Overview

Nota Bene is a simple shell-based note-taking application providing Evernote-like functionality.

Why use a fancy thick client application to take notes when you're already in the terminal? Ain't nobody got time for that!

NB uses a simple convention: notes are stored in flat namespace, and the filename of the note is the label. Using the power of the shell, you can list, search, and even encrypt notes (TBD). By symlinking your note directory into a sync service folder (such as Dropbox) you can get all the benefit of free cloud storage and mobile access.

Installation

# The directory of DESTFILE should be in your PATH variable:
DESTFILE=$HOME/bin/nb; curl -s -o "$DESTFILE" https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ccarpita/nota-bene/master/nb && chmod 755 "$DESTFILE"

# For shell completion and shortcuts like nbls and nbgrep, add this to your .profile:
eval "$(nb --env)"

Usage

Edit or start a new note

nb <note-label>
# Uses EDITOR (default: vim) for note taking

List your notes

nb --list <optional-filter-search>

Search your notes

nb --search <query>

Setup command-line completion and the aliases nbs (search) and nbl (list)

NB_DIR=~/Dropbox/my-notes
source `which nb`

Environmental Variables

Variable	Default Value	Description
EDITOR	vim	Default note editor to use
NB_DIR	$HOME/notes	The directory where your notes will be stored. Pro tip: symlink this into your Dropbox for cloud sync
NB_DEFAULT_EXT	md	The default extension given to your notes. Markdown is the preferred format.
NB_PUB_DIR	$HOME/pub	Directory of git repo where your notes can be published
NB_PUB_BRANCH	public	Name of main branch to use in your public repo. A value other than master was chosen as the default so that your notes are not indexed by search engines on Github