Apple Notes for VS Code

Browse and edit your Apple Notes without leaving VS Code. The extension adds a sidebar tree (drag it into the Secondary Side Bar for a right-hand panel) where notes open as regular Markdown files — edit them like any other file and save straight back to Notes.

There's no private API use and no direct writes to NoteStore.sqlite. Everything goes through JXA (osascript -l JavaScript), i.e. the same scripting interface Shortcuts and AppleScript use.

macOS only. Apple Notes has no scripting interface on other platforms, so this extension does nothing there.

Features

• Tree view of your Notes folders and notes in the VS Code sidebar
• Open, edit, and save notes as Markdown
• Create, rename, move, and delete notes and folders
• Full-text search across notes
• Jump to a note in Notes.app from the sidebar

Requirements

• macOS with Notes.app
• VS Code 1.85 or later
• On first use, macOS will prompt for permission to let VS Code control Notes (Apple Events / TCC). This is expected — not a bug — and is required for the extension to work.

Installation

This extension isn't published to the Marketplace yet. To install it locally:

git clone https://github.com/Dach3r/apple-notes-vscode.git
cd apple-notes-vscode
pnpm install
pnpm run compile

Then package and install the .vsix:

pnpm run package
code --install-extension apple-notes-vscode-0.2.0.vsix

Building a production installer

To generate a new .vsix for distribution (e.g. for the Marketplace):

pnpm install
pnpm run package

Notes:

• publisher in package.json must match the target Marketplace publisher account id exactly (case-sensitive), or upload fails with Publisher ID '<x>' provided in the extension manifest should match the publisher ID '<y>' under which you are trying to publish this extension.
• Use --no-dependencies because vsce shells out to npm ls to verify the dependency tree, which fails on this repo's pnpm-managed node_modules (missing transitive devDependencies that pnpm doesn't hoist). This flag skips that check; it's safe here since production dependencies are bundled by esbuild into dist/extension.js at build time.
• vsce package runs the vscode:prepublish script automatically, which builds the bundle in production mode (minified, no sourcemaps).
• The output file is named <name>-<version>.vsix from package.json. Bump version before building a new release.
• To publish directly instead of just packaging: ./node_modules/.bin/vsce publish --no-dependencies (requires a Personal Access Token — see vsce login).

Known limitations (v0.2)

• Headings, real checklists, and blockquotes do not round-trip. Saving a # heading stores it as bold text; a - [ ] checklist stores as plain ☐ text; numbered lists become bullet lists with the number kept as text. You'll see a confirmation dialog listing exactly what will degrade before any save that would lose structure.
• Delete is soft-delete. Notes moves the note to "Recently Deleted"; there is no API for a permanent purge.
• Smart folders reject moves — Notes itself returns error -10000.
• Password-protected/shared notes are visible but not specially handled yet.
• Tags, pinned state, and real checklist items are read-only via Notes' scripting interface and are out of scope for this version (would require either Full Disk Access + NoteStore.sqlite, or pre-built Shortcuts).

Development

pnpm install
pnpm run watch   # esbuild in watch mode
# F5 in VS Code -> Extension Development Host

Useful scripts:

pnpm run lint         # eslint
pnpm run check-types  # tsc --noEmit

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. If you're proposing a larger change, please open an issue first to discuss the approach.

Disclaimer

This is an independent, unofficial project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple Inc. "Apple Notes" and "Notes" are trademarks of Apple Inc.

License

MIT