instantnotes

Your InstantNotes library, directly in Claude Code. Search, read and capture notes without leaving the terminal.

Every note you have, one command away.

Install

Add the marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add jamubc/toolbox

Install the plugin:

/plugin install instantnotes@toolbox

Usage

| Command | What it does | | --- | --- | | /notes | Opens a pane with your recent notes. | | /notes <words> | Opens the pane searching for those words or a title. | | /note <text> | Saves the text as a new note. The first line becomes the title. |

In the pane:

• Type to filter the notes already listed; Enter searches the whole library. An empty search lists recent notes.
• A note opens as Markdown with its spaces, tags and when it last changed. b goes back.
• mention in prompt (u) puts a reference to the note in your prompt, so Claude can read it through the InstantNotes MCP server. paste into prompt (p) puts the note's text itself there. copy (c) copies it.
• + new note opens a field: write the note and press Enter. It opens once saved.
• Notes you have opened are kept for a minute, so going back and forth is instant; reload (r) reads one again.

How it reaches InstantNotes

The plugin uses what InstantNotes › Settings › Agents sets up, in this order:

1. The instantnotes MCP server Claude Code already runs, once you ran the claude mcp add instantnotes … command from that page. This is the fast path: the server stays up, and every request is a call to it.
2. instantnotes mcp run by the plugin, one request at a time. It finds the program from what claude mcp add wrote in ~/.claude.json or the project's .mcp.json (the exact program and library you use), from /Applications/InstantNotes.app or ~/Applications/InstantNotes.app, or on your PATH.

When none of these can start, the pane says so and lists the steps.

<details> <summary>Setup details</summary> <br>

• Needs InstantNotes 0.9.0 or later, with Access turned on in Settings › Agents.
• /config → InstantNotes program names the program when the plugin cannot find it. /config → Notes library names a library other than the one the app or claude mcp add uses; the attachments folder is read beside it.
• With nothing set, the app's own library is used: ~/.local/share/com.instantnotes.app on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/com.instantnotes.app on macOS.

</details> <details> <summary>Functions</summary> <br>

• hooks/register.tsx draws the pane and answers /notes and /note.
• hooks/library.ts finds the program and library from your configuration, and shapes text for the pane.
• Each request is one MCP tools/call, through the connected server or one instantnotes mcp process, so the plugin follows the same rules as any agent.
• /clear and /compact leave the search and the open note in the pane.

</details> <details> <summary>Privacy</summary>

• Notes reach Claude only when you put one in your prompt (mention or paste) and send it.
• It writes only when you save a note (/note, or the field in the pane).
• It talks only to the local instantnotes program or the MCP server you connected, never the network. ~/.claude.json is read only to find that server's command line.

</details>

Development

claude --plugin-dir plugins/instantnotes   # load it; edits hot-reload
claude plugin validate plugins/instantnotes
claude plugin test plugins/instantnotes