diff --git a/core/file_handling/file.go b/core/file_handling/file.go
index e6705f8..8cbf667 100644
--- a/core/file_handling/file.go
+++ b/core/file_handling/file.go
@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ func ReadFile(path string) (*File, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	if fm == nil {
+		fm = &FrontMatter{
+			Title: strings.TrimSuffix(filepath.Base(path), filepath.Ext(path)),
+		}
+	}
+
 	return &File{
 		Path:        path,
 		Title:       fm.Title,
diff --git a/core/file_handling/frontmatter_parser.go b/core/file_handling/frontmatter_parser.go
index 571c33e..a306cbb 100644
--- a/core/file_handling/frontmatter_parser.go
+++ b/core/file_handling/frontmatter_parser.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package filehandling
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"errors"
 
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
@@ -12,6 +11,7 @@ type FrontMatter struct {
 	Tags    []string `yaml:"tags"`
 	Created string   `yaml:"created"`
 	Updated string   `yaml:"updated"`
+	Date		string   `yaml:"date"`
 	Author  string   `yaml:"author"`
 }
 
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func ParseFrontMatter(file []byte) (*FrontMatter, error) {
 	if bytes.HasPrefix(content, []byte("---")) {
 		content = bytes.TrimSpace(content[3:])
 	} else {
-		return nil, errors.New("missing front matter delimiter")
+		return nil, nil
 	}
 
 	if idx := bytes.Index(content, []byte("---")); idx != -1 {
diff --git a/dendrite b/dendrite
index acea509..30b9cb9 100755
Binary files a/dendrite and b/dendrite differ
diff --git a/persistence/index_rebuilder.go b/persistence/index_rebuilder.go
index da8bab5..2bf4b17 100644
--- a/persistence/index_rebuilder.go
+++ b/persistence/index_rebuilder.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"io/fs"
 	"log/slog"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
 
 	filehandling "github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/file_handling"
 	"github.com/KristianJBorgwarth/dendrite.daemon/core/models"
@@ -15,15 +17,14 @@ type IIndexRebuilder interface {
 	RebuildIndex(ctx context.Context, vaultRoot string) error
 }
 
-type IndexRebuilder struct {
-}
+type IndexRebuilder struct{}
 
 func NewIndexRebuilder() *IndexRebuilder {
 	return &IndexRebuilder{}
 }
 
 func (r *IndexRebuilder) RebuildIndex(ctx context.Context, vaultRoot string) error {
-	files, err := r.ReadFiles(vaultRoot)
+	files, err := r.readFiles(vaultRoot)
 	if err != nil {
 		slog.Debug("Failed to read files from vault", "vaultRoot", vaultRoot, "error", err)
 		return err
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ func (r *IndexRebuilder) RebuildIndex(ctx context.Context, vaultRoot string) err
 }
 
 func (r *IndexRebuilder) InsertNotes(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, notes []*models.Note) error {
-	noteStmt, err := tx.Prepare(`INSERT INTO note (id, title, slug, path) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)`)
+	noteStmt, err := tx.Prepare(`INSERT INTO note (id, title, slug, path, created_at, updated_at) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, datetime('now'), datetime('now'))`)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -126,17 +127,28 @@ func (r *IndexRebuilder) InsertNoteTags(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, noteTag
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (r *IndexRebuilder) ReadFiles(vault string) ([]*filehandling.File, error) {
+func (r *IndexRebuilder) readFiles(vault string) ([]*filehandling.File, error) {
 	var files []*filehandling.File
 
 	err := filepath.WalkDir(vault, func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		slog.Debug("Processing file during index rebuild", "path", path)
 
-		if d.IsDir() || filepath.Ext(path) != ".md" {
+		if d.IsDir() {
+			if !r.shouldIndexDirectory(path) {
+				slog.Debug("Skipping directory during index rebuild", "path", path)
+				return filepath.SkipDir
+			}
 			return nil
 		}
+
+		if filepath.Ext(path) != ".md" {
+			slog.Debug("Skipping non-markdown file during index rebuild", "path", path)
+			return nil
+		}
+
 		pendingFile, err := filehandling.ReadFile(path)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -153,6 +165,16 @@ func (r *IndexRebuilder) ReadFiles(vault string) ([]*filehandling.File, error) {
 	return files, nil
 }
 
+func (r *IndexRebuilder) shouldIndexDirectory(path string) bool {
+	ignoredDirs := []string{".git", ".templates", "temp", "issues"}
+	for part := range strings.SplitSeq(path, string(filepath.Separator)) {
+		if slices.Contains(ignoredDirs, part) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 func (r *IndexRebuilder) buildDBModels(files []*filehandling.File) ([]*models.Note, []*models.Link, []*models.Tag, []*models.NoteTag) {
 	var notes []*models.Note
 	var links []*models.Link
@@ -178,9 +200,9 @@ func (r *IndexRebuilder) buildDBModels(files []*filehandling.File) ([]*models.No
 }
 
 func (r *IndexRebuilder) wipeIndex(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx) error {
-	cmd := `DELETE FROM notes; 
-	DELETE FROM tags;
-	DELETE FROM note_tags;
+	cmd := `DELETE FROM note; 
+	DELETE FROM tag;
+	DELETE FROM note_tag;
 	DELETE FROM link;`
 
 	_, err := tx.ExecContext(ctx, cmd)