diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 836ba93..f55e7e8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -130,6 +130,23 @@ It’s a mirror.
 
 ---
 
+## quick switcher
+
+Jump to a note by typing part of the title or a tag:
+
+```bash
+jot switch
+```
+
+Then:
+
+1. Type a search query (partial words or tags like `#idea`).
+2. Pick a number to open the note in your editor.
+
+`jot open` is an alias for `jot switch`.
+
+---
+
 ## patterns
 
 Eventually, curiosity wins.
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index e73e2cb..d84f001 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -38,7 +41,15 @@ func main() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "usage: jot [init|list|patterns]")
+	if len(args) >= 1 && (args[0] == "switch" || args[0] == "open") {
+		if err := jotSwitch(os.Stdin, os.Stdout); err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "usage: jot [init|list|patterns|switch|open]")
 	os.Exit(1)
 }
 
@@ -179,3 +190,296 @@ func isTTY(w io.Writer) bool {
 	}
 	return (info.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) != 0
 }
+
+type note struct {
+	Line      int
+	Timestamp string
+	Text      string
+	Tags      []string
+}
+
+type noteMatch struct {
+	Note  note
+	Score int
+}
+
+func jotSwitch(r io.Reader, w io.Writer) error {
+	journalPath, err := ensureJournal()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	notes, err := loadNotes(journalPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(notes) == 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintln(w, "no notes yet")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	reader := bufio.NewReader(r)
+	if _, err := fmt.Fprint(w, "search: "); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	query, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
+	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+		return err
+	}
+	query = strings.TrimSpace(query)
+
+	matches := searchNotes(notes, query)
+	if len(matches) == 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintln(w, "no matches")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	for i, match := range matches {
+		if _, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "%d) %s\n", i+1, formatNote(match.Note)); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	if _, err := fmt.Fprint(w, "open: "); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	selection, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
+	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+		return err
+	}
+	selection = strings.TrimSpace(selection)
+	if selection == "" || selection == "q" {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	idx, err := strconv.Atoi(selection)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid selection: %s", selection)
+	}
+	if idx < 1 || idx > len(matches) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("selection out of range: %d", idx)
+	}
+
+	editor := resolveEditor()
+	if editor == "" {
+		return errors.New("no editor configured")
+	}
+
+	return openInEditor(editor, journalPath, matches[idx-1].Note.Line)
+}
+
+func loadNotes(journalPath string) ([]note, error) {
+	file, err := os.Open(journalPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	var notes []note
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+	lineNumber := 0
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		lineNumber++
+		line := scanner.Text()
+		if strings.TrimSpace(line) == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		parsed, ok := parseNote(line, lineNumber)
+		if ok {
+			notes = append(notes, parsed)
+		}
+	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return notes, nil
+}
+
+func parseNote(line string, lineNumber int) (note, bool) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(line, "[") {
+		if end := strings.IndexByte(line, ']'); end > 0 {
+			timestamp := line[1:end]
+			text := strings.TrimSpace(line[end+1:])
+			return note{
+				Line:      lineNumber,
+				Timestamp: timestamp,
+				Text:      text,
+				Tags:      extractTags(text),
+			}, true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return note{}, false
+}
+
+func extractTags(text string) []string {
+	fields := strings.Fields(text)
+	var tags []string
+	for _, field := range fields {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(field, "#") && len(field) > 1 {
+			tag := strings.TrimRight(field, ",.!?;:")
+			tags = append(tags, strings.TrimPrefix(tag, "#"))
+		}
+	}
+	return tags
+}
+
+func searchNotes(notes []note, query string) []noteMatch {
+	query = strings.TrimSpace(query)
+	if query == "" {
+		matches := make([]noteMatch, 0, len(notes))
+		for _, note := range notes {
+			matches = append(matches, noteMatch{Note: note, Score: 0})
+		}
+		sort.SliceStable(matches, func(i, j int) bool {
+			return matches[i].Note.Line > matches[j].Note.Line
+		})
+		return matches
+	}
+
+	tokens := strings.Fields(strings.ToLower(query))
+	var matches []noteMatch
+	for _, note := range notes {
+		score, ok := matchScore(note, tokens)
+		if ok {
+			matches = append(matches, noteMatch{Note: note, Score: score})
+		}
+	}
+
+	sort.SliceStable(matches, func(i, j int) bool {
+		if matches[i].Score == matches[j].Score {
+			return matches[i].Note.Line > matches[j].Note.Line
+		}
+		return matches[i].Score > matches[j].Score
+	})
+	return matches
+}
+
+func matchScore(note note, tokens []string) (int, bool) {
+	text := strings.ToLower(note.Text)
+	tagMatches := make([]string, len(note.Tags))
+	for i, tag := range note.Tags {
