pnote — PromptNote CLI
Manage prompts, notes, and snippets from the terminal or as an AI agent.
Tool preference: Use pnote CLI (Bash) for all operations — it's faster, token-efficient, and composable with grep, jq, pipes. Use mcp__promptnote__* tools as fallback when: (1) pnote is not installed, (2) accessing PIN-protected notes and PNOTE_PIN env is not set (MCP handles PIN transparently via its own config).
Install: npm install -g pnote Auth: pnote auth token <your-pat> (get PAT from PromptNote web app → Settings → API Tokens)
Global Flags (apply to all commands)
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--json | Output as JSON (for scripting / jq) |
--plain | Plain text, no color/formatting |
--no-color | Disable color only |
-p, --pin <pin> | PIN for protected notes (avoid: visible in shell history) |
--pin-stdin | Read PIN from first line of stdin |
-V, --version | Show version |
Auth
pnote auth login # Open browser OAuth login
pnote auth token <pat> # Set PAT directly (pn_xxx format)
pnote auth whoami # Show current user + token info
pnote auth logout # Remove stored credentialsNotes
# List
pnote notes # All active notes
pnote notes --tag "AI/art" # Filter by tag (supports hierarchy)
pnote notes --archived # Show archived notes
pnote notes --pinned # Show only pinned notes
pnote notes --deleted # Show deleted notes
pnote notes --protected # Show only PIN-protected notes
pnote notes --search "query" # Search by title
pnote notes --limit 20 # Limit results (default: 50)
# Read
pnote notes get <id> # Get note + all snippet versions
pnote notes get <id> --latest # Get note + latest snippet only
# Create & manage
pnote notes create "Title" # Create note
pnote notes create "Title" --tags AI/art work # With tags
pnote notes create "Title" --content "..." # With initial snippet
pnote notes update <id> --title "New" # Update title
pnote notes update <id> --tags AI work # Replace all tags
pnote notes archive <id> # Archive note
pnote notes archive <id> --undo # Unarchive note
pnote notes pin <id> # Toggle pin on note
pnote notes delete <id> # Soft delete (goes to trash)
pnote notes delete <id> --force # Skip confirmationSnippets (prompt versions)
pnote notes snippet <note-id> # Show latest snippet content (pipe-friendly)
pnote notes snippet list <note-id> # List all versions
pnote notes snippet copy <note-id> # Copy latest to clipboard
pnote notes snippet copy <note-id> --version 2 # Copy specific version
pnote notes snippet add <note-id> # Add new version from stdin
pnote notes snippet update <snippet-id> # Update snippet from stdin
pnote notes snippet favorite <snippet-id> # Toggle favorite (★)stdin examples:
echo "My prompt text" | pnote notes snippet add <note-id>
cat prompt.txt | pnote notes snippet add <note-id>
pbpaste | pnote notes snippet add <note-id>Tags
pnote tags # List all tags with counts (tree view)
pnote tags --include-archived # Include tags from archived notes
pnote tags rename "old" "new" # Rename tag (also renames children)
pnote tags merge "AI" "ML" --into "AI/ML" # Merge multiple tags into oneTags are hierarchical: AI/art/portrait — filtering by AI matches all children.
Search
pnote search "query" # Search notes + snippets
pnote search "query" --notes-only # Notes only
pnote search "query" --snippets-only # Snippets only
pnote search "query" --limit 10Share
pnote share tags # List shared tags (owned + shared with me)
pnote share tags <shared-tag-id> # View notes in a shared tag
pnote share notes # List your public share links
pnote share notes --include-revoked # Include revoked linksPIN Protection
Protected notes encrypt content server-side. PIN is set in PromptNote app → Settings.
PIN resolution order (CLI):
-p <pin>flag — direct (⚠️ visible in shell history)--pin-stdin— first line of stdinPNOTE_PINenv var — recommended for agents and automation- Session cache — 5-min TTL in
$TMPDIR/pnote-pin-<uid> - Interactive prompt — TTY only; 3 attempts; hidden input
- Fails gracefully — error: "PIN required but not provided. Use -p or set PNOTE_PIN environment variable."
In agent/non-TTY context — step 5 is skipped. Always use PNOTE_PIN:
PNOTE_PIN=1234 pnote notes --protected
PNOTE_PIN=1234 pnote notes get <protected-note-id>
echo "1234" | pnote notes get <id> --pin-stdinCheck PIN status:
pnote pin status # Is PIN configured? N protected notes? Cache valid?
pnote pin list # List protected notes (metadata only, no content)MCP fallback for PIN: If MCP tools are configured with PROMPTNOTE_PIN in claude_desktop_config.json, use mcp__promptnote__* tools instead — PIN is handled transparently.
Agent Skills Sync
Notes with note_type=skill and title skill-name/filename.md are agent skill files.
pnote skills # List skills in cloud
pnote skills pull # Pull all globally (~/.agents/skills/ + symlinks)
pnote skills pull <name> # Pull a specific skill globally
pnote skills pull --project # Pull project-level (.agents/skills/ + .claude/skills/ etc.)
pnote skills pull --project <name> # Pull specific skill project-level
pnote skills pull --dry-run # Preview without writing
pnote skills push <dir> # Upload local skill directory to cloudScope behaviour:
- Global (default): writes to
~/.agents/skills/<name>/, symlinks into~/.claude/skills/,~/.windsurf/skills/,~/.augment/skills/etc. for every agent installed on the system. Layout matchesnpx skillsexactly — the two coexist without conflict. - Project (
--project): same layout but relative to cwd (.agents/skills/,.claude/skills/, etc.). Use when skills should be scoped to a single project. - Custom (
--dir <path>): writes files directly to<path>/<name>/, no symlinks. For manual control.
Scripting & Composability
The CLI's advantage over MCP: composable with Unix tools.
# Get note IDs for a tag, pipe to further processing
pnote notes --tag "AI" --json | jq '.[].id'
# Find all pinned notes containing "GPT"
pnote notes --pinned --json | jq '.[] | select(.title | test("GPT"))'
# Search and get full content of first result
pnote search "prompt" --json | jq -r '.notes[0].id' | xargs pnote notes get
# List protected notes, copy first one's content to clipboard
pnote pin list --json | jq -r '.[0].id' | xargs -I{} bash -c 'PNOTE_PIN=1234 pnote notes snippet {}'
# Bulk: add new snippet to multiple notes
for id in abc123 def456; do echo "updated content" | pnote notes snippet add $id; doneExecute
Run the user's pnote command:
pnote $ARGUMENTS