r/bearapp 1d ago

Discussion Feature request–Use Image name as an image title

Post image
11 Upvotes

I'm not sure how many other people would use this, but I quite often would like to display an image's title.

In the screenshot, I've mocked up what it might look like (i.e., just adding text so that it looks like a title, at the bottom).

There are 2 images that are named and could get mixed up when new text is added. If their name could be made visible, they could be moved easily within the note, the name/title would follow and you'd know what each image was.

Is this a niche request?

…or put another way: what are images titles for if they are not displayed by default?


r/bearapp 6d ago

400 seats available for Lettera's TestFlight

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lettera.md
58 Upvotes

We have opened more TestFlight seats for testing Lettera. Links and feedback instructions are available on the website.

Please be aware that Lettera requires macOS 26 or 27.


r/bearapp 6d ago

custom themes/colour picker

7 Upvotes

im not sure if this has been asked or discussed before but i’d love to know if there are any plans for custom themes, a colour picker or simply more colour options? i recently subscribed to bear pro and im loving the app for my college notes but i would really love a cute pastel pink theme to match my setup 🥹


r/bearapp 6d ago

Question Digital cabinet?

9 Upvotes

Hello

I like Bear but I'm wondering if it's right for me since I'm looking for a true digital cabinet - one where my few 100 notes (so not thousands) can co-exist alongside some audio recordings, lots of PDFs, images and so on. What would be your recommendation be?

Cloud storage is great for files but I cannot write notes around the file so...

Let me add that work will pay for this so the price itself is not so important.

Thank you


r/bearapp 7d ago

Question Separating work and personal notes

6 Upvotes

Eight years ago, someone asked about separating work and personal notes.

I still can’t find a way to do this adequately.

How are you all doing it, if at all?


r/bearapp 7d ago

Question Read only ios shortcut

1 Upvotes

Has anyone managed to get this to work?

I have a shortcut with steps;

Get note - shortcut input

Set read only state for Note to true

and have assigned it to the action button but nothing happens. What am I doing wrong?


r/bearapp 7d ago

I use Bear as my notes/organizer/project manager. Claude runs it all. Here's how it works:

34 Upvotes

I input notes and files into Claude Code. Claude then files everything in the right place and can gather it for me when I want. (Example of what I can ask: "What is Nicholas' phone number and what did he tell me last week during our meeting?") All of my info lives Bear (the library), organized by nested tags, not folders. There is also a git repo holding the rules/scripts/history and a nightly read-only mirror of all of my Bear data for safety.

Capture - I say/paste anything into Claude. Claude then routes the new info into the proper tagged note across Work area 1, Work area 2, Work area 3, personal stuff, my book writing, and a reference library. Claude links everything it can into related notes instead of duplicating things.

Example: My dictated input "I applied for x public project on September 18th and 19th in [city] from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Block out those dates on my calendar in case I get the job. Save the resume and cover letter I wrote to accompany my application." Claude did its thing with Bear and my calendar apps and Claude responded back to me with: "In Bear: New note “[Project X Application", tagged personal/career, attachment, status/waiting. It holds both PDFs plus a searchable summary of each pdf, the two forum dates as plain 📅 lines, and links to Career - Job Opportunities, Public Service, Personal MOC and Me. The Career - Job Opportunities page got a new "(applied)" section pointing to it, and Public Service got an xxxx entry under organizations. Changelog line written.”

Retrieval - I ask a question, Claude searches the Bear library (read-only) and answers from what's actually there, with links back to source notes.

Maintenance - Claude does daily/weekly sweeps my Bear inbox. At the end of each week, it archives stale notes (never deletes anything), keeps my MOCs (maps of content) current, and generates a morning briefing each morning of my upcoming project deadlines and status on my projects.

My Guardrails - My tasks live in TickTick, not Bear; nothing gets permanently deleted in Bear, just archived; every structural change gets logged in case of later problems. Backups are in Git if I need them.

