Octarine CLI

Your notes.
Your terminal.

Search, edit, and act on your Markdown notes.
From a shell, a script, or your AI agent. Entirely local.

$ curl -fsSL https://octarine.app/releases/cli/install.sh | sh

octarine — ~/Noteslocal / offline

$ octarine search launch --fields path,line

line	path
2	Projects/Pricing.md
5	Projects/Launch.md
2	Daily/2026-10-22.md

Find the note. Not just the filename.

Filter by tag, property, or folder. Use --title to match titles only, --regex for patterns, and --limit to cap the results.

Set up in a minute

01
Install
Download and install the latest release. On Windows, use the PowerShell command at the top of the page.
$ curl -fsSL https://octarine.app/releases/cli/install.sh | sh
02
Pick a workspace
List the workspaces you have in Octarine and set a default, so you don't pass --workspace every time.
$ octarine workspace list
$ octarine workspace use "Notes"
03
Run a command
Every command has its own help page.
$ octarine search meeting
$ octarine note --help

Edits that don't overwrite newer changes

Reading a note returns its revision. Pass it back with --revision when you write. If the note changed in between, the CLI refuses the write and exits with code 4.

$ rev=$(octarine note read Plan.md --json --fields revision | jq -r .data.revision)

$ echo "Shipped v2." | octarine note append Plan.md --stdin --revision "$rev" --json

{ "schemaVersion": 1, "ok": false, "error": { "code": "REVISION_CONFLICT", "currentRevision": "sha256:9c4a0d4e…", "hint": "The note changed since you read it. Re-read it and retry with --revision <currentRevision>.", "retryable": true }, "meta": {} }

Use it with AI agents

Agents run the same commands you do. With --json, every response has the same shape and every error has a stable code.

Connect over MCP

Add Octarine as an MCP server in Claude Code, Codex, or any other MCP client.

$ claude mcp add octarine -- octarine mcp --workspace "Notes"

Get JSON back

Add --json to any command. Use --fields to return only the fields you need.

$ octarine search launch --json --fields path,line

Give it the guide

agent-guide prints instructions an agent can follow to use the CLI.

$ octarine agent-guide

What's included

Run octarine <command> --help to see every option.

workspace: List workspaces and set a default
note: Create, read, edit, rename, and trash notes
folder: Create, move, and rename folders
search: Search text, titles, tags, and properties
link: Backlinks, unlinked mentions, orphans
property: Read and set note properties
task: List open or completed tasks
tag: List tags and how often they're used
inbox: Capture, triage, and file Inbox items
view, note-type, theme: Manage Views, Note Types, and Themes
config: Set a default workspace and output format
mcp: Run the CLI as an MCP server

See the full command reference

Questions

Does Octarine need to be open?: No. The CLI reads and writes your Markdown files directly. You need Octarine installed to create a workspace, but it doesn't have to be running.
Does it connect to the internet?: Only when you run octarine update. Every other command works offline.
What happens when I trash a note?: It moves to your system trash, so you can restore it from there.
How do I update it?: Run octarine update. The download is checked against its signature and checksum before it replaces the installed binary.

Install the CLI

Requires a workspace in Octarine.