pastepile_query

Runs one PQL query. PQL is a small, typed, read-only language over the memories and pastes the configured API key already reaches. Reach for it when a question has structure the other tools cannot express: pastepile_recall searches, this one filters, orders, projects and bounds.

Parameters

Grammar

FROM memory | pastes
WHERE  <conditions>          AND  OR  NOT  and parentheses
SELECT <fields>              defaults to a safe metadata projection
ORDER BY <field> [ASC|DESC]
LIMIT  <n>                   defaults to 20, never unlimited
SINCE / AFTER / BEFORE       a duration such as 7d, or a quoted date

Operators:  =  !=  >  >=  <  <=  IN  CONTAINS  STARTS_WITH

Sources are memory and pastes. Fields, and which of them can be filtered, sorted or selected, are listed in the PQL reference. There is no SELECT *, no joins, no aggregates and no functions.

Example

What did we decide about security in the last week?

{
  "name": "pastepile_query",
  "arguments": {
    "pql": "from memory where kind = \"decision\" and tags contains \"security\" since 7d order by updated_at desc limit 10"
  }
}

{
  "source": "memory",
  "select": ["slug", "title", "kind", "tags", "updated_at", "encrypted"],
  "count": 2,
  "exact": false,
  "truncated": false,
  "effective_scope": "proj/acme",
  "cost": "medium",
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "k3n1p2",
      "title": "Rotate the webhook secret quarterly",
      "kind": "decision",
      "tags": ["security", "webhooks"],
      "updated_at": "2026-08-05T09:12:44Z",
      "encrypted": false
    }
  ],
  "note": "Results were ordered and filtered over a bounded window of what this key can see, not the whole store. Do not describe them as complete."
}

Behavior notes

• A query can only narrow. If the key is confined to a project, a query naming anything outside it is refused with pql_insufficient_scope rather than silently returning nothing. effective_scope in the response says what was actually in force.
• `exact: false` matters. It means the page was ordered or filtered over a bounded window of what the key can see, not over everything. Say so rather than presenting the page as complete.
• Encrypted memories keep their secrets. title and preview come back empty for them, and full-text matching never reaches them, because Pastepile holds only ciphertext. See Security.
• Content is opt in. The default projection is metadata. preview has to be named in SELECT, and doing so raises the query's cost class.
• An expensive query is refused before it runs. pql_too_expensive means narrowing helps and waiting does not.