note

June 23, 2026 · View on GitHub

License

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A pure Swift CLI for managing Apple Notes. On macOS it reads and writes Apple Notes directly through AppleScript; on Linux it works against a local SQLite store kept in sync with a Cloudflare D1 backend. Note bodies are end-to-end encrypted before they leave your device.

note is the notes-focused companion to event (Apple Reminders & Calendar) — same architecture, separate backend, designed to be used side by side.

Features

  • Create, read, edit, move, delete, and search notes
  • Organize notes into folders
  • Markdown bodies (Apple Notes' HTML is converted to/from Markdown)
  • End-to-end encrypted bodies — Cloudflare only ever sees ciphertext
  • Markdown (default) and JSON output
  • Cloud sync across devices with Cloudflare D1 via note sync
  • Runs on macOS (AppleScript) and Linux (local SQLite + sync)

Requirements

  • Swift 6.2 or later (built with the Swift 6 language mode)
  • macOS 14.0 or later — reads and writes Apple Notes directly via AppleScript
  • Linux — no Apple Notes, so note works against a local SQLite database at ~/.local/share/note-sync/local.db. Run note sync to populate it from Cloudflare D1, then use the same commands on that data.

Installation

brew tap FradSer/brew
brew install note

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/FradSer/note.git
cd note
swift build -c release
cp .build/release/note /usr/local/bin/

Tagged releases are built and published automatically by GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/release.yml): pushing a v* tag cross-builds macOS (arm64/amd64) and Linux (amd64/arm64) binaries, attaches them to the GitHub release, and updates the Homebrew formula.

First Run — Grant Permission (macOS)

On first run the tool asks for Automation access to Notes. If the prompt does not appear, enable it manually:

  • System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation > your terminal > Notes

Usage

Notes

# List notes (optionally within a folder)
note notes list
note notes list --folder "Ideas"

# Show a single note with its body
note notes show --id <NOTE_ID>

# Create a note (body is Markdown; title becomes the first line)
note notes create --title "Shopping" --body $'- milk\n- eggs' --folder "Ideas"
note notes create --title "Meeting" --body-file ./notes.md

# Edit a note's title and/or body (--body replaces the whole body)
note notes edit --id <NOTE_ID> --title "New title"
note notes edit --id <NOTE_ID> --body-file ./updated.md

# Move a note to another folder (created if missing)
note notes move --id <NOTE_ID> --folder "Archive"

# Search notes by keyword (title + body)
note notes search --keyword "invoice"

# Delete a note
note notes delete --id <NOTE_ID>

Tip: a Markdown body that begins with - (a bullet) must be passed as --body=- milk or via --body-file, because argument parsers treat a leading - as an option.

Folders

note folders list
note folders create --name "Work"
note folders delete --name "Work"     # also deletes the folder's notes

Sync (Cloudflare D1)

note sync keeps notes and folders in sync across devices through a Cloudflare Worker backed by D1. Note bodies are encrypted with a key only your devices hold.

1. Deploy the Worker (one-time)

The Worker source is a snapshot of the canonical apple-sync-kit/worker, pre-configured for note (ENTITIES="notes,note_folders").

cd skills/apple-notes/references/worker
pnpm install
pnpm exec wrangler login
pnpm exec wrangler d1 create note-sync      # copy the database_id into wrangler.toml
pnpm run db:migrate:remote                  # create the D1 tables
openssl rand -hex 32 | pnpm exec wrangler secret put API_TOKEN   # set the shared API token
pnpm run deploy                             # prints https://<worker>.workers.dev

2. Configure each device

export NOTE_SYNC_API_URL=https://<your-worker>.workers.dev
export NOTE_SYNC_API_TOKEN=<the API_TOKEN from step 1>
# NOTE_SYNC_DEVICE_ID is optional; defaults to the machine hostname

# Generate the encryption key ONCE, then set the SAME value on every device:
openssl rand -base64 32
export NOTE_ENCRYPTION_KEY=<that base64 value>

note sync status        # verify configuration (shows whether the key is set)

Environment variables take precedence. If unset, note falls back to a config file written by note sync config --api-url <URL> --api-token <TOKEN> (--device-id optional). The config file at ~/.config/note-sync/config.json stores the API token at mode 0o600. The encryption key is never written to disk by note — it lives only in NOTE_ENCRYPTION_KEY. Lose it and encrypted bodies are unrecoverable.

3. Sync

note sync                       # full bidirectional sync (pull, then push)
note sync push                  # one-directional
note sync pull
note sync --type folders        # restrict to one entity type

Conflicts resolve by last-write-wins: a pull never overwrites a local copy modified more recently than the server's version, and that copy is pushed on the next sync.

Direct D1 access (advanced)

Read or write the cloud copy without a local store (e.g. from a throwaway device):

note sync notes list
note sync notes show --id <ID>
note sync folders list

Agent Skill

The apple-notes skill lets AI agents manage your Apple Notes through note.

  1. Ensure note CLI is installed and in your system PATH.
  2. Install the skill: 
    npx skills add https://github.com/FradSer/note --skill apple-notes

Architecture

NoteModels  ─ domain models, formatters, sync models, HTML<->Markdown converter
NoteSync    ─ D1 HTTP client, AES-GCM encryption, SQLite store, Linux sync
NoteCommands─ shared sync subcommands
note        ─ CLI: AppleScript NotesService/FolderService, macOS SyncService
skills/apple-notes/ ─ ready-to-use agent skill (SKILL.md) bundling the Worker

See CLAUDE.md for the full architecture, sync algorithm, and known limitations.

  • apple-sync-kit — shared sync library and canonical D1 Worker (worker/) that powers note sync
  • event — companion CLI for Apple Reminders & Calendar; same architecture, separate backend

License

MIT