NOTE-004 Build note Object · ATO

ATO adds wildcard search for substring precision

Add an asterisk to a query to switch from fuzzy matching to literal "contains" matching.

Fuzzy is forgiving. Quotes are strict. Wildcard search fills the gap between them.

ATO v1.9.0 adds an asterisk (*) operator: drop one into a query and search switches from fuzzy matching to literal substring — “contains” — matching.

  • insta* matches the contiguous substring insta anywhere — Instagram, My Instagram Feed, even mid-word like businstall.
  • Position-independent: insta*, *insta, and *insta* all mean the same thing (“contains insta”).
  • Case-insensitive, with every occurrence highlighted.

It’s the precision counterpart to fuzzy: it matches substrings exact mode rejects (burger* → hamburger), and rejects the scattered matches fuzzy accepts (gthb* finds nothing in “GitHub”).

Quotes still win — "insta*" is an exact whole-word search for a literal insta*. Unquoted, asterisk-free queries still use fuzzy search, and the placeholder now hints at the feature.

Related object: ATO — Advanced Tab Organizer.