@creator-notes/cli

CLI for CreatorNotes — create notes, build canvases, search knowledge, and manage workspaces from the terminal.

Works as a standalone CLI (cn) and as an MCP server (cn-mcp) for AI assistants like Claude.

Quick Start

One command sets everything up — auth, workspace, Claude Code skill, and (optionally) a global cn shortcut:

npx @creator-notes/cli@latest init

The wizard opens your browser to sign in (the only manual step), then offers to install the Claude Code skill and cn globally so future calls are instant.

After init:

cn notes list            # Browse your notes
cn notes create --markdown-file ./note.md --type "Meeting"
cn search semantic "onboarding flow"

Prefer to install globally up front? npm install -g @creator-notes/cli && cn init works too.

Commands

| Command | Alias | Description | |---------|-------|-------------| | cn init | | Interactive setup wizard | | cn auth login | | Authenticate via browser or API token | | cn notes list\|get\|create\|update\|delete | cn n | Manage notes | | cn notes bulk-create | | Create multiple interlinked notes atomically | | cn notes bulk-retype | | Retype multiple notes to a new type | | cn versions list\|create | cn v | Note version history | | cn canvas list\|get\|create\|delete | cn c | Manage canvases | | cn canvas place | | Declarative layout — server packs items with no overlap | | cn canvas add-node\|add-text\|add-richtext\|add-list\|add-link | | Add a single node at explicit --x/--y | | cn canvas bulk-add\|bulk-move\|bulk-remove | | Bulk canvas operations — requires explicit coordinates | | cn canvas from-template | | Create canvas from template | | cn search semantic | cn s | Semantic search across notes | | cn timeline | cn tl | Recent activity feed | | cn relationships list | cn rel | Note relationships | | cn types list\|create\|update | cn t | Manage note types (supertags) | | cn memory query\|facts\|entities | cn mem | Query workspace knowledge | | cn workspace list\|select\|current | | Workspace management | | cn config get-server\|set-server | | CLI configuration | | cn mcp setup | | Print MCP server config for Claude |

Global Flags

--json              Output raw JSON (for piping / scripting)
-q, --quiet         Minimal output (IDs only)
-w, --workspace <id>   Override active workspace
--server <url>         Override server URL

Authentication

# Browser-based OAuth (recommended)
cn auth login

# API token (CI / non-interactive)
cn auth login --token <key>

# Check session
cn auth status

Notes

# Create from markdown file
cn notes create --markdown-file ./standup.md --title "Daily Standup" --type "Meeting"

# Create with tags
cn notes create --markdown "Quick idea" --type "Insight" --tags "ux,onboarding"

# List with filters
cn notes list --type Meeting --pinned --limit 10

# Get by display ID
cn notes get MEETING-42

# Update metadata
cn notes update MEETING-42 --pin --tags "important,q2"

Bulk Retype

Change the type of multiple notes at once:

cn notes bulk-retype --ids '["NOTE-1","NOTE-3","NOTE-5"]' --type Insight --json

Content Updates

Content and metadata are separate operations:

# Update content -> create a new version
cn versions create MEETING-42 --description "Added action items" --markdown-file ./updated.md

# Update metadata (title, tags, pin, archive)
cn notes update MEETING-42 --title "New Title"

Canvas

Values in <angle-brackets> are placeholders — replace them with real IDs from your workspace.

# Create a canvas
cn canvas create "Sprint Review"

# Place items with a declarative layout (preferred — no x/y math)
cn canvas place <canvasId> --spec ./layout.json

# Add nodes with explicit coordinates (escape hatch — pixel-perfect templates only)
cn canvas bulk-add <canvasId> --notes '[{"noteId":"NOTE-1","x":100,"y":100},{"noteId":"NOTE-2","x":500,"y":100}]'
cn canvas add-edge <canvasId> --source <nodeId> --target <nodeId> --label "blocks"

# Create from template
cn canvas from-template sprint-retrospective --populate

Available templates: sprint-retrospective, swot-analysis, kanban-board, feature-prioritization, meeting-notes, product-roadmap

Declarative layout (cn canvas place)

Most of the time you shouldn't be computing pixel coordinates by hand — agents and humans alike are bad at it. cn canvas place takes a layout document that describes structure (rows, columns, what's anchored to what) and the server measures every item, packs them with no overlaps, and inserts them in a single batch. The call is best-effort: per-item failures are reported in the response (HTTP 207) but successful items stay on the canvas.

Four building blocks:

• stack — items flow along one axis (vertical or horizontal), like CSS flexbox
• grid — N columns, items wrap to new rows, like CSS grid auto-flow
• anchor — place a sub-tree relative to an existing canvas node
• item — a leaf: note, text, richtext, list, or canvas (link)

Example — a richtext header above a 3-column grid of notes:

{
  "root": {
    "kind": "stack", "axis": "vertical", "gap": "medium",
    "items": [
      { "kind": "item", "type": "richtext",
        "content": "# Goals\nQ2 commitments.", "size": "medium" },
      { "kind": "grid", "columns": 3, "gap": "tight",
        "items": [
          { "kind": "item", "type": "note", "noteId": "GOAL-1" },
          { "kind": "item", "type": "note", "noteId": "GOAL-2" },
          { "kind": "item", "type": "note", "noteId": "GOAL-3" }
        ] }
    ]
  }
}

cn canvas place <canvasId> --spec ./goals.json --json

gap accepts "tight", "medium", "spacious", or a raw pixel number. Edges between items can be added with a top-level "edges" array referencing item key fields. See skills/cn/SKILL.md for the full DSL reference and more examples.

AI Integration

Claude Code (recommended)

The simplest path: run npx @creator-notes/cli@latest init and accept the "Install the Claude Code skill?" prompt. The wizard copies the skill into ~/.claude/skills/cn/SKILL.md so every Claude Code session learns the full cn command reference automatically.

After that, Claude will use cn whenever you ask about notes, canvases, or workspace tasks — no further setup.

Claude Desktop (MCP Server)

Add CreatorNotes as a tool server so Claude Desktop can read and write your notes directly.

1. Authenticate and select a workspace:

cn init

2. Generate the MCP config:

cn mcp setup --json

3. Copy the output into your Claude Desktop config file:

| OS | Config path | |----|-------------| | macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json | | Windows | %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json | | Linux | ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json |

The output looks like this — merge it into your existing config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cn": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/dist/mcp-server.js"],
      "env": {
        "CN_SERVER": "https://creatornotes.app",
        "CN_TOKEN": "<your-token>",
        "CN_WORKSPACE": "<your-workspace-id>"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Restart Claude Desktop. The cn tools will appear in the tool picker.

Manual Skill Install

cn init installs the user-level skill (~/.claude/skills/cn/SKILL.md) for you. If you want to scope the skill to a single project instead:

mkdir -p .claude/skills/cn
cp $(npm root -g)/@creator-notes/cli/skills/cn/SKILL.md .claude/skills/cn/SKILL.md

Scripting

# Chain commands with quiet mode
NOTE_ID=$(cn notes create --markdown "Quick note" --type "Note" -q)
cn canvas add-node <canvasId> --note "$NOTE_ID"

# JSON output for parsing
cn notes list --json | jq '.[0].displayId'

# Bulk create interlinked notes with @key placeholders
cn notes bulk-create --notes '[
  {"key":"A","title":"Problem","type":"PainPoint","markdownFile":"./problem.md"},
  {"key":"B","title":"Solution","type":"Insight","markdownFile":"./solution.md"}
]' --json

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18
• A CreatorNotes account

License

MIT