MCP server and CLI for Bear notes via CloudKit. Includes a context library — a curated, synced folder of notes optimized for LLM consumption, inspired by Karpathy's LLM Knowledge Base pattern.
Full docs: better-bear.com
Install the CLI, then connect to Claude:
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mreider/better-bear-cli/main/install.sh | bash
bcli auth
bcli mcp install
This installs the bcli binary, authenticates with iCloud, and sets up the MCP server for both Claude Desktop (via .mcpb bundle) and Claude Code.
| Method | Command |
|---|---|
| Claude Desktop only | bcli mcp install --desktop-only |
| Claude Code only | bcli mcp install --code-only |
| Claude Code (direct) | claude mcp add better-bear -- npx -y better-bear |
| Config file | bcli mcp install --json |
| .mcpb bundle | Download from latest release and double-click |
bcli mcp status # check what's configured
bcli mcp uninstall # remove from Claude Desktop and Claude Code
bcli mcp reinstall # clean uninstall + install
bcli upgrade # upgrade bcli binary
All commands also work standalone from the terminal:
bcli ls # list notes
bcli search "query" # full-text search
bcli create "Title" -b "Body" # create a note
bcli edit <id> --append "text" # append to a note
bcli tags # list all tags
bcli attach <id> photo.jpg # attach a file
bcli stats # library statistics
bcli health # health check
See better-bear.com for the full command reference.
Turn a subset of your Bear notes into a synced, curated context folder that Claude can navigate using index-first retrieval. Tag notes with #context in Bear, sync, and Claude reads a compact index to find relevant files — loading only what it needs, not everything.
bcli context init # one-time setup
bcli context sync # pull qualifying notes
bcli context add <id> --subtag research # tag a note for inclusion
bcli context status # health check
Or tell Claude: "Set up a context library" — and it handles everything via MCP tools.
The architecture follows Karpathy's three-folder pattern: bear/ (synced from CloudKit), external/ (PDFs, exports, shared docs), and inbox/ (drop zone for triage). An index.md manifest maps everything. See better-bear.com for full documentation.
34 tools covering notes, tags, TODOs, attachments, search, front matter, stats, health checks, and the context library. See the MCP server README for the full list.
