enex-io

High-performance parser and generator for Evernote & Apple Notes (.enex) files.

A lightweight Node.js library and CLI tool that reads and writes .enex files — the format used by both Evernote and Apple Notes. Ideal for migrations, backups, and any pipeline that needs to move notes in or out of the Apple / Evernote ecosystem.

Features

• Parse .enex archives into structured JSON objects.
• Generate valid .enex files from JSON, including proper <created> and <updated> timestamps, tags, and HTML content.
• Handles XSS-safe XML escaping for titles and content.
• Dates are converted to and from Evernote's compact UTC format (YYYYMMDDTHHmmssZ) automatically.

Installation

# Install globally for CLI usage
npm install -g enex-io

# Install as a project dependency
npm install enex-io

Usage

CLI

# Parse ENEX → JSON
enex-io to-json my-notes.enex
# Output: my-notes.json

# Generate ENEX from JSON
enex-io to-enex backup.json
# Output: backup.enex

Options:

-o, --output <path>   Specify output file path
-p, --pretty          Pretty-print JSON output (default: true)
--version             Show version number
--help                Show help

API

import { parseEnex, generateEnex } from 'enex-io';
import fs from 'fs';

// 1. Parse ENEX → Note objects
const xml = fs.readFileSync('notes.enex', 'utf-8');
const notes = parseEnex(xml);

console.log(notes[0].title);   // "My Note"
console.log(notes[0].created); // ISO 8601 string
console.log(notes[0].tags);    // ['work', 'ideas']

// 2. Generate ENEX from Note objects
const myNotes = [
  {
    title: "Hello World",
    content: "<div>This is a <b>test</b>.</div>",
    tags: ["personal", "test"],
    created: "2023-10-27T10:00:00.000Z",
    updated: "2023-10-27T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
];

const enex = generateEnex(myNotes, { application: 'MyApp' });
fs.writeFileSync('export.enex', enex);

Type Definition

interface Note {
  title: string;
  content: string;    // HTML content
  tags: string[];
  created: string;    // ISO 8601
  updated: string;    // ISO 8601
  author?: string;
  sourceUrl?: string;
}

interface EnexOptions {
  version?: string;
  application?: string; // Appears in the <en-export> header
}

License

MIT

{ github.com/mgks }