--- title: "tnotes vs nb · tnotes" description: "nb or tnotes for Markdown notes? Single-script Bash CLI for notes, bookmarks and archives with git versioning, [[links]], tags and encryption. Feature-by-featur" canonical: https://tnotes.app/compare/tnotes-vs-nb --- [compare](/compare) / nb # tnotes vs nb Single-script Bash CLI for notes, bookmarks and archives with git versioning, \[\[links\]\], tags and encryption. tnotes terminal app · macOS, Linux · MIT · free · v1.3.0 [nb](https://xwmx.github.io/nb/) CLI · Linux, macOS, any Unix; Windows via WSL, MSYS or Cygwin · AGPL-3.0 · Free nb is a note-taking, bookmarking and archiving tool written as one portable Bash script. It needs Bash, git and a text editor; optional dependencies such as Pandoc, w3m or pdftotext unlock extra features when present. Notes live in notebooks, which are git repositories under `~/.nb` by default, or any folder you initialize with `nb notebooks init`. Every command commits, and a notebook with a remote pushes and pulls automatically. Items are addressed by numeric id, filename or title, with a `notebook:folder/id` selector syntax that reaches across notebooks. Ids come from a `.index` file per folder where the line number is the id, so ids survive a clone. Linking uses `[[wiki-style]]` syntax that accepts ids, titles and paths, tags are `#hashtags` including nested ones, and `nb browse` renders it all as a local website you can open in w3m or a GUI browser. nb also does things tnotes does not attempt: bookmarks with cached page text and Wayback lookups, per-item encryption, todos with tasks, Pandoc import and export, and plugins written in shell. nb’s strength is breadth in a scriptable shell interface. Its weakness for interactive use is that reading and editing are delegated: you view through a pager or browser and edit in `$EDITOR`, with no live editor of its own. ## Feature comparison | Feature | tnotes | nb | | --- | --- | --- | | Storage format | ✓ plain .md files, folders are directories | ✓ plain files (Markdown, Org, LaTeX, AsciiDoc, anything) in git-backed notebooks; a `.index` per folder maps ids to filenames | | Runs in the terminal | ✓ TUI (ratatui) plus a headless CLI | ✓ pure CLI; `nb browse` serves a local web app for terminal or GUI browsers | | \[\[Wikilinks\]\] | ✓ \[\[Title\]\] with completion; rewritten on rename | ✓ \[\[123\]\], \[\[Title\]\], \[\[notebook:folder/Title\]\], `|` display text | | Backlinks | ✓ overlay + `backlinks` in JSON | ~ `backlink` plugin appends a Backlinks section to linked files | | #tags | ✓ #tag and nested #work/project, parsed from text | ✓ #tag and nested #project/design/ui | | Headless CLI | ✓ ls, search, cat, new, append, write, trash, restore | ✓ add, edit, list, search, move, delete, pin, todo, bookmark, import, export… | | JSON output for scripts / agents | ✓ --json on every command | ✗ `--paths`, `--filenames`, `--no-id` for plain output; no JSON | | Live reload on external edits | ✓ file watcher; dirty tabs keep their text | ~ no long-running process; `.index` is reconciled with files on disk | | Vim keys | ✓ vim or emacs keys (edtui) | ~ editing happens in your `$EDITOR` | | Mouse support | ✓ click, double-click, right-click menus, drag | ~ keyboard CLI; `nb browse --gui` opens a web browser | | Sync | ~ any file sync: git, Syncthing, iCloud, Dropbox | ✓ automatic git push/pull per notebook; also works under Dropbox or Syncthing | | Encryption | ~ encrypt the folder: FileVault, gocryptfs | ✓ per-item AES-256 via OpenSSL or GPG with `--encrypt` | | Mobile app | ✗ files sync to any mobile Markdown editor | ✗ the git remote or synced folder is reachable from any mobile editor | | Plugins | ✗ | ✓ `.nb-plugin` subcommands and `.nb-theme` colour themes in Bash | | Open source | ✓ MIT, Rust | ✓ AGPL-3.0, Bash | ✓ yes · ~ partial or via the file system · ✗ no ## Choose nb if - You want git history for every change without thinking about it; nb commits on each command and syncs notebooks to a remote. - You store more than notes: bookmarks with cached page