# Scripting and automation

> Pipe content in, get JSON out, and wire the Notate CLI into your shell.

Source: https://notate.md/docs/cli/scripting/

Category: CLI

Updated: 2026-08-16

---

The CLI is built to compose with the rest of your shell. It reads from stdin, prints markdown or JSON, and returns useful exit codes, so it drops into pipes, scripts, and cron jobs.

## Piping content in

`notes create` and `notes edit` read content from `--stdin` or `--file`, so you can feed a note from any other command:

```bash
# capture a daily log
printf "# Log\n%s\n" "$(date)" | notate notes create "Daily log" --stdin

# file recent commits as a note
git log --oneline -10 | notate notes create "Recent commits" --stdin --folder Dev
```

## Getting content out

`notes get` prints raw markdown to stdout, so it pipes into other tools:

```bash
notate notes get "Spec" | wc -w
notate notes get "Spec" | pandoc -f markdown -o spec.pdf
```

## JSON for scripts

Add `--json` to most commands for machine-readable output you can parse with a tool like `jq`:

```bash
# titles of the five most recently updated notes
notate notes list --sort updatedAt --limit 5 --json | jq -r '.[].title'

# the id of a note, to address it unambiguously afterward
id=$(notate notes get "Spec" --json | jq -r '.id')
notate notes tag --id "$id" --add reviewed
```

## Non-interactive use

Destructive commands prompt for confirmation by default. In a script, pass `--confirm` to skip the prompt and `--quiet` to suppress non-essential output:

```bash
notate notes delete "Old draft" --confirm --quiet
```

For commands that resolve a note or folder by name, prefer `--id` in scripts so an ambiguous or renamed title never picks the wrong item.

## Shell completion

Install completions so your shell can suggest commands and options:

```bash
notate completion zsh >> ~/.zshrc      # then reload your shell
# or: notate completion bash / notate completion fish
```

## Scheduling

Because the CLI is non-interactive with `--confirm` and stores its credentials in the OS keychain, it works in a cron job or CI step once you have logged in on that machine. For example, a nightly note from another system:

```bash
0 18 * * *  some-report --today | notate notes create "Daily report $(date +\%F)" --stdin --folder Reports --quiet
```

Next: [configuration and stored data](https://notate.md/docs/cli/configuration/).