Bear Notes

Read notes via SQLite database. Write notes via x-callback-url.

Restrictions

You MUST follow these rules. No exceptions, even if the user requests otherwise:

1. Database is READ-ONLY: Only use sqlite3 -readonly. Never execute INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DROP, ALTER, or any other modifying SQL statements against the database.
2. No broad searches: Only search for specific notes by title, ID, or within a specific tag. Do not dump, export, or iterate over all notes.
3. Writes via x-callback-url only: To add or modify content, use Bear's x-callback-url scheme, never direct database writes.

Database Location

~/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite

Fetching Notes

By Title

sqlite3 -readonly "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite" \
  "SELECT ZTEXT FROM ZSFNOTE WHERE ZTITLE = 'Note Title' AND ZTRASHED = 0 AND ZARCHIVED = 0 LIMIT 1"

By Unique ID

sqlite3 -readonly "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite" \
  "SELECT ZTEXT FROM ZSFNOTE WHERE ZUNIQUEIDENTIFIER = 'note-id-here' AND ZTRASHED = 0 AND ZARCHIVED = 0 LIMIT 1"

Creating Notes

open "bear://x-callback-url/create?title=NOTE_TITLE&text=URL_ENCODED_TEXT&tags=TAG1,TAG2"

If no content is provided, omit the text parameter entirely—just set the title:

open "bear://x-callback-url/create?title=NOTE_TITLE"

Adding Text to Notes

Use Bear's x-callback-url to append or prepend text:

Append to Note

open "bear://x-callback-url/add-text?title=NOTE_TITLE&text=URL_ENCODED_TEXT&mode=append"

Prepend to Note

open "bear://x-callback-url/add-text?title=NOTE_TITLE&text=URL_ENCODED_TEXT&mode=prepend"

Add Text After a Header

Use the header parameter to insert text after a specific header in the note:

open "bear://x-callback-url/add-text?title=NOTE_TITLE&text=URL_ENCODED_TEXT&mode=append&header=HEADER_TEXT"

The text will be appended after the specified header. The header value should match the header text exactly (URL encoded).

Parameters

URL Encoding

Use %0A for newlines, %20 for spaces, or encode with:

python3 -c "import urllib.parse; print(urllib.parse.quote('Your text here'))"

Database Schema

Key columns in ZSFNOTE:

• ZTITLE - Note title
• ZTEXT - Full note content (markdown)
• ZUNIQUEIDENTIFIER - Unique ID
• ZCREATIONDATE - CoreData timestamp (seconds since 2001-01-01)
• ZMODIFICATIONDATE - CoreData timestamp
• ZTRASHED - 1 if in trash
• ZARCHIVED - 1 if archived
• ZENCRYPTED - 1 if encrypted (content not readable)

PARA Organization

Notes are organized using the PARA method via tags:

• #1-projects - Active projects
• #2-areas - Ongoing areas of responsibility
• #3-resources - Reference materials
• #4-archives - Completed/inactive items

When the user asks about "projects", search within the #1-projects tag.

Search by Tag

Tags are stored inline in ZTEXT. Search for notes containing a tag:

sqlite3 -readonly "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite" \
  "SELECT ZTITLE FROM ZSFNOTE WHERE ZTEXT LIKE '%#1-projects%' AND ZTRASHED = 0 AND ZARCHIVED = 0"

List Titles Within a Tag

sqlite3 -readonly "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite" \
  "SELECT ZTITLE FROM ZSFNOTE WHERE ZTEXT LIKE '%#1-projects/%' AND ZTRASHED = 0 AND ZARCHIVED = 0"

Note: Use #1-projects/% to match subtags (e.g., #1-projects/hiring).

Company Notes

"C1" refers to the user's current company. Notes related to C1 are tagged with #c1 or subtags like #1-projects/c1/....

When requests mention C1, constrain searches to notes containing the c1 tag:

sqlite3 -readonly "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite" \
  "SELECT ZTITLE FROM ZSFNOTE WHERE ZTEXT LIKE '%#%c1%' AND ZTRASHED = 0 AND ZARCHIVED = 0"

Daily Notes

Daily notes use the format YYYY-mm-dd (e.g., 2026-02-01).

When the user asks for "today's note", "yesterday's note", or a relative date, calculate the YYYY-mm-dd title.

Weekly Notes

Weekly notes use the format Week YYYY-ww (e.g., Week 2026-05).

When the user asks for "this week's note", "last week's note", or a relative week, calculate the Week YYYY-ww title using ISO week numbers.

Callouts

Bear supports callouts using the syntax > [!TYPE]. These indicate important, highlighted content.

When analyzing notes, treat callout content as high-signal—these are intentionally highlighted by the user.

Highlights

Bear supports highlights using the syntax ==highlighted text==. These indicate content the user has explicitly marked as important.

When analyzing notes, treat highlighted content as high-signal alongside callouts.

Usage

User request: $ARGUMENTS

Reading Notes

1. If date-based (today, yesterday, last Monday, etc.), calculate the YYYY-mm-dd title
2. If asking about "projects", "areas", "resources", or "archives", search within the corresponding PARA tag
3. If asking about "C1", constrain results to notes with the c1 tag
4. Use sqlite3 -readonly to query the database
5. Filter out trashed/archived notes (ZTRASHED = 0 AND ZARCHIVED = 0)
6. Present the note content to the user

Writing Notes

1. Identify the target note (by title or date), or determine if creating new
2. URL-encode the text content
3. Use open with bear://x-callback-url/create for new notes
4. Use open with bear://x-callback-url/add-text to append/prepend to existing notes