bear-notes-mcp

Overview

This unofficial MCP server for Bear Notes provides relevance-ranked search across titles, bodies, and hierarchical tags. It reads directly from Bear's SQLite database, allowing note searching without opening the Bear app. The server offers read-only capabilities by default, with an optional Edit Mode that enables creating notes, adding text, attaching files, and managing tags. It works with any MCP client including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Gemini, and Cursor.

Try asking AI

After installing, here are 6 things you can ask your AI assistant:

• bear-open-note

  Read the full text content of a Bear note by its ID or title, including OCR'd text from attached images and PDFs

  Try:Open my note about project planningTry:Show me the full content of note ID 123
• bear-create-note

  Create a new note in your Bear library with optional title, content, and tags

  Try:Create a new note titled 'Meeting Notes' with tags #workTry:Make a new note about vacation ideas
• bear-search-notes

  Find notes by relevance across titles, body, and OCR-extracted text from attached images and PDFs

  Try:Search my Bear notes for 'meeting notes'Try:Find all notes about project deadlines tagged #work
• bear-add-text

  Insert text at the beginning or end of a Bear note, or within a specific section identified by its header

  Try:Add these action items to the bottom of my meeting noteTry:Insert this paragraph under the 'Next Steps' heading in my project note
• bear-replace-text

  Replace content in an existing Bear note — either the full body or a specific section

  Try:Replace the old budget numbers with the updated ones in my finance noteTry:Update the timeline section in my project plan
• bear-add-file

  Attach a local file (image, PDF, document) to an existing Bear note by its ID or title

  Try:Attach the presentation.pdf to my meeting notesTry:Add the design mockup.png to the project note
• bear-list-tags

  List all tags in your Bear library as a hierarchical tree with note counts

  Try:Show me all my tags and how many notes they haveTry:List all tags in my Bear library
• bear-find-untagged-notes

  Find notes in your Bear library that have no tags assigned

  Try:Find all notes without any tagsTry:Show me my untagged notes
• bear-add-tag

  Add one or more tags to an existing Bear note

  Try:Add the tag #urgent to my project deadline noteTry:Tag my meeting note with #work and #important
• bear-archive-note

  Archive a Bear note to remove it from active lists without deleting it

  Try:Archive the old meeting notes from last monthTry:Move my completed project note to archive
• bear-rename-tag

  Rename a tag across all notes in your Bear library

  Try:Rename #old-project to #new-projectTry:Change #work to #professional
• bear-delete-tag

  Delete a tag from all notes in your Bear library without affecting the notes

  Try:Delete the unused tag #old-ideasTry:Remove the #draft tag from all notes

Comparable tools

Installation

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bear-notes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "bear-notes-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Could this steal my data?

No. The server only reads Bear's local database and uses Bear's native API to add text to notes. No network transmission or external servers are involved.

Why SQLite and not just the native Bear app's x-callback-url API?

For read operations, direct SQLite access is simpler and more reliable than using x-callback-url API, which would require handling x-success responses in a server or custom binary.

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