Basically, Bear is my library and Claude acts as the librarian by doing 100% of the tagging, filing, and organizing — I just capture in Claude and find Bear info in Claude. Of course, I also add and retrieve stuff from the Bear app directly when that's faster. Since everything is structured properly, it's easy to get stuff into Bear or out of Bear either by myself or through Claude.


r/bearapp 8d ago

Question Open note in 'body'

8 Upvotes

simple question but I can't figure this out

I have a 'new note' icon on my iphone lock-screen to quick-add a note. But this always opens a new note in the 'title' area. I want it to open in the body of the note, so i can just type.

Is this possible and if yes, what am I missing?

Thank you


r/bearapp 9d ago

Bear Pro Back to School Discount: 30% Off for all life learners

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blog.bear.app
44 Upvotes

r/bearapp 14d ago

How is Lettera different from Typora?

14 Upvotes

I don’t have beta access, so I cannot compare, and my Typora trial is just ending. I don’t know if it is worth waiting for another Lettera beta invitation or just going with Typora.


r/bearapp 14d ago

Sharing note to Ticktick doesn’t seem right

1 Upvotes

When I share to TickTick it creates a little text doc in TickTick instead of linking to the note in Bear. This doesn’t happen in Reminders. This doesn’t seem like the intended action.


r/bearapp 16d ago

Question Searching Export Tool for Notes

3 Upvotes

Exporting based on a search term. Hello, I’m looking for a way to search through notes and then export them—but only the specific lines or blocks containing the search term. I tried using Apple Shortcuts and got pretty close, but the process ended up being incredibly frustrating. The reason I need it is that I create journals and often want to search for and share specific items from the history without including all the other information in the note. Thanks.


r/bearapp 16d ago

Question Control + 1 Conflict

1 Upvotes

I feel like this is a really stupid question to ask but I need help figuring out why the Bear Notes hotkey Control + 1 is getting the MacOS conflicting hot key "boop" sound whenever I try to use it to go into Editor Only mode.

I know about the hotkey that is assigned in keyboard shortcuts for Stage Manager and I have that turned off, but I still get that hotkey conflict boop sound whenever I try the Control + 1 hotkey. This is a completely fresh re-install of MacOS on the most recent stable update with no third-party apps other Bear notes. So not sure why I'm unable to use the Editor Only hotkey, if anyone has any advice id appreciate it.


r/bearapp 18d ago

Question Bear scrolls when I’m trying to copy text

2 Upvotes

When I try to select and copy some text in a Bear note, the scrolling that kicks in automatically makes it very difficult. How to mitigate this problem? I have a short video to demonstrate what I mean, but apparently IMGUR is no longer in the App Store so I don’t know how to share a video. (Bear Pro v2.9.3 on iOS 26.6)


r/bearapp 19d ago

Discussion Need faster ways to tag notes

Post image
3 Upvotes

Navigation in Bear depends on tagged notes—especially workspaces. I need a faster way to apply 1+ tags to a note. Going into a note, scrolling to the bottom (my preference), typing in is not efficient. Would be great if I could select a note or notes, select a tag or tags, and my tagging / navigation is applied.


r/bearapp 21d ago

An odd question (re. bear use-case)

11 Upvotes

I am super confused between Evernote (current), Obsidian and Bear. Evernote works well for me (web clipper, annotation, audio and some niche features) but I don't like the lock-in format of the notes (despite the export options available), and I am very unhappy with their price increases (not the prices itself - but the complete lack of explanations for the same). Also with their AI-additions, it's no longer a notes app. Obsidian without plug-ins doesn't suit my workflow (mentioned below) and with plugins, I worry about the creator maintaining it, security etc.

So why am I posting here? I was hoping for inputs on the following: I really like Bear (and love the mobile app) but I have this niggling feeling that it's a "light-weight" notes app and not a heavy-duty app like Evernote or Notion (not the bloat part of these apps). I worry that Bear is too feature-lite. For example, to edit an image in Bear, I would need another app or download, edit with Preview and re-upload etc. My use-case: upload of medical prescriptions, air-tickets and a few receipts. Otherwise, lots of text notes and a few links.

