/q - Quick SQLite Search

Fast vault search using the SQLite FTS5 index. Returns results in milliseconds instead of seconds.

Prerequisites

The SQLite index must be built first:

npm run vault:index

Usage Patterns

Full-text Search

/q architecture patterns
/q "event driven"        # Phrase search
/q kafka integration     # Multiple terms (AND)

Type Filter

/q type:Adr             # All ADRs
/q type:Project status:active
/q type:Task priority:high

Tag Search

/q tag:technology/aws
/q tag:project/your-project

Recent Notes

/q recent               # Modified in last 7 days
/q recent:30            # Modified in last 30 days

Backlinks

/q backlinks:"Project - Your Project"
/q backlinks:"System - Your System"

Orphans

/q orphans              # Notes with no backlinks

Implementation

Execute the appropriate SQLite query based on the search pattern.

Full-text Search Query

sqlite3 .data/vault.db -markdown "
SELECT n.path, snippet(fts_content,1,'→','←','...',40) as match
FROM fts_content
JOIN notes n ON fts_content.rowid = n.id
WHERE fts_content MATCH '<search_terms>'
ORDER BY rank
LIMIT 20
"

Type Filter Query

sqlite3 .data/vault.db -markdown "
SELECT path, title, status, priority
FROM notes
WHERE type = '<Type>'
ORDER BY modified DESC
LIMIT 20
"

Tag Search Query

sqlite3 .data/vault.db -markdown "
SELECT n.path, n.title, n.type
FROM notes n
JOIN tags t ON n.id = t.note_id
WHERE t.tag = '<tag>'
ORDER BY n.modified DESC
LIMIT 20
"

Recent Notes Query

sqlite3 .data/vault.db -markdown "
SELECT path, title, type, modified
FROM notes
WHERE modified >= date('now', '-<days> days')
ORDER BY modified DESC
LIMIT 30
"

Backlinks Query

sqlite3 .data/vault.db -markdown "
SELECT n.path, n.title, n.type
FROM notes n
JOIN links l ON n.id = l.source_id
WHERE l.target_path LIKE '%<note_name>%'
ORDER BY n.modified DESC
"

Orphans Query

sqlite3 .data/vault.db -markdown "
SELECT n.path, n.title, n.type
FROM notes n
LEFT JOIN links l ON n.id = l.target_id
WHERE l.target_id IS NULL
  AND n.type NOT IN ('DailyNote', 'MOC', 'Dashboard', 'Query')
ORDER BY n.modified DESC
"

Performance

Query Type	Grep/Glob	SQLite	Improvement
Full-text	5-15 sec	0.01s	~1000x
Type filter	3-5 sec	0.007s	~500x
Tag search	2-5 sec	0.007s	~500x
Backlinks	10+ sec	0.01s	~1000x

Rebuilding the Index

The index should be rebuilt when vault content changes significantly:

npm run vault:index      # Full rebuild
npm run vault:stats      # View current statistics

Tips

1. Combine filters: /q type:Adr status:proposed technology/aws
2. Use phrases: /q "data platform" for exact matches
3. Wildcards: SQLite FTS5 supports * wildcards: /q architect*
4. Present results: Format output as markdown table for readability