Apple Notes Graph View (Proof of Concept)

⚠️ Important: This project is a Proof of Concept (POC). It is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of adding graph visualization to Apple Notes and is not a production-ready application.

This application adds an interactive knowledge graph visualization to your Apple Notes. It extracts backlinks using an Obsidian-style [[Note Name]] syntax to build a visual network of your thoughts and ideas.

How it Works

The application follows a simple three-step workflow:

1. Direct Extraction: The backend uses AppleScript to perform a batch fetch of every note on Apple Notes.
2. Backlink Parsing: Each note's content is cleaned and scanned for the [[Note Name]] syntax. The app automatically resolves these names to create connections.
3. Visualization: Data is rendered in an interactive, fluid physics-based graph using the Euler layout engine.

Key Features

• Gruvbox Theme: Dedicated Light and Dark themes.
• Semantic Coloring: Nodes are colored based on their "importance" (backlink count), allowing for instant visual identification of core ideas.
• Intelligent Filtering: Toggle Hide Orphans to focus only on connected clusters, or use the Search Bar to highlight specific notes.
• Customization: Real-time sliders to adjust node size, node opacity, edge thickness, and edge darkness.
• Interactive Highlighting: Hovering over nodes or edges triggers vibrant highlights for easy traceability of connections.

Quick Start

1. Prerequisites

• macOS (required for AppleScript integration)
• Python 3.9+
• Node.js 18+

2. Launch the Backend

From the root directory:

python3 -m backend.main serve

3. Launch the Frontend

In a separate terminal:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173 in the browser and click the Sync Notes button.

Usage Tips

• Create a Link: In any Apple Note, simply type [[Target Note Name]]. The next time you sync, an edge will appear connecting the two.
• Navigation: Use your mouse wheel or trackpad to zoom. Click and drag nodes to move them; the physics engine will fluidly pull them back into the cluster.
• Smart Reveal: Note labels are hidden when zoomed out to prevent clutter, and automatically reveal as you zoom in closer.
• Note Preview: Click any node to open a sidebar containing the cleaned text of the note and its specific metadata (no attachment support yet).

Limitations

• macOS Only: Relies on osascript to interface with the local Apple Notes application.
• Read-Only: This POC only performs the R of CRUD. It can only read your notes. It cannot create, edit, or delete notes in your Apple Notes app.
• Performance: Again, this is just an unoptimized POC; parsing speed is limited by the overhead of AppleScript communication and my unwillingness to optimize the code.
• Simple Resolution: Backlink matching is based on exact note titles. If you have duplicate titles, the link will resolve to the first match found.