Sticky Notes MCP Server

A MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for managing sticky notes. This project provides both an MCP interface and a fully-featured REST API to create, update, delete, search, and manage notes, tags, and sections. It also serves a React-based UI for interacting with your sticky notes.

UI Overview

The Sticky Notes UI provides a modern, intuitive interface for managing your notes:

• Left Sidebar: Filter and organize notes by conversations, tags, colors, and dates
• Main Content: Grid view of notes with markdown rendering and real-time updates
• About Dialog: Access server configuration information (Web URL, WebSocket URL, Database location)
• Theme Support: Toggle between light and dark modes
• Bulk Actions: Select multiple notes for batch operations

Features

• Enhanced WebSocket Support:
  • Real-time note synchronization
  • Robust reconnection strategy
  • Message queuing for offline handling
  • Connection status management
• Server Configuration:
  • About modal with server details
  • Dynamic port assignment
  • Configuration endpoint
• Theme System:
  • Light/dark mode support
  • Theme persistence
  • Dynamic theme switching
• Advanced UI Features:
  • Markdown preview in editor
  • Bulk actions (delete, color, export)
  • Enhanced filtering and sorting
  • Improved pagination
  • Automatic filter reset when deleting last note in a conversation/tag
• MCP Development: Implements MCP protocol endpoints and tool handlers (e.g., create-note, update-note, delete-note, search-notes, list-conversations).
• REST API: Supports full CRUD operations for notes, sections, and tags via Express.
• WebSocket Support: Optional real-time capabilities through a built-in WebSocket server.
• Full-Text Search: Optional SQLite FTS5 for efficient note searches.
• Tag Management: Hierarchical tag system with parent-child relationships and improved tag search capabilities.
• Section Organization: Group notes into customizable sections.
• Color Coding: Support for color-coded notes and bulk color operations.
• Persistency: Uses SQLite (via better-sqlite3) for local storage.
• UI Integration: Serves a React-based user interface from the /public folder.
• Port Scanning: Automatically finds available ports if configured ports are in use.
• Pagination: Client-side pagination with customizable items per page.
• Conversations Management: Enhanced conversation tracking with metadata (total notes, creation date, last update).
• Markdown Support: Full markdown rendering for note content with preview capabilities.
• Advanced Filtering: Combined filtering by tags, conversations, and text search.
• Export Capabilities:
  • Single/multiple note export
  • Markdown format support
  • Custom filename options

Requirements

• Node.js (v16 or later recommended)
• npm (or pnpm)
• SQLite (no additional installation required since it uses better-sqlite3, which bundles SQLite)

Installation & Setup

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://your.repo.url/sticky-notes-server.git
   cd sticky-notes-server

2. Install Dependencies

   npm install

3. Build the Project

   npm run build

4. Run the Server

   npm start

Configuration

The server supports a flexible configuration system with three levels of precedence (highest to lowest):

1. Environment Variables
2. Configuration File
3. Default Values

Environment Variables

• STICKY_NOTES_CONFIG: Path to custom config file location
• DB_ROOT: The root directory for the database file
• DB_PATH: The database file name
• DB_TIMEOUT: Database operation timeout in milliseconds
• DB_VERBOSE: Enable verbose database logging ('true'/'false')
• WEB_UI_PORT: Port for the web UI
• WS_PORT: Port for WebSocket server
• ENABLE_WEBSOCKET: Enable/disable WebSocket support ('true'/'false')
• ENABLE_FTS: Enable/disable full-text search ('true'/'false')

Configuration File

The server looks for a configuration file in the following locations (in order):

1. Path specified in STICKY_NOTES_CONFIG environment variable
2. .sticky-notes.config.json in the current working directory
3. .sticky-notes.config.json in the user's home directory
4. /etc/sticky-notes/config.json (non-Windows systems only)

Example configuration file:

{
    "db": {
        "root": "C:/Users/username/Documents",
        "path": "sticky-notes.db",
        "timeout": 10000,
        "verbose": false
    },
    "server": {
        "webUiPort": 3088,
        "wsPort": 8089
    },
    "features": {
        "enableWebsocket": false,
        "enableFTS": true
    }
}

