README
nb
is a command line and local web
noteβtaking, bookmarking, archiving,
and knowledge base application
with:
- plain text data storage,
- encryption,
- filtering, pinning, #tagging, and search,
- Git-backed versioning and syncing,
- Pandoc-backed conversion,
- [[wiki-style linking]],
- terminal and GUI web browsing,
- inline images,
- todos with tasks,
- global and local notebooks,
- organization with folders,
- customizable color themes,
- extensibility through plugins,
and more, in a single portable script.
nb
creates notes in text-based formats like
Markdown,
Org,
and LaTeX,
can work with files in any format,
can import and export notes to many document formats,
and can create private, password-protected encrypted notes and bookmarks.
With nb
, you can write notes using
Vim,
Emacs,
VS Code,
Sublime Text,
and any other text editor you like,
as well as terminal and GUI web browsers.
nb
works in any standard Linux / Unix environment,
including macOS and Windows via WSL.
Optional dependencies can be installed to enhance functionality,
but nb
works great without them.
nb
is also a powerful bookmarking system featuring:
- locally-served, text-centric, distraction-free bookmark browsing in terminal and GUI web browsers,
- local full-text search of cached page content with regular expression support,
- convenient filtering and listing,
- Internet Archive Wayback Machine snapshot lookup for broken links,
- tagging, pinning, linking, and full integration with other
nb
features.
Page information is downloaded, cleaned up, structured, and saved into normal Markdown documents made for humans, so bookmarks are easy to view and edit just like any other note.
nb
uses Git in the background to
automatically record changes and sync notebooks with remote repositories.
nb
can also be configured to
sync notebooks using a general purpose syncing utility like Dropbox
so notes can be edited in other apps on any device.
nb
is designed to be portable, future-focused, and vendor independent,
providing a full-featured and intuitive experience within
a highly composable multimodal user-centric text interface.
The entire program is contained within
a single well-tested shell script
that can be
installed, copied, or curl
ed almost anywhere and just work,
using a strategy inspired by
progressive enhancement
for various experience improvements in more capable environments.
nb
works great whether you have one notebook with just a few notes
or dozens of notebooks containing thousands of notes, bookmarks, and other items.
nb
makes it easy to incorporate other tools, writing apps, and workflows.
nb
can be used a little, a lot, once in a while, or for just a subset of features.
nb
is flexible.
π π π π π
nb
Installation
Dependencies
Required
- Bash
nb
works perfectly with Zsh, fish, and any other shell set as your primary login shell, the system just needs to have Bash available on it.
- Git
- A text editor with command line support, such as:
Optional
nb
leverages standard command line tools
and works in standard Linux / Unix environments.
nb
also checks the environment for some additional optional tools and
uses them to enhance the experience whenever they are available.
Recommended:
Also supported for various enhancements:
Ack,
afplay
,
Ag - The Silver Searcher,
catimg
,
exa
,
ffplay
,
ImageMagick,
GnuPG,
highlight
,
imgcat
,
kitty's icat
kitten,
Links,
Lynx,
Midnight Commander,
mpg123
,
MPlayer,
ncat,
note-link-janitor
(via plugin),
pdftotext
,
Pygments,
Ranger,
readability-cli,
rga
/ ripgrep-all,
termpdf.py
,
vifm
macOS / Homebrew
brew tap xwmx/taps
brew install nb
Installing nb
with Homebrew also installs
the recommended dependencies above
and completion scripts for Bash and Zsh.
Ubuntu, Windows WSL, and others
npm
npm install -g nb.sh
After npm
installation completes, run
sudo "$(which nb)" completions install
to install Bash and Zsh completion scripts (recommended).
On Ubuntu and WSL, you can
run sudo "$(which nb)" env install
to install the optional dependencies.
nb
is also available under its original package name,
notes.sh,
which comes with an extra notes
executable wrapping nb
.
Download and Install
To install as an administrator, copy and paste one of the following multi-line commands:
# install using wget
sudo wget https://raw.github.com/xwmx/nb/master/nb -O /usr/local/bin/nb &&
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/nb &&
sudo nb completions install
# install using curl
sudo curl -L https://raw.github.com/xwmx/nb/master/nb -o /usr/local/bin/nb &&
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/nb &&
sudo nb completions install
On Ubuntu and WSL, you can
run sudo nb env install
to install the optional dependencies.
User-only Installation
To install with just user permissions, simply
add the nb
script to your $PATH
.
If you already have a ~/bin
directory, for example, you can
use one of the following commands:
# download with wget
wget https://raw.github.com/xwmx/nb/master/nb -O ~/bin/nb && chmod +x ~/bin/nb
# download with curl
curl -L https://raw.github.com/xwmx/nb/master/nb -o ~/bin/nb && chmod +x ~/bin/nb
Installing with just user permissions doesn't include
the optional dependencies or completions,
but nb
core functionality works without them.
If you have sudo
access and want
to install the completion scripts and dependencies, run the following command:
sudo nb env install
Make
To install with Make, clone this repository, navigate to the clone's root directory, and run:
sudo make install
This will also install the completion scripts on all systems and the recommended dependencies on Ubuntu and WSL.
bpkg
To install with bpkg:
bpkg install xwmx/nb
Tab Completion
Bash, Fish, and Zsh tab completion should be enabled
when nb
is installed using the methods above,
assuming you have the appropriate system permissions or installed with sudo
.
If completion isn't working after installing nb
, see the
completion installation instructions.
Updating
When nb
is installed using a package manager like npm or Homebrew,
use the package manager's upgrade functionality to update nb
to
the latest version.
When installed via other methods,
nb
can be updated to the latest version using
the nb update
subcommand.
