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Joplin Notes CLI Harness

Lets an agent drive the Joplin note app from the command line: notes, to-dos, tags, search, sync and import/export.

Stars
58,084
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
1 file

What it does

Once installed, the agent can manage your Joplin notebooks, notes, to-dos, tags and attachments by running a command-line tool that talks to the real Joplin terminal app. It can also search, sync, import and export notes, and it returns results in a structured JSON format that is easier for software to read. Multi-step work can be saved to a project file so the history is kept.

Great for

  • Developers or power users who already use Joplin and want an agent to batch-edit or organise notes
  • People who want scripted, repeatable Joplin workflows with JSON output
  • Anyone automating Joplin sync or import/export tasks

Skip it if

  • People who do not have the Joplin terminal app installed, since the skill depends on it
  • Work on notes that cannot be exposed to an automated tool, because commands can change or delete notes and sync may upload data
  • Users expecting search to always work, since some Joplin CLI builds only allow search in GUI mode

Try asking

  • “Create a new note called 'Meeting notes 4 May' in my work notebook and tag it 'project-alpha'”
  • “List all to-dos that are not yet done and mark the ones due this week as complete”
  • “Export my 'Research' notebook to a folder and report what was exported”
  • “Run a Joplin sync against my configured target and show any errors”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Joplin Notes CLI HarnessInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    skills.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip skills.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip skills.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Ask the agent to use --dry-run first for destructive or bulk changes, then run them for real
  • Use a project file (--project) for multi-step tasks, and run 'project save' explicitly when using REPL mode because REPL does not auto-save
  • Back up your Joplin profile before letting the agent run sync, import or delete commands

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from HKUDS/CLI-Anything under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.