QMD - Local Markdown Search
Search and retrieve documents from locally indexed markdown knowledge bases.
Installation
bun install -g https://github.com/tobi/qmd
Setup
# Add a collection
qmd collection add ~/notes --name notes --mask "**/*.md"
# Generate embeddings (required for vsearch/query)
qmd embed
Usage Rules
Always use --json flag for structured output when invoking qmd commands.
Search Commands
search (BM25 keyword search - fast)
qmd search "authentication flow" --json
qmd search "error handling" --json -n 10
qmd search "config" --json -c notes
vsearch (vector semantic search)
qmd vsearch "how does login work" --json
qmd vsearch "authentication best practices" --json -n 20
query (hybrid with LLM re-ranking - best quality)
qmd query "implementing user auth" --json
qmd query "deployment process" --json --min-score 0.5
Search Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-n NUM | Number of results (default: 5, or 20 with --json) |
-c, --collection NAME | Restrict to specific collection |
--min-score NUM | Minimum score threshold |
--full | Return complete document content in results |
--all | Return all matches |
Retrieval Commands
get (single document)
qmd get docs/guide.md --json
qmd get "#a1b2c3" --json
qmd get notes/meeting.md:50 -l 100 --json
multi-get (multiple documents)
qmd multi-get "docs/*.md" --json
qmd multi-get "api.md, guide.md, #abc123" --json
qmd multi-get "notes/**/*.md" --json --max-bytes 20480
Maintenance Commands
qmd update # Re-index changed files
qmd status # Check index health
qmd collection list # List all collections
Search Mode Selection
| Mode | Speed | Quality | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| search | Fast | Good | Exact keywords, known terms |
| vsearch | Medium | Better | Conceptual queries, synonyms |
| query | Slow | Best | Complex questions, uncertain terms |
Performance note: vsearch and query have ~1 minute cold start latency for vector initialization. Prefer search for interactive use.
MCP Server
qmd can run as an MCP server for direct integration:
qmd mcp
Exposes tools: qmd_search, qmd_vsearch, qmd_query, qmd_get, qmd_multi_get, qmd_status