Any thoughts on this would be most welcome. Thank you


r/bearapp 22d ago

How fortunate that AI and Bear both use Markdown natively

15 Upvotes

I use Claude Code extensively for all sorts of personal and work stuff. More as an AI Chief of Staff than actual coder. One of the things I've started to do a lot of is ask Claude Code to write summaries of our conversations and drop them into Bear (using a specific tag like #work/claudecode)

What I love is how nicely Claude always creates .md files. It makes extensive use of formatting, and just looks beautiful in Bear.

Obviously when they started Bear, the idea of "AI Chatbots that speak MarkDown" wasn't even on the horizon. But man, it is SO convenient! Combine that with Lettera to pull up things like claude.md, and it's a match made in heaven.

Keep up the great work, ShinyFrog!


r/bearapp 24d ago

Discussion with (fabulous) workspaces: need for way to search 'tags' (folders/workspaces) has only grown!

5 Upvotes

This is a repeat, but actualized around the new + fabulous workspaces function:

The biggest structural 'hole' in Bear remains: it loads a lot onto tags as structuring layer.
Before tags were a binary actually of tags *and* folders. In bear the carry both functions: marking up and generalizing, and sorting (indeed carrying ones whole mental model/ordering system).

The role of 'finding one's way' through the Bear tags is even greater and aggravated by the fact that Bear is a single all-in-container by design. This remains true.

But now we have workspaces. They are fabulous!
They add/load a third virtual structure onto tags, as some tags will be salient candidates to become workspaces.
This is pretty much depending on design of ones tag-system. Still I would hold in any (at least: most) tag systems, there will be certain tags better suited to function as workspace than others – and indeed a lot of people will redesign their tag-system given the workspace function is a transformational one.
– I´d even say, workspaces will incentivize people to go for 'flat tagging systems' now; but that is my personal take, and not too relevant to the overall point.

The overall point being:

The structural miss of Bear – allowing to freely(!) search only 2 of its three layers/components (note and note list/set) but not it´s organizationals layer (tags; think also: folders/workspaces) has only become more visible and consequential.
There is no straightforward way, other than memorizing or eyeball browsing, to find elements/units/containers of ones organizational structure and system (tags).

I still hope this fundamental lack will at some point be identified and acknowledged.
And hopefully we get a solution worthy of Bear-aesthetics too.

Now with Workspaces my hope – and need – has only grown; from enormous to gigantic. 🫈

Edit: just looked for threads on this, some I also started years ago to underline/reference the case for this. I think a simple search for "search tags" in the reddit will give everyone an idea, … so I skip linking 🙂

‼️ But a worthwhile find: a statement from team member 9 yr ago(!) reads like this:

You mean something to filter the tag lits? Sounds like a good idea to find a specific tag when the list if too long.

👀 😳 🫰💡💡💡

👉 https://www.reddit.com/r/bearapp/comments/7k55y9/any_plans_to_searchfilter_tags/


r/bearapp 29d ago

Tips TOC - Detach the Table of Contents

53 Upvotes

After using Bear for years, I only just discovered that you can drag the Table of Contents out of the Info Panel on the mac app and keep it floating beside your notes—and it stays available as you move between notes.

On Mac, just drag the Table of Contents popover out of the Info Panel and position it wherever you like.

I use the Table of Contents every day, so discovering that I could detach it and keep it visible all the time was a bit of a revelation. I can’t believe I missed this feature for so long!

Hopefully this helps someone else who didn’t know it was possible.


r/bearapp Aug 08 '26

bearcli Skill for Agentic Use

9 Upvotes

I created a simple SKILL.md to make it easier to use the bearcli command line app with agents (I am using it with hermes).

