Memory Metadata Search

This adds structured filtering to Basic Memory's search. Instead of searching note content, you query custom frontmatter fields like status, priority, or confidence scores using equality, range, and array operators. Any YAML key you add to frontmatter becomes queryable automatically without configuration. The syntax is straightforward JSON filters passed to search_notes: {"confidence": {"$gt": 0.7}} or {"priority": {"$in": ["high", "critical"]}}. You can combine metadata filters with text search or use them alone. Most useful when you've been disciplined about adding custom fields to your notes and need to find things by their properties rather than their content. Works with dot notation for nested fields and has tag shortcuts for common cases.

skills.sh installs: 555
GitHub stars: 23
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add basicmachines-co/basic-memory-skills --skill memory-metadata-search --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Memory Metadata Search

Find notes by their structured frontmatter fields instead of (or in addition to) free-text content. Any custom YAML key in a note's frontmatter beyond the standard set (title, type, tags, permalink, schema) is automatically indexed as entity_metadata and becomes queryable.

When to Use

Filtering by status or priority — find all notes with status: draft or priority: high
Querying custom fields — any frontmatter key you invent is searchable
Range queries — find notes with confidence > 0.7 or score between 0.3 and 0.8
Combining text + metadata — narrow a text search with structured constraints
Tag-based filtering — find notes tagged with specific frontmatter tags
Schema-aware queries — filter by nested schema fields using dot notation

The Tool

All metadata searching uses search_notes. Pass filters via metadata_filters, or use the tags and status convenience shortcuts. Omit query (or pass None) for filter-only searches.