diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 836ba93..2ec092c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -149,6 +149,16 @@ That’s the point.
 
 ---
 
+## related notes
+
+Find notes that read similarly to a given entry:
+
+```bash
+jot related 12
+```
+
+It prints the top 5 related notes (if available), each prefixed with its note ID.
+
 ## what should I write?
 
 If you’re unsure, start here:
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index e73e2cb..9a2af55 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -5,8 +5,11 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"math"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -38,7 +41,20 @@ func main() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "usage: jot [init|list|patterns]")
+	if len(args) == 2 && args[0] == "related" {
+		id, err := strconv.Atoi(args[1])
+		if err != nil || id <= 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "note-id must be a positive integer")
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		if err := jotRelated(os.Stdout, id); err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "usage: jot [init|list|patterns|related <note-id>]")
 	os.Exit(1)
 }
 
@@ -179,3 +195,171 @@ func isTTY(w io.Writer) bool {
 	}
 	return (info.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) != 0
 }
+
+type note struct {
+	ID   int
+	Text string
+	Raw  string
+}
+
+func jotRelated(w io.Writer, id int) error {
+	notes, err := loadNotes()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(notes) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("no notes found")
+	}
+	if id < 1 || id > len(notes) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("note-id must be between 1 and %d", len(notes))
+	}
+
+	vectors := tfidfVectors(notes)
+	base := vectors[id-1]
+	baseNorm := vectorNorm(base)
+	if baseNorm == 0 {
+		return errors.New("note has no searchable content")
+	}
+
+	type scoredNote struct {
+		Note  note
+		Score float64
+	}
+
+	var scored []scoredNote
+	for i, n := range notes {
+		if n.ID == id {
+			continue
+		}
+		score := cosineSimilarity(base, baseNorm, vectors[i])
+		if score <= 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		scored = append(scored, scoredNote{Note: n, Score: score})
+	}
+
+	sort.Slice(scored, func(i, j int) bool {
+		if scored[i].Score == scored[j].Score {
+			return scored[i].Note.ID < scored[j].Note.ID
+		}
+		return scored[i].Score > scored[j].Score
+	})
+
+	limit := 5
+	if len(scored) < limit {
+		limit = len(scored)
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < limit; i++ {
+		if _, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "%d\t%s\n", scored[i].Note.ID, scored[i].Note.Raw); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func loadNotes() ([]note, error) {
+	journalPath, err := ensureJournal()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	file, err := os.Open(journalPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	var notes []note
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		line := scanner.Text()
+		trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		if trimmed == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		text := extractNoteText(line)
+		notes = append(notes, note{ID: len(notes) + 1, Text: text, Raw: line})
+	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return notes, nil
+}
+
+func extractNoteText(line string) string {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(line, "[") {
+		if end := strings.IndexByte(line, ']'); end > 0 {
+			return strings.TrimSpace(line[end+1:])
+		}
+	}
+	return strings.TrimSpace(line)
+}
+
+func tfidfVectors(notes []note) []map[string]float64 {
+	termCounts := make([]map[string]int, len(notes))
+	docFreq := make(map[string]int)
+
+	for i, n := range notes {
+		tokens := tokenize(n.Text)
+		counts := make(map[string]int)
+		for _, token := range tokens {
+			counts[token]++
+		}
+		termCounts[i] = counts
+		for term := range counts {
+			docFreq[term]++
+		}
+	}
+
+	N := float64(len(notes))
+	vectors := make([]map[string]float64, len(notes))
+	for i, counts := range termCounts {
+		total := 0
+		for _, count := range counts {
+			total += count
+		}
+		vector := make(map[string]float64)
+		if total == 0 {
+			vectors[i] = vector
+			continue
+		}
+		for term, count := range counts {
+			tf := float64(count) / float64(total)
+			idf := math.Log((1+N)/(1+float64(docFreq[term]))) + 1
+			vector[term] = tf * idf
+		}
+		vectors[i] = vector
+	}
+
+	return vectors
+}
+
+func tokenize(text string) []string {
+	return strings.FieldsFunc(strings.ToLower(text), func(r rune) bool {
+		return (r < 'a' || r > 'z') && (r < '0' || r > '9')
+	})
+}
+
+func vectorNorm(vector map[string]float64) float64 {
+	var sum float64
+	for _, v := range vector {
+		sum += v * v
+	}
+	return math.Sqrt(sum)
+}
+
+func cosineSimilarity(base map[string]float64, baseNorm float64, other map[string]float64) float64 {
+	otherNorm := vectorNorm(other)
+	if baseNorm == 0 || otherNorm == 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+	var dot float64
+	for term, weight := range base {
+		if otherWeight, ok := other[term]; ok {
+			dot += weight * otherWeight
+		}
+	}
+	return dot / (baseNorm * otherNorm)
+}
diff --git a/main_test.go b/main_test.go
index 05850a6..0ef8697 100644
--- a/main_test.go
+++ b/main_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
@@ -123,3 +124,61 @@ func TestJotInitAppendsWithTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected entry %q, got %q", expectedEntry, string(data))
 	}
 }
+
+func TestJotRelatedOutputsTopMatches(t *testing.T) {
+	home := withTempHome(t)
+	journalDir, journalPath := journalPaths(home)
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(journalDir, 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("mkdir failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	entries := strings.Join([]string{
+		"[2024-01-01 10:00] go unit tests tfidf",
+		"[2024-01-02 10:00] go unit tests tfidf",
+		"[2024-01-03 10:00] cooking pasta recipe",
+		"[2024-01-04 10:00] go concurrency patterns",
+		"[2024-01-05 10:00] gardening tips",
+		"[2024-01-06 10:00] go tests table driven",
+	}, "\n") + "\n"
+
+	if err := os.WriteFile(journalPath, []byte(entries), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	if err := jotRelated(&out, 1); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("jotRelated returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	lines := strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(out.String()), "\n")
+	if len(lines) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected related notes, got none")
+	}
+
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(lines[0], "2\t") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected note 2 to be top match, got %q", lines[0])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestJotRelatedRejectsOutOfRangeID(t *testing.T) {
+	home := withTempHome(t)
+	journalDir, journalPath := journalPaths(home)
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(journalDir, 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("mkdir failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	entries := strings.Join([]string{
+		"[2024-01-01 10:00] one",
+		"[2024-01-02 10:00] two",
+	}, "\n") + "\n"
+
+	if err := os.WriteFile(journalPath, []byte(entries), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := jotRelated(io.Discard, 3); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected out of range error, got nil")
+	}
+}