diff --git a/e2e/tests/file-search.spec.ts b/e2e/tests/file-search.spec.ts
index d14c91e..b669ba7 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/file-search.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/file-search.spec.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,54 @@ test.describe("file search", () => {
     await expect(first).toHaveAttribute("data-path", "/runbooks/deploy.md");
   });
 
+  test("ranks contiguous project and filename matches ahead of scattered subsequences", async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    await page.goto("/README.md");
+
+    const results = await page.evaluate(() => {
+      const search = (
+        globalThis as typeof globalThis & {
+          __mdbrowseSearch: {
+            filter: (
+              entries: { path: string; name: string }[],
+              query: string,
+              limit: number,
+            ) => { path: string; name: string }[];
+          };
+        }
+      ).__mdbrowseSearch;
+      const entries = [
+        {
+          path: "/projects/atom-checkout-funnel/decisions.md",
+          name: "decisions.md",
+        },
+        {
+          path: "/projects/web-parity/acdc-hub/README.md",
+          name: "README.md",
+        },
+        {
+          path: "/projects/web-parity/acdc-hub/specs/ACDC-15-experimentation.md",
+          name: "ACDC-15-experimentation.md",
+        },
+      ];
+
+      return {
+        acdc: search.filter(entries, "acdc", 10).map((entry) => entry.path),
+        combined: search.filter(entries, "acdc experiment", 10).map((entry) => entry.path),
+      };
+    });
+
+    expect(results.acdc).toEqual([
+      "/projects/web-parity/acdc-hub/specs/ACDC-15-experimentation.md",
+      "/projects/web-parity/acdc-hub/README.md",
+      "/projects/atom-checkout-funnel/decisions.md",
+    ]);
+    expect(results.combined).toEqual([
+      "/projects/web-parity/acdc-hub/specs/ACDC-15-experimentation.md",
+    ]);
+  });
+
   test("Enter navigates to the selected file", async ({ page }) => {
     await page.goto("/README.md");
     await page.keyboard.press("Meta+K");
diff --git a/src/assets/static/js/file-search.js b/src/assets/static/js/file-search.js
index 84640cd..9ce8ef4 100644
--- a/src/assets/static/js/file-search.js
+++ b/src/assets/static/js/file-search.js
@@ -165,17 +165,30 @@
   }
 
   /**
-   * fzf-style subsequence match against the full path. Empty query
-   * returns the first `limit` entries unchanged.
+   * Rank filename and contiguous path matches ahead of fuzzy subsequences.
+   * Space-separated terms are ANDed so a query such as "acdc experiment"
+   * can combine a project path with a filename. Empty queries return the
+   * first `limit` entries unchanged.
    */
   function filter(all, query, limit) {
-    if (!query) return all.slice(0, limit);
-    var q = query.toLowerCase();
+    var q = query.trim().toLowerCase();
+    if (!q) return all.slice(0, limit);
+    var terms = q.split(/\s+/);
     var scored = [];
     for (var i = 0; i < all.length; i++) {
       var entry = all[i];
-      var s = score(entry.path.toLowerCase(), q, entry.name.length);
-      if (s > -Infinity) scored.push({ entry: entry, score: s });
+      var path = entry.path.toLowerCase();
+      var total = 0;
+      var matched = true;
+      for (var t = 0; t < terms.length; t++) {
+        var termScore = score(path, terms[t], entry.name.length);
+        if (termScore === -Infinity) {
+          matched = false;
+          break;
+        }
+        total += termScore;
+      }
+      if (matched) scored.push({ entry: entry, score: total });
     }
     scored.sort(function (a, b) {
       if (b.score !== a.score) return b.score - a.score;
@@ -187,10 +200,9 @@
   }
 
   /**
-   * Subsequence score. Returns -Infinity when `q` is not a subsequence of
-   * `path`. Otherwise: bonus 5 per query char that lands in the basename
-   * (the trailing `basenameLen` chars of `path`); penalty 1 per gap
-   * between matched characters. Higher is better.
+   * Match score for one query term. Exact basename, basename-prefix, and
+   * contiguous path matches form descending relevance tiers. A subsequence
+   * score remains as the fallback within and below those tiers.
    *
    * Exported on `window.__mdbrowseSearch` so unit tests in node can pull
    * the same implementation via JSDOM if we ever want to.
@@ -199,10 +211,14 @@
     var pi = 0,
       qi = 0,
       gaps = 0,
-      bonus = 0;
+      basenameBonus = 0,
+      consecutiveBonus = 0,
+      previousMatch = -2;
     while (pi < path.length && qi < q.length) {
       if (path[pi] === q[qi]) {
-        if (pi >= path.length - basenameLen) bonus += 5;
+        if (pi >= path.length - basenameLen) basenameBonus += 5;
+        if (pi === previousMatch + 1) consecutiveBonus += 3;
+        previousMatch = pi;
         qi++;
       } else {
         gaps++;
@@ -210,7 +226,25 @@
       pi++;
     }
     if (qi !== q.length) return -Infinity;
-    return bonus - gaps;
+
+    var basename = path.slice(path.length - basenameLen);
+    var extensionStart = basename.lastIndexOf(".");
+    var stem = extensionStart > 0 ? basename.slice(0, extensionStart) : basename;
+    var relevance = 0;
+    if (basename === q) relevance = 1600;
+    else if (stem === q) relevance = 1500;
+    else if (basename.indexOf(q) === 0) relevance = 1300;
+    else if (basename.indexOf(q) !== -1) relevance = 1100;
+    else {
+      var contiguousAt = path.indexOf(q);
+      if (contiguousAt !== -1) {
+        var previous = contiguousAt > 0 ? path[contiguousAt - 1] : "/";
+        var atBoundary = previous === "/" || previous === "-" || previous === "_" || previous === ".";
+        relevance = atBoundary ? 700 : 600;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return relevance + basenameBonus + consecutiveBonus - gaps;
   }
 
   // Expose for tests.