Bear FAQs

Question 1

How does it allow AI to interact with Bear Notes without an official API?

Accepted Answer

It employs a clever hybrid strategy: reading directly from Bear's SQLite database for speed, writing through Bear's x-callback-url scheme for reliability, and utilizing AppleScript UI automation for locking/unlocking notes.

Question 2

What note management tasks can AI assistants perform using this tool?

Accepted Answer

AI can search notes by text and tags, read full content, create new notes with specified details, append or prepend text to existing notes, replace content, trash notes, list recent items, and toggle a note's read-only (lock) status.

Question 3

Are there any specific setup requirements for the note locking feature?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the `bear_lock` function, which toggles a note's read-only status, requires Bear to be running and needs macOS Accessibility permissions granted in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility, as it uses UI automation.

Question 4

What is Bear Notes AI (bear-mcp)?

Accepted Answer

Bear Notes AI is an MCP server that empowers AI assistants like Claude to fully interact with your Bear Notes on macOS, enabling comprehensive note management including searching, reading, creating, editing, and locking.

Question 5

Can AI automatically add tags to my Bear Notes?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it provides a workaround for Bear's broken `add-tags` URL action by writing inline `#tags` directly into the note body. Bear then automatically recognizes and applies these tags, including nested ones like #project/docs.

Bear

Bear

Key Features

Use Cases

Key Features

Use Cases