quickstart

nb Quickstart

nb is a command line and local web note-taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application. Use this skill when you need to:

• Create and manage notes from the terminal
• Bookmark web pages with local caching
• Build a personal knowledge base with wiki-style linking
• Organize notes with folders, tags, and pinning
• Encrypt sensitive notes and bookmarks
• Use Git for versioning and syncing
• Convert notes between formats with Pandoc

Commands

• nb <resource> <action> — Execute nb commands
• nb self version — Print nb version
• nb note add — Add a new note
• nb note list — List notes
• nb note show — Show a note
• nb note edit — Edit a note
• nb note delete — Delete a note
• nb bookmark add — Add a bookmark
• nb search query — Search notes and bookmarks
• nb notebook list — List notebooks
• nb _ _ — Passthrough to nb CLI

Installation

npm install -g nb.sh
nb --version

Also available via Homebrew: brew install xwmx/taps/nb

Core Note Operations

Add a Note

# Quick note (opens editor)
nb add

# Add note with content
nb add "My note content"

# Add note with title
nb add --title "Meeting Notes" "Discussion points..."

# Add note with tags
nb add --tags work,important "Project update"

# Add note to specific folder
nb add --folder projects "New feature idea"

List Notes

# List all notes
nb

# List notes in folder
nb projects:

# Search notes
nb search "keyword"

# Filter by tags
nb search #tag

Show a Note

# Show by ID
nb show 1

# Show by title/identifier
nb show "meeting notes"

# Show with syntax highlighting
nb show 1 --color

Edit a Note

# Edit by ID
nb edit 1

# Edit by title
nb edit "meeting notes"

Delete a Note

# Delete by ID
nb delete 1

# Delete by title
nb delete "meeting notes"

Bookmarking

Add a Bookmark

# Add bookmark (fetches and caches page content)
nb bookmark:add https://example.com

# Add with title
nb bookmark:add https://example.com --title "Example Site"

# Add with tags
nb bookmark:add https://example.com --tags dev,reference

# Add with comment
nb bookmark:add https://example.com --comment "Useful resource"

List Bookmarks

# List all bookmarks
nb bookmarks:

# Search bookmarks
nb search https://

Browse Bookmarks

# Open local web browser
nb browse

# Open specific bookmark
nb browse 1

Organization

Folders

# List folders
nb folders:

# Create folder
nb folder:create projects

# Add note to folder
nb add --folder projects "Note content"

Tags

# Add tags to note
nb 1 tag work,important

# Remove tags
nb 1 untag work

# List by tag
nb search #work

Pinning

# Pin a note
nb pin 1

# Unpin
nb unpin 1

# List pinned
nb search pinned:true

Advanced Features

Encryption

# Create encrypted note
nb add --encrypt "Secret information"

# Create encrypted bookmark
nb bookmark:add https://example.com --encrypt

# Decrypt when viewing
nb show 1 --decrypt

Git Integration

# Git is automatically used for versioning
# View history
nb git:log

# Sync with remote
nb git:pull
nb git:push

Import/Export

# Import file
nb import document.md

# Export note
nb export 1 --format markdown

# Export to PDF (requires Pandoc)
nb export 1 --format pdf

Wiki-Style Linking

# Link to other notes
nb add "See [[meeting notes]] for details"

# Link creates automatic cross-references

Search

# Full-text search
nb search "keyword"

# Search with regex
nb search "regex.*pattern"

# Search in specific folder
nb projects: search "keyword"

# Search by tag
nb search #tag

# Combine filters
nb search #work and "urgent"

Notebooks

# Create new notebook
nb notebooks:create work

# List notebooks
nb notebooks:

# Switch notebook
nb notebooks:use work

# Set current notebook as default
nb notebooks:pin work

Todo Lists

# Add todo item
nb add --todo "Fix bug in production"

# Mark as complete
nb 1 todo:complete

# List todos
nb search todo:true

Tips

• Use nb browse for local web interface with distraction-free reading
• Enable optional dependencies (bat, rg, pandoc) for enhanced features
• Use nb help for comprehensive command reference
• Notes are stored in plain text for easy version control
• Supports Vim, Emacs, VS Code, and any text editor
• Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows (WSL/MSYS/Cygwin)
• Single portable shell script with progressive enhancement