Joplin Cli

Comprehensive Joplin notes management via CLI with wrapper scripts, templates, and automation. Use when creating, reading, editing, syncing, or organizing no...

Security Scan

The skill appears to do what it says (manage Joplin via CLI) but there are packaging and dependency inconsistencies and a few operational risks you should review before installing.

Purpose & Capability

The skill's name/description align with the files and scripts: the scripts call the Joplin CLI and implement journal, quick-note, search, and backup workflows. However the registry metadata listed 'required binaries: none' while SKILL.md, package.json, and the scripts clearly expect the 'joplin' CLI; this is a packaging/documentation mismatch.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions and the included scripts stay within note-management scope (creating, searching, exporting notes, syncing). The scripts gather some local system context (hostname, whoami) for backup metadata and write files into backup directories — expected for a backup/automation skill. There is no evidence the skill attempts to phone home to unexpected external endpoints beyond Joplin sync (which uses whatever sync server you configured).

Install Mechanism

There is no external download/install spec in the registry (instruction-only), which is lower risk. package.json declares a dependency on 'joplin' (npm) and SKILL.md instructs 'npm install -g joplin' — so installing via npm is expected. This is coherent functionally but the top-level 'requirements' reported earlier (none) contradict the package.json and documentation.

Credentials

The skill does not declare required environment variables, yet scripts read and document many optional JOPLIN_* and Editor-related env vars (JOPLIN_BACKUP_PASSWORD, JOPLIN_BACKUP_DIR, JOPLIN_JOURNAL_NOTEBOOK, EDITOR, etc.). Backup encryption relies on a password that can be supplied via env var or CLI; storing secrets in env vars is common but sensitive. Additionally the scripts rely on other CLI tools (jq, gpg, tar, script) that are not declared in the top-level requirements — missing declared dependencies is a packaging inconsistency you should resolve before use.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill does not request permanent/always-on privileges and does not attempt to modify other skills or global agent configuration. It writes backups and metadata to file paths you control and invokes local utilities; this is expected for a backup/automation skill.

What to consider before installing

This skill largely does what it claims — it wraps the Joplin CLI for note workflows. Before installing: (1) verify you want the npm-installed 'joplin' CLI (SKILL.md and package.json require it) — the registry metadata incorrectly showed no requirements; (2) ensure the host has jq, gpg, tar, and the 'script' utility (scripts reference these but they are not declared up-front); (3) be cautious with backup encryption passwords passed via environment variables or CLI (don't store secrets in insecure profiles); (4) review the scripts (especially any that accept free text or file paths) to ensure they properly quote/sanitize inputs if you'll feed untrusted content — command injection is a generic risk for shell wrappers; (5) run the skill in a test environment first (the repository includes TESTING.md) and inspect created backups/metadata (the scripts add hostname and user info to metadata). The inconsistencies are most likely sloppy packaging/documentation rather than malicious behavior, but resolve the missing dependency declarations and confirm the scripts' handling of untrusted input before using with sensitive data.

Joplin CLI Skill

Comprehensive Joplin notes management with wrapper scripts, templates, and automation workflows.

Features

• Full Joplin CLI Integration – Direct access to all Joplin commands
• Wrapper Scripts – Pre-built scripts for common workflows
• Templates – Daily journals, meeting notes, project updates
• Error Handling – Robust installation and configuration checks
• Multi-language – German and English support
• Integration Ready – Works with Gmail, Calendar, Web Fetch skills

Prerequisites

1. Joplin CLI installed globally:

   npm install -g joplin
   

2. Joplin configured (optional but recommended for sync):

   joplin config sync.target 10  # Joplin Cloud
   joplin config sync.10.username [e-mail]
   joplin config sync.10.password your-password
   

Quick Start

1. Check Joplin Installation

./scripts/joplin-check.sh health

2. Create a Quick Note

./scripts/joplin-quick-note.sh "My First Note" "This is my first note."

3. Create Daily Journal

./scripts/joplin-daily-journal.sh

Available Scripts

Script	Description	Usage
joplin-check.sh	Health check and installation verification	./joplin-check.sh health
joplin-quick-note.sh	Create notes with tags and notebooks	./joplin-quick-note.sh "Title" "Content" -t tag1,tag2
joplin-daily-journal.sh	Daily journal with templates	./joplin-daily-journal.sh --template daily
joplin-search-notes.sh	Advanced note search with filters	./joplin-search-notes.sh "query" -t tag -f json
joplin-meeting-notes.sh	Meeting notes with templates	./joplin-meeting-notes.sh "Meeting" -a "Alice,Bob"
joplin-integration-starter.sh	Setup integrations with other skills	./joplin-integration-starter.sh --list
joplin-export-backup.sh	Backup all notes	In development
joplin-meeting-notes.sh	Meeting notes template	Coming soon