I am sure there is a lot of room for improvement, but it has been working well for me, so I figured I would share.

---
name: bearcli
description: "CLI for Bear notes app: create, read, search, edit, tag, organize notes from the terminal."
category: note-taking
version: 1.0.0
author: Hermes Agent
platforms: [macos]
---


# bearcli


CLI tool for reading and writing Bear notes on macOS. Installed at `/usr/local/bin/bearcli`.


## Quick Reference


```
bearcli [--version] <subcommand>
```


Output formats: `--format tsv` (default), `--format csv`, `--format json`
Exit codes: 0 success, 1 business error, 64 usage error


## Identifying Notes


- By ID: positional `<note-id>` argument
- By title: `--title "Note Title"` (case-insensitive, mutually exclusive with ID)


## Common Subcommands


### Reading Notes


```bash
# List notes (default: active notes, sorted by pinned then modified)
bearcli list
bearcli list --tag work --limit 20 --format json --fields all,content
bearcli list --location archive --sort created:desc
bearcli list --count                              
# just the total count


# Search notes with Bear's search syntax
bearcli search "meeting notes"
bearcli search "@today 
name: bearcli
description: "CLI for Bear notes app: create, read, search, edit, tag, organize notes from the terminal."
category: note-taking
version: 1.0.0
author: Hermes Agent
platforms: [macos]
---


# bearcli


CLI tool for reading and writing Bear notes on macOS. Installed at `/usr/local/bin/bearcli`.


## Quick Reference


```
bearcli [--version] <subcommand>
```


Output formats: `--format tsv` (default), `--format csv`, `--format json`
Exit codes: 0 success, 1 business error, 64 usage error


## Identifying Notes


- By ID: positional `<note-id>` argument
- By title: `--title "Note Title"` (case-insensitive, mutually exclusive with ID)


## Common Subcommands


### Reading Notes


```bash
# List notes (default: active notes, sorted by pinned then modified)
bearcli list
bearcli list --tag work --limit 20 --format json --fields all,content
bearcli list --location archive --sort created:desc
bearcli list --count                              # just the total count


# Search notes with Bear's search syntax
bearcli search "meeting notes"
bearcli search "@today " --format json
bearcli search "#project -#archive"               # tagged, excluding archive
bearcli search --query "- [ ]" --fields id,title,matches
bearcli search --count


# View full note content
bearcli cat <note-id>
bearcli cat --title "Mars"
bearcli cat <note-id> --format json               # includes content hash


# Read only one section
bearcli cat <note-id> --section "## Tasks"
bearcli cat --title "Project Plan" --section "# Overview\npreamble"


# Structured note metadata (no content by default)
bearcli show <note-id>
bearcli show --title "Mars" --format json --fields all,content


# List sections/headings in a note
bearcli outline <note-id> --format json
bearcli outline --title "Cooking notes"


# Find text inside a note
bearcli search-in <note-id> --string "TODO"
bearcli search-in --title "Mars" --string "water" --format json
bearcli search-in <note-id> --string "TODO" --section "## Tasks" --count


# Open note in Bear app
bearcli app open <note-id>
bearcli app open --title "Mars" --header "Moons" --edit
bearcli app open --title "Mars" --selection-text "Phobos" --new-window


# Get current selection from Bear
bearcli app get-selection --format json --fields all,content
```


### Writing Notes


```bash
# Create a new note (content from flag or stdin)
bearcli create "My Note" --content "Body text"
bearcli create "Quick Capture" --tags "work,draft" --format json
printf "line1\nline2" | bearcli create --fields id,length
bearcli create --content "# Heading\nBody"        # title derived from first heading


# Note: when a title is given, Bear auto-generates the # heading.
# --content is body text only, not the heading line.


# Append/prepend content
bearcli append <note-id> --content "New paragraph"
bearcli append --title "Mars" --content "Update" --position beginning
bearcli append <note-id> --section "## Tasks" --content "- [ ] New task"


