Drafts CLI

Manage Drafts notes from the terminal on macOS.

IMPORTANT REQUIREMENTS

This CLI ONLY works on macOS with Drafts app running.

• macOS only - Uses AppleScript, will not work on Linux/Windows
• Drafts must be RUNNING - The app must be open for any command to work
• Drafts Pro required - Automation features require Pro subscription

If commands fail or hang, first check: open -a Drafts

Setup

Install via Go:

go install github.com/nerveband/drafts/cmd/drafts@latest

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/nerveband/drafts
cd drafts && go build ./cmd/drafts

Commands

Create a Draft

# Simple draft
drafts create "Meeting notes for Monday"

# With tags
drafts create "Shopping list" -t groceries -t todo

# Flagged draft
drafts create "Urgent reminder" -f

# Create in archive
drafts create "Reference note" -a

List Drafts

# List inbox (default)
drafts list

# List archived drafts
drafts list -f archive

# List trashed drafts
drafts list -f trash

# List all drafts
drafts list -f all

# Filter by tag
drafts list -t mytag

Get a Draft

# Get specific draft
drafts get <uuid>

# Get active draft (currently open in Drafts)
drafts get

Modify Drafts

# Prepend text
drafts prepend "New first line" -u <uuid>

# Append text
drafts append "Added at the end" -u <uuid>

# Replace entire content
drafts replace "Completely new content" -u <uuid>

Edit in Editor

drafts edit <uuid>

Run Actions

# Run action on text
drafts run "Copy" "Text to copy to clipboard"

# Run action on existing draft
drafts run "Copy" -u <uuid>

Get Schema

# Full schema for LLM integration
drafts schema

# Schema for specific command
drafts schema create

Output Format

JSON (default) - All commands return structured JSON:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "uuid": "ABC123",
    "content": "Note content",
    "title": "Note title",
    "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
    "folder": "inbox"
  }
}

Plain text - Human-readable output:

drafts list --plain

Common Workflows

Quick Capture

drafts create "Remember to call dentist tomorrow" -t reminder

Daily Journal

drafts append "$(date): Completed project review" -u <journal-uuid>

Search and Review

# List all drafts with a specific tag
drafts list -t work

# Get full content of a draft
drafts get <uuid>

Troubleshooting

Commands fail or return empty:

1. Is Drafts running? → open -a Drafts
2. Is Drafts Pro active? → Automation requires Pro
3. Permissions granted? → System Settings > Privacy > Automation

Commands hang:

• Check if Drafts is showing a dialog

Notes

• macOS ONLY (AppleScript-based)
• Drafts app MUST be running
• Requires Drafts Pro subscription
• All UUIDs are Drafts-generated identifiers
• Tags are case-sensitive

Version

Latest (from go install)