macOS · Apple Silicon

Install Media Search on your Mac.

About two minutes. Media Search isn't a certified Apple app yet, so macOS blocks the first launch until you approve it once in Settings. It's a few clicks, and you never do it again. Here's exactly where to click.

Download for Mac (.dmg) On Windows instead? Grab the .exe

What you'll need: a Mac on Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) and about 3 GB free for the app and its vision model. That model downloads once, on your first search.

Download the disk image

Use the Download for Mac button above. You'll get MediaSearch-Mac.dmg. When it finishes, find it in your Downloads and double-click to open it.

Drag Media Search into Applications

The disk image opens to a window with the Media Search app and your Applications folder. Drag the Media Search icon onto the Applications folder to install it.

Approve it once in Privacy & Security

Because it isn't a certified Apple app, double-clicking it the first time won't open it, macOS blocks it. That's expected. Approve it once and you're set:

Open Media Search from your Applications folder. macOS shows a block message ("Apple could not verify…"). Click Done.
Open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security and scroll down to the Security section. You'll see a line that says Media Search was blocked. Click Open Anyway.
Confirm with Touch ID or your password, then click Open Anyway on the final prompt.

That's a one-time thing. From now on it opens normally from Applications, Spotlight, or your Dock.

Let the first search warm up

The first time you run a search, Media Search downloads its vision model one time (about 1.7 GB). After that, everything runs fully offline, on your machine. Your footage is never uploaded.

Point it at your footage

Open the app, click + Footage, and pick a folder or your mounted NAS. Let it index in the background, then search by describing a shot, or by who's on screen.

Add the Premiere panel optional

On launch, the app installs its Premiere extension for you. Restart Premiere, then open Window ▸ Extensions ▸ Media Search to search and drop clips straight onto your timeline.

macOS says it's "damaged" or "can't be opened"?

Same cause: it isn't a certified Apple app yet, so macOS won't open it until you approve it. On some Macs the block reads "damaged" instead of "unverified developer", the fix is identical.

Do this: approve it in System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Open Anyway (step 3 above). Right-clicking and choosing Open on its own usually won't get past it on current macOS, the Settings approval is what does.

If it still won't open, clear the download flag from Terminal: xattr -cr "/Applications/Media Search.app", then open the app and approve it in Privacy & Security.

Signed and notarized builds are on the way, which will remove this entirely. Until then, this one-time approval is all it takes.