Command Reference

This page lists all 21 commands shown by mdvdb --help. Click a command name for its full reference page with options, examples, and JSON output format.

All Commands

Command	Description
`mdvdb search`	Semantic search across indexed markdown files
`mdvdb ingest`	Ingest markdown files into the index
`mdvdb status`	Show index status and configuration
`mdvdb info`	Show collection or folder stats and a reindex estimate
`mdvdb schema`	Show inferred metadata schema
`mdvdb clusters`	Inspect automatic communities and manage Collection or Shard Topics
`mdvdb shards`	Manage named recursive folder scopes
`mdvdb tree`	Show file tree with sync status indicators
`mdvdb get`	Get metadata for a specific file
`mdvdb collection`	Query a folder as frontmatter rows and columns (`list` alias)
`mdvdb watch`	Watch for file changes and re-index automatically
`mdvdb modules`	Inspect and run computed-field modules
`mdvdb init`	Initialize a new `.markdownvdb` config file
`mdvdb config`	Show resolved configuration
`mdvdb embedding`	Discover provider models and probe dimensions
`mdvdb doctor`	Run diagnostic checks on config, provider, and index
`mdvdb links`	Show links originating from a file
`mdvdb backlinks`	Show backlinks pointing to a file
`mdvdb orphans`	Find orphan files with no links
`mdvdb edges`	Show semantic edges between linked files
`mdvdb graph`	Show Collection- or Shard-native graph analysis for visualization

Commands by Category

Core Workflow

These commands form the primary usage loop. See Search Modes for how search works, Embedding Providers for provider setup, and Chunking for how files are split.

Command	Purpose
`search`	Find relevant content using semantic, lexical, or hybrid search
`ingest`	Index markdown files (supports incremental and full re-indexing)
`status`	Check how many files, chunks, and vectors are in the index
`collection`	Query a folder as a filterable and pageable frontmatter table

Setup & Configuration

See Configuration for the full environment variable and config file reference.

Command	Purpose
`init`	Create a `.markdownvdb` config file (project or global)
`config`	Display the fully resolved configuration with all values
`embedding`	Discover models and verify provider dimensions with a live probe
`shards`	Create and manage project-local named folder scopes
`doctor`	Diagnose issues with config, embedding provider, and index

Data Inspection

See Clustering for how clusters are computed and Index Storage for how data is stored.

Command	Purpose
`schema`	View auto-inferred frontmatter metadata schema
`info`	View scoped file, chunk, vector, sync, and reindex statistics
`clusters`	View automatic communities or manage independent scoped Topics
`tree`	View file tree with per-file sync status (New/Modified/Synced/Deleted)
`get`	Retrieve metadata and frontmatter for a single file

Link Graph

See Link Graph for how links are extracted and the graph is built.

Command	Purpose
`links`	Show outgoing links from a file (with multi-hop traversal)
`backlinks`	Show files that link to a given file
`orphans`	Find files with no incoming or outgoing links
`edges`	Show semantic edges (relationship labels) between linked files
`graph`	Export Collection or Shard-local graph analysis

Automation

See Ignore Files for how the watcher determines which files to monitor.

Command	Purpose
`watch`	Monitor filesystem for changes and re-index automatically
`modules`	Validate, recompute, and inspect Formula/Lookup/Rollup data

Hidden Commands

The following commands are available but hidden from --help output:

Command	Description
`mdvdb completions <shell>`	Generate shell completions (see Shell Completions)
`mdvdb chunks <dir>`	Dump chunks as JSON for benchmarking (internal use)

Global Options

Every subcommand accepts the first four global flags below. --version is a top-level flag and must be used as mdvdb --version. See Global Options for details.

Flag	Short	Description
`--verbose`	`-v`	Increase log verbosity (`-v` info, `-vv` debug, `-vvv` trace)
`--root <PATH>`		Project root directory (defaults to current directory)
`--no-color`		Disable colored output
`--json`		Output results as JSON
`--version`		Print version information with logo (top level only)