Search Apple/iCloud Notes

[sballin]

1 minute ago, M1m1s said:

I have a feature request: I wonder if it would be possible to search for tags? Preferably for notes which have certain multiple tags, e.g. search for +food +recipe + vegetables.

 

Even more helpful, would it be possible for the workflow to auto-suggest other tags used together with a specific tag, e.g. type tag:food and the workflow returns 'tag:recipe tag:vegetables' etc.?

 

I think the first one is satisfied by the keyword "nt", the second one I can add to the to-do list

[M1m1s]

Brilliant!

Keyword 'nt' indeed searches for tags. It's not mentioned in the Readme or in the forum but it's there if you open the workflow in Alfred.

Your immediate reply is most appreciated, and if you ever find time to look into more tag functionality it would be great. I think a kind of tag cloud in Apple Notes is a much-needed feature, and anything you could do in that direction would be awesome. Cheers!

[dfay]

Hmm....i've never seen ]this before.  Malwarebytes is flagging this:

Quote

App Block aims to completely block applications from known bad developers, preventing them from running at all. When an application is blocked, a notification appears providing the name of the application that was blocked:

In this case, the app is not quarantined, but is not capable of running. The advantage of App Block is that it can detect and block new apps from existing developers, even if they have not yet been seen by Malwarebytes researchers. We recommend you keep App Block enabled to remain protected.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by dfay

[sballin]

9 minutes ago, dfay said:

Hmm....i've never seen ]this before.  Malwarebytes is flagging this:

 

I can see why it would be flagged, because it accesses the Notes database. But not sure anything can be done here other than to “unblock” it or turn off app block. You are welcome to inspect the source and compile it yourself following the directions in the readme. 

[snsokstan]

@sballin This workflow changes everything. I'm no longer debating the move from EN to Apple Notes. Thanks so much!

[pitzaman]

Hi,

First of all thank you! @sballin. it is a superb workflow. 

I understand that when I copy a link to a note, there should be two links -  one for iOS and the other for macOS.

But in my case, I receive only one link - the name is iOS, but the link itself is macOS...

Thanks!

[sballin]

14 hours ago, pitzaman said:

Hi,

First of all thank you! @sballin. it is a superb workflow. 

I understand that when I copy a link to a note, there should be two links -  one for iOS and the other for macOS.

But in my case, I receive only one link - the name is iOS, but the link itself is macOS...

Thanks!

 

Glad you like it! What version of the workflow are you using? Can you post the exact result?

 

The newer iOS/macOS Notes apps now have built-in note linking support, so I’m not sure about the future of this feature…

[pitzaman]

16 hours ago, sballin said:

 

Glad you like it! What version of the workflow are you using? Can you post the exact result?

 

The newer iOS/macOS Notes apps now have built-in note linking support, so I’m not sure about the future of this feature…

The version is 3.5.2

The built-in note linking works well, though it takes to many clicks...

[andrew610]

On 11/12/2023 at 10:57 PM, sballin said:

 

Glad you like it! What version of the workflow are you using? Can you post the exact result?

 

The newer iOS/macOS Notes apps now have built-in note linking support, so I’m not sure about the future of this feature…

same for me. newly installed this week

[Buchholdt]

Thanks for this great tool, I just found it, and can see that this will be a crucial part of my daily workflow.

 

I do have one question I hope you can help me solve.

As I use the Todo app Things 3 I can't paste in the copied link as it only shows me the the plain text without the links like "Charlies Wishlist (iOS)". This is a limitation to Things 3.

 

Is it possible to just copy the dedicated link without any changes e.g. "notes://showNote?identifier=2B67363B-617E-4771-9D00-36A3C0DC5B0E"?

 

I guess one issue would be having both the Mac and iOS links, but for me I could go with just having the Mac link.

Could this be solved with e.g. holding 2 modifyer keys down when interacting with Alfread?

 

If you have any suggestions it would really help me.

