Research Management Skill

Manage research and notes in Evernote using the Capture-Organize-Retrieve pattern.

Phase 1: CAPTURE (Save Information)

Create a Note

mcp__evernote__evernote_create_note({
  title: "Research: [Topic] - YYYY-MM-DD",
  content: "## Summary\n\nKey findings here.\n\n## Details\n\n...",
  notebookGuid: "<notebook-guid>",  // optional
  tags: ["research", "topic", "2025-01"]
})

Content Formatting

Evernote accepts Markdown which is converted to ENML:

# Heading 1
## Heading 2

**Bold** and *italic* text

- Bullet list
- Another item

1. Numbered list
2. Second item

> Blockquote

`inline code`

    code block

[Link text](https://example.com)

Save Web Research

When saving research from web sources:

mcp__evernote__evernote_create_note({
  title: "[Article Title] - Web Clip",
  content: `## Source
[Original URL](https://example.com/article)

## Summary
Key points from the article...

## Quotes
> Important quote from the source

## My Notes
Personal observations and thoughts...`,
  tags: ["web-clip", "topic", "source-site"]
})

Phase 2: ORGANIZE (Structure Knowledge)

List Notebooks

mcp__evernote__evernote_list_notebooks({})

Returns all notebooks with:

• GUID (for API operations)
• Name
• Stack (folder grouping)
• Note count

Create Notebook

mcp__evernote__evernote_create_notebook({
  name: "Project Alpha Research",
  stack: "Projects"  // optional folder grouping
})

List Tags

mcp__evernote__evernote_list_tags({})

Update Note

Move notes between notebooks or update tags:

mcp__evernote__evernote_update_note({
  guid: "<note-guid>",
  title: "Updated Title",
  content: "Updated content...",
  notebookGuid: "<new-notebook-guid>",
  tags: ["updated", "tags"]
})

Phase 3: RETRIEVE (Find Information)

Basic Search

mcp__evernote__evernote_search_notes({
  query: "meeting notes project alpha",
  maxResults: 20,
  includeContent: true
})

Advanced Search Syntax

Evernote supports powerful search operators:

// Notes with specific tag
mcp__evernote__evernote_search_notes({
  query: "tag:project-alpha"
})

// Notes in specific notebook
mcp__evernote__evernote_search_notes({
  query: "notebook:Research important findings"
})

// Notes created in last week
mcp__evernote__evernote_search_notes({
  query: "created:week-1"
})

// Combine operators
mcp__evernote__evernote_search_notes({
  query: "tag:research notebook:Work created:month-1 machine learning"
})

Search Operators Reference

Operator	Example	Description
tag:	tag:work	Notes with specific tag
-tag:	-tag:archive	Notes without tag
notebook:	notebook:Personal	Notes in notebook
created:	created:day-7	Created in timeframe
updated:	updated:week-1	Updated in timeframe
intitle:	intitle:meeting	Search title only
source:	source:web.clip	From specific source
todo:	todo:true	Notes with checkboxes

Get Full Note

mcp__evernote__evernote_get_note({
  guid: "<note-guid>",
  includeContent: true
})

Organization Best Practices

Notebook Structure

Notebooks/
├── Inbox/              # Quick capture, process later
├── Projects/
│   ├── Project Alpha/
│   ├── Project Beta/
│   └── Archive/
├── Reference/
│   ├── Technical/
│   ├── Personal/
│   └── Templates/
└── Journal/

Tagging Strategy

Use consistent tag prefixes:

• project-* - Project names
• type-* - Note type (meeting, research, idea)
• status-* - Status (active, done, review)
• YYYY-MM - Date tags for temporal queries

Note Title Format

[Type] Topic - YYYY-MM-DD

Examples:
[Meeting] Product Roadmap Review - 2025-01-15
[Research] Machine Learning Best Practices - 2025-01-10
[Idea] New Feature Concept - 2025-01-08

Health Check

Verify Evernote connection:

mcp__evernote__evernote_health_check({})

Best Practices

Do

• Use consistent notebook and tag structure
• Add date tags for temporal searching
• Include source links in research notes
• Write summaries at the top of long notes
• Use headings to structure content
• Tag liberally for discoverability

Don't

• Create deeply nested notebook hierarchies
• Use tags inconsistently
• Skip the summary on long research notes
• Store sensitive credentials in notes
• Let the Inbox pile up unprocessed