Command-Line Tools

The notes command provides command-line access to the notes system. It communicates with a running gdata server over HTTP.

Invocation

The CLI is symlinked as notes on the PATH (/home/john/bin/notes). Invoke it as notes from any directory. Do not cd to the gdata-server directory or run python3 notes_client.py directly.

Commands

read

Read a document by key. Empty key reads the root page.

notes read [key]

write

Write content to a key. Content is passed as command-line arguments.

notes write <key> <content>

load

Load a JSON file into a document key. This is the preferred command-line way to create notes from tools and scripts.

notes load [-d] <key> <file>

The -d flag deletes the file after a successful load.

list

List all document keys currently stored in the notes system. Use this before reading or linking, and to audit for orphaned documents.

notes list

delete

Delete a document by key. Before deleting, read README/orphaning.

notes delete <key>

Best Practices

Use notes load -d with a complete JSON file for substantial edits. Avoid shell heredoc/redirect patterns for note creation. Always link new child notes from their parent page.