Thanks again for the great work you have done 🙂

[sballin]

On 12/20/2023 at 7:42 AM, Buchholdt said:

Is it possible to just copy the dedicated link without any changes e.g. "notes://showNote?identifier=2B67363B-617E-4771-9D00-36A3C0DC5B0E"?

 

I decided this should be the default action of alt-enter in the latest version: https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/releases/download/3.6/Search.Notes.alfredworkflow

 

This new version also has the following features:

• Show enclosing folder when showing a note
• Use new note linking format that works on macOS and iOS (macOS >= 14 required)
• Use new updater script that doesn't require Python 2 (thanks vitorgalvao!)
• Bug fixes

Edited December 26, 2023 by sballin

[Buchholdt]

This is great news, thanks for making this change, this sets my up really well for my 2024 workflow.

Thanks again for the great work.

[All4Alfred]

I've noticed that when creating a new note via this workflow, it assumes you have it set to create a new note starting with the BODY of the note but I prefer to create a note starting with the TITLE. The issue is that any time I use this workflow to create a note, it formats the title as a "BODY" instead of "TITLE". I tried changing the script a little bit by replacing <h1> with <title> but that ended up resulting in an error.

 

Any ideas how I can adjust the code to make it set the title with the proper TITLE formatting?

[sballin]

17 hours ago, All4Alfred said:

I've noticed that when creating a new note via this workflow, it assumes you have it set to create a new note starting with the BODY of the note but I prefer to create a note starting with the TITLE. The issue is that any time I use this workflow to create a note, it formats the title as a "BODY" instead of "TITLE". I tried changing the script a little bit by replacing <h1> with <title> but that ended up resulting in an error.

 

Any ideas how I can adjust the code to make it set the title with the proper TITLE formatting?

 

can you post a screenshot?

[All4Alfred]

17 hours ago, sballin said:

 

can you post a screenshot?

 

Here are the screenshots of me creating a test note. You can see that it sets the formatting of the new note name using the BODY formatting instead of TITLE formatting:

 

[sballin]

Interesting, I never noticed that. Does it cause any problems when working with notes created through the workflow?

 

I guess this could be fixed by changing the applescript to just do command-n, type title, press enter twice. I'll add it to the to-do list.

Edited February 26 by sballin

[sballin]

On 2/26/2024 at 1:53 PM, All4Alfred said:

Here are the screenshots of me creating a test note. You can see that it sets the formatting of the new note name using the BODY formatting instead of TITLE formatting:

 

should be fixed as of 3.6.2

[pdadoc]

Howdy... Absolutely love this extension and use it constantly.... But something has changed with copying as a link.... Previously, when using OPT-RETURN, it would copy the Notes link with the Title of the note, and offer links for both Mac and iOS.... now when I do the same thing, I instead just get a link such as: applenotes://note/C0D63A8B-B0CC-3F12-AEE5-B72DCC8F58CA.

 

Not aware of anything changing on my end. And tested on both my Studio Mac and MB Air. Using Alfred 5.5, and v3.6.2 of the extension (which seems to be current). Any input appreciated!

[melomon]

On 5/1/2023 at 11:30 PM, sballin said:

I can see why it would be flagged, because it accesses the Notes database. But not sure anything can be done here other than to “unblock” it or turn off app block. You are welcome to inspect the source and compile it yourself following the directions in the readme. 

 

Thank you @sballin for developing this useful Alfred workflow. I am a bit hesitant to keep using it though, I would feel safer if you would sign it with an Apple developer ID, let Apple test it for malicious content, and also let the Alfred team take a good look at the source and give their blessings, which would come with the advantage of being presented on the Alfred Workflow gallery. There is a reason why Apple implemented these safeguards, they're not just there to be clicked away, especially if it involves really sensitive data like personal notes. Thank you.