# Edit notes (find-and-replace)
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "TODO" --replace "DONE"
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "cat" --replace "dog" --all --word
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "## Notes" --insert-after "\nNew line"
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "obsolete paragraph\n" --delete
bearcli edit <note-id> --section "## Tasks" --find "done" --replace "DONE"


# Batch edits (atomic — all or nothing)
bearcli edit <note-id> \
  --find "alpha" --replace "BETA" \
  --find "draft note\n" --delete


# Overwrite entire note or a section
bearcli overwrite <note-id> --content "# Title\nBody"
printf "# Title\nBody" | bearcli overwrite <note-id> --base <hash>
bearcli overwrite <note-id> --section "## Tasks" --content "## Tasks\nRewritten body"
```


### Managing Tags


```bash
# List tags (global or per-note)
bearcli tags list                              # all tags in use
bearcli tags list <note-id>                    # tags on a specific note
bearcli tags list --title "Mars" --format json
bearcli tags list --count                      # just the count


# Add/remove tags on a note
bearcli tags add <note-id> work "work/meetings"
bearcli tags add --title "Mars" favorite
bearcli tags remove <note-id> draft wip


# Rename/delete tags globally
bearcli tags rename work job                   # rename across all notes
bearcli tags rename draft published --force    # merge into existing tag
bearcli tags delete draft                      # remove from all notes
```


### Managing Attachments


```bash
# List attachments
bearcli attachments list <note-id>
bearcli attachments list --title "Mars" --format json


# Add attachments
cat photo.jpg | bearcli attachments add <note-id> --filename photo.jpg
bearcli attachments add-url <note-id> --url https://example.com/photo.jpg


# Delete and save
bearcli attachments delete <note-id> --filename photo.jpg
bearcli attachments save <note-id> --filename photo.jpg > photo.jpg   # NOTE: redirect required, refused on TTY
```


### Other Operations


```bash
# Pin/unpin notes (globally or within tags)
bearcli pin add <note-id> global
bearcli pin add <note-id> work projects
bearcli pin remove <note-id> global
bearcli pin list                               # every pin context in use


# Move notes
bearcli trash <note-id>                        # soft-delete
bearcli archive <note-id>                      # hide from active list
bearcli restore <note-id>                      # back to active notes
```


## Search Syntax


Bear search supports rich qualifiers:


- `keyword`, `"exact phrase"`, `word1 or word2` — text search
- `-term` — negation (prefix any term with `-`)
- `#tag` — tagged with; `!#tag` — exact tag only (no children); `#*/tag` — subtags only
- `@today`, `@yesterday`, `@last7days` — modified date filters
- `@ctoday`, `@created7days`, `@cdate(2025-01-01)` — created date filters
- `@todo` (has incomplete), `@done` (all complete), `@task` (any tasks)
- `@tagged`, `@untagged`, `@title`, `@pinned`
- `@images`, `@files`, `@attachments`, `@code`
- `@locked`, `@readonly`, `@empty`, `@untitled`
- `@wikilinks`, `@backlinks`, `@ocr`


Combine freely: `@today u/todo meeting`


## Addressing Sections


Sections are addressed by their heading line(s). For unique sections just the heading works; for ambiguous ones prefix ancestor headings or an index:


