How to Connect Bear Notes to OpenClaw

Bear's URL scheme follows the x-callback-url standard. Every action starts with `bear://x-callback-url/` followed by the action name and URL-encoded parameters. The basic actions you will use with OpenClaw are: - `create` — create a new note with optional title, body, and tags - `add-text` — append or prepend text to an existing note (by ID or title) - `search` — search notes by term, returning results via callback - `open-note` — open a specific note by ID or title - `get-note` — retrieve note content as plain text or HTML Parameters are passed as URL query strings. Tags can be comma-separated: `tags=research,openclaw`. The `text` parameter accepts Markdown formatting. Spaces and special characters must be URL-encoded. Test a Bear URL by opening it in Terminal with the `open` command. This is the fastest way to verify a URL scheme action works before wiring it into OpenClaw's config. If Bear is installed and running, `open 'bear://x-callback-url/create?title=Test'` will create a new note titled 'Test' in Bear instantly. Note: Bear must be running in the background for URL scheme actions to work. OpenClaw's Bear integration config includes a `launch_if_needed` option that uses `open -a Bear` to start Bear before invoking URL scheme actions.

1# Test Bear URL scheme actions from Terminal:
2
3# Create a new note:
4open 'bear://x-callback-url/create?title=OpenClaw%20Test&text=Hello%20from%20OpenClaw&tags=openclaw,test'
5
6# Open a note by title:
7open 'bear://x-callback-url/open-note?title=OpenClaw%20Test'
8
9# Search for notes:
10open 'bear://x-callback-url/search?term=openclaw'
11
12# Add text to an existing note by title:
13open 'bear://x-callback-url/add-text?title=OpenClaw%20Test&text=%0A%0AAppended%20line'
14# %0A is URL-encoded newline
15
16# Bear URL scheme full reference:
17# https://bear.app/faq/X-callback-url%20Scheme%20documentation/

Open `~/.openclaw/config.yaml` and add the Bear Notes integration. Because Bear uses URL scheme invocations rather than file system access or HTTP calls, the OpenClaw config specifies how to construct and invoke Bear URLs for each operation type. The `callback_port` setting is used for read operations — when OpenClaw needs to retrieve note content from Bear (using `get-note` or `search`), Bear sends the response to an x-success callback URL. OpenClaw runs a lightweight HTTP listener on localhost at this port to receive Bear's callback response. The `default_tags` field adds these tags to every note OpenClaw creates in Bear — useful for filtering all OpenClaw-created notes in Bear's tag panel. The `launch_if_needed` flag ensures Bear is running before any URL scheme invocation. Bear must be open for URL scheme actions to work — on a freshly booted Mac, if Bear is not yet running, URL scheme calls will fail silently.

1# ~/.openclaw/config.yaml
2integrations:
3  bear-notes:
4    default_tags: ["openclaw"]   # tags added to all OpenClaw-created notes
5    callback_port: 51234          # localhost port for x-success callbacks (read ops)
6    launch_if_needed: true        # start Bear if not running (uses 'open -a Bear')
7    use_xcall: true               # use xcall utility for synchronous callbacks (recommended)
8    token: ""                     # Bear API token (optional — for /get-note on Bear Pro)
9    note_id_cache: true           # cache note IDs locally for faster lookups
10
11# URL construction patterns (OpenClaw handles these automatically):
12# Create: bear://x-callback-url/create?title={{title}}&text={{body}}&tags={{tags}}
13# Append: bear://x-callback-url/add-text?title={{title}}&text={{text}}&mode=prepend
14# Search: bear://x-callback-url/search?term={{query}}
15# Open:   bear://x-callback-url/open-note?title={{title}}

With xcall installed, you can test the full create-and-retrieve cycle synchronously from the terminal. xcall invokes a Bear URL scheme action and waits for Bear's x-success callback, returning the response directly in the terminal. This is useful for verifying that Bear returns note IDs and content correctly before building automated workflows. When creating a note, Bear's x-success callback returns the new note's identifier — a unique ID that you can use to append to or retrieve the note later. OpenClaw stores this ID in its cache when `note_id_cache: true` is set, so you can reference the note by title in subsequent operations without manually tracking the ID. Retrieving note content requires either xcall or a callback URL. The `get-note` action in Bear's URL scheme calls back with the note's content as plain text (or HTML). OpenClaw's `bear-notes-read` workflow action handles this automatically when xcall is configured.

1# Install xcall if not already installed:
2brew install xcall
3
4# Create a note and capture the returned note ID:
5xcall -url 'bear://x-callback-url/create?title=xcall%20Test&text=Testing%20xcall%20with%20OpenClaw&tags=openclaw,test' \
6      -activateApp YES
7# xcall waits for Bear's x-success callback and prints the response
8# Response includes: {"identifier": "NOTE-ID-HERE", "title": "xcall Test"}
9
10# Get note content by ID:
11xcall -url 'bear://x-callback-url/get-note?id=NOTE-ID-HERE&show_window=no'
12# Returns: {"note": "Testing xcall with OpenClaw", "tags": "openclaw, test", "title": "xcall Test"}
13
14# Search notes and get results:
15xcall -url 'bear://x-callback-url/search?term=xcall&show_window=no'
16# Returns: {"notes": [{"identifier": "...", "title": "xcall Test", ...}]}

Configure OpenClaw workflows that create and manage Bear notes automatically. The key workflow patterns are: creating research notes after web searches, appending to a daily log note, and tagging notes based on content category. The research note workflow is the most common starting point — after every web research task, OpenClaw creates a Bear note with the query as the title, the summary as the body formatted in Markdown, and tags like `openclaw/research`. The note ID is cached so subsequent operations can append additional information to the same note. For daily log notes, the append workflow uses Bear's `add-text` action to prepend a timestamped entry to a persistent daily log note. The `mode=prepend` parameter puts new entries at the top so the most recent content is always visible first when you open the note. RapidDev's Bear integration guide includes a template for a 'capture' workflow — a quick note creation pattern that works like Bear's Quick Note shortcut, allowing OpenClaw to save a thought or snippet to Bear with minimal friction.

1# ~/.openclaw/config.yaml — Bear Notes automation workflows
2workflows:
3  research-to-bear:
4    trigger:
5      type: task-complete
6      task_type: web-search
7    actions:
8      - type: bear-notes-create
9        integration: bear-notes
10        title: "Research: {{trigger.query}}"
11        text: |
12          ## Summary
13
14          {{trigger.summary}}
15
16          ## Sources
17
18          {{#each trigger.sources}}
19          - [{{this.title}}]({{this.url}})
20          {{/each}}
21
22          ---
23          *Created by OpenClaw on {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}*
24        tags: ["openclaw/research", "{{trigger.primary_topic}}"]
25        show_window: false
26
27  daily-log-append:
28    trigger:
29      type: session-end
30    actions:
31      - type: bear-notes-add-text
32        integration: bear-notes
33        title: "OpenClaw Log — {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
34        create_if_missing: true
35        mode: prepend
36        text: |
37          ### {{time:HH:mm}} — Session Summary
38          Tasks: {{session.task_count}} | Searches: {{session.search_count}}
39          {{session.summary}}
40        tags: ["openclaw/logs"]