Overview
π
Notes Β·
Adding Β·
Listing Β·
Editing Β·
Viewing Β·
Deleting Β·
π
Bookmarks Β·
β
Todos Β·
βοΈ
Tasks Β·
π·
Tagging Β·
π
Linking Β·
π
Browsing Β·
π
Images Β·
π
Zettelkasten Β·
π
Folders Β·
π
Pinning Β·
π
Search Β·
β
Moving & Renaming Β·
π
History Β·
π
Notebooks Β·
π
Git Sync Β·
βοΈ
Import / Export Β·
βοΈ
set
&settings
Β·
π¨
Color Themes Β·
π
Plugins Β·
:/
Selectors Β·
01
Metadata Β·
β―
Shell Β·
Shortcuts Β·
Help Β·
Specifications Β·
Tests
To get started, simply run:
nb
nb
sets up your initial home
notebook the first time it runs.
By default, notebooks and notes are global (at ~/.nb
),
so they are always available to nb
regardless of the current working directory.
nb
also supports local notebooks.
π Notes
Adding
β Β·
nb add
,
nb browse add
Use nb add
(shortcuts: nb a
, nb +
)
to create new notes:
# create a new note in your text editor
nb add
# create a new note with the filename "example.md"
nb add example.md
# create a new note containing "This is a note."
nb add "This is a note."
# create a new note with piped content
echo "Note content." | nb add
# create a new password-protected, encrypted note titled "Secret Document"
nb add --title "Secret Document" --encrypt
# create a new note in the notebook named "example"
nb example:add "This is a note."
# create a new note in the folder named "sample"
nb add sample/
nb add
with no arguments or input will open the new, blank note
in your environment's preferred text editor.
You can change your editor using
the $EDITOR
environment variable
or nb set editor
.
nb
files are Markdown
files by default. The default file type can be changed to
whatever you like
using nb set default_extension
.
nb add
has intelligent argument parsing
and behaves differently depending on the types of arguments it receives.
When a filename with extension is specified,
a new note with that filename is opened in the editor:
nb add example.md
When a string is specified, a new note is immediately created with that string as the content and without opening the editor:
β― nb add "This is a note."
Added: [1] 20200101000000.md
nb add <string>
is useful for quickly jotting down notes directly
via the command line. Quoting content is optional, but recommended.
When no filename is specified, nb add
uses the current datetime as
the filename.
nb add
can also receive piped content, which behaves the same as
nb add <string>
:
# create a new note containing "Note content."
β― echo "Note content." | nb add
Added: [6] 20200101000100.md
# create a new note containing the clipboard contents on macOS
β― pbpaste | nb add
Added: [7] 20200101000200.md
# create a new note containing the clipboard contents using xclip
β― xclip -o | nb add
Added: [8] 20200101000300.md
Content can be passed with the --content <content>
option,
which also creates a new note without opening the editor:
nb add --content "Note content."
When content is piped,
specified with --content <content>
,
or passed as a string argument,
use the --edit
flag to open the file in the editor
before the change is committed.
The title, filename, and content can also be specified with long and short options:
β― nb add --filename "example.md" -t "Example Title" -c "Example content."
Added: [9] example.md "Example Title"
The -t <title>
/ --title <title>
option also
sets the filename to the title,
lowercased with spaces and non-filename characters replaced with underscores:
β― nb add --title "Example Title" "Example content."
Added: [10] example_title.md "Example Title"
Tags can be added with the --tags <tag1>,<tag2>...
option, which
takes a comma separated list of tags,
converts them to #hashtags,
and inserts them between the title and content:
β― nb add "Example content." --title "Tagged Example" --tags tag1,tag2
Added: [11] tagged_example.md "Tagged Example"
β― nb show 11 --print
# Tagged Example
#tag1 #tag2
Example content.
Search for tagged items with
nb search
/ nb q
:
# search for items tagged with "#tag1"
nb search --tag tag1
# search for items tagged with "#tag1" AND "#tag2", short options
nb q -t tag1 -t tag2
# search for items tagged with "#tag1" OR "#tag2", arguments
nb q \#tag1 --or \#tag2
Files can be created with any file type by specifying the extension either
in the filename (example.md
),
the extension by itself (.md
),
or via the --type <type>
option (--type md
):
# open a new Org file in the editor
nb add example.org
# open a new reStructuredText file in the editor
nb add --type rst
# open a new JavaScript file in the editor
nb add .js
Combining a type argument with piped clipboard content provides
a very convenient way to save code snippets using a clipboard utility such as
pbpaste
,
xclip
,
or pb
:
# save the clipboard contents as a JavaScript file in the current notebook
pb | nb add .js
# save the clipboard contents as a Rust file in the "rust" notebook
# using the shortcut alias `nb a`
pb | nb a rust: .rs
# save the clipboard contents as a Haskell file named "example.hs" in the
# "snippets" notebook using the shortcut alias `nb +`
pb | nb + snippets: example.hs
Use nb show
and nb browse
to view code snippets
with automatic syntax highlighting and
use nb edit
to open in your editor.
The clip
plugin can also be used to
create notes from clipboard content.
Piping,
--title <title>
,
--tags <tag-list>
,
--content <content>
,
and content passed in an argument
can be combined as needed
to create notes with content from multiple input methods and sources
using a single command:
β― pb | nb add "Argument content." \
--title "Sample Title" \
--tags tag1,tag2 \
--content "Option content."
Added: [12] sample_title.md "Sample Title"
β― nb show 12 --print
# Sample Title
#tag1 #tag2
Argument content.
Option content.
Clipboard content.
For a full list of options available for nb add
, run
nb help add
.
Password-Protected Encrypted Notes and Bookmarks
Password-protected notes and bookmarks are
created with the -e
/ --encrypt
flag and
encrypted with AES-256 using OpenSSL by default.
GPG is also supported and can be configured with
nb set encryption_tool
.
