Fast local search for markdown files, notes, and docs using qmd CLI. Use instead of `find` for file discovery. Combines BM25 full-text search, vector semantic search, and LLM reranking—all running locally. Use when searching for files, finding code, locating documentation, or discovering content in indexed collections.
find across large directories (avoids hangs)# Keyword search (BM25)
qmd search "alpaca API" -c projects
# Semantic search (understands meaning)
qmd vsearch "how to implement stop loss"
# Combined search with reranking (best quality)
qmd query "trading rules for breakouts"
# File paths only (fast discovery)
qmd search "config" --files -c kell
# Full document content
qmd search "pattern detection" --full --line-numbers
# List collections
qmd collection list
# Add new collection
qmd collection add /path/to/folder --name myproject --mask "*.md,*.py"
# Re-index after changes
qmd update
# Get full file
qmd get myproject/README.md
# Get specific lines
qmd get myproject/config.py:50 -l 30
# Get multiple files by glob
qmd multi-get "*.yaml" -l 50 --max-bytes 10240
--files — paths + scores (for file discovery)--json — structured with snippets--md — markdown formatted-n 10 — limit results-c name) to scope searchesqmd update after adding new filesqmd embed to enable vector search (one-time, takes a few minutes)qmd search --files over find for large directoriesAll run locally — no API keys needed.