Bear Notes
Provides comprehensive access to Bear notes using a hybrid sync-safe approach - direct database reads for performance and Bear's official API for writes, enabling natural language note management, search, organization, and analysis while maintaining
What is Bear Notes?
Bear Notes is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to provides comprehensive access to bear notes using a hybrid sync-safe approach - direct database reads for performance and bear's official api for writes, enabling natural language note management, sea...
Provides comprehensive access to Bear notes using a hybrid sync-safe approach - direct database reads for performance and Bear's official API for writes, enabling natural language note management, search, organization, and analysis while maintaining
This server falls under the Knowledge & Memory category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- Provides comprehensive access to Bear notes using a hybrid s
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx bear-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Bear Notes
Bear MCP Server gives AI assistants direct access to the Bear note-taking app on macOS using a hybrid approach: it reads notes efficiently via direct SQLite database queries and writes through Bear's official x-callback-url API to ensure sync safety and data integrity. This enables Claude and other models to search notes, create and edit content, manage tags, find untagged or todo notes, and analyze your knowledge base through natural language — all while Bear remains the authoritative source of truth.
Prerequisites
- macOS with Bear note-taking app installed and at least one note created (Bear uses a local SQLite database)
- uv package manager installed (curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh)
- A Bear API token obtained from Bear Preferences > API > Enable Bear API Token
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop or Goose
Obtain your Bear API token
Open Bear on macOS, go to Help > API Token > Copy Token. This token is required to authenticate write operations via Bear's x-callback-url scheme.
Install the Bear MCP server using uvx
The server is installed and run with uvx, which handles dependencies automatically. Replace YOUR_TOKEN with the token copied from Bear.
uvx --from git+https://github.com/jkawamoto/mcp-bear mcp-bear --token YOUR_TOKENConfigure Claude Desktop
Add the Bear MCP server to your Claude Desktop configuration file. The token can be passed as a command argument or set as the BEAR_API_TOKEN environment variable.
{
"mcpServers": {
"bear": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"--from", "git+https://github.com/jkawamoto/mcp-bear",
"mcp-bear",
"--token", "YOUR_BEAR_API_TOKEN"
]
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop
Quit and reopen Claude Desktop to pick up the new Bear MCP server. On first run, uvx will download and install the server package automatically.
Verify access by searching your notes
Ask Claude to search your Bear notes for a keyword you know exists to confirm the server is reading your database correctly.
Bear Notes Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the Bear MCP server, running via uvx directly from the GitHub repository.
{
"mcpServers": {
"bear": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"--from", "git+https://github.com/jkawamoto/mcp-bear",
"mcp-bear",
"--token", "YOUR_BEAR_API_TOKEN"
]
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts that use the Bear MCP server to manage and analyze your notes.
- "Search my Bear notes for everything related to project planning"
- "Show me all notes tagged with #work that I created this week"
- "Create a new Bear note titled 'Meeting Notes 2026-06-14' with the following content..."
- "Find all notes that have unchecked todo items"
- "List all the tags I'm using in Bear and how many notes each tag has"
- "Show me notes I haven't tagged yet so I can organize them"Troubleshooting Bear Notes
Server fails to read notes with a 'database locked' or permission error
Bear's SQLite database is at ~/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite. Make sure Bear is running (the database file only exists while Bear is open) and that your terminal/Claude Desktop has Full Disk Access granted in macOS System Settings > Privacy & Security.
Write operations (create note, add text) do nothing or return errors
Verify the Bear API token is correct — open Bear > Help > API Token and compare it to the --token argument in your config. The x-callback-url scheme requires Bear to be the active/open application on macOS.
uvx command not found when starting the server
Install uv by running: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh — then restart your terminal and Claude Desktop. The uvx binary is bundled with uv and handles all Python dependency installation automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bear Notes
What is Bear Notes?
Bear Notes is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides comprehensive access to bear notes using a hybrid sync-safe approach - direct database reads for performance and bear's official api for writes, enabling natural language note management, search, organization, and analysis while maintaining It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Bear Notes?
Follow the installation instructions on the Bear Notes GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Bear Notes?
Bear Notes works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Bear Notes free to use?
Yes, Bear Notes is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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