# mcp-bear

**Category:** 🧠 Knowledge & Memory  
**Repository:** https://github.com/jkawamoto/mcp-bear  
**GitHub Stars:** 77  
**Views:** 0  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/mcp-bear

## Description
A MCP server for interacting with Bear note-taking software.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `uvx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "mcp-bear": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["--from","git+https://github.com/jkawamoto/mcp-bear","mcp-bear"],
    "env": {
      "BEAR_API_TOKEN": ""
    }
  }
}
```

**Requires environment variables:** `BEAR_API_TOKEN` — the values above are empty placeholders; fill in real credentials before running (see the repository for what each one is for).

## Documentation

## What mcp-bear MCP server does

The mcp-bear MCP server exposes Bear note-taking operations to MCP clients. It is designed for local use with Bear and provides actions for working with notes, tags, and note collections. Supported operations include opening and creating notes, adding text or files, searching, and retrieving notes by state or date.

The repository is archived. Bear added its own MCP implementation in version 2.8, so new integrations should generally use Bear’s native server instead of this standalone project. The archived server may still be relevant for an existing configuration that depends on its command or behavior.

## How it works

The server runs as a stdio MCP process. A client starts the `mcp-bear` command through `uvx`, and the process communicates with the client locally. Bear access requires an API token, supplied through the `BEAR_API_TOKEN` environment variable in Goose or through the `--token` command-line option in the Claude Desktop and LM Studio examples.

Its operations correspond to Bear’s X-callback-url actions. The implementation covers actions such as `/open-note`, `/create`, `/search`, `/tags`, `/open-tag`, `/rename-tag`, `/delete-tag`, `/archive`, `/trash`, and `/grab-url`. Text insertion is described as partial support through note replacement and title-appending methods rather than a complete implementation of Bear’s `/add-text` action.

## Setup and configuration

`uv` must be installed because the documented launch command uses `uvx`. The repository can be run directly from GitHub with a command equivalent to:

```text
uvx --from git+https://github.com/jkawamoto/mcp-bear mcp-bear
```

Configure the Bear token before starting the process. Goose can install the server from its extension link and uses a stdio configuration with `BEAR_API_TOKEN`. Claude Desktop can install the released `.mcpb` bundle or define the same GitHub-based `uvx` command manually, passing the token with `--token`. LM Studio provides a configuration link using that command pattern.

The README names Goose, Claude Desktop, and LM Studio setup paths. It does not document configuration for other clients.

## Tools and capabilities

The mcp-bear MCP server implements these Bear actions:

- Open, create, and partially edit notes
- Add files to notes
- Search notes
- List tags and open, rename, or delete tags
- View trashed, archived, untagged, to-do, today, and locked notes
- Grab a URL into Bear

The exact request behavior follows Bear’s X-callback-url documentation, which the project links for action details.

## Limitations and notes

This project is archived and is no longer the preferred integration path for Bear. Bear’s native MCP server is available from version 2.8, making this standalone server unnecessary for new deployments.

`/add-text` is only partially supported. Bear access also depends on a valid API token and a local Bear installation capable of handling the requested actions.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/mcp-bear/readme_