Drafts

Drafts CLI

Manage Drafts notes from the terminal on macOS.

IMPORTANT REQUIREMENTS

This CLI ONLY works on macOS with Drafts app running.

• macOS only - Uses AppleScript, will not work on Linux/Windows
• Drafts must be RUNNING - The app must be open for any command to work
• Drafts Pro required - Automation features require Pro subscription

If commands fail or hang, first check: open -a Drafts

Setup

Install via Go:

go install github.com/nerveband/drafts-applescript-cli/cmd/drafts@latest

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/nerveband/drafts-applescript-cli
cd drafts-applescript-cli && go build ./cmd/drafts

Commands

Create a Draft

# Simple draft
drafts create "Meeting notes for Monday"

# With tags
drafts create "Shopping list" -t groceries -t todo

# Flagged draft
drafts create "Urgent reminder" -f

# Create in archive
drafts create "Reference note" -a

# Raw JSON payload
drafts create --input '{"content":"Agent-safe input","tags":["ai","cli"]}'

List Drafts

# List inbox (default)
drafts list

# List archived drafts
drafts list -f archive

# List trashed drafts
drafts list -f trash

# List all drafts
drafts list -f all

# Filter by tag
drafts list -t mytag

# Search by content
drafts list -s "search term"

# Filter by workspace
drafts list -w "My Workspace"

# Combine filters
drafts list -f inbox -t work -s "meeting"

# Reduce response size (default is already 20)
drafts list --limit 5

# Include full content and coordinates
drafts list --full -t work

Get a Draft

# Get specific draft
drafts get <uuid>

# Get active draft (currently open in Drafts)
drafts get

Returns full draft metadata including: uuid, content, title, tags, folder, flagged status, dates, location coordinates, and permalink.

Modify Drafts

# Prepend text
drafts prepend "New first line" -u <uuid>

# Append text
drafts append "Added at the end" -u <uuid>

# Replace entire content
drafts replace "Completely new content" -u <uuid>

Flag / Unflag Drafts

# Flag a draft
drafts flag <uuid>

# Flag active draft
drafts flag

# Unflag a draft
drafts unflag <uuid>

# Unflag active draft
drafts unflag

Workspaces

# Show current workspace
drafts workspace

# List all workspaces
drafts workspace --list

# Open a workspace
drafts workspace --open Ideas

Actions

# List all actions
drafts actions

# Filter actions by substring
drafts actions -s Copy

Edit in Editor

drafts edit <uuid>

Run Actions

# Run action on text
drafts run "Copy" "Text to copy to clipboard"

# Run action on existing draft
drafts run "Copy" -u <uuid>

# Raw JSON payload
drafts run --input '{"action":"Copy","uuid":"<uuid>"}'

Get Schema

# Full schema for LLM integration
drafts schema

# Schema for specific command
drafts schema create

Environment Info

# Basic info (version, app status, counts)
drafts info

# Verbose (includes actions, tags, workspaces)
drafts info --verbose

# Test permissions
drafts info --test-permissions

Self-Upgrade

drafts upgrade

Output Format

JSON (default) - All commands return structured JSON:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "uuid": "ABC123",
    "content": "Note content",
    "title": "Note title",
    "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
    "folder": "inbox",
    "isFlagged": false,
    "isArchived": false,
    "isTrashed": false,
    "createdAt": "2026-01-29 10:00:00",
    "modifiedAt": "2026-01-29 10:30:00",
    "createdLatitude": 37.7749,
    "createdLongitude": -122.4194,
    "modifiedLatitude": 37.7749,
    "modifiedLongitude": -122.4194,
    "permalink": "drafts://open?uuid=ABC123"
  }
}

For drafts list, the default JSON omits content and location fields unless you pass --full.

Plain text - Human-readable output:

drafts list --plain

Common Workflows

Quick Capture

drafts create "Remember to call dentist tomorrow" -t reminder

Daily Journal

drafts append "$(date): Completed project review" -u <journal-uuid>

Search and Review

# Search draft content
drafts list -s "project alpha"

# List all drafts with a specific tag
drafts list -t work

# Get full content of a draft
drafts get <uuid>

Flag Important Items

# Flag a draft for attention
drafts flag <uuid>

# List flagged drafts
drafts list -f flagged

Workspace Filtering

# See current workspace
drafts workspace

# List drafts from a specific workspace
drafts list -w "Work Projects"

Troubleshooting

Commands fail or return empty:

1. Is Drafts running? → open -a Drafts
2. Is Drafts Pro active? → Automation requires Pro
3. Permissions granted? → System Settings > Privacy > Automation

Commands hang:

• Check if Drafts is showing a dialog

Notes

• macOS ONLY (AppleScript-based)
• Drafts app MUST be running
• Requires Drafts Pro subscription
• All UUIDs are Drafts-generated identifiers
• Tags are case-sensitive
• Drafts AppleScript does not expose syntax/language grammar, so this CLI does not surface a syntax command

Version

v2.1.0