3h ago
MCP respects - * preference in some situations and not others
NotePlan 3.21.3, macOS 27.0.1, NotePlan MCP called from Claude. I've set NotePlan to treat "-" as a task and "*" as a plain bullet, the reverse of the default. The MCP already reads my marker preference. I expected it to write according to that preference as well: type "task" should write "- " and type "bullet" should write "* ". I also expected append to honor type the way insert does. It doesn't.
I made a test note with four lines:
- dash task
* star bullet
- [ ] dash checkbox
* [ ] star checkbox
noteplan_paragraphs GET classified them as I expected: the dash line and both checkbox lines as open tasks, the star line as a bullet. Then I added lines five ways, each with plain text and no marker, and read them back:
1. edit_content INSERT, type task: writes "- text", as expected.
2. paragraphs ADD: writes "- text", as expected. It adds the marker itself.
3. edit_content INSERT, type bullet: writes "- text", which goes against the preference. NotePlan reads it as an open task.
4. edit_content APPEND, type task: writes "text" with no marker.
5. edit_content APPEND, type bullet: writes "text" with no marker.
Every call returned success. The responses don't show which marker was written, or whether one was.
Unintended consequences: NotePlan pulls open tasks into other places – calendar notes, references, task filters, and review plugins. So a bullet misclassified as a task shows up there as work to do. An agent adding meeting notes or a summary can unwittingly create dozens of false tasks.
The append bug fails the other way: a line that was supposed to be a task isn't one, so it isn't swept up in a review.
Workaround: edit_content INSERT with type "text" and a literal "* " at the start of the content writes a bullet that NotePlan reads correctly. This also works for nested, tab-indented bullets and for blocks that mix bullets and tasks.
To reproduce:
1. Set NotePlan to treat "-" as a task and "*" as a bullet.
2. Create a note.
3. Call edit_content with action INSERT, position end, type bullet, content "test".
4. Call paragraphs GET on the note. The new line reports type task, marker "-".
5. Repeat step 3 with action APPEND and type task. The new line has no marker.
Suggestion: have the write paths use the same preference lookup the reads use, and have append apply type the way insert does.
Pending