keep get

Retrieve item(s) by ID.

Usage

keep get ID                           # Current version with similar items
keep get ID1 ID2 ID3                  # Multiple items (separated by ---)
keep get ID -V 1                      # Previous version
keep get ID -V -1                     # Oldest archived version
keep get "ID@V{1}"                    # Same as -V 1 (version identifier syntax)
keep get "ID@V{-1}"                   # Same as -V -1

Options

OptionDescription
-V, --version NVersion selector (N>=0 from current, N<0 from oldest; -1 oldest)
-H, --historyExpand version history in frontmatter (default 10, use -n to override)
-S, --similarList similar items (default 10)
-M, --metaList meta items
-R, --resolve QUERYInline meta query (meta-tag syntax, repeatable)
-P, --partsExpand all parts in frontmatter (from analyze)
-t, --tag KEY=VALUERequire tag (error if item doesn't match)
-n, --limit NMax items for --history, --similar, --meta (default 10)
-s, --store PATHOverride store directory

Default output

Single-item commands (get, now) default to full YAML frontmatter format: 

---
id: %a1b2c3d4
tags:
  project: "myapp"
  topic: "auth"
  type: "learning"
similar:
  - %e5f6a7b8 (0.89) 2026-01-14 Related authentication...
  - %c9d0e1f2 (0.85) 2026-01-13 Token handling notes...
meta/learnings:
  - %d3e4f5a6 Token refresh needs clock sync
prev:
  - @V{1} 2026-01-14 Previous summary text...
---
Document summary here...

Multiple IDs

keep get doc:1 doc:2 doc:3            # Items separated by ---
keep --ids list -n 5 | xargs keep get # Pipe from list

Parts

Access structural parts produced by keep analyze: 

keep get "ID@P{1}"                    # Part 1 of a document
keep get "ID@P{3}"                    # Part 3
keep get ID --parts                   # List all parts

Parts include prev/next navigation and part-specific similar items.

Display modes

keep get ID --history                 # Frontmatter with all versions expanded
keep get ID --history -n 20           # Show 20 versions
keep get ID --parts                   # Frontmatter with all parts expanded
keep get ID --similar                 # Show similar items
keep get ID --similar -n 20           # Show 20 similar items
keep get ID --meta                    # Show meta items
keep get ID --meta -n 5              # Show 5 meta items per section

The --history and --parts flags expand the prev: and parts: sections of the normal frontmatter output. Use --ids to get flat IDs for piping: keep --ids get ID --parts | xargs keep get.

Tag filtering

keep get ID -t project=myapp          # Error if item doesn't have this tag

See Also