Each protected note and bookmark is
encrypted individually with its own password.
When an encrypted item is viewed, edited, or opened,
nb
will simply prompt for the item's password before proceeding.
After an item is edited,
nb
automatically re-encrypts it and saves the new version.
Encrypted notes can be decrypted
using the OpenSSL and GPG command line tools directly, so
you aren't dependent on nb
to decrypt your files.
nb a
, nb +
Shortcut Aliases: nb
includes shortcuts for many commands, including
nb a
and nb +
for nb add
:
# create a new note in your text editor
nb a
# create a new note with the filename "example.md"
nb a example.md
# create a new note containing "This is a note."
nb + "This is a note."
# create a new note containing the clipboard contents with xclip
xclip -o | nb +
# create a new note in the notebook named "example"
nb example:a
nb create
, nb new
Other Aliases: nb add
can also be invoked with
nb create
and nb new
for convenience:
# create a new note containing "Example note content."
nb new "Example note content."
# create a new note with the title "Example Note Title"
nb create --title "Example Note Title"
nb browse
Adding with Items can also be added within terminal and GUI web browsers using
nb browse add
/ nb b a
:
β― nb browse add
β―nb Β· home : +
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[add]
Pass a filename, relative path, and / or notebook name to create a new note at that location:
# open the add form in the browser to create the file "file.md" in the folder "example"
nb browse add "example/file.md"
nb browse add
includes options for quickly
pre-populating new notes with content:
β― nb browse add --title "Example Title" --content "Example content." --tags tag1,tag2
β―nb Β· home : +
[# Example Title ]
[ ]
[#tag1 #tag2 ]
[ ]
[Example content. ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[add]
nb browse add
can also be opened with
nb add --browse
/ nb a -b
.
For more information, see Browsing.
Listing & Filtering
β Β·
nb ls
,
nb list
,
nb browse
To list notes and notebooks, run nb ls
(shortcut alias: nb
):
Notebooks are listed above the line,
with the current notebook highlighted and/or underlined,
depending on terminal capabilities.
nb ls
also includes a footer with example commands for easy reference.
The notebook header and command footer can be configured or hidden with
nb set header
and
nb set footer
.
β― nb ls
home
----
[3] example.md Β· "Example content."
[2] sample.md Β· "Sample content."
[1] demo.md Β· "- Demo list item one."
Notes from the current notebook are listed in the order they were last modified. By default, each note is listed with its id, filename, and an excerpt from the first line of the note. When a note has a title, the title is displayed instead of the filename and first line.
Markdown titles can be defined within a note using
either Markdown h1
style
or YAML front matter:
# Example Title
Sample Title
============
---
title: Demo Title
---
Org and LaTeX
titles are recognized in .org
and .latex
files:
#+TITLE: Example Org Title
\title{Example LaTeX Title}
Once defined, titles are displayed in place of the filename and first line
in the output of nb ls
:
β― nb ls
home
----
[3] Example Title
[2] Sample Title
[1] Demo Title
Pass an id, filename, or title to view the listing for that note:
β― nb ls Sample\ Title
[2] Sample Title
β― nb ls 3
[3] Example Title
If there is no exact match, nb
will list items with
titles and filenames that fuzzy match the query:
β― nb ls exa
[3] Example Title
β― nb ls ample
[3] Example Title
[2] Sample Title
Multiple words act like an OR
filter, listing any
titles or filenames that match any of the words:
β― nb ls example demo
[3] Example Title
[1] Demo Title
When multiple words are quoted, filter titles and filenames for that phrase:
β― nb ls "example title"
[3] Example Title
For full text search, see Search.
To view excerpts of notes, use the --excerpt
or -e
option,
which optionally accepts a length:
β― nb ls 3 --excerpt
[3] Example Title
-----------------
# Example Title
This is an example excerpt.
β― nb ls 3 -e 8
[3] Example Title
-----------------
# Example Title
This is an example excerpt.
More example content:
- one
- two
- three
Several classes of file types are represented with emoji
indicators to make them easily identifiable in lists.
For example, bookmarks and encrypted notes are listed with π
and π
:
β― nb ls
home
----
[4] Example Note
[3] π encrypted-note.md.enc
[2] π Example Bookmark (example.com)
[1] π π encrypted.bookmark.md.enc
File types include:
π Audio
π Book
π Bookmark
π Encrypted
π Folder
π Image
π PDF, Word, or Open Office document
πΉ Video
By default, items are listed starting with the most recently modified.
To reverse the order, use the -r
or --reverse
flag:
β― nb ls
home
----
[2] Todos
[3] Example Title
[1] Ideas
β― nb ls --reverse
[1] Ideas
[3] Example Title
[2] Todos
Notes can be sorted with the -s
/ --sort
flag,
which can be combined with -r
/ --reverse
:
β― nb ls
home
----
[2] Sample Title
[3] Example Title
[1] Demo Title
β― nb ls --sort
[1] Demo Title
[2] Sample Title
[3] Example Title
β― nb ls --sort --reverse
[3] Example Title
[2] Sample Title
[1] Demo Title
nb
with no subcommand behaves like an alias for nb ls
,
so the examples above can be run without the ls
:
β― nb
home
----
[2] Sample Title
[3] Example Title
[1] Demo Title
β― nb example
[3] Example Title
β― nb 3 --excerpt
[3] Example Title
-----------------
# Example Title
This is an example excerpt.
β― nb 3 -e 8
[3] Example Title
-----------------
# Example Title
This is an example excerpt.
More example content:
- one
- two
- three
β― nb --sort
[1] Demo Title
[2] Sample Title
[3] Example Title
β― nb --sort --reverse
[3] Example Title
[2] Sample Title
[1] Demo Title
Short options can be combined for brevity:
# equivalent to `nb --sort --reverse --excerpt 2` and `nb -s -r -e 2`:
β― nb -sre 2
[3] Example Title
-----------------
# Example Title
[2] Sample Title
----------------
Sample Title
============
[1] Demo Title
--------------
---
title: Demo Title
nb
and nb ls
display the 15 most recently modified items.