Default Configuration

If no configuration is provided, the server uses these defaults:

{
    "db": {
        "root": "<user home directory>",
        "path": "sticky-notes.db",
        "timeout": 10000,
        "verbose": false (true in development)
    },
    "server": {
        "webUiPort": 3000,
        "wsPort": 8080
    },
    "features": {
        "enableWebsocket": true,
        "enableFTS": true
    }
}

Port Handling

If a configured port is in use, the server will:

1. Attempt to find the next available port (scanning up to 100 ports higher)
2. Log a message indicating the actual port being used
3. Continue normal operation on the new port

For example, if port 3000 is in use, the server might use 3001 and log:

Web UI running at http://localhost:3001 (original port 3000 was in use)

Running the Server

To start the Sticky Notes MCP Server, run:

npm start

This will:

• Start the MCP server using a standard I/O transport
• Launch an Express web server serving the UI on http://localhost:3000
• Initialize the WebSocket server on port 8080
• Set up the SQLite database with all necessary tables and indexes

Press Ctrl+C to stop the server.

MCP Tools

The server provides several MCP tools for interacting with notes:

create-note

Creates a new note with optional tags.

{
  "name": "create-note",
  "arguments": {
    "title": "Meeting Notes",
    "content": "Discussed Q4 plans.",
    "conversationId": "conv123",
    "tags": ["meeting", "planning"],
    "color_hex": "#FFE999"
  }
}

Required Fields:

• title: String (1-100 chars, Generally the name of the conversation)
• content: String (markdown supported)
• conversationId: String (unique identifier for the conversation, you provide this)

Optional Fields:

• tags: Array of strings
• color_hex: String (hex color code). Available colors:
  • Yellow: "#FFE999" (default)
  • Green: "#A7F3D0"
  • Blue: "#93C5FD"
  • Red: "#FCA5A5"
  • Purple: "#DDD6FE"
  • Orange: "#FFB17A"

Example response: Note created with id 123

update-note

Updates an existing note's content.

{
  "name": "update-note",
  "arguments": {
    "id": "123",
    "content": "Updated meeting notes content"
  }
}

delete-note

Deletes a specific note.

{
  "name": "delete-note",
  "arguments": {
    "id": "123"
  }
}

search-notes

Searches for notes based on various criteria. Supports combined filtering by tags, conversations, and text search.

{
  "name": "search-notes",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "meeting",
    "tags": ["important"],
    "conversationId": "conv123"
  }
}

list-conversations

Returns a list of all conversation IDs in the system with metadata.

{
  "name": "list-conversations",
  "arguments": {}
}

Response example:

[
  {
    "conversationId": "conv123",
    "totalNotes": 5,
    "firstCreated": 1707753600,
    "lastUpdated": 1707840000
  },
  {
    "conversationId": "meeting-2024",
    "totalNotes": 3,
    "firstCreated": 1707667200,
    "lastUpdated": 1707753600
  }
]

REST API Endpoints

The server exposes several REST endpoints:

Notes Endpoints

• GET /api/notes

  • Query parameters:

    • search: Text search query
    • tags: Array of tag names (deduplication handled server-side)
    • conversation: Conversation ID
    • color: Color hex code
    • startDate: Filter by creation date
    • page: Page number (default: 1)
    • limit: Items per page (default: 10)
    • sort: Sort field and direction (e.g., "updated_at DESC")

  • Response includes pagination metadata:

    {
      "notes": [...],
      "pagination": {
        "total": 100,
        "page": 1,
        "limit": 10,
        "totalPages": 10
      }
    }

Sections Endpoints

• GET /api/sections
• POST /api/sections
• PUT /api/sections/:id
• DELETE /api/sections/:id
• GET /api/sections/:id/notes

Tags Endpoints

• GET /api/tags
• GET /api/tags/hierarchy
• PATCH /api/tags/:id/parent

Conversations Endpoints

• GET /api/conversations

  • Returns list of conversations with metadata:

