Bear Skill

Overview

Claude can manage your Bear notes via Bear’s web interface to create notes, organize with tags, and maintain a beautiful markdown-based note system. A focused writing experience for Apple users.

Quick Install

curl -sSL https://canifi.com/skills/bear/install.sh | bash

Or manually:

cp -r skills/bear ~/.canifi/skills/

Setup

Configure via canifi-env:

# First, ensure canifi-env is installed:
# curl -sSL https://canifi.com/install.sh | bash

canifi-env set BEAR_EMAIL "your-email@example.com"

Privacy & Authentication

Your credentials, your choice. Canifi LifeOS respects your privacy.

Option 1: Manual Browser Login (Recommended)

If you prefer not to share credentials with Claude Code:

1. Complete the Browser Automation Setup using CDP mode
2. Login to the service manually in the Playwright-controlled Chrome window
3. Claude will use your authenticated session without ever seeing your password

Option 2: Environment Variables

If you’re comfortable sharing credentials, you can store them locally:

canifi-env set SERVICE_EMAIL "your-email"
canifi-env set SERVICE_PASSWORD "your-password"

Note: Credentials stored in canifi-env are only accessible locally on your machine and are never transmitted.

Capabilities

• Create and edit notes
• Organize with nested tags
• Search notes and content
• Apply markdown formatting
• Pin important notes
• Archive notes
• Export in multiple formats
• Add images and files
• Create links between notes
• Use hashtags for organization
• View tag hierarchy
• Sync across devices

Usage Examples

Example 1: Create Note

User: "Create a Bear note for today's journal entry"
Claude: Creates note with date title, adds journal template.
        Confirms: "Journal note created with today's date"

Example 2: Search Notes

User: "Find my notes about productivity"
Claude: Searches Bear for "productivity".
        Reports: "Found 5 notes: Productivity Tips, GTD Setup..."

Example 3: Organize with Tags

User: "Add the #work/projects tag to my project notes"
Claude: Finds project notes, adds nested tag.
        Confirms: "Added #work/projects to 8 notes"

Example 4: Export Note

User: "Export my research note as markdown"
Claude: Opens note, exports as .md file.
        Confirms: "Exported research.md"

Authentication Flow

1. Claude navigates to Bear web interface via Playwright MCP
2. Enters BEAR_EMAIL for authentication
3. Handles Apple ID 2FA if required (notifies user via iMessage)
4. Maintains session for note operations

Selectors Reference

// Note list
'.notes-list'

// Note item
'.note-item'

// Editor
'.editor-content'

// Note title
'.note-title'

// Tag sidebar
'.tags-sidebar'

// Search input
'.search-input'

// New note button
'.new-note-button'

// Tag in note
'.tag-token'

// Pin button
'.pin-button'

// Export menu
'.export-menu'

Bear Markdown Extensions

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
**bold** or __bold__
*italic* or _italic_
~strikethrough~
::highlight::
#tag/nested/tag
[[note link]]
- [ ] todo
- [x] completed

Error Handling

• Login Failed: Retry 3 times, notify user via iMessage
• Session Expired: Re-authenticate automatically
• Note Not Found: Search with variations, ask user
• Tag Error: Check tag syntax, suggest fix
• Sync Failed: Wait and retry
• Export Failed: Try alternative format

Self-Improvement Instructions

When you learn a better way to accomplish a task with Bear:

1. Document the improvement in your response
2. Suggest updating this skill file with the new approach
3. Include specific tagging strategies
4. Note useful markdown extensions

Notes

• Apple ecosystem (iOS, macOS)
• Nested tags for hierarchy
• Beautiful typography
• Focus mode for writing
• Multiple export formats
• Themes and customization
• WikiLinks between notes
• Web interface limited vs native