cornell note tool

Manage Cornell Method notes as Markdown files using the bundled cornell.py CLI script. Use this skill whenever the user wants to take notes, create a new not...

Security Scan

The skill's requests and included script are coherent with its stated purpose: it manages local Markdown notes in ~/cornell-notes, opens an editor, and does not request credentials or network access.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description match the shipped script and instructions. The code implements creating, listing, viewing, searching, editing, and deleting Markdown notes stored under ~/cornell-notes — exactly what the skill claims.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md instructs the agent to run the included scripts/cornell.py and operate on ~/cornell-notes. It only references the editor env vars ($EDITOR/$VISUAL) and the note directory; there are no instructions to read unrelated files, system config, or transmit data elsewhere.

Install Mechanism

There is no install spec. The skill includes a Python script and directs running it with the system python. Nothing is downloaded or extracted from external URLs.

Credentials

No env vars, credentials, or config paths are required. The script respects $EDITOR/$VISUAL if set (reasonable for editing) and writes only to ~/cornell-notes.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill is user-invocable/autonomously invokable by default (platform default). The skill does create and modify files in the user's home directory (~/cornell-notes) which is expected for a note manager.

Assessment

This skill appears to do only local note management: it will create and edit files under ~/cornell-notes and will launch whatever editor you have configured ($EDITOR/$VISUAL) or fall back to 'micro'. Before installing, note that (1) the script will write files to your home directory, so review permissions and existing files if you have a folder named 'cornell-notes'; (2) the script launches your editor via subprocess.run — ensure $EDITOR points to a trusted program; (3) the skill can be invoked autonomously by agents (platform default) but it does not contact the network or request credentials. If you prefer, run the included scripts manually or inspect the code yourself (scripts/cornell.py) before enabling agent-automation.

Notes Skill

Manage Cornell Method notes stored as Markdown files in ~/cornell-notes/. One .md file per note. Uses the bundled scripts/cornell.py CLI tool.

Script location

scripts/cornell.py

Always run it with:

python scripts/cornell.py <command> [args]

The script path must be relative to the skill root, or use the absolute path once you know it. Copy the script to /tmp/cornell.py for convenience if needed:

cp <skill_root>/scripts/cornell.py /tmp/cornell.py

Commands

Command	What it does
new [title]	Create a new Cornell note (opens in $EDITOR / micro)
list / ls	List all notes with title and date
view [note]	Pretty-print a note in two-column Cornell layout
search [query]	Search all notes by keyword, highlights matches
edit [note]	Open a note in $EDITOR for editing
delete [note] / rm	Delete a note (asks for confirmation)

Notes can be referenced by number, title, or slug. If ambiguous, the script shows an interactive picker.

Note structure (auto-generated)

Each note has YAML frontmatter + three Cornell sections:

---
title: <Title>
date: <YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM>
tags: []
---

## Notes
<!-- Raw lecture / reading notes -->

## Cues
<!-- Keywords, questions, main ideas — filled in after studying -->

## Summary
<!-- 2-3 sentence synthesis in your own words -->

Workflow

Creating a note

1. Ask the user for the note title if not provided.
2. Run: python /tmp/cornell.py new "<title>"
3. Tell the user the file was created at ~/cornell-notes/<slug>.md and that it opened in their editor (micro by default). Remind them to fill in the three sections.

Viewing / listing

• For a quick overview: python /tmp/cornell.py list
• To read a specific note: python /tmp/cornell.py view "<title or number>"
• Render the output in the conversation so the user can read it.

Searching

• Run: python /tmp/cornell.py search "<keyword>"
• Present the matching notes and highlighted lines to the user.

Editing

• Run: python /tmp/cornell.py edit "<title or number>"
• Confirm which note was opened.

Deleting

• Run: python /tmp/cornell.py delete "<title or number>"
• The script will ask for confirmation — relay that to the user if running non-interactively.

Tips

• Notes are stored in ~/cornell-notes/ — the directory is created automatically.
• The script uses $EDITOR or $VISUAL env var, falling back to micro.
• Slugs are auto-generated from titles (lowercased, spaces → hyphens).
• When the user asks to "take a note now", offer to capture their content directly and write it into the appropriate Cornell sections yourself, then save the file.