simplenote-mcp

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives any MCP-compatible AI tool access to your Simplenote data — read by default, with opt-in write tools (create, update, trash, restore, revert) when you run simplenote-mcp setup with write mode enabled.

On macOS, it can read directly from the local Simplenote desktop app's Core Data store — fully offline, no auth. On Linux and Windows (and on macOS without the desktop app), it talks to the Simperium HTTP API after a one-time simplenote-mcp setup.

Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (Copilot), Zed, Cline, Windsurf, and anything else that speaks MCP.

Quick start

Run setup once:

npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp setup

On macOS with the Simplenote desktop app installed and synced, setup detects the local database and asks whether to use it. Accepting that option is fully offline and read-only. On Linux, Windows, or macOS without the desktop app, setup prompts for your Simplenote email, sends an auth code, then asks for the code and whether to enable write mode.

Then register the server with your MCP client.

Claude Code:

claude mcp add simplenote -- npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp

Codex:

codex mcp add simplenote -- npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp

For Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, Cline, and Windsurf, see Configuration below — these clients are configured by editing a JSON file rather than a CLI command.

Restart the client and ask it to list your tags.

Requirements

• Node.js 22+

• One of:

  • macOS: the Simplenote desktop app installed and synced, or

  • Any platform: a Simplenote account (you'll run simplenote-mcp setup once)

Install

Most users don't need to install anything manually — npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp in the MCP config does it on first use.

If you prefer a global install (faster startup, no cold-cache download on first use):

npm install -g @automattic/simplenote-mcp

Then reference simplenote-mcp directly as the command in your MCP config.

Setup and Authentication

Run setup once to create config.json. Native macOS setup does not require Simplenote authentication; API setup does.

One-time setup

npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp setup

If a local macOS Simplenote database is detected, setup offers to use it and writes config.json with source: "local".

Otherwise, setup checks for an existing token in auth.json. If one is already stored, setup reuses it and only asks whether to enable write mode. If no token is stored, setup prompts for your Simplenote email, sends a magic-link email containing a short auth code, prompts for the code, and then asks whether to enable write mode. On success, it writes config.json and stores the token with mode 0600 in auth.json.

config.json and telemetry.json live in the same simplenote-mcp config directory.

To remove the stored token:

npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp logout

Headless / CI

Skip auth.json by exporting the token directly:

SIMPLENOTE_TOKEN=<token> npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp

The env var bypasses auth.json.

SIMPLENOTE_TOKEN does not bypass config.json; the server still needs config to know whether to use the local store or the API provider. For headless environments, create config.json in the same platform-specific config directory listed above:

{
  "source": "api",
  "writeMode": false
}

Set writeMode to true only when you want write tools exposed.

Token lifetime

Magic-link tokens appear sticky per user (requesting a new code often returns the same token until invalidated server-side). No expiry has been observed in normal use; treat any 401 from the Simperium API as "remove the old token and run setup again." There is no automatic refresh — magic-link auth requires user interaction. The authentication endpoint is rate-limited (repeated failures lock the IP out for ~10 minutes), so don't script repeated attempts.

Configuration

Clients with a CLI (Claude Code, Codex) can register the server with one command — see below. Everything else is JSON: all MCP clients converge on the same { command, args, env } shape, and only the config file location and the top-level key (mcpServers vs. servers vs. context_servers) differ between them.

Claude Code

Recommended:

claude mcp add simplenote -- npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp

Or edit ~/.claude.json / project .mcp.json with the same JSON shape as Claude Desktop below.

Codex

Recommended:

codex mcp add simplenote -- npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp

Or edit ~/.codex/config.toml directly:

[mcp_servers.simplenote]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@automattic/simplenote-mcp"]

Claude Desktop

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "simplenote": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@automattic/simplenote-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Run npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp setup once in a terminal before starting the client.

Restart Claude Desktop to pick up config changes. See Windows notes below for Windows-specific quirks.

Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per-project). Same JSON shape as Claude Desktop.

