bear_list_notes

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• mcp-server/src/tools.ts:9-51 (registration)

  The 'bear_list_notes' tool is defined in the tools registry map along with its schema, description, and the buildArgs function that constructs CLI args for the 'bcli' executable.

  export const tools: Record<string, ToolHandler> = {
    bear_list_notes: {
      tool: {
        name: "bear_list_notes",
        description:
          "List Bear notes with optional tag filtering. Returns an array of notes with IDs, titles, tags, pin status, and modification dates. Each note includes two tag fields: 'tags' mirrors Bear's CloudKit index verbatim (includes ancestor expansions — a note tagged #parent/child will show both 'parent' and 'parent/child'); 'attached_tags' shows only leaf tags (the most-specific tag on each branch). Notes with 'locked: true' are private/encrypted in Bear and their body content is not searchable — if a search returns no results, check whether the relevant note is locked. Use bear_get_note to read the full content of a specific note.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object" as const,
          properties: {
            tag: {
              type: "string",
              description: "Filter notes by tag (partial match)",
            },
            include_archived: {
              type: "boolean",
              description: "Include archived notes in results",
            },
            include_trashed: {
              type: "boolean",
              description: "Include trashed notes in results",
            },
            limit: {
              type: "number",
              description:
                "Maximum number of notes to return (default 30)",
            },
          },
        },
        annotations: {
          readOnlyHint: true,
          destructiveHint: false,
          idempotentHint: true,
        },
      },
      buildArgs: (input) => {
        const args = ["ls", "--json"];
        if (input.tag) args.push("--tag", String(input.tag));
        if (input.include_archived) args.push("--archived");
        if (input.include_trashed) args.push("--trashed");
        if (input.limit) args.push("--limit", String(input.limit));
        return args;
      },
    },

• mcp-server/src/tools.ts:15-36 (schema)

  Input schema for bear_list_notes defining four optional parameters: tag (string), include_archived (boolean), include_trashed (boolean), and limit (number).

  inputSchema: {
    type: "object" as const,
    properties: {
      tag: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Filter notes by tag (partial match)",
      },
      include_archived: {
        type: "boolean",
        description: "Include archived notes in results",
      },
      include_trashed: {
        type: "boolean",
        description: "Include trashed notes in results",
      },
      limit: {
        type: "number",
        description:
          "Maximum number of notes to return (default 30)",
      },
    },
  },

• mcp-server/src/index.ts:81-90 (handler)

  The handler logic in index.ts dispatches tool calls: it calls the tool's buildArgs to get CLI arguments, then executes the 'bcli' CLI tool via execBcliWithReauth. For bear_list_notes, buildArgs returns ['ls', '--json', ...] and the result (JSON) is parsed and returned.

  const args = handler.buildArgs(params);
  let result: { stdout: string; stderr: string };
  
  // Check if this tool needs stdin piping
  const stdinData = handler.usesStdin?.(params) ?? null;
  if (stdinData !== null) {
    result = await execBcliWithStdinAndReauth(args, stdinData);
  } else {
    result = await execBcliWithReauth(args);
  }

• mcp-server/src/index.ts:29-31 (registration)

  The MCP server registers all tools (including bear_list_notes) via ListToolsRequestSchema and handles calls via CallToolRequestSchema, looking up the tool by name in the tools map.

  server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => ({
    tools: Object.values(tools).map((t) => t.tool),
  }));