/search

description: Search Nowledge Mem for relevant memories
argument-hint: <query>

Search Memory

Search the knowledge base for memories matching the query.

Command

nmem --json m search "$ARGUMENTS"

Options

Filter by importance threshold:

nmem --json m search "$ARGUMENTS" --importance 0.7

Filter by label:

nmem --json m search "$ARGUMENTS" --label decision

Output

Returns matching memories with:

• **id**: Memory identifier
• **title**: Searchable title
• **content**: Full memory content
• **score**: Relevance score
• **source_thread**: Original conversation (if distilled from a thread)

Usage Tips

• Use specific keywords that match stored memory titles
• If the user is asking about a prior conversation or session, also try `nmem --json t search "$ARGUMENTS" --limit 5`
• If a result has `source_thread`, inspect that thread once for the specific messages needed with `nmem --json t show <thread_id> --limit 8 --offset 0 --content-limit 1200`
• Use a known target `--offset` once; do not advance through pages
• Higher scores indicate better semantic matches

Bounded thread reads

Search memories or threads first, then choose the specific conversation and message range needed. Call `thread_fetch_messages`, a host thread-fetch tool, or `nmem --json t show` at most once per question, using a small message limit (for example 8) and a content limit of 1200 where supported. A known target range may use a nonzero offset once.

Never loop over offsets to reconstruct a conversation. Do not raise `--content-limit` to compensate for a slow or incomplete read. Small output limits do not guarantee cheap server-side work on every deployed backend. If a read is slow, incomplete, fails or times out, stop, report the evidence gap, and refine the search rather than retrying pages. A later explicit user request for another range is a new bounded read; a routine “continue” is not permission to drain the thread.