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

User config via Command Palette → "MCP: Open User Configuration", or per-project .vscode/mcp.json. Note: VS Code uses servers at the top level, not mcpServers.

{
  "servers": {
    "simplenote": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@automattic/simplenote-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Zed

In Zed's settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "simplenote": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@automattic/simplenote-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Zed uses a different schema — context_servers with a nested command object.

Cline

Open the Cline MCP Servers panel → edit cline_mcp_settings.json. Same JSON shape as Claude Desktop (mcpServers top-level key).

Windsurf

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json. Same JSON shape as Claude Desktop.

Custom store path (macOS)

If your local Simplenote data is not at the default path:

1. Open Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G, paste ~/Library/Group Containers/

2. Look for a folder starting with com.automattic.SimplenoteMac (typically prefixed like PZYM8XX95Q.)

3. Navigate to Data/Simplenote.storedata

Then pass --path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "simplenote": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@automattic/simplenote-mcp",
        "--path",
        "/path/to/Simplenote.storedata"
      ]
    }
  }
}

--path always forces the native provider, even if a token is configured.

Other flags

• -h, --help — print usage and exit.

• -V, --version — print version and exit.

Unknown flags and unexpected positional arguments are rejected. This prevents silent typos like --paht from being ignored and falling back to whatever provider is configured in config.json.

Telemetry

Simplenote MCP sends anonymous usage events to Automattic. A random UUID is stored in telemetry.json under the same config directory as config.json and is sent as _ui with _ut=simplenote:local_uuid.

Tracked events are limited to setup choices (type, OS family, write mode, and auth method for API setup) and tool calls (tool, provider, success/failure). Note IDs, note content, tags, search queries, Simplenote account details, and tokens are never sent.

To opt out for one run, set:

SIMPLENOTE_MCP_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp

To persistently opt out:

npx @automattic/simplenote-mcp disable-telemetry

When running from a local checkout after building, node server.js disable-telemetry works too.

Provider resolution

The server chooses a data source from config.json, except when --path is provided:

1. --path <file> — forces the native macOS provider against the given store file

2. source: "local" — uses the default macOS Simplenote store, read-only

3. source: "api" plus auth.json or SIMPLENOTE_TOKEN — uses the Simperium API provider

4. Missing or malformed config — exits with an actionable simplenote-mcp setup message

Run simplenote-mcp setup to create or replace the config. A token alone is not enough to select the API provider.

Available tools

The basic read tools are available for whichever provider is configured. Native macOS mode is local and read-only. Write tools and version-history tools require the Simperium API provider; in the current server they are exposed when API write mode is enabled.

list_tags

List all tags in your Simplenote account.

Parameters: None

Returns: Array of {name, index} sorted by index

list_notes

List recent notes, optionally filtered by tag.

Parameters:

• tag (string, optional) — filter by tag name

• limit (number, optional, default: 20, max: 100) — max notes to return

• include_deleted (boolean, optional, default: false) — include trashed notes

Returns: Array of {id, title, tags, pinned, modified, deleted} sorted by pinned status then modification date

search_notes

Search notes by content, title, or tags.

Parameters:

• query (string, required) — search term (case-insensitive)

• limit (number, optional, default: 10, max: 100) — max results

• include_deleted (boolean, optional, default: false) — include deleted notes

Returns: Array of {id, title, tags, snippet, modified, deleted}

get_note

Get the full content of a specific note.

Parameters:

• id (string, required) — note ID (simperiumkey)

• include_deleted (boolean, optional, default: false) — allow retrieving deleted notes

Returns: {id, content, tags, pinned, markdown, deleted, created, modified}

create_note

Create a new note. Write tool — requires write mode enabled in simplenote-mcp setup and the Simperium API provider.

Parameters:

• content (string, required) — note content (first line becomes title)

• tags (array of strings, optional) — tags to attach

• markdown (boolean, optional, default: true) — enable markdown rendering

• pinned (boolean, optional, default: false) — pin to top of list

Returns: {success, id, version, title}

update_note

Update an existing note. Write tool — requires write mode and the Simperium API provider.

