Search Content Skill

Navigate and search the knowledge base efficiently using AkashicRecords directory governance structure.

When to use this Skill

• User asks "where is", "find", "search for"

• User queries file locations

• User looks for specific topics or content

• User needs to navigate knowledge base

• User asks "do I have notes about..."

Workflow

1. Analyze Query

Parse user request:

• Extract keywords and topics

• Identify search scope (specific directory or entire knowledge base)

• Determine search type (filename, content, topic, date-based)

• Assess query specificity (exact match vs fuzzy search)

Examples:

"Where are my transformer notes?" → Topic search, keyword: "transformer" "Find files modified last week" → Date-based search "Search for 'attention mechanism' in Research" → Content search, scoped to Research/ "List all meeting notes from October" → Category + date search

2. Choose Search Strategy

Select appropriate strategy based on query:

Strategy 1: Structured Navigation (Preferred)

When to use:

• Query mentions directory names (Work, Research, Personal, etc.)

• Looking for specific categories or types

• Query has clear organizational clues

Method:

• Start at root README.md or specified directory

• Follow directory index structure

• Use README.md files as curated navigation guides

• Narrow down systematically

Advantages:

• Fast and efficient

• Leverages existing organization

• Follows curated structure

Strategy 2: Pattern Search

When to use:

• Looking for filenames matching patterns

• User provides specific naming clues

• Need to find files by naming convention

Method:

• Use Glob for filename patterns: **/keyword.md

• Filter by date if needed: files modified in last N days

• Use multiple patterns for comprehensive search

Advantages:

• Direct filename matching

• Fast for filename-based queries

• Good for date-based searches

Strategy 3: Deep Content Search

When to use:

• Looking for specific text or code within files

• Pattern/structured search insufficient

• Need comprehensive text search

Method:

• Use Grep for content search: grep -r "keyword" .

• Search within specific file types

• Use Task subagent for complex multi-step searches

Advantages:

• Finds content regardless of organization

• Comprehensive coverage

• Good for forgotten file locations

3. Execute Search

Structured Navigation example:

User: "Find my AI research notes"

1. Start at root, read README.md
2. Identify Research/ directory (purpose: "Technical and academic research")
3. Read Research/README.md
4. Find AI/ or DeepLearning/ subdirectories
5. Read Research/AI/README.md
6. List all files in index
7. Filter by relevance
8. Return matching files

Pattern Search example:

User: "Find files about transformers"

1. Use Glob: **/*transformer*.md
2. Results:
   • Research/AI/2025-10-28-transformer-architecture.md
   • Research/AI/2025-10-20-transformer-applications.md
   • Work/Projects/transformer-project.md
3. Rank by modification date (most recent first)
4. Return results

Deep Content Search example:

User: "Search for 'attention mechanism'"

1. Use Grep: grep -r "attention mechanism" . --include="*.md"

2. Results (with context):

   • Research/AI/transformer-architecture.md (3 matches)
   • Research/AI/neural-networks.md (1 match)

3. Extract surrounding context for each match

4. Rank by relevance (match count, recency)

5. Return results with context snippets

6. Check Governance

For each result:

• Check directory RULE.md for read permissions

• Skip files in restricted directories

• Note if file requires special access

Permission check:

RULE.md says: "Restricted access - confidential" → Skip this file or warn user about restrictions

Privacy considerations:

• Respect RULE.md access restrictions

• Don't expose content from restricted directories

• Warn if search includes restricted areas

5. Rank Results

Ranking criteria:

• Relevance: Keyword matches, topic similarity

• Recency: Recently modified files ranked higher

• Location: Files in expected directories ranked higher

• Completeness: README.md-indexed files ranked higher (curated)

Scoring example:

File A: transformer-architecture.md

• Title match: +50
• Recent (3 days): +30
• In expected directory (Research/AI): +20
• Listed in README: +10
• Total: 110

File B: old-notes.md

• Content match only: +30
• Old (3 months): +5
• In Miscellaneous: +10
• Not in README: +0
• Total: 45

Result order: File A, then File B

6. Present Results

Clear result format:

📚 Search results for "[query]"

Found [X] matches:

1. filename.md ★★★★☆ Location: [directory path] Last modified: [date] Description: [from README.md or first line] Match: [Context snippet if content search]

2. another-file.md ★★★☆☆ Location: [directory path] Last modified: [date] Description: [description] Match: [Context snippet]

[More results...]

