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To keep a Whoosh index in sync with a folder, compare the paths recorded in the index with the files currently on disk: delete missing paths, replace changed files, add new files, and skip unchanged ones. Store each file’s path as an indexed, unique field and keep a change marker such as its modification time (mtime). Reconcile the paths in one writer and commit after the scan.
Give each file a stable identity in the schema
Use the file path as the document identity. It must be both indexed and unique for update_document to find and replace a committed document with the same path. Store the path as well so a later sync can inspect it. Store a change marker, such as mtime, alongside the content.
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For example, a schema can include ID(unique=True, stored=True) for the path and a stored field for the marker. Choose the appropriate field type for the marker and your schema. Ordinary add_document calls do not enforce uniqueness, so the schema declaration alone does not prevent duplicate paths if code adds documents without checking or replacing them. See the Whoosh documentation on indexing documents.
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Think of a sync as comparing two sets: paths already indexed and paths currently present on disk. The official incremental-indexing example uses mtime for simplicity: it removes missing paths, marks older indexed versions for re-indexing, then walks the folder to add new files and replace changed ones.
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- Read indexed documents. Collect each stored path and its recorded change marker.
- Find deletions and changes. For every indexed path, check whether it still exists. If it does not, delete the document by its indexed path. If it does and the recorded mtime is older than the current mtime, mark it for re-indexing.
- Find additions and replacements. Walk the current folder. Add paths that were not in the index; read and replace paths marked changed. Leave unchanged paths alone.
- Commit the batch. Commit once the scan and its mutations are complete so the changes become visible to newly opened readers.
This follows the approach in Whoosh’s incremental indexing example. The example is a pattern rather than a guarantee that mtime catches every change: filesystem timestamp precision and workflows that preserve timestamps can make it an incomplete change detector.
Choose how to detect changed content
| Method | What it checks | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Modification time (mtime) | Whether the file’s recorded modification time differs from the value stored in the index. | Simple and avoids reading unchanged file contents, but timestamp precision and timestamp-preserving workflows can miss changes. The Whoosh example uses this method and does not quantify reliability across filesystems. |
| Content digest | A digest computed from the file’s contents and compared with the stored digest. | Can detect content changes even when timestamps are not a reliable signal, but requires reading and hashing content. The Whoosh documentation does not quantify the cost. |
| Application-owned version marker | A version value supplied by the system that owns or updates the source content. | Useful when the source can provide a dependable marker; it requires that source to maintain and expose one. |
Use mtime when its limitations are acceptable. If missed changes would make search results incorrect, use a digest or a trustworthy version marker instead, accounting for the extra work required to obtain it.
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Apply updates safely and efficiently
For an individual replacement, call writer.update_document(path=path, content=content, ...), using the actual field names in your schema. Whoosh deletes committed documents matching the value of a unique field and adds the replacement; when no committed document matches, the call acts like an add.
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Manage the writer and readers
A Whoosh writer holds the index’s write lock. Only one thread or process can have a writer open at a time; a competing writer may raise LockError. Keep the writer’s lifetime bounded, and close it by committing successful work or cancelling work that should be discarded. A writer used as a context manager commits on normal exit and cancels if an exception occurs. The indexing documentation and writing API describe these behaviors.
A commit does not make already-open readers switch to the new index generation. Existing readers continue to see the earlier version; open a new reader or searcher when a caller needs results from the latest commit. The Whoosh indexing guide states that new readers see the updated index.
Understand what deletion does to index storage
Deleting a document is a logical operation: in the filedb backend, the document is marked deleted, but its stored contents and some statistics remain until segment merging. Merging removes deleted material. Forcing optimization frequently can be expensive because it rewrites index information; a delete should not be mistaken for immediate physical reclamation.
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Check which Whoosh distribution your project uses
The API behavior above follows the canonical Whoosh documentation for version 2.7.4. The original Whoosh package on PyPI lists version 2.7.4 as uploaded on April 4, 2016. Whoosh-Reloaded is a separate distribution context; its PyPI page identifies version 2.7.5 as newer than 2.7.4. A separate repository describes a 2026 continuation distributed as whoosh3: whoosh3 on GitHub.
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These are distinct package lineages, not interchangeable version labels. Check the distribution installed in your environment and consult its documentation before applying installation or compatibility advice; the documented API behavior here should not be assumed to establish compatibility for every continuation.
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