A minimal terminal note-taking tool for Linux and macOS.
Capture a command, a thought, or a snippet in one line. Find it later in seconds. No cloud. No account. No setup. Just your terminal.
Text version
$ nf "fuser -k 3000/tcp — kills process on port 3000"
Note saved.
$ nf search port
1 2025-04-25 fuser -k 3000/tcp — kills process on port 3000
$ nf list
1 2025-04-25 fuser -k 3000/tcp — kills process on port 3000
2 2025-04-25 refactor auth module before friday
3 2025-04-25 ssh-keygen -t ed25519 — generate modern ssh key
$ nf del 2
Deleted note 2.
$ nf count
2One-liner (universal):
curl -sL https://nf.iamk.xyz/install | bashSkip shell tab-completion setup:
curl -sL https://nf.iamk.xyz/install | bash -s -- --no-completionHomebrew (macOS / Linux):
brew install KOUSTAV2409/tap/nfArch Linux (AUR): build from PKGBUILD in this repo (makepkg -si).
Debian: build a .deb with ./build_deb.sh, then sudo dpkg -i nf_*.deb.
Manual:
git clone https://github.com/KOUSTAV2409/nf.git
cd nf
chmod +x nf.sh
sudo ln -s "$(pwd)/nf.sh" /usr/local/bin/nfHomebrew:
brew upgrade KOUSTAV2409/tap/nfOne-liner / manual install:
nf updateArch / Debian: rebuild and reinstall from the updated package in this repo.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
nf "text" |
Save a new note |
nf |
Open TUI (requires fzf) or list notes |
nf list |
List all notes |
nf search <term> |
Search notes (case-insensitive, plain text) |
nf find <term> |
Alias for search |
nf del <number> |
Delete a note by number |
nf export <n> |
Export one note to note-<n>.txt |
nf export <n> <n>... |
Export several notes (one file per number) |
nf export all |
Export entire notebook to notes-YYYY-MM-DD.txt |
Exports are saved to ~/Downloads/nfExports/ by default.
| nf edit | Interactive menu to manage notes |
| nf count | Show total number of notes |
| nf update | Download and install the latest version |
| nf help | Show help |
| nf version | Show version |
nf list numbers every note:
nf export 5 # → ~/Downloads/nfExports/note-5.txt
nf export 1 3 5 # → one file per number in that folder
nf export all # → ~/Downloads/nfExports/notes-2026-06-05.txtCustom export folder: export NF_EXPORT_DIR=~/Documents/backups
Guide: nf.iamk.xyz/guides/export
If fzf is installed, running nf with no arguments opens an interactive fuzzy finder.
- Enter — copy selected note to clipboard
- Ctrl-D — delete selected note
- Esc — quit
fzf is optional. Without it, nf falls back to nf list.
# Install fzf
sudo apt install fzf # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo pacman -S fzf # Arch
sudo dnf install fzf # Fedora
brew install fzf # macOS (Homebrew)~/.local/share/nf/notes
It's a plain text file — one note per line, date-prefixed. You can read it with cat, search it with grep, back it up with cp, edit it with any text editor. No lock-in.
Use a different file path:
export NF_NOTES_FILE="$HOME/notes.txt"
nf "saved to a custom file"2025-04-25 fuser -k 3000/tcp — kills process on port 3000
2025-04-25 ss -tulpn | grep LISTEN — shows all listening ports
Make nf even faster by adding auto-completion to your shell.
For Bash: Add this to your ~/.bashrc:
source <(curl -sL https://nf.iamk.xyz/completions/nf.bash)For Zsh: Add this to your ~/.zshrc:
source <(curl -sL https://nf.iamk.xyz/completions/nf.zsh)The install script can set this up for you (you'll be asked first in an interactive terminal).
- Fast. One command to save. One command to search. Under 3 seconds.
- Local. No cloud, no account, no internet required.
- Plain text. Your notes are a single readable file. grep it, cat it, back it up.
- No setup. Install and use immediately. No config, no init, no database.
- Open source. MIT licensed. Fork it, extend it, make it yours.
curl -sL https://nf.iamk.xyz/uninstall | bashOr manually:
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/nf
rm -rf ~/.local/share/nf # optional: delete your notesSee CONTRIBUTING.md.