Didn't find what you need?

• Try broader keywords
• Search in specific directory
• Check Archive/ for old content

Include helpful metadata:

• File location (full path)

• Last modified date

• Brief description from README.md

• Relevance score (stars or percentage)

• Context snippet (for content searches)

7. Follow-up Options

After presenting results:

What would you like to do?

• Read [filename]
• Search within these results
• Refine search with different keywords
• Search in different directory
• Show more results

Interactive refinement:

• User can narrow down results

• Ask follow-up questions

• Navigate to related files

• Explore directory structure

Search Strategies in Detail

Structured Navigation

Step-by-step process:

• Identify starting point (root or specific directory)

• Read starting README.md

• Parse directory structure from README.md

• Match query keywords to directory names/descriptions

• Descend into most relevant subdirectory

• Repeat until finding target files

• List files from README.md index

Example:

Query: "Find meeting notes from October"

1. Read root README.md
2. Find Work/ directory
3. Read Work/README.md
4. Find Meetings/ subdirectory
5. Read Work/Meetings/README.md
6. Filter entries by date (October)
7. Return matching files

Advantages:

• Leverages human-curated organization

• Fast and efficient

• Follows logical structure

Limitations:

• Requires good README.md maintenance

• May miss files not indexed

• Depends on consistent organization

Pattern Search

Glob patterns:

/keyword.md → Find files with "keyword" in name /YYYY-MM-DD.md → Find files with specific date format Research//*.md → Find all markdown in Research/ Work/Projects//*.md → Find all markdown in Work/Projects/

Advanced patterns:

**/{transformer,attention,neural}.md → Multiple keywords **/2025-10.md → October 2025 files **/.{md,txt} → Multiple extensions

Date-based search:

Files modified in last 7 days

find . -name "*.md" -mtime -7

Files modified in October 2025

find . -name "2025-10.md"

Advantages:

• Direct filename matching

• Fast execution

• Good for date/name patterns

Limitations:

• Only searches filenames

• Misses content matches

• Requires knowing naming conventions

Deep Content Search

Grep search:

Basic content search

grep -r "keyword" . --include="*.md"

Case-insensitive

grep -ri "keyword" . --include="*.md"

Multiple keywords (OR)

grep -rE "keyword1|keyword2" . --include="*.md"

With context lines

grep -r "keyword" . --include="*.md" -A 2 -B 2

Task subagent for complex searches:

User: "Find all notes about transformers that mention attention mechanism and were created in the last month"

→ Too complex for single grep → Invoke Task subagent:

1. Grep for "transformer"
2. Filter results by "attention mechanism"
3. Filter by date (last month)
4. Return consolidated results

Advantages:

• Comprehensive text search

• Finds content regardless of location

• Good for forgotten file locations

Limitations:

• Slower than other methods

• May return too many results

• High context consumption (use Task subagent for complex cases)

Search Optimization

Start Specific, Expand if Needed

Progression:

• Try structured navigation first (if logical directory exists)

• If no results: try pattern search

• If still no results: try deep content search

• If still nothing: suggest broader keywords or check Archive/

Example:

Query: "Find transformer notes"

1. Structured: Check Research/AI/README.md → Found 2 files ✅
2. Pattern: Not needed (found with structured)
3. Content: Not needed

vs.