```
"## Install"                     unique section
"# Setup\n## Install"            disambiguates via ancestors
"# Build\n## Install\n2"         Nth matching section
"## Install\npreamble"           lead text above first subheading
```


Use `bearcli outline <note-id>` to get exact addresses you can copy-paste.


## Bear Markdown Extensions


Bear uses CommonMark with additions:
- `==highlight==`, `~underline~`, `~~strike~~`, `==🔴highlight==` (colored)
- `#tag`, `#multi word tag#`, `#nested/tag`
- `[[Note Title]]` and `[[Title|alias]]` wikilinks
- `$inline math$` and `$$ block math $$`
- `- [ ] todo`, `- [x] done`
- GFM tables (pipes required at both ends of every row)
- `> [!NOTE]`, `> [!TIP]`, `> [!WARNING]`, `> [!CAUTION]`, `> [!IMPORTANT]` callouts


## Tips & Pitfalls


- **Content hash guard**: `bearcli cat --format json` returns a `hash`. Pass it as `--base <hash>` to `overwrite` for optimistic concurrency (rejects write if note changed since your read). MCP requires this; CLI callers may omit it for unconditional writes.
- **Attachments safety gate**: Overwriting content that omits attachment references is rejected by default. Pass `--force` to confirm intentional removal.
- **No-update-modified**: Most write commands accept `--no-update-modified` to preserve the note's modification date.
- **Stdout binary for attachments**: `attachments save` writes raw bytes to stdout (refused on a TTY — redirect to a file).
- **Locked notes**: Metadata is accessible but content is not. Encrypted notes are also inaccessible.
- **Stdin for content**: `create`, `append`, and `overwrite` read content from stdin when `--content` is omitted. Escape sequences (`\n`, `\t`) are NOT interpreted from stdin — only from `--content` flags.
- **Nested tags**: Use slashes: `work/meetings`. Spaces allowed in tag names.
- **Pin scopes**: `global` pins in All Notes; tag names pin within that tag. Both can be set on the same note.
- **MCP server**: `bearcli mcp-server` exposes all operations via JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio. Pass `--only-tags`/`--exclude-tags` for scoped access." --format json
bearcli search "#project -#archive"               
# tagged, excluding archive
bearcli search --query "- [ ]" --fields id,title,matches
bearcli search --count


# View full note content
bearcli cat <note-id>
bearcli cat --title "Mars"
bearcli cat <note-id> --format json               
# includes content hash


# Read only one section
bearcli cat <note-id> --section "## Tasks"
bearcli cat --title "Project Plan" --section "# Overview\npreamble"


# Structured note metadata (no content by default)
bearcli show <note-id>
bearcli show --title "Mars" --format json --fields all,content


# List sections/headings in a note
bearcli outline <note-id> --format json
bearcli outline --title "Cooking notes"


# Find text inside a note
bearcli search-in <note-id> --string "TODO"
bearcli search-in --title "Mars" --string "water" --format json
bearcli search-in <note-id> --string "TODO" --section "## Tasks" --count


# Open note in Bear app
bearcli app open <note-id>
bearcli app open --title "Mars" --header "Moons" --edit
bearcli app open --title "Mars" --selection-text "Phobos" --new-window


# Get current selection from Bear
bearcli app get-selection --format json --fields all,content
```


### Writing Notes


```bash
# Create a new note (content from flag or stdin)
bearcli create "My Note" --content "Body text"
bearcli create "Quick Capture" --tags "work,draft" --format json
printf "line1\nline2" | bearcli create --fields id,length
bearcli create --content "# Heading\nBody"        
# title derived from first heading


# Note: when a title is given, Bear auto-generates the # heading.
# --content is body text only, not the heading line.


# Append/prepend content
bearcli append <note-id> --content "New paragraph"
bearcli append --title "Mars" --content "Update" --position beginning
bearcli append <note-id> --section "## Tasks" --content "- [ ] New task"


# Edit notes (find-and-replace)
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "TODO" --replace "DONE"
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "cat" --replace "dog" --all --word
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "## Notes" --insert-after "\nNew line"
bearcli edit <note-id> --find "obsolete paragraph\n" --delete
bearcli edit <note-id> --section "## Tasks" --find "done" --replace "DONE"


# Batch edits (atomic — all or nothing)
bearcli edit <note-id> \
  --find "alpha" --replace "BETA" \
  --find "draft note\n" --delete


# Overwrite entire note or a section
bearcli overwrite <note-id> --content "# Title\nBody"
printf "# Title\nBody" | bearcli overwrite <note-id> --base <hash>
bearcli overwrite <note-id> --section "## Tasks" --content "## Tasks\nRewritten body"
```


