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name: buku description: | Bookmark management CLI for searching, organizing, and syncing bookmarks with tagging, import/export, and browser integration. Use when helping end users manage bookmarks via CLI: (1) Adding and searching bookmarks, (2) Organizing with tags, (3) Importing from browsers or files, (4) Exporting and backing up, (5) Bulk operations and migrations. license: GPLv3 compatibility: opencode metadata: audience: end-users workflow: bookmark-management

Buku Bookmark Manager Skill

Buku is a powerful command-line bookmark manager that lets you search, organize, import, and export bookmarks with full-text search, tagging, and browser integration.

What You Can Do With Buku

• Search & Organize: Quick bookmark addition with full-text search and regex, flexible tag operators for organization
• Import & Export: Auto-import from Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Chromium; export to HTML, XBEL, Markdown, Orgfile, RSS, or new database
• Bulk Operations: Update bookmarks, rename tags across collections, filter and manage entire bookmark sets
• Browser Integration & Backup: Launch bookmarks from CLI, automated database backups with versioning

When to Use This Skill

Load this skill when:

• User wants to add, search, or manage bookmarks from the command line
• User needs to organize bookmarks with tags
• User wants to import bookmarks from a web browser
• User needs to export bookmarks for backup or migration
• User encounters errors or needs database recovery assistance
• User is troubleshooting buku-related issues

Recovery & Safety

Buku is designed for safe bookmark management with built-in protections:

• Database Locking: If you encounter "Database is locked" errors, close your browser and retry. See references/troubleshooting.md#error-database-is-locked for detailed recovery steps.

• Import Safety: Duplicate detection prevents accidental overwrites on re-import. New bookmarks are always added safely. See references/troubleshooting.md#error-bookmark-already-exists for import strategies.

• Bulk Operations: Always backup before performing large tag updates or deletions. Use scripts/backup-bookmarks.sh for automated backups. See references/troubleshooting.md#prevention-tips for best practices.

Quick Start

1. Set your editor (for bookmark editing):

   Copyexport EDITOR=vim  # or nano, gedit, macvim, etc.
   

2. Create your first bookmark:

   Copybuku -a https://example.com "Example Site" "useful" "reference"
   

3. Search your bookmarks:

   Copybuku -s example
   

4. View all bookmarks:

   Copybuku -p
   

5. Troubleshoot if EDITOR won't open:

   If running buku -w BOOKMARK_ID fails with "EDITOR not set", quickly fix:

   Copyexport EDITOR=vim  # or nano, gedit, code --wait
   buku -w 1          # Now should open in editor
   

   For detailed editor setup and other troubleshooting: See references/troubleshooting.md

Documentation Guide

Choose the reference that matches your need:

Getting Started

references/getting-started.md - First time with buku? Start here for installation verification, EDITOR setup, and your first bookmark.

Daily Workflows

references/daily-workflows.md - Common daily tasks: adding bookmarks, searching, updating, deleting, opening in browser, copying URLs.

Organize with Tags

references/organize-bookmarks.md - Tagging strategies, tag operators, tag search, renaming tags, and organization best practices.

Import & Export

references/migrate-bookmarks.md - Importing from browsers, manual imports, exporting to different formats, backups, and merging bookmarks.

Troubleshooting

references/troubleshooting.md - Common errors, EDITOR issues, database locking, and recovery strategies.

Production Scripts

Pre-built scripts for common workflows:

• scripts/bulk-update-tags.sh - Update tags on multiple bookmarks
• scripts/backup-bookmarks.sh - Automated backups with multiple formats
• scripts/browser-import-workflow.sh - Safe browser import with checks

Learn More

• Official Docs: https://buku.readthedocs.io/
• GitHub: https://github.com/jarun/buku
• Database Location: ~/.local/share/buku/bookmarks.db or $XDG_DATA_HOME/buku/bookmarks.db