Drafts CLI

Manage Drafts app notes via CLI on macOS. Create, view, list, edit, append, prepend, and run actions on drafts. Use when a user asks to create a note, list drafts, search drafts, or manage their Drafts inbox. IMPORTANT - Drafts app must be running on macOS for this to work.

Manage Drafts notes from the terminal on macOS.

IMPORTANT REQUIREMENTS

This CLI ONLY works on macOS with Drafts app running.

• macOS only - Uses AppleScript, will not work on Linux/Windows
• Drafts must be RUNNING - The app must be open for any command to work
• Drafts Pro required - Automation features require Pro subscription

If commands fail or hang, first check: open -a Drafts

Setup

Install via Go:

go install github.com/nerveband/drafts/cmd/drafts@latest

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/nerveband/drafts
cd drafts && go build ./cmd/drafts

Commands

Create a Draft

# Simple draft
drafts create "Meeting notes for Monday"

# With tags
drafts create "Shopping list" -t groceries -t todo

# Flagged draft
drafts create "Urgent reminder" -f

# Create in archive
drafts create "Reference note" -a

List Drafts

# List inbox (default)
drafts list

# List archived drafts
drafts list -f archive

# List trashed drafts
drafts list -f trash

# List all drafts
drafts list -f all

# Filter by tag
drafts list -t mytag

Get a Draft

# Get specific draft
drafts get <uuid>

# Get active draft (currently open in Drafts)
drafts get

Modify Drafts

# Prepend text
drafts prepend "New first line" -u <uuid>

# Append text
drafts append "Added at the end" -u <uuid>

# Replace entire content
drafts replace "Completely new content" -u <uuid>

Edit in Editor

drafts edit <uuid>

Run Actions

# Run action on text
drafts run "Copy" "Text to copy to clipboard"

# Run action on existing draft
drafts run "Copy" -u <uuid>

Get Schema

# Full schema for LLM integration
drafts schema

# Schema for specific command
drafts schema create

Output Format

JSON (default) - All commands return structured JSON:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "uuid": "ABC123",
    "content": "Note content",
    "title": "Note title",
    "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
    "folder": "inbox"
  }
}

Plain text - Human-readable output:

drafts list --plain

Common Workflows

Quick Capture

drafts create "Remember to call dentist tomorrow" -t reminder

Daily Journal

drafts append "$(date): Completed project review" -u <journal-uuid>

Search and Review

# List all drafts with a specific tag
drafts list -t work

# Get full content of a draft
drafts get <uuid>

Troubleshooting

Commands fail or return empty:

1. Is Drafts running? → open -a Drafts
2. Is Drafts Pro active? → Automation requires Pro
3. Permissions granted? → System Settings > Privacy > Automation

Commands hang:

• Check if Drafts is showing a dialog

Notes

• macOS ONLY (AppleScript-based)
• Drafts app MUST be running
• Requires Drafts Pro subscription
• All UUIDs are Drafts-generated identifiers
• Tags are case-sensitive

Version

Latest (from go install)