The default limit can be changed with nb set limit <number>
.
To list a different number of items on a per-command basis, use the
-n <limit>
,
--limit <limit>
,
--<limit>
,
-a
,
and --all
flags:
β― nb -n 1
home
----
[5] Example Five
4 omitted. 5 total.
β― nb --limit 2
home
----
[5] Example Five
[4] Example Four
3 omitted. 5 total.
β― nb --3
home
----
[5] Example Five
[4] Example Four
[3] Example Three
2 omitted. 5 total.
β― nb --all
home
----
[5] Example Five
[4] Example Four
[3] Example Three
[2] Example Two
[1] Example One
Lists can be paginated with
-p <number>
/ --page <number>
,
which paginates by the value of nb set limit
by
default, or the value of
-n <limit>
,
--limit <limit>
,
or --<limit>
when present:
β― nb
home
----
[6] Example Six
[5] Example Five
[4] Example Four
[3] Example Three
[2] Example Two
[1] Example One
β― nb set limit 3
NB_LIMIT set to 3
β― nb --page 1
[6] Example Six
[5] Example Five
[4] Example Four
β― nb -p 2
[3] Example Three
[2] Example Two
[1] Example One
β― nb -p 2 --limit 2
[4] Example Four
[3] Example Three
β― nb -p 3 --2
[2] Example Two
[1] Example One
nb ls
is a combination of
nb notebooks
and nb list
in one view and accepts the same arguments as nb list
,
which lists only notes without the notebook list and with no limit by default:
β― nb list
[100] Example One Hundred
[99] Example Ninety-Nine
[98] Example Ninety-Eight
... lists all notes ...
[2] Example Two
[1] Example One
For more information about options for listing notes, run
nb help ls
and
nb help list
.
browse
Listing with Items can be listed within terminal and GUI web browsers using
nb browse
/ nb b
:
β― nb browse example:sample/demo/
β―nb Β· example : sample / demo / +
search: [ ]
[example:sample/demo/7] Title Seven
[example:sample/demo/6] Title Six
[example:sample/demo/5] Title Five
[example:sample/demo/4] Title Four
[example:sample/demo/3] Title Three
next β―
For more information, see Browsing.
Editing
β Β·
nb edit
,
nb browse edit
You can edit an item in your editor with
nb edit
(shortcut: nb e
):
# edit note by id
nb edit 3
# edit note by filename
nb edit example.md
# edit note by title
nb edit "A Document Title"
# edit note 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb edit example:12
# edit note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 edit
# edit note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:edit 12
edit
and other subcommands that take an identifier
can be called with the identifier and subcommand name reversed:
# edit note by id
nb 3 edit
nb edit
can also receive piped content, which it
appends to the specified note without opening the editor:
echo "Content to append." | nb edit 1
Content can be passed with the --content <content>
option,
which also appends the content without opening the editor:
nb edit 1 --content "Content to append."
Use the --overwrite
option to overwrite existing file content
and the --prepend
option to prepend the new content before existing content.
When content is piped or specified with --content <content>
,
use the --edit
flag to open the file in the editor
before the change is committed.
Editing Encrypted Notes
When a note is encrypted,
nb edit
prompts you for the note password,
opens the unencrypted content in your editor,
and then automatically reencrypts the note when you are done editing.
nb e
Shortcut Alias: nb edit
can be called by the shortcut alias, nb e
:
# edit note by id
nb e 3
# edit note by filename
nb e example.md
# edit note by title
nb e "A Document Title"
# edit note by id, alternative
nb 3 e
# edit note 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb e example:12
# edit note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 e
# edit note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:e 12
For nb edit
help information, run nb help edit
.
browse
Editing with Items can be edited within terminal and GUI web browsers using
nb browse edit
/ nb b e
:
β― nb browse edit text:formats/markdown/123
β―nb Β· text : formats / markdown / 123 Β· β Β· editing Β· - | +
[# Daring Fireball: Markdown (daringfireball.net) ]
[ ]
[<https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/> ]
[ ]
[## Related ]
[ ]
[- <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown> ]
[ ]
[## Comments ]
[ ]
[See also: ]
[ ]
[- [[text:formats/org]] ]
[- [[cli:apps/nb]] ]
[ ]
[## Tags ]
[ ]
[save] Β·Β last: 2021-01-01 01:00:00
For more information, see
browse edit
and Browsing.
Viewing
β Β·
nb show
,
nb browse
,
nb open
,
nb peek
Notes and other items can be viewed using
nb show
(shortcut: nb s
):
# show note by id
nb show 3
# show note by filename
nb show example.md
# show note by title
nb show "A Document Title"
# show note by id, alternative
nb 3 show
# show note 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb show example:12
# show note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 show
# show note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:show 12
By default, nb show
opens notes in
less
,
with syntax highlighting if
bat
,
highlight
,
or
Pygments
is installed.
You can navigate in less
using the following keys:
Key Function
--- --------
mouse scroll Scroll up or down
arrow up or down Scroll one line up or down
f Jump forward one window
b Jump back one window
d Jump down one half window
u Jump up one half window
/<query> Search for <query>
n Jump to next <query> match
q Quit
If less
scrolling isn't working in iTerm2,
go to
"Settings"
-> "Advanced"
-> "Scroll wheel sends arrow keys when in alternate screen mode"
and change it to "Yes".
More Info
Use the -p
/ --print
option
to print to standard output with syntax highlighting:
β― nb show 123 --print
# Example Title
Example content:
- one
- two
- three
Use nb show --print --no-color
to print without syntax highlighting.
