MCP Notes

MCP Notes is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for managing notes. It stores tagged notes in a directory of markdown files and exposes tools to manage them through the Model Context Protocol.

Features

• Add Notes: Create new notes with titles, content, and tags
• Hierarchical Structure: Organize notes in a parent-child hierarchy with unlimited nesting levels
• Retrieve Notes: Get notes by filename, including nested notes
• Update Notes: Modify existing note content and tags by filename
• List Notes: View notes at any level of the hierarchy
• Delete Notes: Remove notes by filename with automatic cleanup of empty directories
• Move Notes: Relocate notes between directories with automatic reference updates
• Tag Management: Add and remove tags from existing notes
• File-based Storage: Notes are stored as markdown files in a hierarchical directory structure
• JSON Index: Fast lookups using separate JSON index files for each directory level
• Automatic Counting: Tracks children-count and descendant-count for notes with sub-notes

Installation

Install the package using pip:

pip install .

For development, install with dev dependencies:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Usage

Running the Server

Start the MCP Notes server by specifying a directory to store notes:

mcp-notes --dir /path/to/notes/directory

The server will create the directory if it doesn't exist and start listening for MCP connections.

Available Tools

The server exposes the following MCP tools:

add_note

Create a new note with title, content, and optional tags. Can be nested under a parent note.

• title (str): Note title
• content (str): Note content
• tags (List[str], optional): Tags for the note
• parent (str, optional): Parent note filename for hierarchical organization

get_note

Retrieve a note by filename, supporting nested paths.

• filename (str): Note filename (e.g., "note.md" or "parent/child.md")

list_notes

List notes at a specific hierarchy level. Returns note info including title, tags, and child counts.

• parent (str, optional): Parent directory to list children from (omit for top-level)

update_note

Update existing note content and tags while preserving the title.

• filename (str): Note filename to update
• content (str): New note content
• tags (List[str], optional): New tags for the note

delete_note

Delete a note by filename with automatic cleanup of empty directories.

• filename (str): Note filename to delete

move_note

Move a note to a different directory and update all references in other notes.

• filename (str): Note filename to move
• target_folder (str, optional): Target directory (None for root)

add_tags

Add new tags to an existing note, avoiding duplicates.

• filename (str): Note filename to add tags to
• tags (List[str]): Tags to add

remove_tags

Remove specified tags from an existing note.

• filename (str): Note filename to remove tags from
• tags (List[str]): Tags to remove

Example Usage:

# Create and organize notes
add_note(title="Project Alpha", content="Main project docs", tags=["project"])
add_note(title="Tasks", content="Task list", parent="project_alpha")

# Manage tags
add_tags(filename="project_alpha.md", tags=["urgent", "review"])
remove_tags(filename="project_alpha.md", tags=["review"])

# Move and reorganize
move_note(filename="project_alpha/tasks.md", target_folder="archive")

File Structure

Hierarchical Organization

Notes are organized in a hierarchical directory structure:

notes_directory/
├── notes_index.json              # Index for top-level notes
├── project_alpha.md              # Top-level note
├── personal_notes.md             # Another top-level note
├── project_alpha/                # Subdirectory for project_alpha children
│   ├── notes_index.json          # Index for project_alpha children
│   ├── meeting_notes.md          # Child note
│   ├── tasks.md                  # Another child note
│   └── research/                 # Sub-subdirectory for deeper nesting
│       ├── notes_index.json      # Index for research notes
│       └── market_analysis.md    # Grandchild note
└── personal_notes/               # Subdirectory for personal_notes children
    ├── notes_index.json          # Index for personal_notes children
    └── shopping_list.md          # Child note

Note Format

Each note is stored as a markdown file with the following format:

# Note Title
Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3

Note content goes here...

Index Files

Each directory maintains its own notes_index.json file for fast lookups within that level of the hierarchy. The index contains metadata for notes in that specific directory only, not for notes in subdirectories.

Count Information

For notes that have child notes, the index automatically includes count information:

{
  "Project Alpha": {
    "filename": "project_alpha.md",
    "tags": ["work", "project"],
    "children-count": 3,
    "descendant-count": 8
  }
}

• children-count: Number of immediate child notes (direct children only)
• descendant-count: Total number of all nested notes recursively
• Notes without children do not have these keys to keep the index clean

Development

Setup

Create a virtual environment and install dependencies:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Running Tests

Run the test suite using pytest:

python -m pytest

Code Quality

Format code using ruff:

python -m ruff format

Run linting:

python -m ruff check

Auto-fix linting issues:

python -m ruff check --fix

Project Structure

mcp-notes/
├── mcp_notes/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── __main__.py      # CLI entry point
│   ├── mcp_server.py    # FastMCP server and tools
│   └── storage.py       # Note storage management
├── tests/
├── pyproject.toml       # Project configuration
├── ruff.toml           # Linting configuration
└── README.md

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• FastMCP
• Model Context Protocol compatible client

License

This project is available under the MIT License.