v2.6.0

Added

• Server instructions for MCP clients: MCP clients now receive orientation at initialization — Bear's note structure, section model, and how tools relate to each other. This helps AI agents understand that section-level operations apply only to direct content under a header (not nested sub-sections) before they attempt any edits.

Changed

• Improved tool descriptions for bear-add-text and bear-replace-text (#73): Descriptions now cross-reference each other so AI agents can choose the right tool (insert vs. overwrite). The bear-replace-text text parameter explicitly warns against including sub-headers in the replacement text to prevent section duplication.

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20260304.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.5.0

Added

• bear-replace-text tool — replace content in an existing Bear note, either the full body or a specific section by header (disabled by default, opt-in).
  Two replacement scopes:
  • section — replaces content under a specific header while preserving the rest of the note
  • full-note-body — replaces the entire note body (everything below the title)
    HOW TO ENABLE:
    • For Claude Extension: Claude Settings -> Extensions -> Configure (next to the extension name) -> toggle the "Content Replacement" switch and click save. Restart Claude.
    • For standalone MCP server: add the following ENV to your mcp configuration

        "env": {
          "UI_ENABLE_CONTENT_REPLACEMENT": "true"
        },
      

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20260222.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.4.1

Fixed

• Tag search no longer matches false positives (#67): Searching by tag (e.g., car) previously matched unrelated tags sharing a prefix (career), as well as tag-like text in code blocks and URLs. Tag filtering now uses Bear's relational tag tables for exact matching. Nested child tags still match as expected (e.g., career returns notes tagged career and career/meetings).
• Read-only database connection (#68): The SQLite connection to Bear's database now enforces read-only mode at the driver level, preventing any possibility of accidental writes.

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20260221.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.4.0

Added

• New note convention -- UI configuration (disabled by default, opt-in) to enforce the specific format for the new notes:

  ┌──────────────────────────────┐
  │ # Meeting Notes              │  ← Note title
  │ #work #meetings              │  ← Tags right after title
  │                              │ 
  │ ---                          │  ← Horizontal rule separating title and tags from body
  │                              │
  │ Lorem Ipsum...               │  ← Note body
  └──────────────────────────────┘
  

  HOW TO ENABLE:
  • For Claude Extension: Claude Settings -> Extensions -> Configure (next to the extension name) -> toggle the "New Note Convention" switch and click save. Restart Claude.
  • For standalone MCP server: add the following ENV to your mcp configuration

      "env": {
        "UI_ENABLE_NEW_NOTE_CONVENTION": "true"
      },
    

• e2e test suite as a Claude Code skill that runs scenarios for all MCP-server tools
• system tests for the new feature with ability to expand to others

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20260216.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.3.0

Added

• bear-archive-note tool -- archive a Bear note to remove it from active lists without deleting it. Authored by @wasuregusa18

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20260213.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.2.0

Added

• Pinned Notes Filter: New pinned parameter for bear-search-notes tool (#37).
  Matches Bear's UI:
  • pinned: true alone works as the pinned section in UI – show all pinned notes, no mater where they were pinned
  • pinned: true with tag returns notes pinned within that tag
  • Combines with other filters (search term, dates) for refined searches
• Total Count in Search Results: Search tools now report total matching count when results are truncated (#36).
  AI agents can now make informed decisions about fetching more results instead of guessing.
  Before:

  Found 50 notes:
  1. Meeting Notes
     ...
  

  After:

  Found 50 notes (114 total matching):
  1. Meeting Notes
     ...
  Use bear-search-notes with limit: 114 to get all results.
  

  Applies to bear-search-notes and bear-find-untagged-notes.
  Implementation: Uses SQLite window function COUNT(*) OVER() with CTE for accurate distinct count in a single query – no extra database round trip. Pagination was considered but skipped (YAGNI) – exposing total count lets agents simply request higher limit when needed, no code complications.

Changed

• Dependencies and dev dependencies; notably - zod package

Removed

• --experimental-sqlite flag: No longer required b/c Claude ships with 22.21.1 (as of Jan'26) that has SQLite enabled by default.

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20260118.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.1.1

Internal

• Preparation for Desktop Extension Catalog submission
  • adjustments to the extension manifest
  • updates to README.md
  • demo screenshot
    No features/tools changes in this release

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20251230.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.1.0

Added

• Use bear-mcp-server standalone: You can now use the MCP server from this extension separately, e.g., for your Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or other AI tool
  • npmjs publishing with additional GH action
  • updated task for versions to process version changes in package-lock.json
    Standalone MCP usage instructions -- NPM.md
    No features/tools changes in this release

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20251230.mcpb to install the extension.

v2.0.0

Changed

• Migrated from DXT to MCPB: Anthropic renamed Desktop Extensions (DXT) to MCP Bundles (MCPB)
  • Package extension changed from .dxt to .mcpb
  • Updated to @anthropic-ai/mcpb v2.1.2
  • Manifest updated to MCPB 0.3 specification
    mcpb is a core tool for the extension and together with manifest schema update, these changes together mark the v2.0 of the extension
    Features (MCP tools) are the same as in 1.4.0 – no changes to business logic in this release
    If you experience difficulties installing the new extension format mcpb, please use v1.4.0 for now and let me know through GitHub issue.

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20251226.mcpb to install the extension.

v1.4.0

Added

• Tag Management Tools:
  • bear-list-tags - List all tags as hierarchical tree with note counts
  • bear-find-untagged-notes - Find notes without any tags
  • bear-add-tag - Add one or more tags to existing notes

Changed

• Merged text tools: Combined bear-add-text-append and bear-add-text-prepend into single bear-add-text tool with position parameter ('beginning' or 'end')

Fixed

• Bear no longer steals focus when executing URL commands (uses open -g flag)

Internal

• Refactored database.ts into separate notes.ts and tags.ts modules
• Added UX parameters (open_note, new_window, show_window) to Bear URL builder

---

Download bear-notes-mcpb-20251225.dxt to install the extension.