what it does
qmd is a tiny CLI search engine for your local files. docs, knowledge bases, meeting notes — whatever sits on your disk. semantic search, tracking current SOTA approaches, entirely local.
built by tobi lütke, CEO of Shopify.
why it matters
when the person running a $100B company builds a personal search tool instead of buying one, the signal is clear: nothing on the market works for personal knowledge search.
the design is militant: minimal CLI, local-only, no syncing, no indexing service, no SaaS dashboard. it plugs into whatever you already have on disk.
key features
- semantic search → not just keyword matching, understands meaning
- all local → zero cloud dependencies
- minimal CLI → unix philosophy, does one thing well
- file-agnostic → works with whatever’s already on your disk
self.md relevance
personal search is a primitive, not a feature. every knowledge worker needs it, no product nails it. qmd is evidence that the gap exists — and that the solution is local-first CLI, not another SaaS.