# Skill 4 Apple Notes Discovery

> Find, read, clean, and synthesize Apple Notes used for requirements gathering, stakeholder interviews, design-thinking discovery, empathy research, meeting notes, field notes, PRD/source-context gathering, or notes with embedded images/base64 content. Use when the user references an Apple Note by title, asks Codex to inspect meeting notes, extract stakeholder needs, summarize discovery findings, identify requirements, convert Notes to clean Markdown/text, or use Apple Notes as source material.

- Skill: `careylzh/skill-4-apple-notes-discovery` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add careylzh/skill-4-apple-notes-discovery`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/careylzh/skill-4-apple-notes-discovery/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: careylzh (https://skillmd.com/u/careylzh)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/careylzh/skill-4-apple-notes-discovery

---


# Apple Notes Discovery

## Overview

Use this skill to turn Apple Notes into clean Codex context for discovery and requirements work. Prefer the bundled script over hand-written AppleScript because Notes bodies often contain HTML and large inline image data.

## Quick Start

Run the helper from the skill directory:

```bash
python3 scripts/apple_notes_discovery.py "note title or keywords"
```

Common options:

```bash
python3 scripts/apple_notes_discovery.py "SIT Joint Kinematics" --list
python3 scripts/apple_notes_discovery.py "[work] SIT Joint Kinematics Meeting Notes" --exact
python3 scripts/apple_notes_discovery.py "joint kinematics" --format json
python3 scripts/apple_notes_discovery.py "joint kinematics" --output /tmp/note.md
```

The script:

- Searches Apple Notes titles case-insensitively.
- Reads the best match or exact title.
- Converts Notes HTML to clean text.
- Replaces embedded images with `[image]`.
- Avoids returning base64 image blobs into context.

## Workflow

1. Search first when the title may be partial or typo-prone.
2. Confirm the matching title if there are multiple plausible notes.
3. Read the note with image stripping enabled.
4. Summarize into the user's requested artifact: stakeholder needs, pain points, research questions, requirements, action items, PRD inputs, or design insights.
5. Preserve uncertainty. If a note says something ambiguous, quote a short phrase or cite the exact section instead of over-normalizing it.

## Discovery Synthesis

For stakeholder/design-thinking notes, extract these fields when relevant:

- Stakeholders and roles
- Context and meeting dates
- Observed pain points
- User needs and desired outcomes
- Constraints and logistics
- Proposed concepts or prototypes
- Required features versus stretch goals
- Research questions and evaluation criteria
- Open questions and decisions needed
- Action items with owners and dates when present

Do not treat every raw meeting fragment as a settled requirement. Label inferences as inferred, and distinguish stakeholder quotes from Codex synthesis.

## Permissions

Reading Apple Notes uses macOS automation through `osascript` and may require user approval or a macOS privacy prompt. Ask for permission before reading private Notes content unless the user has explicitly requested that specific note.

If Notes access fails, explain that macOS privacy permissions may be blocking access and ask the user to grant permission or export/paste the note.