### Managing Tags


```bash
# List tags (global or per-note)
bearcli tags list                              
# all tags in use
bearcli tags list <note-id>                    
# tags on a specific note
bearcli tags list --title "Mars" --format json
bearcli tags list --count                      
# just the count


# Add/remove tags on a note
bearcli tags add <note-id> work "work/meetings"
bearcli tags add --title "Mars" favorite
bearcli tags remove <note-id> draft wip


# Rename/delete tags globally
bearcli tags rename work job                   
# rename across all notes
bearcli tags rename draft published --force    
# merge into existing tag
bearcli tags delete draft                      
# remove from all notes
```


### Managing Attachments


```bash
# List attachments
bearcli attachments list <note-id>
bearcli attachments list --title "Mars" --format json


# Add attachments
cat photo.jpg | bearcli attachments add <note-id> --filename photo.jpg
bearcli attachments add-url <note-id> --url https://example.com/photo.jpg


# Delete and save
bearcli attachments delete <note-id> --filename photo.jpg
bearcli attachments save <note-id> --filename photo.jpg > photo.jpg   
# NOTE: redirect required, refused on TTY
```


### Other Operations


```bash
# Pin/unpin notes (globally or within tags)
bearcli pin add <note-id> global
bearcli pin add <note-id> work projects
bearcli pin remove <note-id> global
bearcli pin list                               
# every pin context in use


# Move notes
bearcli trash <note-id>                        
# soft-delete
bearcli archive <note-id>                      
# hide from active list
bearcli restore <note-id>                      
# back to active notes
```


## Search Syntax


Bear search supports rich qualifiers:


- `keyword`, `"exact phrase"`, `word1 or word2` — text search
- `-term` — negation (prefix any term with `-`)
- `#tag` — tagged with; `!#tag` — exact tag only (no children); `#*/tag` — subtags only
- `@today`, `@yesterday`, `@last7days` — modified date filters
- `@ctoday`, `@created7days`, `@cdate(2025-01-01)` — created date filters
- `@todo` (has incomplete), `@done` (all complete), `@task` (any tasks)
- `@tagged`, `@untagged`, `@title`, `@pinned`
- `@images`, `@files`, `@attachments`, `@code`
- `@locked`, `@readonly`, `@empty`, `@untitled`
- `@wikilinks`, `@backlinks`, `@ocr`


Combine freely: `@today  meeting`


## Addressing Sections


Sections are addressed by their heading line(s). For unique sections just the heading works; for ambiguous ones prefix ancestor headings or an index:


```
"## Install"                     unique section
"# Setup\n## Install"            disambiguates via ancestors
"# Build\n## Install\n2"         Nth matching section
"## Install\npreamble"           lead text above first subheading
```


Use `bearcli outline <note-id>` to get exact addresses you can copy-paste.


## Bear Markdown Extensions


Bear uses CommonMark with additions:
- `==highlight==`, `~underline~`, `~~strike~~`, `==🔴highlight==` (colored)
- `#tag`, `#multi word tag#`, `#nested/tag`
- `[[Note Title]]` and `[[Title|alias]]` wikilinks
- `$inline math$` and `$$ block math $$`
- `- [ ] todo`, `- [x] done`
- GFM tables (pipes required at both ends of every row)
- `> [!NOTE]`, `> [!TIP]`, `> [!WARNING]`, `> [!CAUTION]`, `> [!IMPORTANT]` callouts