Important: content and tags replace the existing values in full. When changing only part of a note, call get_note first and pass the merged content back. A partial value will erase the rest.

Parameters:

• id (string, required) — note ID

• content (string, optional) — new note content

• tags (array of strings, optional) — replace the tag list (provide the full list)

• markdown (boolean, optional) — enable/disable markdown rendering

• pinned (boolean, optional) — pin/unpin

At least one of content, tags, markdown, or pinned must be provided.

Returns: {success, id, version}

trash_note

Soft-delete a note (move to Simplenote trash). The note stays in the bucket and can be restored from any Simplenote client. Write tool — requires write mode and the Simperium API provider.

Parameters:

• id (string, required) — note ID

Returns: {success, id, title, trashed_at}

restore_note

Restore a previously-trashed note so it reappears in active lists. Inverse of trash_note. Write tool — requires write mode and the Simperium API provider.

Parameters:

• id (string, required) — note ID

Returns: {success, id, title, restored_at}

get_note_history

List recent versions of a note with short content previews. Read-only operation; requires the Simperium API provider with write mode enabled in the current server.

Parameters:

• id (string, required) — note ID

• limit (number, optional, default: 10, max: 25) — max versions to return

Returns: {id, current_version, entries: [{version, modified_at, content_preview}]} sorted current-first. Versions outside Simperium's retention window are silently dropped — non-contiguous version numbers signal the gap.

get_note_version

Get the full content of a specific historical version of a note. Read-only operation; requires the Simperium API provider with write mode enabled in the current server. Use to preview content before calling revert_note.

Parameters:

• id (string, required) — note ID

• version (number, required) — version number (positive integer)

Returns: {id, version, content, tags, pinned, markdown, deleted, created, modified}. Throws version_not_found if the version is outside Simperium's retention window.

revert_note

Restore a note to a prior version. Counts toward the write-rate budget. Bypasses the trashed-note guard — reverting to a non-trashed version will un-trash; reverting to a trashed version will re-trash.

Recommended flow: get_note_history → get_note_version (to preview) → revert_note.

Parameters:

• id (string, required) — note ID

• version (number, required) — target version to restore (positive integer)

Returns: {success, id, reverted_from_version, new_version, no_op}. no_op: true means the target version was identical to current — no write was performed and no rate-budget consumed.

Requires write-mode enabled in simplenote-mcp setup. Retention is determined by Simperium and not configurable from the client.

Example usage

Once configured, you can ask your AI client things like:

• "List my Simplenote tags"

• "Show my recent notes"

• "Search my notes for 'recipe'"

• "Show notes tagged 'ideas'"

• "Get the full content of note [id]"

• "Show me the version history of [note title]"

• "Show me what version 42 of that note looked like"

• "Revert that note to the previous version"

Write tools (create, update, trash, restore, revert) are off by default and only available with the Simperium API provider. Run simplenote-mcp setup and opt in to enable them. Native macOS data is cached in memory and refreshed when the store file changes; Simperium API responses are cached for 60 seconds, with stale-cache fallback if the API is briefly unreachable.

Windows notes

A few Windows-specific quirks worth knowing:

• Wrap npx in cmd /c for Claude Desktop. Its child-process launcher doesn't always find npx.cmd on PATH otherwise:

  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "simplenote": {
        "command": "cmd",
        "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@automattic/simplenote-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }

• Claude Desktop %APPDATA% expansion can silently fail in some versions. If the server can't find its config dir, set APPDATA explicitly in the env block:

  "env": {
    "APPDATA": "C:\\Users\\<you>\\AppData\\Roaming"
  }

• Paths with backslashes in JSON must be escaped ("C:\\Users\\..."). Forward slashes also work ("C:/Users/...") and are less error-prone.

Troubleshooting

"No configuration found. Run simplenote-mcp setup..." Run npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp setup once before starting your MCP client.