When Pandoc is available,
use the -r
/ --render
option to
render the note to HTML and open it in your terminal browser:
nb show example.md --render
# opens example.md as an HTML page in w3m, links, or lynx
nb show
also supports previewing other file types in the terminal,
depending on the tools available in the environment.
Supported file types and tools include:
- PDF files:
termpdf.py
with kittypdftotext
- Audio files:
- Images:
- ImageMagick with a terminal that supports sixels
imgcat
with iTerm2- kitty's
icat
kitten catimg
- Folders / Directories:
- Word Documents:
- EPUB ebooks:
When using nb show
with other file types or
if the above tools are not available,
nb show
opens files in
your system's preferred application for each type.
nb show
also provides options for
querying information about an item. For example, use the
--added
/ -a
and --updated
/ -u
flags to print the date and time that an item was added or updated:
β― nb show 2 --added
2020-01-01 01:01:00 -0700
β― nb show 2 --updated
2020-02-02 02:02:00 -0700
nb show
is primarily intended for viewing items within the terminal.
To view a file in the system's preferred GUI application, use
nb open
.
To browse rendered items in terminal and GUI web browsers, use
nb browse
.
For full nb show
usage information, run nb help show
.
nb s
Shortcut Alias: nb show
can be called using the shortcut alias nb s
:
# show note by id
nb s 3
# show note by filename
nb s example.md
# show note by title
nb s "A Document Title"
# show note by id, alternative
nb 3 s
# show note 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb s example:12
# show note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 s
# show note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:s 12
nb view
Alias: nb show
can also be invoked with nb view
for convenience:
# show note by id
nb view 3
# show note by filename
nb view example.md
# show note by title
nb view "A Document Title"
# show note by id, alternative
nb 3 view
browse
Viewing with Items can be viewed within terminal and GUI web browsers using
nb browse
/ nb b
:
β― nb browse text:formats/markdown/123
β―nb Β· text : formats / markdown / 123 Β· β Β· edit | +
Daring Fireball: Markdown (daringfireball.net)
https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
Related
β’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown
Comments
See also:
β’ [[text:formats/org]]
β’ [[cli:apps/nb]]
Tags
#markup #plain-text
Content
Daring Fireball: Markdown
Download
Markdown 1.0.1 (18 KB)βββ17 Dec 2004
Introduction
Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows
you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then
convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML).
For more information, see Browsing.
Deleting
β Β·
nb delete
,
nb browse delete
To delete one or more notes, pass any number of
ids, filenames, titles, and other selectors
to nb delete
(shortcuts: nb d
, nb -
):
# delete item by id
nb delete 3
# delete item by filename
nb delete example.md
# delete item by title
nb delete "A Document Title"
# delete item by id, alternative
nb 3 delete
# delete item 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb delete example:12
# delete item 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 delete
# delete item 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:delete 12
# delete item 345 in the folder named "example"
nb delete example/345
# delete items with the ids 89, 56, and 21
nb delete 89 56 21
By default, nb delete
will display a confirmation prompt.
To skip, use the --force
/ -f
option:
nb delete 3 --force
nb d
, nb -
Shortcut Aliases: nb delete
has the aliases nb d
and nb -
:
# delete note by id
nb d 3
# delete note by filename
nb d example.md
# delete note by title
nb - "A Document Title"
# delete note by id, alternative
nb 3 d
# delete note 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb - example:12
# delete note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 d
# delete note 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:d 12
For nb delete
help information, run nb help delete
.
nb browse
Deleting with Items can be deleted within terminal and GUI web browsers using
nb browse delete
/ nb b d
:
β― nb browse delete example:4
β―nb Β· example : 4 Β· β Β· edit Β· - | +
deleting
[4] example_file.md "Example Title"
[delete]
Β
For more information, see Browsing.
π Bookmarks
β Β·
nb <url>
,
nb browse
,
nb bookmark
,
nb open
,
nb peek
,
nb show
nb
includes a bookmarking system to conveniently
create, annotate, view, search, browse, and manage
collections of bookmarks.
Bookmarks in nb
are stored as
simple structured Markdown files
containing information extracted from the bookmarked pages.
To create a new bookmark, pass a URL as the first argument to nb
:
nb https://example.com
nb
automatically generates a bookmark using information from the page:
# Example Title (example.com)
<https://example.com>
## Description
Example description.
## Content
Example Title
=============
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may
use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for
permission.
[More information\...](https://www.iana.org/domains/example)
nb
embeds the page content in the bookmark, making it available for
full text search with nb search
and
locally-served, distraction-free reading and browsing
with nb browse
.
When Pandoc is installed,
the HTML page content is converted to Markdown.
When readability-cli
is installed, markup is cleaned up to focus on content.
In addition to caching the page content,
you can also include a quote from the page in a
## Quote
section
using the
-q <quote>
/ --quote <quote>
option:
nb https://example.com --quote "Example quote line one.
Example quote line two."
# Example Title (example.com)
<https://example.com>
## Description
Example description.
## Quote
> Example quote line one.
>
> Example quote line two.
## Content
Example Title
=============
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may
use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for
permission.
[More information\...](https://www.iana.org/domains/example)
Add a comment in a ## Comment
section using the
-c <comment>
/ --comment <comment>
option:
nb https://example.com --comment "Example comment."
# Example Title (example.com)
<https://example.com>
## Description
Example description.
## Comment
Example comment.
## Content
Example Title
=============
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may
use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for
permission.
[More information\...](https://www.iana.org/domains/example)
Add related URLs and linked selectors
to a ## Related
section using the
-r (<url> | <selector>)
/
--related (<url> | <selector>)
option:
nb https://example.com --related example:123 -r https://example.com
# Example Title (example.com)
<https://example.com>
## Description
Example description.
