qmd-expert

Queries markdown knowledge bases with the qmd CLI and retrieves high-scoring chunks.

4.4k|1.3k|Updated Jan 23, 2012
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/paulirish/dotfiles --skill qmd-expert
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: qmd-expert
Source: https://github.com/paulirish/dotfiles/tree/main/agents/skills/qmd-expert
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/paulirish/dotfiles --skill qmd-expert

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

Searching a large markdown knowledge base often returns fragmented results, and naive queries lose the pointers to the most relevant content. This Skill provides a structured workflow for running multi-query searches with the qmd CLI, extracting high-scoring chunk IDs, and fetching exactly the context needed without overwhelming the context window.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Multi-Query Search: Combines hybrid query, BM25 keyword search, and vector similarity search to cast a wide net over the knowledge base.
  • Chunk ID Extraction: Bypasses default result limits, applies minimum score thresholds, and parses raw output to deduplicate and rank chunk IDs by score.
  • Targeted Retrieval: Fetches specific chunks by hash ID or full documents by URI, with line-limit controls to keep context lean.
  • Use Case: When asked a question about a topic documented across many markdown files, run several qmd query types, collect the top 10 scoring chunks, and retrieve only those snippets to answer with precise, relevant context.

Quick Start

Use the qmd skill to search the knowledge base for information about Interaction to Next Paint and retrieve the most relevant chunks.

Frequently Asked Questions about qmd-expert

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I search a markdown knowledge base with qmd?

Run qmd query for hybrid auto-expanding search, qmd search for strict BM25 keyword matching, or qmd vsearch for vector similarity on natural language questions. Combining multiple query types improves recall across the knowledge base.

How to get more than 20 results from qmd search?

Use the --all flag with the --files option to bypass the default 20-result limit. Add --min-score 0.7 to enforce a quality threshold, and redirect output to a file for later parsing.

What is the difference between qmd query, search, and vsearch?

qmd query performs hybrid search with automatic expansion, qmd search runs strict BM25 text matching without LLM involvement, and qmd vsearch uses vector similarity for natural language questions where exact vocabulary is unknown.

Why should I extract chunk hash IDs instead of document URLs?

Chunk hash IDs point to the specific high-scoring fragment within a document, while URLs only reference the whole file. Fetching by hash with qmd get retrieves exactly the relevant snippet, keeping context usage lean.

How do I limit context size when fetching qmd chunks?

Use the -l flag with qmd get to control how many lines of surrounding context are returned, for example qmd get "#888e5a" -l 20. You can also rank chunks by score and fetch only the top N results.