https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app
Use Alfred to quickly open notes in iCloud/Apple Notes. Written in Go and designed for speed.
https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app
alfred apple-notes icloud-notes notational-velocity notes-app
Last synced: about 1 month ago
JSON representation
Use Alfred to quickly open notes in iCloud/Apple Notes. Written in Go and designed for speed.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app
- Owner: sballin
- License: mit
- Created: 2018-07-25T14:00:05.000Z (almost 7 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2025-01-15T10:55:42.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-01-15T12:45:18.580Z (4 months ago)
- Topics: alfred, apple-notes, icloud-notes, notational-velocity, notes-app
- Language: Go
- Homepage: https://www.alfredforum.com/topic/11716-search-appleicloud-notes/
- Size: 414 KB
- Stars: 542
- Watchers: 17
- Forks: 24
- Open Issues: 8
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Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE.txt
Awesome Lists containing this project
- alfred-workflows - Search Notes App - Use Alfred to quickly open notes in iCloud/Apple Notes. (Utility)
README
# Search Notes.app with Alfred
This is an Alfred workflow to find and open Apple/iCloud notes in Notes.app! It's written in Go and designed to be ripping fast, even for very large Notes databases, can search everything including note and attachment contents, and supports accented characters and non-Latin scripts.
* Download the latest version: [[github]](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/releases/latest/download/Search.Notes.alfredworkflow)
* Instructions to fix permissions issues: [[github]](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app?tab=readme-ov-file#troubleshooting)
* View additional issues and get help: [[github]](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/issues?q=is%3Aissue)
* Support me maintaining this thing and keeping the binary verified: [[patreon]](https://www.patreon.com/sballin)
Privacy note: this workflow uses a Go binary to search your Notes database. The binary is [open source](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/blob/master/search_notes/main.go) with [instructions](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file#compile) on how to compile it yourself. For extra peace of mind, consider supporting me on [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/sballin) so that the binary can be regularly verified for malicious content by Apple ($99/year Apple Developer Program membership required).
### Search titles or create a new note if none was found
### Search note titles and bodies
### Search folder names
### Result actions
* **enter** to open the note/folder or create a new note if none was found
* **shift+enter** to search for your Alfred query using the Notes in-app search
* **cmd+enter** to copy the note body to the clipboard
* **alt+enter** to copy a link to the note to the clipboard
### Note linking
You can generate links to any of your notes and use them on macOS or iOS. Copy the note URL by pressing alt+enter on an Alfred result or paste it using the snippet. This will generate two links. The first one works on macOS Big Sur (11) and newer, and the second one works on iOS.
## Install
Download the [latest version](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/releases/latest/download/Search.Notes.alfredworkflow) of the workflow if you're on the latest macOS with Alfred >= 4. For older versions of macOS, you may need to use [older versions](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/releases) of the workflow.
### Required setup
1. Try searching for a note
2. If a warning dialog appears (see image below), click "Cancel" rather than "Move to Trash". Then open System Preferences > Security & Privacy and click the "Open Anyway" button near the bottom
4. Approve additional requests for permission as they appear
5. If there are any other issues, please follow the advice under [troubleshooting](#troubleshooting), if present, is enabled
### Troubleshooting
If the script produces an error, especially after installing updates to macOS, try turning the permissions below off and on again. Please look through [common issues](https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/issues?q=) before submitting a new one.
__The most common issue `panic: unable to open database file: operation not permitted` is fixed by turning full disk access for Alfred off and on again.__
### Email notes are not supported
This workflow doesn't support notes stored with Google or other internet accounts. Please make sure either iCloud or On My Mac is selected as the default account in the preferences of Notes.app.
## Customize search behavior
Result ordering and title+folder search behavior can be controlled using the [environment variables](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/advanced/variables/#environment).
## Updates
By default, the workflow checks Github for updates if you run it and it's been 4 days since the last check. This can be disabled by removing the connections to the OneUpdater block in the workflow.
## Compile
If you want to compile the binary yourself, you can go into the "search_notes" folder and do `make`.
## Contributors
Big thanks to...
* All who have submitted pull requests
* drgrib for allowing me to build off the [alfred-bear](https://github.com/drgrib/alfred-bear) workflow
* threeplanetssoftware for the [apple_cloud_notes_parser](https://github.com/threeplanetssoftware/apple_cloud_notes_parser) from which I copied the protobuf handling
* [lslz627](https://github.com/lslz627) for help with protobuf and tables
* [Artem Chistyakov](https://temochka.com/blog/posts/2020/02/22/linking-to-apple-notes.html) for a much improved way to create links to notes
* [vitorgalvao](https://github.com/vitorgalvao) for the OneUpdater code
## Donate
If you enjoy using this workflow, consider [donating](http://paypal.me/sbballin)!