dsh-joplin

dsh-joplin

Joplin notes plugin for DeepSeek Harness — let the agent read and write your local Joplin notes: search, full-text read, create, notebook management, backlinks. Read-only by default, zero runtime dependencies.

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Features

• Zero dependencies: Node built-ins only (node:http / node:fs) — no Python, no uv, no long-running sidecar, no build step.
• 10 tools: search, read full text, create notes/notebooks, import Markdown, outgoing/back links, diagnostics.
• Least privilege by default: create on, update and delete off; when a capability is off the tool throws *before* any request is sent, so Joplin is never touched.
• Privacy first: connects only to the local address you configure, no uploads, no telemetry; it also installs a standing prompt rule that forbids sending note content anywhere else.
• Notebook paths: accept full paths such as Work/ProjectA, ids, or unique titles; ambiguity is reported instead of guessed.
• Search fallback: when Joplin's full-text endpoint hangs, the plugin falls back to a local scan and marks the result with engine.
• Write verification: every write is read back and compared, so a corrupted body fails loudly instead of silently.

Requirements

1. Joplin desktop installed and running;
2. The Web Clipper service enabled under "Tools → Options → Web Clipper" (default port 41184);
3. The API token copied from that same page;
4. Node.js >= 20 on the DSH (DeepSeek Harness) host side.

Only Joplin desktop's Web Clipper data API is supported. Joplin Cloud and the mobile apps expose different APIs and do not work.

Install

Option 1: npm registry (dsh-joplin)

plugin_manager(action: "install_bundle", target: "dsh-joplin")

or:

dsh plugin --profile <profile> add dsh-joplin

Option 2: from GitHub

Have DSH install the repository into your profile directly:

plugin_manager(action: "install_bundle", target: "github:ddssh/dsh-joplin")

Option 3: local directory

git clone https://github.com/ddssh/dsh-joplin.git

Then pass that directory as target to install_bundle, or:

dsh plugin --profile <profile> add /absolute/path/to/dsh-joplin

The joplin_* tools are registered after install. This is a pure Host plugin with no client half, so a restart is usually unnecessary — but restarting is required after editing the plugin's JS (Node caches imported modules).

Configuration

Settings are resolved from three layers, highest priority first, and the first non-empty value wins:

Priority · Source · Notes 1 · ~/.dsh/joplin.json · Recommended: takes effect immediately, keeps the token out of your profile YAML 2 · Env vars JOPLIN_TOKEN, JOPLIN_BASE_URL, JOPLIN_TIMEOUT_MS, JOPLIN_DEFAULT_NOTEBOOK, JOPLIN_ALLOW_CREATE / JOPLIN_ALLOW_UPDATE / JOPLIN_ALLOW_DELETE · Requires a Harness restart 3 · Plugin config (Settings / cordis.patch.yml in the profile) · baseUrl, token, timeoutMs, defaultNotebook, allowCreate, allowUpdate, allowDelete

Minimal setup:

cat > ~/.dsh/joplin.json <<'JSON'
{
  "token": "your-web-clipper-token",
  "baseUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:41184"
}
JSON
chmod 600 ~/.dsh/joplin.json

Optional fields: defaultNotebook (where new notes go, e.g. Work/ProjectA), timeoutMs, and allowCreate / allowUpdate / allowDelete.

Once configured, call joplin_status first: it reports which layer the token came from, whether the service is reachable, and how many notebooks exist.

Tools

Tool · What it does · Default permission joplin_status · Diagnostics: token source, connectivity, notebook count, recent updates · read-only joplin_list_notebooks · Notebook tree with full paths and ids · read-only joplin_search_notes · Keyword search with snippets; empty query + notebook lists that notebook · read-only joplin_get_note · Full note: body, notebook, tags, internal links · read-only joplin_find_linked_notes · Outgoing and back links via internal links :/ · read-only joplin_create_note · Create a note (optionally in a notebook, optionally a todo) · allowCreate (on) joplin_create_notebook · Create a notebook or sub-notebook · allowCreate (on) joplin_import_markdown · Import a local .md file as a note · allowCreate (on) joplin_update_note · Change title/body/notebook/todo, only the fields you pass · allowUpdate (off) + user_confirmed joplin_delete_note · Delete; to trash by default, permanent with permanent: true · allowDelete (off) + user_confirmed

Notebook arguments accept a 32-character id, a unique title, or a full path (Work/ProjectA); ambiguous input raises an error listing the candidates.

Permissions and privacy

Three write permissions (least privilege by default)

Capability · Setting · Default Create notes / notebooks / import Markdown · allowCreate · on Modify existing notes (title/body/notebook/todo) · allowUpdate · off Delete notes · allowDelete · off

• When a capability is off, the tool throws without sending any write request.
• With update/delete enabled, the caller must additionally pass user_confirmed: true, meaning the user explicitly asked for that note in this turn.
• Resolution order is "config file > env vars > plugin config > defaults", so tightening a permission is never blocked by a stale setting.

{ "token": "…", "allowUpdate": true }

Privacy

• Connects only to the configured baseUrl (default http://127.0.0.1:41184), no uploads, no telemetry.
• Installs a standing prompt rule (JOPLIN_NOTES) requiring note bodies and snippets to stay away from web search, the browser, subagents, and other tools.
• Markdown imports send file contents only to the local Joplin instance.

Known issues (Joplin side)

Both were reproduced on Joplin desktop 3.7.18; the plugin works around them:

1. Full-text search can hang: GET /search?query=… may never return, while title: search, /folders, and /notes stay fast.

The plugin falls back to a local scan after 8 seconds (about 13 ms for 260 notes) and skips the stuck endpoint for 10 minutes; mode: "local" forces the local scan.

1. Large bodies get corrupted on write: when the request body contains raw multi-byte UTF-8 and is large enough, roughly one U+FFFD appears per 16 KB of body text (client-independent; reproducible with Python as well).

The plugin ASCII-escapes every outbound JSON payload (\uXXXX) and reads the note back after writing; a mismatch raises WRITE_VERIFY_FAILED instead of silently corrupting the note.

Development and testing

npm test          # starts an in-memory mock Joplin and exercises all 10 tools

The smoke test covers notebook tree/path resolution, keyword search, listing notes by notebook, full-text read, outgoing/back links, create/update/delete, sub-notebook creation, Markdown import, the three configuration layers, the permission gates (update/delete refused by default without touching disk, user_confirmed validation), search failure fallback, and ASCII escaping.

Layout

dsh-joplin/
├── package.json          # bundle manifest: dsh.bundle.patch / icon / locale
├── cordis.patch.yml      # inserts the Host plugin row (id: dsh-joplin)
├── index.js              # Config (schemastery) + apply: tools and prompt rules
├── joplin-tools.js       # settings resolution, notebook resolution, search/link graph, tool definitions
├── joplin-client.js      # node:http client (timeouts, error translation, ASCII escaping)
├── icon.svg / locale/    # plugin card presentation
└── test/                 # mock Joplin server + smoke test

Credits

The capability set follows dweigend/joplin-mcp-server (Python + FastMCP). This plugin is a native Node rewrite for DSH: it keeps CRUD, the notebook tree, Markdown import, and backlinks, and adds permission gates, search fallback, and write verification, while fixing the original's notebook-path degradation when the API returns a flat list.

License