diff --git a/.agent/memory/memory_search.py b/.agent/memory/memory_search.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3e9041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.agent/memory/memory_search.py
@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Memory Search — SQLite FTS5 full-text search over .agent/memory/ files.
+
+Indexes all .md and .jsonl files under .agent/memory/ and provides ranked
+keyword search. Falls back to grep if FTS5 is not available.
+
+Usage:
+  python3 memory_search.py <query>       Search memories by keyword
+  python3 memory_search.py --rebuild     Force rebuild the index
+  python3 memory_search.py --status      Show index status
+
+The index is stored at .agent/memory/.index/memory.db and auto-rebuilds
+when any memory file changes. It is gitignored (derived data).
+"""
+import json
+import sys
+import sqlite3
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+MEMORY_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+INDEX_DIR = MEMORY_DIR / ".index"
+INDEX_PATH = INDEX_DIR / "memory.db"
+
+
+def check_fts5() -> bool:
+    """Check if SQLite FTS5 extension is available."""
+    try:
+        conn = sqlite3.connect(":memory:")
+        conn.execute("CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE _t USING fts5(c)")
+        conn.close()
+        return True
+    except Exception:
+        return False
+
+
+def needs_rebuild() -> bool:
+    """Check if index is stale (any source file newer than the index)."""
+    if not INDEX_PATH.exists():
+        return True
+    index_mtime = INDEX_PATH.stat().st_mtime
+    for f in MEMORY_DIR.rglob("*"):
+        if ".index" in str(f):
+            continue
+        if f.suffix in (".md", ".jsonl") and f.stat().st_mtime > index_mtime:
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+def _read_jsonl(path: Path) -> str:
+    """Read a .jsonl file and return a searchable text representation."""
+    lines = []
+    for raw in path.read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines():
+        raw = raw.strip()
+        if not raw:
+            continue
+        try:
+            entry = json.loads(raw)
+            parts = [
+                entry.get("action", ""),
+                entry.get("reflection", ""),
+                entry.get("detail", ""),
+                entry.get("skill", ""),
+            ]
+            lines.append(" ".join(p for p in parts if p))
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            continue
+    return "\n".join(lines)
+
+
+def build_index() -> int:
+    """Build or rebuild the FTS5 index from all memory files."""
+    INDEX_DIR.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    conn = sqlite3.connect(INDEX_PATH)
+    conn.execute("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS memories")
+    conn.execute("""
+        CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE memories
+        USING fts5(filename, content, tokenize='porter unicode61')
+    """)
+    indexed = 0
+    for f in MEMORY_DIR.rglob("*"):
+        if ".index" in str(f):
+            continue
+        try:
+            if f.suffix == ".md":
+                content = f.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+            elif f.suffix == ".jsonl":
+                content = _read_jsonl(f)
+            else:
+                continue
+            rel_path = f.relative_to(MEMORY_DIR)
+            conn.execute("INSERT INTO memories VALUES (?, ?)", (str(rel_path), content))
+            indexed += 1
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+    conn.commit()
+    conn.close()
+    return indexed
+
+
+def search_fts5(query: str) -> list[tuple[str, str]]:
+    """Search the FTS5 index. Returns (filename, snippet) pairs."""
+    if needs_rebuild():
+        build_index()
+    conn = sqlite3.connect(INDEX_PATH)
+    try:
+        rows = conn.execute(
+            """SELECT filename,
+                      snippet(memories, 1, '>>>', '<<<', '...', 30)
+               FROM memories
+               WHERE memories MATCH ?
+               ORDER BY rank""",
+            (query,),
+        ).fetchall()
+    except sqlite3.OperationalError:
+        # Query syntax error — fall back to LIKE
+        rows = conn.execute(
+            "SELECT filename, substr(content, 1, 300) FROM memories WHERE content LIKE ?",
+            (f"%{query}%",),
+        ).fetchall()
+    conn.close()
+    return rows
+
+
+def search_grep(query: str) -> list[tuple[str, str]]:
+    """Fallback search using grep when FTS5 is not available."""
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ["grep", "-ril", query, str(MEMORY_DIR)],
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+    )
+    files = [
+        f
+        for f in result.stdout.strip().split("\n")
+        if f and ".index" not in f
+    ]
+    return [(Path(f).relative_to(MEMORY_DIR), f"(match in {Path(f).name})") for f in files]
+
+
+def cmd_rebuild():
+    if not check_fts5():
+        print("FTS5 not available — cannot build index.")
+        return
+    count = build_index()
+    print(f"Index rebuilt: {count} files indexed.")
+
+
+def cmd_status():
+    if not check_fts5():
+        print("Mode: BASIC (grep fallback)")
+        print("Reason: SQLite FTS5 not available in this Python build.")
+        return
+    if not INDEX_PATH.exists():
+        print("Mode: FTS5 (index not built yet — auto-builds on first search)")
+        return
+    conn = sqlite3.connect(INDEX_PATH)
+    count = conn.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM memories").fetchone()[0]
+    conn.close()
+    size_kb = INDEX_PATH.stat().st_size // 1024
+    print(f"Mode: FTS5")
+    print(f"Index: {count} files indexed ({size_kb} KB)")
+    print(f"Location: {INDEX_PATH}")
+
+
+def main():
+    args = sys.argv[1:]
+
+    if not args or args[0] in ("-h", "--help"):
+        print("Usage:")
+        print("  memory_search.py <query>     Search memories by keyword")
+        print("  memory_search.py --rebuild   Force rebuild index")
+        print("  memory_search.py --status    Show index status")
+        sys.exit(0)
+
+    if args[0] == "--rebuild":
+        cmd_rebuild()
+        return
+
+    if args[0] == "--status":
+        cmd_status()
+        return
+
+    query = " ".join(args)
+    use_fts5 = check_fts5()
+
+    if use_fts5:
+        results = search_fts5(query)
+        mode = "FTS5"
+    else:
+        results = search_grep(query)
+        mode = "grep"
+
+    if not results:
+        print(f"No results for: '{query}'  [mode: {mode}]")
+        return
+
+    print(f"Results for: '{query}'  [mode: {mode}]\n")
+    for filename, snippet in results:
+        print(f"  {filename}")
+        print(f"  {snippet}\n")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/.agent/skills/memory-manager/SKILL.md b/.agent/skills/memory-manager/SKILL.md
index 2d09f13..e44f5a0 100644
--- a/.agent/skills/memory-manager/SKILL.md
+++ b/.agent/skills/memory-manager/SKILL.md
@@ -26,6 +26,19 @@ happened. Before important decisions, read the top entries from
 5. Archive resolved working context to `memory/episodic/snapshots/`.
 6. Commit via git so history is preserved: `git log memory/` is the agent's autobiography.
 
+## Searching memory by keyword
+
+When you need to find a specific memory by topic or keyword (not just the
+top-salience entries), use the FTS5 search tool:
+
+```bash
+python3 .agent/memory/memory_search.py <query>
+```
+
+This indexes all `.md` and `.jsonl` files under `.agent/memory/` and returns
+ranked results with context snippets. Falls back to grep if FTS5 is not
+available. The index auto-rebuilds when files change.
+
 ## Anti-patterns
 - Do not auto-merge `personal/` into `semantic/` — user preferences are not general knowledge.
 - Do not delete entries to "clean up" memory. Archive them.
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 089f82b..a8bf018 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ venv/
 .agent/memory/dream.log
 *.log
 
+# derived search index (auto-rebuilt)
+.agent/memory/.index/
+
 # do NOT ignore memory files — they are the point
 !.agent/memory/
 !.agent/memory/**