qmd

name	qmd
description	Search personal markdown knowledge bases, notes, meeting transcripts, and documentation using QMD - a local hybrid search engine. Combines BM25 keyword search, vector semantic search, and LLM re-ranking. Use when users ask to search notes, find documents, look up information in their knowledge base, retrieve meeting notes, or search documentation. Triggers on "search markdown files", "search my notes", "find in docs", "look up", "what did I write about", "meeting notes about".
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires qmd CLI or MCP server. Install via `bun install -g https://github.com/tobi/qmd`.
metadata	{"author":"tobi","version":"1.1.1"}
allowed-tools	Bash(qmd:*), mcp__qmd__*

QMD - Quick Markdown Search

QMD is a local, on-device search engine for markdown content. It indexes your notes, meeting transcripts, documentation, and knowledge bases for fast retrieval.

QMD Status

!qmd status 2>/dev/null || echo "Not installed. Run: bun install -g https://github.com/tobi/qmd"

When to Use This Skill

• User asks to search their notes, documents, or knowledge base
• User needs to find information in their markdown files
• User wants to retrieve specific documents or search across collections
• User asks "what did I write about X" or "find my notes on Y"
• User needs semantic search (conceptual similarity) not just keyword matching
• User mentions meeting notes, transcripts, or documentation lookup

Search Commands

Choose the right search mode for the task:

Command	Use When	Speed
qmd search	Exact keyword matches needed	Fast
qmd vsearch	Keywords aren't working, need conceptual matches	Medium
qmd query	Best results needed, speed not critical	Slower

# Fast keyword search (BM25)
qmd search "your query"

# Semantic vector search (finds conceptually similar content)
qmd vsearch "your query"

# Hybrid search with re-ranking (best quality)
qmd query "your query"

Common Options

-n <num>                 # Number of results (default: 5)
-c, --collection <name>  # Restrict to specific collection
--all                    # Return all matches
--min-score <num>        # Minimum score threshold (0.0-1.0)
--full                   # Show full document content
--json                   # JSON output for processing
--files                  # List files with scores
--line-numbers           # Add line numbers to output

Document Retrieval

# Get document by path
qmd get "collection/path/to/doc.md"

# Get document by docid (shown in search results as #abc123)
qmd get "#abc123"

# Get with line numbers for code review
qmd get "docs/api.md" --line-numbers

# Get multiple documents by glob pattern
qmd multi-get "docs/*.md"

# Get multiple documents by list
qmd multi-get "doc1.md, doc2.md, #abc123"

Index Management

# Check index status and available collections
qmd status

# List all collections
qmd collection list

# List files in a collection
qmd ls <collection-name>

# Update index (re-scan files for changes)
qmd update

Score Interpretation

Score	Meaning	Action
0.8 - 1.0	Highly relevant	Show to user
0.5 - 0.8	Moderately relevant	Include if few results
0.2 - 0.5	Somewhat relevant	Only if user wants more
0.0 - 0.2	Low relevance	Usually skip

Recommended Workflow

1. Check what's available: qmd status
2. Start with keyword search: qmd search "topic" -n 10
3. Try semantic if needed: qmd vsearch "describe the concept"
4. Use hybrid for best results: qmd query "question" --min-score 0.4
5. Retrieve full documents: qmd get "#docid" --full

Example: Finding Meeting Notes

# Search for meetings about a topic
qmd search "quarterly review" -c meetings -n 5

# Get semantic matches
qmd vsearch "performance discussion" -c meetings

# Retrieve the full meeting notes
qmd get "#abc123" --full

Example: Research Across All Notes

# Hybrid search for best results
qmd query "authentication implementation" --min-score 0.3 --json

# Get all relevant files for deeper analysis
qmd query "auth flow" --all --files --min-score 0.4

MCP Server Integration

This plugin configures the qmd MCP server automatically. When available, prefer MCP tools over Bash for tighter integration:

MCP Tool	Equivalent CLI	Purpose
qmd_search	qmd search	Fast BM25 keyword search
qmd_vector_search	qmd vsearch	Semantic vector search
qmd_deep_search	qmd query	Deep search with expansion and reranking
qmd_get	qmd get	Retrieve document by path or docid
qmd_multi_get	qmd multi-get	Retrieve multiple documents
qmd_status	qmd status	Index health and collection info

For manual MCP setup without the plugin, see references/mcp-setup.md.