Programs that keep re-reading Omniscio's work folders (and the one-click fix)

What this is

When you run several coding agents, Omniscio gives each one its own copy of your project to work in. Each copy can hold tens of thousands of small files. Some programs on your computer watch every file on your disks and re-read every copy each time it changes. The result is a computer, and agents, that feel slow for no obvious reason. One measured example: agent actions took about 6½ seconds each while a file-search program used a fifth of the processor and a backup program held almost 3 GB of memory with millions of files waiting to upload, about two thirds of them agent copies.

Omniscio now checks for this by itself and tells you, in plain words, in your inbox.

The programs it looks for

Program	What Omniscio can do
Windows Search (the built-in indexer)	Fixes it with one click, with no administrator prompt.
Everything (the file-search tool from voidtools)	Fixes it with one click: it adds Omniscio's folders to Everything's skip list and restarts Everything.
Backblaze	Cannot change it for you (Backblaze owns its own list). The card gives the exact clicks.
OneDrive	Cannot exclude a folder inside OneDrive. The card tells you to keep your projects outside OneDrive or pause syncing while you work.

When you will see the card

You see one inbox card, titled "Programs on this computer are re-reading Omniscio's work folders", only when all of these are true:

• the program is running right now;
• Omniscio could read that program's own settings (if it cannot, it says nothing rather than guess);
• the program is not already skipping Omniscio's folders; and
• Omniscio has actual project copies on this computer (a computer with no copies never sees the card).

When nothing is left to fix, the card clears itself.

What the button does

The card's Fix it for me button (Windows desktop only) does this, and only when you press it:

1. Windows Search: tells Windows not to index Omniscio's work folders, then checks that Windows agrees.
2. Everything: closes Everything, makes a backup copy of its settings file next to it (the newest three backups are kept), adds Omniscio's folders to its skip list (nothing you had there is removed or reordered), checks the file, and opens Everything again the way it was opened before. If anything does not check out, your original settings file is put back and the card shows the manual steps instead.

It never asks for administrator rights and never touches Backblaze or OneDrive.

A message tells you the result. If a program still seems busy afterwards, close and reopen it.

Do it by hand

• Everything: open Everything, then Tools → Options → Indexes → Exclude, turn on Enable exclude list, and use Add Folder for each folder named in the card.
• Backblaze: click the Backblaze icon near the clock, then Settings → Exclusions → Add Folder, and add the folders named in the card.
• OneDrive: keep your projects outside the OneDrive folder, or click the OneDrive icon near the clock, then Help and Settings → Pause syncing while you work.
• Windows Search: Indexing Options → Modify, and untick Omniscio's work folders.

Turning it off

Set the environment variable AMC_DISABLE_CRAWLER_WATCH=1 and restart Omniscio. Omniscio checks once after it starts and then every six hours.

For support and scripts

GET /crawler-watch on the local control server returns the last check (which programs are running, which folders each leaves uncovered, whether the card is warranted). It is read-only; the fix is available only by pressing the button in the app, never over the control server.

Related

• Computer feels slow? A step-by-step fix-it guide
• Performance Monitor