"Not logged in. Run simplenote-mcp setup..." You're on the Simperium API path without a token. Run npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp setup in a terminal.

"Token rejected." The token may have been invalidated server-side. Run npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp logout, then npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp setup.

Tools list empty / "Simplenote store not found" On macOS the default path is ~/Library/Group Containers/PZYM8XX95Q.com.automattic.SimplenoteMac/Data/Simplenote.storedata. If your store lives elsewhere, pass --path. If you don't have the desktop app, switch to the API path with simplenote-mcp setup.

First tool call is very slow npx -y downloads the package on first use. On slow networks this can exceed the MCP client's startup timeout (~10s). Either wait for it to warm up, or install globally once: npm install -g @automattic/simplenote-mcp and change "command": "npx" to "command": "simplenote-mcp" (drop the args).

"command not found: npx" / "spawn npx ENOENT" on Windows See the cmd /c wrapping in Windows notes.

Setup emails aren't arriving Check spam. The authentication endpoint is rate-limited — multiple failures in quick succession will lock the IP out for ~10 minutes. Wait, then try again.

Everything looks fine but data seems stale Simperium responses are cached for 60 seconds; the native macOS provider refreshes when the store file's mtime changes. Wait a minute, or restart the MCP client to force a re-fetch.

Development

Source lives in src/, compiled output in dist/.

git clone https://github.com/Automattic/simplenote-mcp.git
cd simplenote-mcp
npm install          # installs deps + builds via `prepare`
npm test             # runs the test suite
npm run typecheck    # tsc --noEmit
npm run build        # tsc + chmod +x on the bin

Testing locally with MCP Inspector

MCP Inspector gives you a browser UI for an MCP server — it lists the tools, prompts, and resources the server exposes, lets you call them with arbitrary arguments, and prints the raw JSON-RPC on both sides. Useful when you want to exercise a code change without wiring the server into a real client.

Run against the local build:

npm run build
npm run inspect

Open the URL it prints and click Connect.

Run from source without rebuilding (fastest iteration — uses tsx):

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx tsx src/server.ts

Test the published npm package (exactly what users get):

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx -y @automattic/simplenote-mcp

Pick a provider explicitly:

• Force the native macOS provider against a custom store (overrides config):

  npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/server.js --path /path/to/Simplenote.storedata

• Use the Simperium API provider — requires simplenote-mcp setup to have been run with API mode selected first, which writes a config with source: 'api' and an auth.json token. Inspector then picks the API provider automatically. To use a different token for the session, export SIMPLENOTE_TOKEN before launching Inspector (overrides auth.json), or paste it into the Inspector UI's Environment Variables panel.

Inspector spawns the server as a subprocess over stdio, so anything that works in a real MCP client config works here — including --path, env vars, and alternate Node binaries.

Testing locally with Claude Code

The repo includes a project-scoped .mcp.json that registers the local source as a server named simplenote-dev. When you open Claude Code in the repo directory, it offers to enable that server (you'll be prompted for permission the first time, since the file is committed). Once enabled, your Claude Code session in this directory talks to your in-progress code via node --import tsx src/server.ts — no build step needed.

Workflow:

1. Run npm install so tsx is available, and simplenote-mcp setup once if you haven't already; the dev server reads the same config.json/auth.json as a normal install.

2. Open Claude Code in the repo dir and approve simplenote-dev when prompted.

3. Edit src/, save, then in Claude Code run /mcp and reconnect simplenote-dev to pick up the change.

Project scope means the dev server only attaches in this directory — it doesn't pollute Claude Code sessions elsewhere on your machine.

Heads-up: if your config.json has writeMode: true, the dev server mutates your real Simplenote notes — there's no isolation between dev and prod data. Either run setup with write mode disabled while iterating, or test against a throwaway Simplenote account.

server.js at the repo root is a thin shim that imports dist/server.js, kept stable for users who wired up configs pointing at the local clone before the npm package existed.

License

MIT