    {
      "conversations": [
        {
          "conversationId": "conv123",
          "totalNotes": 5,
          "firstCreated": 1707753600,
          "lastUpdated": 1707840000
        }
      ]
    }

Integration with Claude Desktop

Method 1: Direct Integration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stickyNotes": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/sticky-notes-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "DB_ROOT": "desired/db/location",
        "WEB_UI_PORT": "3000",
        "WS_PORT": "8080"
      }
    }
  }
}

Method 2: NPX Integration

If published as an NPX package (Not implemented yet):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stickyNotes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/sticky-notes-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DB_ROOT": "desired/db/location"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development

Project Structure

sticky-notes-server/
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── README.md
└── src/
    ├── index.ts            // MCP server main entry point
    ├── public/             // React-based UI
    │   ├── index.html
    │   ├── app.js
    │   ├── components/     // React components
    │   │   ├── Note.js    // Note component with markdown support
    │   │   ├── PaginationControls.js
    │   │   └── Sidebar.js // Enhanced sidebar with conversations
    │   └── utils/
    │       └── markdown.ts // Markdown rendering utilities
    └── migrations/         // Database migrations

Development Commands

• Start in Development Mode:

  npm run dev

• Build for Production:

  npm run build
  npm start

Database Schema

The server uses the following main tables:

• notes: Stores note content and metadata
• sections: Manages note organization
• tags: Stores tag hierarchy
• note_tags: Junction table for note-tag relationships
• notes_fts: Full-text search virtual table

WebSocket Implementation

Client-Side Integration

The application includes a custom React hook for WebSocket management:

const { connectionStatus, sendMessage, lastMessage } = useWebSocket({
    url: `ws://localhost:${wsPort}`,
    onMessage: handleMessage,
    reconnectAttempts: 5,
    reconnectInterval: 1000
});

Message Types

1. Client Messages:

   • NOTE_CREATE: Create new note
   • NOTE_UPDATE: Update existing note
   • NOTE_DELETE: Delete note
   • SYNC_REQUEST: Request sync

2. Server Messages:

   • NOTE_CREATED: Broadcast new note
   • NOTE_UPDATED: Broadcast update
   • NOTE_DELETED: Broadcast deletion
   • SYNC_RESPONSE: Sync data
   • ERROR: Error information

Reconnection Strategy

The WebSocket implementation includes a sophisticated reconnection strategy:

• Exponential backoff
• Configurable retry attempts
• Connection status tracking
• Message queuing during disconnection

Theme System

The application includes a comprehensive theme system:

const ThemeProvider = ({ children }) => {
    const [theme, setTheme] = React.useState(() => {
        const savedTheme = localStorage.getItem('theme');
        return savedTheme || 
               (window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches 
                ? 'dark' : 'light');
    });
    // ... theme logic
};

Theme Features

• System preference detection
• Local storage persistence
• Dynamic CSS class switching
• Smooth transitions
• Dark/light mode toggle

Bulk Actions

The application supports bulk operations:

• Selection: Multi-select notes
• Actions:
  • Delete multiple notes
  • Change color for multiple notes
  • Export selected notes
• UI: Dedicated bulk actions toolbar

Export Functionality

Enhanced export capabilities:

const exportOptions = {
    format: 'md',
    includeMetadata: true,
    includeToc: false,
    filename: 'custom_name.md'
};

Export Features

• Single note export
• Multiple note export
• Custom filename support
• Markdown formatting
• Metadata inclusion options

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. Database Location Issues

   • Ensure DB_ROOT environment variable is set correctly
   • Check file permissions in the target directory

2. Port Conflicts

   • Verify ports 3000 and 8080 are available
   • Use WEB_UI_PORT and WS_PORT to configure alternative ports

3. Performance Issues

   • The server uses SQLite optimizations including WAL mode
   • Indexes are automatically created for common queries
   • Consider regular database maintenance (VACUUM) for large datasets

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Commit your changes
4. Push to the branch
5. Create a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions:

1. Check the Issues section
2. Create a new issue if needed
3. Join our community discussions