## Related
- [[sample:123]]
- <https://example.net>
## Content
Example Title
=============
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may
use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for
permission.
[More information\...](https://www.iana.org/domains/example)
Bookmarks can be tagged using the
-t <tag1>,<tag2>...
/
--tags <tag1>,<tag2>...
option.
Tags are converted into #hashtags and
added to a ## Tags
section:
nb https://example.com --tags tag1,tag2
# Example Title (example.com)
<https://example.com>
## Description
Example description.
## Tags
#tag1 #tag2
## Content
Example Title
=============
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may
use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for
permission.
[More information\...](https://www.iana.org/domains/example)
Search for tagged bookmarks with
nb search
/ nb q
:
nb search --tag tag1
nb q -t tag1
nb q \#tag1
nb search
/ nb q
automatically searches archived page content:
β― nb q "example query"
[10] π example.bookmark.md "Example Bookmark (example.com)"
------------------------------------------------------------
5:Lorem ipsum example query.
Bookmarks can also be encrypted:
# create a new password-protected, encrypted bookmark
nb https://example.com --encrypt
Encrypted bookmarks require a password before they can be viewed or opened.
Listing and Filtering Bookmarks
Bookmarks are included in
nb
,
nb ls
,
nb list
,
and nb browse
along with items of other types.
nb bookmark
and nb bookmark list
can be used to
list and filter only bookmarks:
β― nb bookmark
Add: nb <url> Help: nb help bookmark
------------------------------------
[3] π π example.bookmark.md.enc
[2] π Bookmark Two (example.com)
[1] π Bookmark One (example.com)
β― nb bookmark list two
[2] π Bookmark Two (example.com)
Bookmarks are also included in nb
, nb ls
, and nb list
:
β― nb
home
----
[7] π Bookmark Three (example.com)
[6] Example Note
[5] π Bookmark Two (example.net)
[4] Sample Note
[3] π π example-encrypted.bookmark.md.enc
[2] Demo Note
[1] π Bookmark One (example.com)
Use the --type <type>
/ --<type>
option as a filter to display only bookmarks:
β― nb --type bookmark
[7] π Bookmark Three (example.com)
[5] π Bookmark Two (example.net)
[3] π π example-encrypted.bookmark.md.enc
[1] π Bookmark One (example.com)
β― nb --bookmark
[7] π Bookmark Three (example.com)
[5] π Bookmark Two (example.net)
[3] π π example-encrypted.bookmark.md.enc
[1] π Bookmark One (example.com)
nb
saves the domain in the title, making it easy to filter by domain
using any list subcommands:
β― nb example.com
[7] π Bookmark Three (example.com)
[1] π Bookmark One (example.com)
For more listing options, see
nb help ls
,
nb help list
,
and nb help bookmark
.
nb bk
, nb bm
Shortcut Aliases: nb bookmark
can also be used with the aliases
nb bk
and nb bm
:
β― nb bk
Add: nb <url> Help: nb help bookmark
------------------------------------
[7] π Bookmark Three (example.com)
[5] π Bookmark Two (example.net)
[3] π π example-encrypted.bookmark.md.enc
[1] π Bookmark One (example.com)
β― nb bm example.net
[5] π Bookmark Two (example.net)
Viewing Bookmarks
β Β·
nb browse
,
nb open
,
nb peek
,
nb show
nb
provides multiple ways to view bookmark files, bookmarked content,
and bookmarked URLs.
Use nb browse
(shortcut: nb b
)
to browse bookmarks with cached content,
[[wiki-style links]],
linked #tags, and external links:
β― nb browse text:formats/markdown/123
β―nb Β· text : formats / markdown / 123 Β· β Β· edit | +
Daring Fireball: Markdown (daringfireball.net)
https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
Related
β’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown
Comments
See also:
β’ [[text:formats/org]]
β’ [[cli:apps/nb]]
Tags
#markup #plain-text
Content
Daring Fireball: Markdown
Download
Markdown 1.0.1 (18 KB)βββ17 Dec 2004
Introduction
Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows
you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then
convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML).
For more information, see Browsing.
nb open
(shortcut: nb o
) opens the bookmarked URL in
your system's primary web browser:
# open bookmark by id
nb open 3
# open bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb open example:12
# open bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 open
# open bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:open 12
N.B. To use nb open
with
WSL,
install wslu.
nb peek
(shortcut: nb p
, alias: nb preview
)
opens the bookmarked URL in your terminal web browser,
such as
w3m,
Links, or
Lynx:
# peek bookmark by id
nb peek 3
# peek bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb peek example:12
# peek bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 peek
# peek bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:peek 12
nb open
and nb peek
work seamlessly with encrypted bookmarks.
nb
simply prompts you for the bookmark's password.
nb open
and nb peek
automatically check whether the URL is still valid.
If the page has been removed, nb
can check
the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
for an archived copy.
The preferred terminal web browser can be set using
the $BROWSER
environment variable,
assigned in ~/.bashrc
, ~/.zshrc
, or similar:
export BROWSER=lynx
When $BROWSER
is not set, nb
looks for
w3m
,
links
, and
lynx
and uses the first one it finds.
$BROWSER
can also be used to easy specify the terminal browser for
an individual command:
β― BROWSER=links nb 12 peek
# opens the URL from bookmark 12 in links
β― BROWSER=w3m nb 12 peek
# opens the URL from bookmark 12 in w3m
nb show
and nb edit
can also be used to view and edit bookmark files,
which include the cached page converted to Markdown.
nb show <id> --render
/ nb show <id> -r
displays the bookmark file converted to HTML in the terminal web browser,
including all bookmark fields and the cached page content,
providing a cleaned-up, distraction-free, locally-served view of
the page content along with all of your notes.
nb o
and nb p
Shortcut Aliases: nb open
and nb peek
can also be used with the shortcut aliases
nb o
and nb p
:
# open bookmark by id
nb o 3
# open bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb o example:12
# open bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 o
# peek bookmark by id
nb p 3
# peek bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example"
nb p example:12
# peek bookmark 12 in the notebook named "example", alternative
nb example:12 p
Bookmark File Format
Bookmarks are identified by a .bookmark.md
file extension.