+		tagMatches[i] = strings.ToLower(tag)
+	}
+
+	score := 0
+	for _, token := range tokens {
+		if token == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if strings.HasPrefix(token, "#") {
+			token = strings.TrimPrefix(token, "#")
+		}
+
+		best := 0
+		if token != "" {
+			if tokenScore, ok := fuzzyScore(token, text); ok {
+				best = tokenScore
+			}
+			for _, tag := range tagMatches {
+				if tokenScore, ok := fuzzyScore(token, tag); ok && tokenScore > best {
+					best = tokenScore + 50
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		if best == 0 {
+			return 0, false
+		}
+		score += best
+	}
+	return score, true
+}
+
+func fuzzyScore(query, target string) (int, bool) {
+	if query == "" {
+		return 0, true
+	}
+	if target == "" {
+		return 0, false
+	}
+
+	if idx := strings.Index(target, query); idx >= 0 {
+		return 1000 - idx, true
+	}
+
+	q := []rune(query)
+	t := []rune(target)
+	pos := 0
+	consecutive := 0
+	score := 0
+	for _, qc := range q {
+		found := false
+		for pos < len(t) {
+			if t[pos] == qc {
+				found = true
+				break
+			}
+			pos++
+			consecutive = 0
+		}
+		if !found {
+			return 0, false
+		}
+		score += 10
+		if consecutive > 0 {
+			score += 5
+		}
+		if pos == 0 || t[pos-1] == ' ' || t[pos-1] == '#' {
+			score += 3
+		}
+		consecutive++
+		pos++
+	}
+	return score, true
+}
+
+func formatNote(note note) string {
+	if note.Timestamp == "" {
+		return note.Text
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("[%s] %s", note.Timestamp, note.Text)
+}
+
+func resolveEditor() string {
+	if editor := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv("JOT_EDITOR")); editor != "" {
+		return editor
+	}
+	if editor := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv("EDITOR")); editor != "" {
+		return editor
+	}
+	if editor := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv("VISUAL")); editor != "" {
+		return editor
+	}
+	return "vi"
+}
+
+func openInEditor(editor string, path string, line int) error {
+	cmd, err := editorCommand(editor, path, line)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	cmd.Stdin = os.Stdin
+	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	return cmd.Run()
+}
+
+func editorCommand(editor string, path string, line int) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	fields := strings.Fields(editor)
+	if len(fields) == 0 {
+		return nil, errors.New("editor command is empty")
+	}
+	cmdName := fields[0]
+	args := append([]string{}, fields[1:]...)
+	if line > 0 && supportsLineArg(cmdName) {
+		args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("+%d", line))
+	}
+	args = append(args, path)
+	return exec.Command(cmdName, args...), nil
+}
+
+func supportsLineArg(editor string) bool {
+	base := filepath.Base(editor)
+	return base == "vim" || base == "nvim" || base == "vi"
+}
diff --git a/main_test.go b/main_test.go
index 05850a6..5ed806f 100644
--- a/main_test.go
+++ b/main_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -123,3 +124,66 @@ func TestJotInitAppendsWithTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected entry %q, got %q", expectedEntry, string(data))
 	}
 }
+
+func TestSearchNotesRanksPartialMatches(t *testing.T) {
+	notes := []note{
+		{Line: 1, Text: "quiet note about resilience"},
+		{Line: 2, Text: "loneliness isn't social, it's unseen"},
+		{Line: 3, Text: "random thought"},
+	}
+
+	matches := searchNotes(notes, "lone")
+	if len(matches) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected matches, got none")
+	}
+	if matches[0].Note.Line != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected best match line 2, got line %d", matches[0].Note.Line)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestJotSwitchSearchAndOpen(t *testing.T) {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skip("shell script editor not supported on windows")
+	}
+
+	home := withTempHome(t)
+	journalDir, journalPath := journalPaths(home)
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(journalDir, 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("mkdir failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	content := strings.Join([]string{
+		"[2024-01-01 10:00] first idea #alpha",
+		"[2024-01-02 09:00] lonely note #beta",
+	}, "\n") + "\n"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(journalPath, []byte(content), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	tempDir := t.TempDir()
+	editorPath := filepath.Join(tempDir, "vim")
+	outPath := filepath.Join(tempDir, "args.txt")
+	script := "#!/bin/sh\nprintf '%s' \"$@\" > " + outPath + "\n"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(editorPath, []byte(script), 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write editor failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	t.Setenv("JOT_EDITOR", editorPath)
+
+	input := "lon\n1\n"
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	if err := jotSwitch(strings.NewReader(input), &out); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("jotSwitch returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(out.String(), "1) [2024-01-02 09:00] lonely note #beta") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected search results to include lonely note, got %q", out.String())
+	}
+
+	args, err := os.ReadFile(outPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read args failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	expectedArgs := "+2" + journalPath
+	if string(args) != expectedArgs {
+		t.Fatalf("expected editor args %q, got %q", expectedArgs, string(args))
+	}
+}