Query: "Find notes about neural attention"

1. Structured: Check Research/AI/README.md → No exact match
2. Pattern: **/attention.md → Found 1 file
3. Content: grep "neural attention" → Found 3 more files
4. Combined results, ranked by relevance

Use README.md as Primary Index

README.md advantages:

• Curated by user (most important files listed)

• Includes descriptions (better context)

• Organized logically (related files grouped)

• Faster than filesystem traversal

Always check README.md first before deep searches.

Minimize Context Consumption

For simple searches:

• Use Glob/Grep directly

• Return results without reading full files

• Only read files user wants to open

For complex searches:

• Use Task subagent to handle complexity

• Subagent consumes context, not main agent

• Return only summarized results to user

Error Handling

No Results Found

Query: "Find transformer notes" → No matches in any strategy

→ Response: "I couldn't find notes about transformers.

Suggestions:

• Try broader keywords (AI, neural networks)
• Search in Archive/ for old content
• Check if files use different terminology
• Create new note if content doesn't exist"

Too Many Results

Query: "Find notes" → Returns 500+ matches

→ Response: "Found 500+ files matching 'notes'.

Please narrow your search:

• Add more specific keywords
• Specify directory (Research, Work, Personal)
• Add date filter (from last week, October, etc.)
• Provide more context about what you're looking for"

Ambiguous Query

Query: "Find it" → Query too vague

→ Response: "Could you provide more details?

What are you looking for?

• File name or topic keywords
• Approximate date or time period
• Which directory (Research, Work, etc.)
• Type of content (meeting notes, research, etc.)"

Permission Denied

Search encounters restricted directory RULE.md: "Access restricted"

→ Skip directory in results → Note: "Some directories were excluded due to access restrictions"

Integration with Governance

This Skill respects directory governance:

Before searching:

• Check RULE.md for search permissions

• Respect access restrictions

• Note privacy constraints

During search:

• Skip restricted directories

• Follow governance rules

• Maintain confidentiality

In results:

• Only show accessible files

• Note if restricted areas skipped

• Respect RULE.md read permissions

Examples

Example 1: Topic Search

User: "Where are my transformer architecture notes?"

Skill workflow:

• Analyzes query → Topic: transformer architecture

• Chooses structured navigation (research topic)

• Reads root README.md → Finds Research/

• Reads Research/README.md → Finds AI/

• Reads Research/AI/README.md

• Finds 2 matches:

• transformer-architecture.md (3 days ago)

• transformer-applications.md (2 weeks ago)

• Ranks by recency

• Presents results with descriptions

Example 2: Date-Based Search

User: "Find my meeting notes from last week"

Skill workflow:

• Analyzes query → Category: meetings, Date: last week

• Chooses structured navigation + date filter

• Reads root README.md → Finds Work/

• Reads Work/README.md → Finds Meetings/

• Reads Work/Meetings/README.md

• Filters entries by date (last 7 days)

• Finds 3 meetings

• Presents chronologically

Example 3: Content Search

User: "Search for 'attention mechanism' in my notes"

Skill workflow:

• Analyzes query → Content search, keyword: "attention mechanism"

• Chooses deep content search

• Executes: grep -ri "attention mechanism" . --include="*.md"

• Finds 5 matches across 3 files

• Extracts context snippets

• Checks RULE.md permissions for each file

• Ranks by relevance (match count + recency)

• Presents with context snippets

Best Practices

• Start with structured navigation - Fastest and most relevant

• Use README.md indexes - Curated by user, most important

• Minimize context - Don't read files unless needed

• Rank results meaningfully - Relevance + recency + location

• Provide context - Show why files matched

• Offer follow-up - Help user refine search

• Respect governance - Check RULE.md permissions

• Handle edge cases - No results, too many results, ambiguous queries

Notes

• This Skill works with any directory structure

• Leverages README.md indexes for curated navigation

• Uses multiple search strategies for comprehensive coverage

• Respects RULE.md governance and access restrictions

• Minimizes context consumption with Task subagent for complex searches

• Works in parallel with CLAUDE.md subagents independently

• Provides interactive refinement for better results