content, PDFs, images, encrypted items, todos. - Your editor is the point. nb hands files to Vim, Emacs, VS Code or whatever `$EDITOR` says, so you keep your full editing setup. - You need Org, LaTeX or AsciiDoc alongside Markdown, or Pandoc conversion on export. - You want a shell-scriptable tool with plugins written in the same language. ## Choose tnotes if - You want an editor in the terminal: live Markdown highlighting, `[[` and `#` completion, backlinks overlay, tabs, mouse selection, all inside one binary. - Scripts and agents need structured output; `tnotes ls --json` returns id, path, title, folder, tags, links, backlinks and timestamps, while nb prints text lists. - Retitling a note should rewrite `[[links]]` in other notes; tnotes does that, and nb’s docs describe id and title links but no rewriting on rename. - You want a running UI that picks up external changes live; nb has no long-running process and tnotes reloads clean tabs when files change. - You prefer plain files with no index: tnotes derives everything from the `.md` files and the directory tree, so there is nothing to reconcile. ## Using nb and tnotes together Both tools work on plain files, so a directory can be an nb notebook and a tnotes root at the same time. nb needs a `.git` directory and a `.index` file; tnotes ignores dot-prefixed entries, so neither shows up in its tree. ``` nb notebooks init ~/notes # git repo + .index in an existing folder tnotes ~/notes # add it as a tnotes root cd ~/notes # inside the folder, nb uses it as the "local" notebook nb add --title "Standup" --content "- [ ] slides" # nb writes standup.md, tnotes shows it live tnotes new "Retro" --stdin < retro.md # tnotes writes retro.md, nb indexes it nb list # .index reconciled with the new file ``` Rules that keep the two consistent. Create nb notes with `--title`: it writes a `# Title` first line and names the file after it, whereas a bare `nb add` names the file by datetime and tnotes would show the first line of content as the title. Use `[[Title]]` links rather than `[[123]]`; both resolve titles, only nb resolves ids. Avoid changing a title in tnotes: tnotes renames the file, nb’s `.index` reconciles that as a delete plus an add, and the note gets a new id. Both tools read the same `#tags`, including nested ones. If nb has a remote configured, run any nb command after editing in tnotes to commit and push; tnotes never touches git. See [/docs/cli](/docs/cli) and [/for/sysadmins](/for/sysadmins). ## FAQ ? Is nb a TUI or a CLI? A CLI. nb has no full-screen interface of its own; it prints lists to the terminal, opens notes in `$EDITOR`, and `nb browse` serves a local web app you can read in a terminal browser such as w3m or in a GUI browser. tnotes is both: a TUI editor and a headless CLI on the same files. ? Does nb output JSON? No. `nb list` and `nb ls` have flags for paths, filenames and excerpts, and `nb search` prints matches, but there is no JSON format. Scripts parse text. tnotes adds `--json` to every command and includes links and backlinks in the output. ? Can nb and tnotes share a notebook? Yes, if the notebook is a plain folder of Markdown files. Initialize the folder with `nb notebooks init` and add it to tnotes’ `roots`. nb’s `.git` and `.index` are hidden from tnotes, and nb reconciles its index when tnotes adds or removes files. Prefer `[[Title]]` links and avoid retitling notes in tnotes, since the rename changes the note’s nb id. ## Sources nb facts checked on 2026-09-22 against: - [nb README (GitHub)](https://github.com/xwmx/nb) - [nb README: Linking](https://github.com/xwmx/nb#-linking) - [nb README: Git Sync](https://github.com/xwmx/nb#-git-sync) - [nb README: .index files](https://github.com/xwmx/nb#index-files) ## Other comparisons - [tnotes vs Apple Notes](/compare/tnotes-vs-apple-notes) - [tnotes vs Dendron](/compare/tnotes-vs-dendron) - [tnotes vs Joplin](/compare/tnotes-vs-joplin) - [tnotes vs jrnl](/compare/tnotes-vs-jrnl) - [tnotes vs Logseq](/compare/tnotes-vs-logseq) - [tnotes vs Neorg](/compare/tnotes-vs-neorg)