diff --git a/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go b/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go
index 10cd3cd..f43fb61 100644
--- a/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go
+++ b/core/handlers/create_note_handler.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package handlers
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"log/slog"
 
 	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/frontmatter"
 	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/models"
@@ -13,12 +12,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 type createNoteCommand struct {
-	Title        string            `json:"title"`
-	TemplatePath string            `json:"templatePath"`
-	Path         string            `json:"path"`
+	Title        string `json:"title"`
+	TemplatePath string `json:"templatePath"`
+	Path         string `json:"path"`
 }
 
-type CreateNoteHandler struct{
+type CreateNoteHandler struct {
 	uow *repositories.UnitOfWork
 }
 
@@ -40,15 +39,11 @@ func (h *CreateNoteHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (an
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	slog.Debug("rendered template", "data", string(data))
-
 	tags, err := frontmatter.ParseTags(data)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	slog.Debug("parsed tags", "tags", tags)
-
 	tx, err := h.uow.Begin()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -59,17 +54,31 @@ func (h *CreateNoteHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, raw json.RawMessage) (an
 	tagRepo := repositories.NewTagRepository(tx)
 	noteRepo := repositories.NewNoteRepository(tx)
 
-	tagModels, err := models.CreateTags(tags)
+	dbTags, err := tagRepo.GetByNames(ctx, tags)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	slog.Debug("Creating tags", "tags", tags)
+	newTags := utils.Filter(tags, func(name string) bool {
+		for _, t := range dbTags {
+			if t.Name() == name {
+				return false
+			}
+		}
+		return true
+	})
+
+	tagModels, err := models.CreateTags(newTags)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	if err = tagRepo.Upsert(ctx, tagModels); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	tagModels = append(tagModels, dbTags...)
+
 	note := models.CreateNote(cmd.Path, cmd.Title, slug)
 
 	if err = noteRepo.Upsert(ctx, note); err != nil {
diff --git a/core/models/tag.go b/core/models/tag.go
index 8f6461b..ed1087e 100644
--- a/core/models/tag.go
+++ b/core/models/tag.go
@@ -7,13 +7,9 @@ type Tag struct {
 	name string
 }
 
-func NewTag(name string) *Tag {
-	id, err := uuid.NewV7()
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
+func NewTag(id, name string) *Tag {
 	return &Tag{
-		id:   id.String(),
+		id:   id,
 		name: name,
 	}
 }
@@ -21,7 +17,11 @@ func NewTag(name string) *Tag {
 func CreateTags(tags []string) ([]*Tag, error) {
 	tagModels := make([]*Tag, len(tags))
 	for i, tag := range tags {
-		tagModels[i] = NewTag(tag)
+		id, err := uuid.NewV7()
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		tagModels[i] = NewTag(id.String(), tag)
 	}
 
 	return tagModels, nil
diff --git a/core/utils/doc.go b/core/utils/doc.go
index f8b0649..305ba9c 100644
--- a/core/utils/doc.go
+++ b/core/utils/doc.go
@@ -8,3 +8,13 @@ func Select[T any, U any](input []T, mapper func(T) U) []U {
 	}
 	return output
 }
+
+func Filter[T any](input []T, predicate func(T) bool) []T {
+	output := make([]T, 0)
+	for _, item := range input {
+		if predicate(item) {
+			output = append(output, item)
+		}
+	}
+	return output
+}
diff --git a/dendrite b/dendrite
index ec9a22a..3410aa4 100755
Binary files a/dendrite and b/dendrite differ
diff --git a/persistence/repositories/tag_repository.go b/persistence/repositories/tag_repository.go
index 4710728..27fcd2f 100644
--- a/persistence/repositories/tag_repository.go
+++ b/persistence/repositories/tag_repository.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 type ITagRepository interface {
 	Upsert(ctx context.Context, tags []*models.Tag) error
 	UpsertNoteTags(ctx context.Context, noteID string, tagIDs []string) error
+	GetByNames(ctx context.Context, names []string) ([]*models.Tag, error)
 }
 
 type tagRepository struct {
@@ -62,3 +63,37 @@ func (r *tagRepository) UpsertNoteTags(ctx context.Context ,noteID string, tagID
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (r *tagRepository) GetByNames(ctx context.Context, names []string) ([]*models.Tag, error) {
+	if len(names) == 0 {
+		return []*models.Tag{}, nil
+	}
+
+	placeholders := make([]string, 0, len(names))
+	args := make([]any, 0, len(names))
+
+	for _, name := range names {
+		placeholders = append(placeholders, "?")
+		args = append(args, name)
+	}
+
+	query := "SELECT id, name FROM tags WHERE name IN (" + strings.Join(placeholders, ",") + ")"
+
+	rows, err := r.Transaction.QueryContext(ctx, query, args...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer rows.Close()
+
+	var tags []*models.Tag
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var id string
+		var name string
+		if err := rows.Scan(&id, &name); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		tags = append(tags, models.NewTag(id, name))
+	}
+
+	return tags, nil
+}