The bookmark URL is the first URL in the file within <
and >
characters.
To create a minimally valid bookmark file with nb add
:
nb add example.bookmark.md --content "<https://example.com>"
For a full overview, see
nb
Markdown Bookmark File Format.
-- A command line tool for managing bookmarks. bookmark
nb
includes bookmark
, a full-featured
command line interface for creating, viewing, searching, and editing bookmarks.
bookmark
is a shortcut for the
nb bookmark
subcommand,
accepting all of the same subcommands and options with identical behavior.
Bookmark a page:
β― bookmark https://example.com --tags tag1,tag2
Added: [3] π 20200101000000.bookmark.md "Example Title (example.com)"
List and filter bookmarks with
bookmark
and bookmark list
:
β― bookmark
Add: bookmark <url> Help: bookmark help
---------------------------------------
[3] π π example.bookmark.md.enc
[2] π Example Two (example.com)
[1] π Example One (example.com)
β― bookmark list two
[2] π Example Two (example.com)
View a bookmark in your terminal web browser:
bookmark peek 2
Open a bookmark in your system's primary web browser:
bookmark open 2
Perform a full text search of bookmarks and archived page content:
β― bookmark search "example query"
[10] π example.bookmark.md "Example Bookmark (example.com)"
------------------------------------------------------------
5:Lorem ipsum example query.
See bookmark help
for more information.
β Todos
β Β·
nb do
,
nb tasks
,
nb todo
,
nb undo
Use nb todo
(shortcut: nb t
)
to create, list, and update todos.
nb
todos are structured Markdown documents
referencing a single primary todo,
with optional tasks.
Use nb todo add
to create a new todo:
# create a new todo titled "Example todo one."
β― nb todo add "Example todo one."
Added: [1] βοΈ [ ] Example todo one.
β― nb show 1 --print
# [ ] Example todo one.
Use the --due <date>
option to add an optional due date in a
## Due
section:
# create a new todo titled "Example todo two." with a due date of "2100-01-01"
β― nb todo add "Example todo two." --due "2100-01-01"
Added: [2] βοΈ [ ] Example todo two.
β― nb show 2 --print
# [ ] Example todo two.
## Due
2100-01-01
Add an optional description with the
--description <description>
option:
β― nb todo add "Example todo three." --description "Example description."
Added: [3] βοΈ [ ] Example todo three.
β― nb show 3 --print
# [ ] Example todo three.
## Description
Example description.
Todos can have tasks.
Tasks added with one or more --task <task>
options
are represented as a markdown task list and placed in a
## Tasks
section:
β― nb todo add "Example todo seven." --task "Task one." --task "Task two." --task "Task three."
Added: [7] βοΈ [ ] Example todo seven.
β― nb show 7 --print
# [ ] Example todo seven.
## Tasks
- [ ] Task one.
- [ ] Task two.
- [ ] Task three.
Related URLs and linked selectors
can be added to a ## Related
field using the
-r (<url> | <selector>)
/ --related (<url> | <selector>)
option:
β― nb todo add "Example todo four." --related example:123 -r https://example.com
Added: [4] βοΈ [ ] Example todo four.
β― nb show 4 --print
# [ ] Example todo four.
## Related
- [[example:123]]
- <https://example.com>
Tags can be added to todos with the
--tags <tag1>,<tag2>...
option:
β― nb todo add "Example todo five." --tags tag1,tag2
Added: [5] βοΈ [ ] Example todo five.
β― nb show 5 --print
# [ ] Example todo five.
## Tags
#tag1 #tag2
Tags, links, and URLs can be
browsed
in terminal and GUI web browers with nb browse
.
Listing Todos
List todos in with nb todos
:
# list todos in the current notebook
β― nb todos
[6] βοΈ [ ] Example todo six.
[5] β
[x] Example todo five.
[4] βοΈ [ ] Example todo four.
[3] β
[x] Example todo three.
[2] β
[x] Example todo two.
[1] βοΈ [ ] Example todo one.
# list todos in the notebook named "sample"
β― nb todos sample:
[sample:4] β
[x] Sample todo four.
[sample:3] βοΈ [ ] Sample todo three.
[sample:2] βοΈ [ ] Sample todo two.
[sample:1] β
[x] Sample todo one.
Open / undone todos can be listed with nb todos open
:
# list open todos in the current notebook
β― nb todos open
[6] βοΈ [ ] Example todo six.
[4] βοΈ [ ] Example todo four.
[1] βοΈ [ ] Example todo one.
# list open todos in the notebook named "sample"
β― nb tasks open sample:
[sample:3] βοΈ [ ] Sample todo three.
[sample:2] βοΈ [ ] Sample todo two.
Closed / done todos can be listed with nb todos closed
:
# list closed todos in the current notebook
β― nb todos closed
[5] β
[x] Example todo five.
[3] β
[x] Example todo three.
[2] β
[x] Example todo two.
# list closed todos in the notebook named "sample"
β― nb tasks closed sample:
[sample:4] β
[x] Sample todo four.
[sample:1] β
[x] Sample todo one.
See
nb help todo
for more information.
/ doundo
Mark a todo as done or closed with nb do
:
# add a new todo titled "Example todo six."
β― nb todo add "Example todo six."
Added: [6] βοΈ [ ] Example todo six.
# mark todo 6 as done / closed
β― nb do 6
Done: [6] β
[x] Example todo six.
