Bear Notes
Create, tag, search, and append Bear notes from the terminal with grizzly so agent sessions capture specs and decisions in your existing note system.
Overview
bear-notes is an agent skill most often used in Build (also Validate research notes, Grow content) that creates and manages Bear notes via the grizzly CLI on macOS.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/steipete/clawdis --skill bear-notesWhat is this skill?
- Create notes with pipes: `grizzly create --title --tag`
- Open, read, and append with token-backed `add-text` and `open-note --json`
- Lists tags and supports Bear API token in `~/.config/grizzly/token`
- macOS-only; requires Bear app installed (and running for grizzly)
- Install path documented via `go install` module github.com/tylerwince/grizzly
Adoption & trust: 1.8k installs on skills.sh; 378k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You want your agent to log decisions and specs in Bear without manual copy-paste between the IDE and the notes app.
Who is it for?
Solo macOS builders who already organize product thinking in Bear and want CLI/agent automation via grizzly.
Skip if: Windows or Linux users, teams on Notion/Obsidian-only stacks, or environments without the Bear app and grizzly binary.
When should I use this skill?
Create, search, and manage Bear notes via grizzly CLI on macOS when Bear is installed.
What do I get? / Deliverables
Notes are created, opened, tagged, or appended via grizzly commands so your Bear library stays in sync with agent work.
- Created or updated Bear notes with titles and tags
- JSON or text content retrieved from notes by ID
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Documentation capture during implementation is the canonical shelf; the same grizzly commands also support validate notes and grow content archives. Bear notes act as living docs—titles, tags, open-by-id, and append modes map directly to docs and knowledge upkeep while you build.
Where it fits
Create a tagged Bear note summarizing MVP scope right after a sizing conversation.
Append implementation notes to an existing spec note ID after each agent coding slice.
Open and extend a Bear note draft before publishing a changelog or blog post.
How it compares
Terminal bridge to Bear—not a markdown doc generator or full PM suite.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is bear-notes for?
Indie developers on macOS who keep specs and logs in Bear and want Claude/Cursor agents to read and write notes through grizzly.
When should I use bear-notes?
While validating ideas into tagged notes, documenting build decisions, or archiving launch/growth writeups—anytime you need create, search, open, or append in Bear from an agent session.
Is bear-notes safe to install?
It uses local Bear API tokens stored on disk; review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and treat `~/.config/grizzly/token` like any secret.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Bear Notes
# Bear Notes Use `grizzly` to create, read, and manage notes in Bear on macOS. Requirements - Bear app installed and running - For some operations (add-text, tags, open-note --selected), a Bear app token (stored in `~/.config/grizzly/token`) ## Getting a Bear Token For operations that require a token (add-text, tags, open-note --selected), you need an authentication token: 1. Open Bear -> Help -> API Token -> Copy Token 2. Save it: `echo "YOUR_TOKEN" > ~/.config/grizzly/token` ## Common Commands Create a note ```bash echo "Note content here" | grizzly create --title "My Note" --tag work grizzly create --title "Quick Note" --tag inbox < /dev/null ``` Open/read a note by ID ```bash grizzly open-note --id "NOTE_ID" --enable-callback --json ``` Append text to a note ```bash echo "Additional content" | grizzly add-text --id "NOTE_ID" --mode append --token-file ~/.config/grizzly/token ``` List all tags ```bash grizzly tags --enable-callback --json --token-file ~/.config/grizzly/token ``` Search notes (via open-tag) ```bash grizzly open-tag --name "work" --enable-callback --json ``` ## Options Common flags: - `--dry-run` - Preview the URL without executing - `--print-url` - Show the x-callback-url - `--enable-callback` - Wait for Bear's response (needed for reading data) - `--json` - Output as JSON (when using callbacks) - `--token-file PATH` - Path to Bear API token file ## Configuration Grizzly reads config from (in priority order): 1. CLI flags 2. Environment variables (`GRIZZLY_TOKEN_FILE`, `GRIZZLY_CALLBACK_URL`, `GRIZZLY_TIMEOUT`) 3. `.grizzly.toml` in current directory 4. `~/.config/grizzly/config.toml` Example `~/.config/grizzly/config.toml`: ```toml token_file = "~/.config/grizzly/token" callback_url = "http://127.0.0.1:42123/success" timeout = "5s" ``` ## Notes - Bear must be running for commands to work - Note IDs are Bear's internal identifiers (visible in note info or via callbacks) - Use `--enable-callback` when you need to read data back from Bear - Some operations require a valid token (add-text, tags, open-note --selected)