How Search Works
Word search in the browser, ranked so a match in the title beats a match in the body, with | for alternatives.
The Search page searches every note and recipe in the browser, with no server. Every word typed has to appear somewhere in a note for it to match. Words match as parts of words too, so "link" also finds "backlinks."
How results are ranked
Each word scores points for each place it appears:
| Where the word appears | Points |
|---|---|
| Title | 100 |
| An alias | 80 |
| A tag | 60 |
| The summary | 40 |
| The file name | 30 |
| The body | 1 per time, up to 10 |
A query of several words also earns a bonus when they appear together as a phrase, and an exact title match jumps to the top. Try searching for "link".
Alternatives
Separate alternatives with |, with no spaces: stuck|block|rut matches a note with any of the three, and scores it by the best one. It saves trying synonyms one at a time.
Highlights
Readwise and other highlights are searched only when "Include all highlights" is ticked, since there are far more of them than notes. Their index downloads only then. See Readwise and Other Highlights.
The same scoring as the command line
The site and The Notes CLI share one scoring file, so the same query ranks the same way in both. Why the site has no search by meaning is in Design Decisions.