Searching Notes in Alfred

[able]

Hi all,

 

Based on my research, it seems like there was a good Alfred workflow that allowed to search and open notes that broke in 10.11. I've started using Notes as permanent storage for project notes (used to just be an inbox I would empty), and so I'd like to be able to quickly search through to find what I need. If it's impossible I'm going to look into switching to Bear (which I know has a workflow) or Agenda.

 

How are people currently handling their notes with Alfred?

Thanks all!

[deanishe]

On 6/13/2018 at 7:11 PM, able said:

How are people currently handling their notes with Alfred?

 

Read the Notes thread: it's all in there. TL;DR: not very well.

 

 

[nikivi]

I used the workflow @deanishe linked above but switched to a different solution all together for all my note taking.

 

Now I just write all my notes as markdown files in Sublime Text. I put all the notes in one directory called knowledge that I put in Dropbox for syncing. And I can open any file in this directory with Alfred scoped to the path where the directory lies. I made a workflow for it too.

 

On iOS, I use Ulysses app to edit the notes as Ulysses can consume directories of markdown files that are stored on Dropbox. The bonus point of it all is that I can then render all these markdown files to the web with GitBook so anyone can read them. 

If you want to keep private notes in this setup, I would create a directory in the main repo and git ignore it so it won't be pushed online for all to see.

 

This setup works for me and I am super happy with it. Maybe you like it too. I am just not fond of keeping all my notes in a database that only Notes or Bear or any one app can read. Markdown files are super portable. Oh and Sublime Text has vim mode which neither Notes nor Bear nor Ulysses have.

Edited June 15, 2018 by nikivi

[able]

21 hours ago, deanishe said:

 

Read the Notes thread: it's all in there. TL;DR: not very well.

 

Thanks, I came across that thread in my searches.  It highlights the fact that Alfred has perfect workflows, but the nature of the beast means that it's always a temporary solution that could break any time.

[able]

21 hours ago, nikivi said:

I used the workflow @deanishe linked above but switched to a different solution all together for all my note taking.

 

 Now I just write all my notes as markdown files in Sublime Text. I put all the notes in one directory called knowledge that I put in Dropbox for syncing. And I can open any file in this directory with Alfred scoped to the path where the directory lies. I made a workflow for it too.

 

 On iOS, I use Ulysses app to edit the notes as Ulysses can consume directories of markdown files that are stored on Dropbox. The bonus point of it all is that I can then render all these markdown files to the web with GitBook so anyone can read them. 

If you want to keep private notes in this setup, I would create a directory in the main repo and git ignore it so it won't be pushed online for all to see.

  

This setup works for me and I am super happy with it. Maybe you like it too. I am just not fond of keeping all my notes in a database that only Notes or Bear or any one app can read. Markdown files are super portable. Oh and Sublime Text has vim mode which neither Notes nor Bear nor Ulysses have.

Wow sounds like a perfect solution. Do you have a solution for sharing a file with just selected other people? I guess syncing certain files with a dropbox shared folder?

[nikivi]

47 minutes ago, able said:

Do you have a solution for sharing a file with just selected other people?

 

I usually just send a message/email with what I want to share to that specific person or persons. But Dropbox file sharing works too.

[deanishe]

8 hours ago, able said:

It highlights the fact that Alfred has perfect workflows, but the nature of the beast means that it's always a temporary solution that could break any time.

 

That's a bit unfair. Workflows are little different to any other free software. There are workflows that have been working—unchanged—since Alfred 2 came out. It's largely a question of how seriously the other people whose language/platforms/services/APIs you're using take backwards-compatibility.

 

Andrew takes it very seriously; Apple is terrible about it.

 

In this case, the change Apple made is extremely incompatible with the existing workflow (Apple moved Notes' data to an SQLite database, and the language the workflow is written in doesn't support SQLite databases).

[Starkiller]

After years of not being able to search my notes in Alfred I just found this workflow which works great 🥳:

http://www.packal.org/workflow/search-apple-notes

[bivalvegruff]

4 hours ago, Starkiller said:

After years of not being able to search my notes in Alfred I just found this workflow which works great 🥳:

http://www.packal.org/workflow/search-apple-notes

 

I also use this to search for notes, and the workflow @deanishe linked to to create notes. 👍