[sballin]

2 hours ago, melomon said:

 

Thank you @sballin for developing this useful Alfred workflow. I am a bit hesitant to keep using it though, I would feel safer if you would sign it with an Apple developer ID, let Apple test it for malicious content, and also let the Alfred team take a good look at the source and give their blessings, which would come with the advantage of being presented on the Alfred Workflow gallery. There is a reason why Apple implemented these safeguards, they're not just there to be clicked away, especially if it involves really sensitive data like personal notes. Thank you.

 

I understand your hesitation, you're right to be cautious with your notes. Unfortunately I don't have a solution at the moment. I can't justify the cost of an Apple developer account when this is the only use I'd have for it, and I don't think all the donations so far would cover even one year. The next best thing I can do is make it open source and provide the option to compile it yourself after reviewing the code. If the Alfred team wants to review it or make their own trusted fork, they're welcome to.

[melomon]

On 9/14/2024 at 10:38 PM, sballin said:

 

I understand your hesitation, you're right to be cautious with your notes. Unfortunately I don't have a solution at the moment. I can't justify the cost of an Apple developer account when this is the only use I'd have for it, and I don't think all the donations so far would cover even one year. The next best thing I can do is make it open source and provide the option to compile it yourself after reviewing the code. If the Alfred team wants to review it or make their own trusted fork, they're welcome to.

 

Yes, it would absolutely ease my concerns if you would make it open source on GitHub and let the Alfred workflow team (maybe the awesome @vitor?) fork and review it - they could even compile it after their review and sign it with their Apple developer ID, which would solve all issues. This is their GitHub: https://github.com/alfredapp

 

It's a really useful and well made workflow, it would definitely deserve its place on the Alfred Gallery (after review)! That would make it much more trustworthy, accessible, easier to update, and expose it to a wider user base. Thank you! 🙂

 

Edited September 17 by melomon

[vitor]

I have pondered a Notes workflow but there have been other priorities. Though given the chance to look into it, it won’t be based on someone else’s work. Especially not in a language I don’t use, that would be considerably more effort than my typical method. In general I find it a good thing that there are multiple approaches for the same goal, everyone’s brain works in different ways and has different preferences.

If you’re concerned with signing, you can try an alternative.

[melomon]

Ok. 😐

[melomon]

6 hours ago, vitor said:

I have pondered a Notes workflow but there have been other priorities. Though given the chance to look into it, it won’t be based on someone else’s work. Especially not in a language I don’t use, that would be considerably more effort than my typical method. In general I find it a good thing that there are multiple approaches for the same goal, everyone’s brain works in different ways and has different preferences.

If you’re concerned with signing, you can try an alternative.

 

I'd prefer using @sballin's workflow because it's much more developed (version 3.6.2) compared to the one from @rzagreb (version 0.0.2), but yeah, not without signing. Perhaps they could work together and merge their projects, then they'd have an advanced workflow with a nice GUI configuration and signing. Just an idea. That would surely be ready for the Alfred Gallery.

[sballin]

46 minutes ago, melomon said:

I'd prefer using @sballin's workflow because it's much more developed (version 3.6.2) compared to the one from @rzagreb (version 0.0.2), but yeah, not without signing. Perhaps they could work together and merge their projects, then they'd have an advanced workflow with a nice GUI configuration and signing. Just an idea. That would surely be ready for the Alfred Gallery.

 

Here's the code for the binary: https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/blob/master/search_notes/main.go

 

Btw, it can't access the content of locked notes, those are encrypted in the database.

 

My approach is focused on delivering results instantly even when searching the full note contents of very large notes databases. I don't think similar performance is possible with python or AppleScript as in @rzagreb's workflow. The issue is that the note contents are stored in compressed protobuf format in the database. So searching the contents requires decompressing each one, unless there's a clever way to decompress them all at once, which would only be possible if they all have the same compression settings—I don't know if that's the case.

 

An older version of my workflow used python: https://github.com/sballin/alfred-search-notes-app/releases/tag/2.2.1, so no unsigned binaries to worry about. But I don't know if it works anymore.

Edited September 18 by sballin