Apple Notes from the terminal. Quick capture, full-text search, and edit notes in your favorite CLI text editor.
Requires macOS 13+ and Swift 6.2+.
just installThis builds a release binary and copies it to ~/.local/bin/.
# List all notes
scribe list
# List notes in a specific folder
scribe list --folder "Work"
# Show a note's contents
scribe show "Shopping List"
# Full-text search across all notes
scribe search "meeting agenda"
# Create a new note in $EDITOR
scribe new "My Note" -e
# Create a new note from stdin
echo "Remember to buy milk" | scribe new "Groceries"
# Edit an existing note in $EDITOR
scribe edit "Shopping List"
# List all folders
scribe folders
# Launch interactive TUI (default when run with no arguments)
scribeRunning scribe with no arguments opens an interactive terminal UI for browsing and managing notes.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / k / ↑ / ↓ |
Navigate notes |
Enter |
Edit selected note in $EDITOR |
d |
Delete selected note (with confirmation) |
/ |
Search notes |
? |
Toggle help screen |
q / Esc |
Quit |
Scribe talks to Apple Notes via AppleScript. Notes are fetched as plaintext, opened in your $EDITOR, and written back as HTML.
Rich content (checklists, drawings, attachments) gets flattened to plaintext on edit — best suited for text-heavy notes.
just uninstall