
+				args = append(args, false)
+			}
+			s.On(mck, args...).Return(nil).Run(func(_ mock.Arguments) {
 				calls.Add(1)
 			})
 		}

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ var (
 // Searcher is the interface to the SearchService
 type Searcher interface {
 	Search(ctx context.Context, req *searchsvc.SearchRequest) (*searchsvc.SearchResponse, error)
-	IndexSpace(ctx context.Context, rID *provider.StorageSpaceId) error
+	IndexSpace(ctx context.Context, rID *provider.StorageSpaceId, force bool) error
 	TrashItem(ctx context.Context, rID *provider.ResourceId)
 	UpsertItem(ctx context.Context, ref *provider.Reference)
 	UpdateTags(ctx context.Context, ref *provider.Reference)
@@ -477,8 +477,11 @@ const (
 	_missingMinCount = 5
 )
 
-// IndexSpace (re)indexes all resources of a given space.
-func (s *Service) IndexSpace(ctx context.Context, spaceID *provider.StorageSpaceId) error {
+// IndexSpace (re)indexes all resources of a given space. Resources that are
+// already indexed and unchanged are skipped, unless force is set: then every
+// resource is extracted and indexed again, e.g. after the extractor
+// configuration changed.
+func (s *Service) IndexSpace(ctx context.Context, spaceID *provider.StorageSpaceId, force bool) error {
 	ownerCtx, err := getAuthContext(ctx, s.serviceAccountID, s.gatewaySelector, s.serviceAccountSecret, s.logger)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -539,7 +542,7 @@ func (s *Service) IndexSpace(ctx context.Context, spaceID *provider.StorageSpace
 
 		resourceID := storagespace.FormatResourceID(info.Id)
 		r, err := s.engine.Lookup(resourceID)
-		if err == nil && r.Extracted {
+		if !force && err == nil && r.Extracted {
 			fileMtime := utils.TSToTime(info.Mtime)
 			docMtime, parseErr := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, r.Mtime)
 			if parseErr == nil && !docMtime.Before(fileMtime) {