Better Bear

io.github.KuvopLLCPublished by GitHub account KuvopLLCv0.4.26Updated Oct 24, 2026

MCP server for Bear notes — read, search, create, edit, tag, and manage notes via CloudKit

VerifiedSTDIODesktop onlyProductivity & WorkflowFiles & StorageKnowledge & Memory

Overview

AI-generated overview

Lets an assistant read, search, create, edit, and tag Bear notes through CloudKit, plus build a synced context library for retrieval.

What you can do
Better Bear is a local MCP server and CLI for Bear notes that works through CloudKit. It exposes 34 tools covering notes, tags, TODOs, attachments, search, front matter, stats, and health checks, so an assistant can list, search, create, edit, and tag notes and attach files. It also supports a context library: notes tagged #context are synced into a curated folder with an index that the assistant navigates index-first, loading only relevant files.
When to use it
Use it when you keep notes in Bear and want an assistant to search, summarize, or update them directly, or when you want a curated subset of notes available as retrieval context for an LLM. It is desktop-only, so it suits a local Bear setup rather than a headless or web environment.
Requirements
Runs as a local process on the user's machine, installed via npm (better-bear) or the bcli binary. It requires macOS with Bear and an iCloud account, since it authenticates with iCloud and syncs through CloudKit. The install script and bcli auth step set up that authentication; no API keys or environment variables are declared.
Before you install
The install instructions pipe a remote shell script from the internet into bash, which runs third-party code on your machine. Authentication is with your iCloud account, and the server can create, edit, tag, and attach files in your Bear library, so changes are written to your notes. The context library syncs selected notes into a local folder that an assistant can read.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open Better Bear in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.

Other MCP clients

Follow the launch instructions in the repository.

README

better bear

[better-bear MCP server]

[Build] [Release] [npm] [License: MIT] [better-bear MCP server] [Buy Me A Coffee]

MCP server and CLI for Bear notes via CloudKit. Includes a context library — a curated, synced folder of notes optimized for LLM consumption, inspired by Karpathy's LLM Knowledge Base pattern.

Full docs: better-bear.com

Install

Install the CLI, then connect to Claude:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KuvopLLC/better-bear/main/install.sh | bashbcli authbcli mcp install

This installs the bcli binary, authenticates with iCloud, and sets up the MCP server for both Claude Desktop (via .mcpb bundle) and Claude Code.

Other install methods

MethodCommand
Claude Desktop onlybcli mcp install --desktop-only
Claude Code onlybcli mcp install --code-only
Claude Code (direct)claude mcp add better-bear -- npx -y better-bear
Config filebcli mcp install --json
.mcpb bundleDownload from latest release and double-click

Manage

bcli mcp status      # check what's configuredbcli mcp uninstall   # remove from Claude Desktop and Claude Codebcli mcp reinstall   # clean uninstall + installbcli upgrade         # upgrade bcli binary

CLI

All commands also work standalone from the terminal:

bcli ls                          # list notesbcli search "query"              # full-text searchbcli create "Title" -b "Body"    # create a notebcli edit <id> --append "text"   # append to a notebcli tags                        # list all tagsbcli attach <id> photo.jpg       # attach a filebcli stats                       # library statisticsbcli health                      # health check

See better-bear.com for the full command reference.

Context Library

Turn a subset of your Bear notes into a synced, curated context folder that Claude can navigate using index-first retrieval. Tag notes with #context in Bear, sync, and Claude reads a compact index to find relevant files — loading only what it needs, not everything.

bcli context init                          # one-time setupbcli context sync                          # pull qualifying notesbcli context add <id> --subtag research    # tag a note for inclusionbcli context status                        # health check

Or tell Claude: "Set up a context library" — and it handles everything via MCP tools.

The architecture follows Karpathy's three-folder pattern: bear/ (synced from CloudKit), external/ (PDFs, exports, shared docs), and inbox/ (drop zone for triage). An index.md manifest maps everything. See better-bear.com for full documentation.

MCP Tools

34 tools covering notes, tags, TODOs, attachments, search, front matter, stats, health checks, and the context library. See the MCP server README for the full list.

Contributors

[mreider] [program247365] [asabirov] [darronz]

Source: README.md at commit 2c36160

Tools

0
SourceWeft has not started this package in its sandbox yet, so its tools are not known.

Version history

1
  1. v0.4.26LatestSep 16, 2026

Score

50% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 days25 pts

    Keep the endpoint answering the MCP handshake; SourceWeft probes it every 30 days.

  • Auth declared10 pts

    Declare the credential headers in the registry entry, or keep the endpoint answering the probe so its auth can be classified.

  • Tools listed15 pts

    Answer tools/list without a credential, or ship a package that starts in a sandbox without one.

  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts