Notes Jxa

Skill: Apple Notes via JXA

Manage Apple Notes using JavaScript for Automation (osascript -l JavaScript). Full CRUD with native JSON output.

Requirements

• Automation permission for terminal to control Notes.app (granted on first use)

List notes

List notes in a folder with metadata:

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
const folder = Notes.folders.byName("Notes");
const notes = folder.notes();
JSON.stringify(notes.slice(0, 20).map(n => ({
  name: n.name(),
  id: n.id(),
  modDate: n.modificationDate().toISOString(),
})));
'

List folders

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
JSON.stringify(Notes.folders().map(f => f.name()));
'

Search notes by name

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
const results = Notes.notes.whose({name: {_contains: "search term"}})();
JSON.stringify(results.map(n => ({
  name: n.name(),
  id: n.id(),
  folder: n.container().name(),
  modDate: n.modificationDate().toISOString(),
})));
'

Read note body

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
const results = Notes.notes.whose({name: {_contains: "note title"}})();
const n = results[0];
JSON.stringify({
  name: n.name(),
  id: n.id(),
  body: n.plaintext(),
});
'

Create note

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
const folder = Notes.folders.byName("Notes");
const note = Notes.Note({name: "Note Title", body: "<div>Note content here.</div>"});
folder.notes.push(note);
JSON.stringify({name: note.name(), id: note.id()});
'

Note body uses HTML. Use <div> for paragraphs, <br> for line breaks.

Update note

Append to existing note:

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
const results = Notes.notes.whose({name: {_contains: "note title"}})();
const n = results[0];
n.body = n.body() + "<div>Appended content.</div>";
JSON.stringify({name: n.name(), id: n.id()});
'

Replace note body:

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
const results = Notes.notes.whose({name: {_contains: "note title"}})();
const n = results[0];
n.body = "<div>Completely new content.</div>";
JSON.stringify({name: n.name(), id: n.id()});
'

Delete note

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
const Notes = Application("Notes");
const results = Notes.notes.whose({name: {_contains: "note title"}})();
Notes.delete(results[0]);
JSON.stringify({deleted: true});
'

Failure handling

• If Notes.app is not running, osascript will launch it automatically.
• If folder not found, report the error and list available folders.
• If no notes match the search, return an empty array.
• Permission dialog on first run: user must click "OK" to grant Automation access.

Safety

• Confirm with the user before creating, updating, or deleting notes.
• When updating, show the note name and preview of changes before applying.
• Search by name is case-insensitive (_contains).