Re-open a closed todo with nb undo
:
# mark todo 6 as undone / open
β― nb undo 6
Undone: [6] βοΈ [ ] Example todo six.
See
nb help do
and
nb help undo
for more information.
βοΈ Tasks
β Β·
nb do
,
nb tasks
,
nb todo
,
nb undo
nb
can list and update tasks in todos and other Markdown documents.
Tasks are defined as one or more Markdown list items starting with
- [ ]
to indicate an open task or - [x]
to indicate a done / closed task:
- [ ] Example open task.
- [x] Example closed task.
List tasks in items, folders, and notebooks with
nb tasks
(shortcut: nb t
),
which lists both tasks and todos:
# list tasks in item 7
β― nb tasks 7
[7] βοΈ [ ] Example todo seven.
------------------------------
[7 1] [x] Task one.
[7 2] [x] Task two.
[7 3] [ ] Task three.
# list tasks and todos in the notebook named "example"
β― nb tasks example:
[example:9] βοΈ [ ] Example todo nine.
[example:8] β
[x] Example todo eight.
--------------------------------------
[example:8 1] [x] Task one.
[example:8 2] [x] Task two.
[example:6] βοΈ [ ] Example todo six.
[example:4] Example Note Title
------------------------------
[example:4 1] [ ] Task one.
[example:4 2] [x] Task two.
[example:4 3] [ ] Task three.
[example:3] βοΈ [ ] Example todo three.
Open / undone tasks can be listed with nb tasks open
:
# list open tasks in item 7
β― nb tasks open 7
[7] βοΈ [ ] Example todo seven.
------------------------------
[7 3] [ ] Task three.
# list open tasks and todos in the notebook named "example"
β― nb tasks open example:
[example:9] βοΈ [ ] Example todo nine.
[example:6] βοΈ [ ] Example todo six.
[example:4] Example Note Title
------------------------------
[example:4 1] [ ] Task one.
[example:4 3] [ ] Task three.
[example:3] βοΈ [ ] Example todo three.
Closed / done tasks can be listed with nb tasks closed
:
# list closed tasks in item 7
β― nb tasks closed 7
[7] βοΈ [ ] Example todo seven.
------------------------------
[7 1] [x] Task one.
[7 2] [x] Task two.
# list closed tasks and todos in the notebook named "example"
β― nb tasks closed example:
[example:8] β
[x] Example todo eight.
--------------------------------------
[example:8 1] [x] Task one.
[example:8 2] [x] Task two.
[example:4] Example Note Title
------------------------------
[example:4 2] [x] Task two.
Tasks are identified by the item selector, followed by a space, then followed by the sequential number of the task in the file.
Use nb do
to mark tasks as done / closed:
# list tasks in item 9
β― nb tasks 9
[9] βοΈ [ ] Eample todo nine.
----------------------------
[9 1] [ ] Task one.
[9 2] [ ] Task two.
[9 3] [ ] Task three.
# mark task 2 in item 9 as done / closed
β― nb do 9 2
[9] βοΈ [ ] Eample todo nine.
----------------------------
Done: [9 2] [x] Task two.
# list tasks in item 9
β― nb tasks 9
[9] βοΈ [ ] Eample todo nine.
----------------------------
[9 1] [ ] Task one.
[9 2] [x] Task two.
[9 3] [ ] Task three.
Undo a done / closed task with nb undo
:
# mark task 2 in item 9 as undone / open
β― nb undo 9 2
[9] βοΈ [ ] Example todo nine.
-----------------------------
Undone: [9 2] [ ] Task two.
# list tasks in item 9
β― nb tasks 9
[9] βοΈ [ ] Example todo nine.
-----------------------------
[9 1] [ ] Task one.
[9 2] [ ] Task two.
[9 3] [ ] Task three.
See
nb help tasks
for more information.
π· #tagging
β Β·
nb add
,
nb bookmark
,
nb browse
,
nb list
,
nb ls
,
nb search
nb
recognizes #hashtags
defined anywhere within a document.
A hashtag is defined in nb
as a #
character followed by any number of
letters, numbers, underscores, and dashes.
Notes and bookmarks can be tagged when they are created using the
--tags <tag1>,<tag2>...
option,
which is available with
nb add
,
nb <url>
,
nb browse add
,
nb bookmark
,
and
nb todo
.
--tags
takes a comma-separated list of tags, converts them to
#hashtags
,
and adds them to the document.
Tags added to notes with nb add --tags
are placed between the title
and body text:
β― nb add --title "Example Title" "Example note content." --tags tag1,tag2
# Example Title
#tag1 #tag2
Example note content.
Tags added to bookmarks with
nb <url> --tags
and nb bookmark <url> --tags
are placed in a ## Tags
section:
β― nb https://example.com --tags tag1,tag2
# Example Title (example.com)
<https://example.com>
## Description
Example description.
## Tags
#tag1 #tag2
## Content
Example Title
=============
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may
use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for
permission.
[More information\...](https://www.iana.org/domains/example)
Tags added to todos with
nb todo add --tags
are placed in a ## Tags
section:
β― nb todo add --tags tag1,tag2 "Example todo."
# [ ] Example todo.
## Tags
#tag1 #tag2
Use nb --tags
, nb ls --tags
,
and nb list --tags
to list the tags present in a notebook, folder, or item:
# list all tags found in items in the current notebook
nb --tags
# list all tags found in the folder named "example"
nb example/ --tags
# list all tags in the item with id 123 in the notebook named "sample"
nb sample:123 --tags
Tagged items can be searched with
nb search
/ nb q
:
# search for items tagged with "#tag1"
nb search --tag tag1
# search for items tagged with "#tag1", shortcut and short option
nb q -t tag1
# search for items tagged with "#tag1", shortcut and argument
nb q \#tag1
# searc