tomboy

tomboy [OPTION...] [URI|FILENAME|SEARCHTERM]

-n, --new-note
    Creates a new, untitled note.

-o, --open-note=URI|FILENAME
    Opens a specific note identified by its URI or filename.

-t, --note-title=TITLE
    Sets the title for a new note created with --new-note.

-s, --search=SEARCHTERM
    Launches Tomboy and performs a search for notes containing the specified search term.

-p, --print-note=URI|FILENAME
    Prints the content of a specified note to the default printer.

-e, --export-note=URI|FILENAME
    Exports a specified note to a file or standard output, typically in HTML format.

-i, --import-note=FILE
    Imports a note from a specified file.

-d, --debug
    Runs Tomboy in debug mode, providing more verbose output for troubleshooting.

--status-icon
    Ensures the Tomboy status icon is always visible in the notification area.

--no-status-icon
    Prevents the Tomboy status icon from appearing in the notification area.

--sync
    Initiates a synchronization process with all configured note synchronization services.

-v, --version
    Displays the version information of the Tomboy application.

-?, --help
    Shows a help message detailing command-line options.

Tomboy is a free and open-source desktop note-taking application primarily for Unix-like operating systems. It is renowned for its wiki-like linking system, which enables users to effortlessly connect notes, effectively building a personal knowledge base. Notes are stored as straightforward XML files, ensuring accessibility and readability. The application supports basic text formatting, including bold, italic, strikethrough, and highlighting, alongside features like undo/redo and spell checking.

Key functionalities include automatic linking of web and email addresses, and robust synchronization capabilities with various services like WebDAV. Tomboy is designed for rapid capture of ideas, thoughts, and important information, making it a valuable tool for organizing personal data. Although it features a comprehensive graphical user interface, its command-line interface is primarily used to interact with a running instance or to initiate specific actions.

Development of Tomboy has significantly slowed, and it may not be actively maintained or readily available on all modern Linux distributions. It is primarily a graphical application, and its command-line interface is mostly for controlling its GUI instance or performing specific actions rather than full text-based interaction. Users seeking a more actively developed alternative might consider its fork, Gnote.

Tomboy stores all notes as individual plain XML files within the ~/.local/share/tomboy/notes/ directory. This approach makes the notes highly accessible, human-readable, and easily manageable even outside the application itself.

The functionality of Tomboy can be extended significantly through a variety of plugins. These include features like linking to Evolution emails, Bugzilla entries, providing fixed-width text formatting, and enabling export to HTML, among others, enhancing its versatility.

Tomboy offers built-in support for synchronizing notes across multiple devices or services. It supports protocols such as WebDAV and SSH. Historically, it also supported Ubuntu One and Tomboy Online, though these services are now largely defunct or integrated into other platforms.

Tomboy was originally developed by Alex Graveley and first released in 2005. It was written in C# using the Mono framework and GTK#. Initially integrated into the GNOME desktop environment, it later transitioned to an independent project. Its design was inspired by the simplicity and linking capabilities of wiki-like systems, aiming to provide a lightweight and intuitive note-taking experience.

Tomboy quickly gained popularity for its ease of use and unique note-linking feature. However, its development largely stalled after 2017, leading to the creation of forks like Gnote (a C++ rewrite) to address maintenance and dependency challenges.

gedit(1), nano(1), vim(1), emacs(1), zim(1), gnote(1)