Joplin CLI Quick Reference

Basic Commands

Command	Description
joplin	Start interactive REPL
ls	List notes and notebooks
ls <notebook>	List notes in a notebook
cat <note>	Show note content
mknote <title>	Create new note
mkbook <name>	Create new notebook
edit <note>	Open note in $EDITOR
rmnote <note>	Delete a note
rmbook <notebook>	Delete a notebook
mv <note> <notebook>	Move note to notebook
cp <note> <notebook>	Copy note to notebook
ren <item> <new-name>	Rename note or notebook

Tag Management

Command	Description
tag	List all tags
tag <tag> <note>	Add tag to note
tag --remove <tag> <note>	Remove tag

Sync & Status

Command	Description
sync	Sync with Joplin Cloud/server
todo	List all to-dos
mktodo <title>	Create a to-do item
done <todo>	Mark to-do as done
undone <todo>	Mark to-do as not done
status	Show sync status
config	Show/change configuration

Import/Export

Command	Description
export <path>	Export all notes
import <path>	Import notes
version	Show Joplin version

Workflow Examples

Daily Journal Routine

# Create today's journal
./scripts/joplin-daily-journal.sh

# Review yesterday's journal
joplin cat "Journal $(date -d 'yesterday' +'%Y-%m-%d')"

# Sync to cloud
joplin sync

Advanced Search

# Search notes with filters
./scripts/joplin-search-notes.sh "project meeting" -t work -n Projects

# Export search results to JSON
./scripts/joplin-search-notes.sh "important OR urgent" -f json -o results.json

# Search with date filters
./scripts/joplin-search-notes.sh "updated:2026-03" -s created -r

Automated Backups

# Daily backup with encryption
./scripts/joplin-export-backup.sh --sync-first --encrypt --password "secret"

# Test backup without actually exporting
./scripts/joplin-export-backup.sh --test

# Backup to specific directory
./scripts/joplin-export-backup.sh /mnt/backup/joplin --keep-days 7

Meeting Notes

# Create meeting notes with template
./scripts/joplin-daily-journal.sh --template meeting --title "Team Meeting"

# Add action items
joplin edit "Team Meeting"

Quick Capture

# Quick note with tags
./scripts/joplin-quick-note.sh "Project Idea" "Build a new dashboard" -t "ideas,projects"

# From stdin
echo "Remember to call client" | ./scripts/joplin-quick-note.sh "Reminder"

Integration with Other Skills

Gmail → Joplin

# Save important emails as notes
# (Combine with gog skill)

Calendar → Joplin

# Create notes from calendar events
# (Combine with gog calendar skill)

Web Fetch → Joplin

# Save web articles as notes
web_fetch --url https://example.com --extract-mode markdown | \
  ./scripts/joplin-quick-note.sh "Web Article" "$(cat -)" "web,research"

Configuration

Environment Variables

export JOPLIN_DEFAULT_NOTEBOOK="Inbox"
export JOPLIN_DEFAULT_TAGS="todo,important"
export JOPLIN_JOURNAL_NOTEBOOK="Journal"
export JOPLIN_JOURNAL_TAGS="journal,daily"
export JOPLIN_DATE_FORMAT="%Y-%m-%d"
export EDITOR="code --wait"

Joplin Configuration for Scripts

# Optimize for CLI usage
joplin config cli.disablePrompts true
joplin config cli.suppressTui true
joplin config editor "$EDITOR"

Troubleshooting

Joplin Not Found

Error: Joplin CLI not found

Solution:

npm install -g joplin

Sync Errors

Error: Sync failed

Solution:

joplin config --list | grep sync
joplin sync --test

Permission Issues

Error: Cannot write to Joplin data directory

Solution:

chmod 755 ~/.config/joplin/

Tips & Best Practices

1. Always Sync – Run joplin sync after making changes
2. Use Tags – Tag notes for better organization
3. Regular Backups – Export notes periodically
4. Notebook Structure – Organize by project, area, or context
5. Template Consistency – Use consistent templates for similar notes

References

• references/joplin-config-example.md – Configuration examples
• references/common-workflows.md – Common workflows
• Joplin Documentation – Official docs
• ClawHub Skills – More skills

Development

Project Structure

joplin-cli/
├── SKILL.md                    # This file
├── README.md                   # ClawHub README
├── package.json                # ClawHub metadata
├── scripts/                    # Wrapper scripts
│   ├── joplin-check.sh        # Health check
│   ├── joplin-quick-note.sh   # Quick notes
│   └── joplin-daily-journal.sh # Daily journals
└── references/                 # Examples & configuration

Adding New Scripts

1. Create script in scripts/ directory
2. Include error handling with joplin-check.sh
3. Document in README.md and SKILL.md
4. Test with real Joplin installation

License

MIT License – See LICENSE file.

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Happy Note-Taking! 📝