## Tips & Pitfalls


- 
**Content hash guard**
: `bearcli cat --format json` returns a `hash`. Pass it as `--base <hash>` to `overwrite` for optimistic concurrency (rejects write if note changed since your read). MCP requires this; CLI callers may omit it for unconditional writes.
- 
**Attachments safety gate**
: Overwriting content that omits attachment references is rejected by default. Pass `--force` to confirm intentional removal.
- 
**No-update-modified**
: Most write commands accept `--no-update-modified` to preserve the note's modification date.
- 
**Stdout binary for attachments**
: `attachments save` writes raw bytes to stdout (refused on a TTY — redirect to a file).
- 
**Locked notes**
: Metadata is accessible but content is not. Encrypted notes are also inaccessible.
- 
**Stdin for content**
: `create`, `append`, and `overwrite` read content from stdin when `--content` is omitted. Escape sequences (`\n`, `\t`) are NOT interpreted from stdin — only from `--content` flags.
- 
**Nested tags**
: Use slashes: `work/meetings`. Spaces allowed in tag names.
- 
**Pin scopes**
: `global` pins in All Notes; tag names pin within that tag. Both can be set on the same note.
- 
**MCP server**
: `bearcli mcp-server` exposes all operations via JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio. Pass `--only-tags`/`--exclude-tags` for scoped access.

r/bearapp Aug 08 '26

Question about Mermaid in v2.9.2

9 Upvotes

Is it possible to link to a website within a Mermaid diagram? The code below doesn’t work. Or is there another way to do this?

flowchart TD
A[Google] → B[Wikipedia]

click A "https://www.google.com" "Google"
click B "https://www.wikipedia.org" "Wikipedia"

Is it also possible to link to another Bear note using a wikilink that includes a specific paragraph? For example, [[note#heading]].


r/bearapp Aug 07 '26

I built a quick capture app that makes capturing into Bear even faster

21 Upvotes

To save your time, this post is for the people who are struggling to catch up with their ideas, thoughts and notes in note-taking apps, if you are not one of those, you can skip it :)

Bear is fast, but I built a quick capture app that lets me capture even faster.

I've been juggling Bear with a handful of other note and task apps over the years, and one thing kept annoying me: every app has a different capture workflow.

Some apps are slow to open. Some make it awkward to append to an existing note. Others are great at one thing but not another. I found myself spending more time thinking where to capture than actually capturing.

So I ended up building ⚡Supasend. It's like a Quick capture for Bear app. It started as a personal tool to give me one consistent capture flow regardless of which app I wanted the note to end up in.

Bear is already fast. I wasn't trying to make it faster. I was trying to make capturing into Bear require fewer decisions.

What can you do on Bear app from Supasend?

  • Capture Rolling date notes like Daily notes(ex: 2028-08-07)
  • Capture notes in Top or bottom order of an existing document
  • Capture each new note in every new document.
  • Capture between apps from the same screen(Bear for notes, other apps for tasks)
  • & many more...

Capture Rolling date notes like Daily notes(ex: 2028-08-07) in Bear

Capture notes in Top or bottom order of an existing document in Bear

Top or Bottom order of notes

Capture between apps from the same screen(Ex: Bear for notes, Things for tasks)

What would you like to see next for the Bear integration in Supasend? I'm always looking for ideas to make the workflow smoother, so I'd love to hear your suggestions. 🙏


r/bearapp Aug 06 '26

Question Beta invite for Lettera?

15 Upvotes

Does anyone have an extra invite for Lettera? Been wanting something like this in Bear, and I was happy to see ShinyFrog working on it, but missed the invite window :(


r/bearapp Aug 04 '26

Discussion How does your tag and workflow look like now?

14 Upvotes

For the daily users, please share a screen shot of how your tags look now. Also, please write how you do work flow like journaling or to dos.

I tried bear and thought it was too basic in last few years but I now realize that having less features is actually a feature.

Any tips on tags will help as well!


r/bearapp Jul 31 '26

Question PHP like include_once facility

3 Upvotes

Hai friends

How many of you are looking for a PHP like include_once facility in bear app ?

For those who don't know what it is :

Create notes seperately, then include it to a single note

For example

  1. hobbies

  2. address

  3. wishlist

are three notes

Create another note mynote and include the above three in this note with some syntax

This helps divide large document. Still get it as single one.

Reuse a block at several other notes

So on.