nb Notes Search Skill

Purpose

This skill helps translate natural language queries into nb commands to search and retrieve notes, bookmarks, chats, and knowledge base content.

nb is a command-line note-taking, bookmarking, and knowledge base application that stores everything as plain text in a Git-backed system.

When to Use This Skill

Activate when the user:

• Asks to find or search notes
• Wants to recall conversations or chat logs
• Queries "what did I say about X?" or "in which chat did I say Y?"
• Wants to list bookmarks, todos, or notes by criteria
• Mentions searching their knowledge base or notes

Key nb Commands

Search Content

# Basic search across current notebook
nb search "keyword"
nb q "keyword"  # shorthand

# Search all notebooks
nb search "keyword" --all

# Search with tags
nb search "keyword" --tag tag1,tag2

# Search by type
nb search "keyword" --type bookmark
nb search "keyword" --type note

# Boolean search
nb search "term1" --and "term2"
nb search "term1" --or "term2"
nb search "term1" --not "excluded"

# List filenames only (no excerpts)
nb search "keyword" --list

List Items

# List with excerpts
nb list --excerpt

# List by type
nb list --type bookmark
nb list --type note

# List with tags
nb list --tags

# List specific notebook
nb claude:list
nb home:list

Show Notes

# Show by ID
nb show 123

# Show by filename
nb show example.md

# Show by title (with quotes)
nb show "My Note Title"

# Show from specific notebook
nb claude:show 42
nb home:42  # shorthand

Bookmarks & Todos

# Search bookmarks
nb bookmark search "topic"
nb search "topic" --type bookmark

# List todos
nb todos
nb tasks
nb tasks open  # open tasks only

Notebooks

# List all notebooks
nb notebooks

# Switch notebook
nb use notebook_name

# Notebook-specific command
nb notebook_name:search "query"

Common Query Patterns

"In which chat did I say X?"

This is searching for past conversations or chat logs:

# Search all notebooks for the content
nb search "X" --all

# If you know it's in the claude notebook
nb claude:search "X"

# If tagged as chat
nb search "X" --tag chat

# Get just filenames to browse
nb search "X" --list --all

"Show me all notes about Y"

# Search and list
nb search "Y" --list

# If using tags
nb list --tag Y

# Search all notebooks
nb search "Y" --all

"What bookmarks do I have about Z?"

# Search bookmarks specifically
nb bookmark search "Z"

# Or filter by type
nb search "Z" --type bookmark

# List all bookmarks with tag
nb list --type bookmark --tag Z

"Show my todos" or "What tasks do I have?"

# Show all todos
nb todos

# Show open tasks only
nb tasks open

# Show todos in specific notebook
nb claude:todos

"Find notes from recent conversations"

# Search recent items
nb search "keyword" --limit 10

# List recent notes
nb list --limit 10 --reverse

# Browse recent items
nb browse

Translation Strategy

When translating natural language to nb commands:

1. Identify the intent:

   • Search/find → nb search
   • List/show all → nb list
   • Specific note → nb show
   • Recall/remember → nb search --all

2. Extract keywords: Pull out the main search terms from the query

3. Determine scope:

   • "In which chat" → likely needs --all to search everywhere
   • "my bookmarks" → add --type bookmark
   • "about X" → tag or keyword search

4. Add filters:

   • Type: --type bookmark|note|todo
   • Tags: --tag tagname
   • Notebook: notebook_name:search or --all

5. Choose output format:

   • Want excerpts? → default nb search
   • Just filenames? → add --list
   • Full content? → use nb show after finding

Tips for Effective Searches

• Use --all to search across all notebooks when location is uncertain
• Use --list for compact output when you have many results
• Tags are powerful for organization: filter with --tag
• Regex patterns work in search: nb search "pattern.*"
• Check available notebooks: nb notebooks
• Use nb q as shorthand for nb search
• Combine boolean operators: --and, --or, --not
• Browse interactively: nb browse opens web interface

Example Workflows

Finding a Past Conversation

# Step 1: Search for keywords
nb search "specific topic" --all

# Step 2: If too many results, narrow down
nb search "specific topic" --tag chat --list

# Step 3: Open the specific note
nb show claude:123

Recalling What You Said About Something

# Search your notes
nb search "something" --all

# Or if you know the notebook
nb claude:search "something"

Organizing Related Notes

# List all notes with a tag
nb list --tag project-name

# Search within tagged notes
nb search "detail" --tag project-name

Important Notes

• All content is stored as plain text files in ~/.nb/
• Each notebook is Git-backed for version control
• Search is powered by git grep (fast and powerful)
• Tags use #hashtag syntax in notes
• Links use [[wiki-style]] syntax
• Use nb help <command> for detailed command help