Search markdown knowledge bases, notes, and documentation using QMD. Use when users ask to search notes, find documents, or look up information.
Local search engine for markdown content.
!qmd status 2>/dev/null || echo "Not installed: npm install -g @tobilu/qmd"
query{
"searches": [
{ "type": "lex", "query": "CAP theorem consistency" },
{ "type": "vec", "query": "tradeoff between consistency and availability" }
],
"collections": ["docs"],
"limit": 10
}
| Type | Method | Input |
|---|---|---|
lex | BM25 | Keywords — exact terms, names, code |
vec | Vector | Question — natural language |
hyde | Vector | Answer — hypothetical result (50-100 words) |
lex (keyword)
"connection pool" (quoted)performance -sports (minus prefix)handleError asyncvec (semantic)
"how does the rate limiter handle burst traffic""in the payment service, how are refunds processed"hyde (hypothetical document)
expand (auto-expand)
expand: question on its own lineexpand: with other typed lines — it's either a standalone expand query or a full query documentWhen a query term is ambiguous, add intent to steer results:
{
"searches": [
{ "type": "lex", "query": "performance" }
],
"intent": "web page load times and Core Web Vit``
Intent affects expansion, reranking, chunk selection, and snippet extraction. It does not search on its own — it's a steering signal that disambiguates queries like "performance" (web-perf vs team health vs fitness).
### Combining Types
| Goal | Approach |
|------|----------|
| Know exact terms | `lex` only |
| Don't know vocabulary | Use a single-line query (implicit `expand:`) or `vec` |
| Best recall | `lex` + `vec` |
| Complex topic | `lex` + `vec` + `hyde` |
| Ambiguous query | Add `intent` to any combination above |
First query gets 2x weight in fusion — put your best guess first.
### Lex Query Syntax
| Syntax | Meaning | Example |
|--------|---------|---------|
| `term` | Prefix match | `perf` matches "performance" |
| `"phrase"` | Exact phrase | `"rate limiter"` |
| `-term` | Exclude | `performance -sports` |
Note: `-term` only works in lex queries, not vec/hyde.
### Collection Filtering
```json
{ "collections": ["docs"] } // Single
{ "collections": ["docs", "notes"] } / Multiple (OR)
Omit to search all collections.
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
get | Retrieve doc by path or #docid |
multi_get | Retrieve multiple by glob/list |
status | Collections and health |
qmd query "question" # Auto-expand + rerank
qmd query $'lex: X\nvec: Y' # Structured
qmd query $'expand: question' # Explicit expand
qmd query --json --explain "q" # Show score traces (RRF + rerank blend)
qmd search "keywords" # BM25 only (no LLM)
qmd get "#abc123" # By docid
qmd multi-get "journals/2026-*.md" -l 40 # Batch pull snippets by glob
qmd multi-get notes/foo.md,notes/bar.md # Comma-separated list, preserves order
curl -X POST http://localhost:8181/query \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"searches": [{"type": "lex", "query": "test"}]}'
npm install -g @tobilu/qmd
qmd collection add ~/notes --name notes
qmd embed