About better-bear
better-bear is an MCP server and CLI for Bear notes that reads and writes notes through CloudKit. It suits users who want Claude to work with their Bear library.
Key features
- 01Bear note access via CloudKit
- 0234 MCP tools
- 03Note search, creation and editing
- 04Tag and attachment management
- 05Synced context library folder
Use cases
- 01Letting Claude search and organise Bear notes
- 02Syncing #context-tagged notes into a folder for retrieval
- 03Managing notes in bulk from the command line
MCP support
better-bear provides 34 MCP tools to Claude Desktop and Claude Code, covering notes, tags, TODOs, attachments and the context library.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
Tools
35Saved tool list · updated 2w ago
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| tag | string | No | Filter notes by tag (partial match) |
| limit | number | No | Maximum number of notes to return (default 30) |
| include_trashed | boolean | No | Include trashed notes in results |
| include_archived | boolean | No | Include archived notes in results |
Details
From the project READMEbetter bear
MCP server and CLI for Bear notes via CloudKit. Includes a context library — a curated, synced folder of notes optimized for LLM consumption, inspired by Karpathy's LLM Knowledge Base pattern.
Full docs: better-bear.com
Install
Install the CLI, then connect to Claude:
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KuvopLLC/better-bear/main/install.sh | bash
bcli auth
bcli mcp install
This installs the bcli binary, authenticates with iCloud, and sets up the MCP server for both Claude Desktop (via .mcpb bundle) and Claude Code.
Other install methods
| Method | Command |
|---|---|
| Claude Desktop only | bcli mcp install --desktop-only |
| Claude Code only | bcli mcp install --code-only |
| Claude Code (direct) | claude mcp add better-bear -- npx -y better-bear |
| Config file | bcli mcp install --json |
| .mcpb bundle | Download from latest release and double-click |
Manage
bcli mcp status # check what's configured
bcli mcp uninstall # remove from Claude Desktop and Claude Code
bcli mcp reinstall # clean uninstall + install
bcli upgrade # upgrade bcli binary
CLI
All commands also work standalone from the terminal:
bcli ls # list notes
bcli search "query" # full-text search
bcli create "Title" -b "Body" # create a note
bcli edit <id> --append "text" # append to a note
bcli tags # list all tags
bcli attach <id> photo.jpg # attach a file
bcli stats # library statistics
bcli health # health check
See better-bear.com for the full command reference.
Context Library
Turn a subset of your Bear notes into a synced, curated context folder that Claude can navigate using index-first retrieval. Tag notes with #context in Bear, sync, and Claude reads a compact index to find relevant files — loading only what it needs, not everything.
bcli context init # one-time setup
bcli context sync # pull qualifying notes
bcli context add <id> --subtag research # tag a note for inclusion
bcli context status # health check
Or tell Claude: "Set up a context library" — and it handles everything via MCP tools.
The architecture follows Karpathy's three-folder pattern: bear/ (synced from CloudKit), external/ (PDFs, exports, shared docs), and inbox/ (drop zone for triage). An index.md manifest maps everything. See better-bear.com for full documentation.
MCP Tools
34 tools covering notes, tags, TODOs, attachments, search, front matter, stats, health checks, and the context library. See the MCP server README for the full list.
Contributors
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