Buku

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`buku` is a powerful bookmark management utility written in Python3 and SQLite3. When I started writing it, I couldn't find a flexible cmdline solution with a private, portable, merge-able database along with browser integration. Hence, `buku` (after my son's nickname). With tagging and multiple options to search bookmarks, including regex and a deep scan mode (particularly for URLs), finding a bookmark is very easy. Multiple search results can be opened in the browser at once. Though a terminal utility, it's possible to add bookmarks to `buku` without touching the terminal! Refer to the section on [GUI integration](#gui-integration). If you prefer the terminal, thanks to the shell completion scripts, you don't need to memorize any of the options. There's an Easter egg to revisit random forgotten bookmarks too. `buku` doesn't track you - no history, obsolete records, usage analytics or homing.

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## Table of Contents - [Features](#features) - [Installation](#installation) - [Dependencies](#dependencies) - [Installing from this repository](#installing-from-this-repository) - [Running as a standalone utility](#running-as-a-standalone-utility) - [Debian package](#debian-package) - [Installing with a package manager](#installing-with-a-package-manager) - [Shell completion](#shell-completion) - [Usage](#usage) - [Cmdline options](#cmdline-options) - [Operational notes](#operational-notes) - [GUI integration](#gui-integration) - [Add bookmarks from anywhere](#add-bookmarks-from-anywhere) - [Import bookmarks to browser](#import-bookmarks-to-browser) - [Sync database across systems](#sync-database-across-systems) - [As a library](#as-a-library) - [Examples](#examples) - [Contributions](#contributions) - [Mentions](#mentions) - [Copyright](#copyright) ## Features - Add, open, tag, comment on, update, remove, shorten URLs - Multiple search options, continuous search at prompt - Portable, merge-able database to sync between systems - Import/export in Markdown or HTML (FF, Chrome compatible) - Fetch page title from web, refresh all titles in a go - Open (multiple) search results directly in default browser - Manual password protection using AES256 encryption - Completion scripts (Bash, Fish, Zsh), man page with examples - Several options for power users (see help or man page) - Fast and clean interface, distinct symbols for record fields - Minimal dependencies ## Installation ### Dependencies `buku` requires Python 3.3 or later. To install package dependencies, run: $ sudo pip3 install urllib3 cryptography beautifulsoup4 requests or on Ubuntu: $ sudo apt-get install python3-urllib3 python3-cryptography python3-bs4 python3-requests ### Installing from this repository If you have git installed, run: $ git clone https://github.com/jarun/Buku/ or download the latest [stable release](https://github.com/jarun/Buku/releases/latest) or [development version](https://github.com/jarun/Buku/archive/master.zip). Install to default location (`/usr/local`): $ sudo make install To remove, run: $ sudo make uninstall `PREFIX` is supported. You may need to use `sudo` with `PREFIX` depending on your permissions on destination directory. #### Running as a standalone utility `buku` is a standalone utility. From the containing directory, run: $ chmod +x buku.py $ ./buku.py #### Debian package If you are on a Debian (including Ubuntu) based system visit [the latest stable release](https://github.com/jarun/Buku/releases/latest) and download the `.deb` package. To install, run: $ sudo dpkg -i buku-$version-all.deb Please substitute `$version` with the appropriate package version. ### Installing with a package manager `buku` is also available on - [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/buku/) for Arch Linux - [Ubuntu](https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/buku) - [Homebrew](http://braumeister.org/formula/buku) for OS X - [Debian Sid](https://packages.debian.org/sid/buku) - [Ubuntu PPA](https://launchpad.net/~twodopeshaggy/+archive/ubuntu/jarun/) - Void Linux repos ( `$ sudo xbps-install -S buku` ) ## Shell completion Shell completion scripts for Bash, Fish and Zsh can be found in respective subdirectories of [auto-completion/](https://github.com/jarun/Buku/blob/master/auto-completion). Please refer to your shell's manual for installation instructions. `buku` has a [rofi frontend](https://github.com/carnager/buku_run) written by Rasmus Steinke. ## Usage ### Cmdline options usage: buku [OPTIONS] [KEYWORD [KEYWORD ...]] Powerful command-line bookmark manager. Your mini web! general options: -a, --add URL [tag, ...] bookmark URL with comma-separated tags -u, --update [...] update fields of bookmark at DB indices accepts indices and ranges refresh all titles, if no arguments refresh titles of bookmarks at indices, if no edit options are specified -d, --delete [...] delete bookmarks. Valid inputs: either a hyphenated single range (100-200), OR space-separated indices (100 15 200) delete results with search options delete all bookmarks, if no arguments -h, --help show this information and exit edit options: --url keyword specify url, works only with -u option --tag [+|-] [...] set comma-separated tags with -a and -u clear tags, if no arguments append to tags, if preceded by '+' remove from tags, if preceded by '-' -t, --title [...] manually set title, works with -a, -u if no arguments: -a: do not set title, -u: clear title -c, --comment [...] description of the bookmark, works with -a, -u; clears comment, if no arguments --immutable N disable title fetch from web on update works with -a, -u N=0: mutable (default), N=1: immutable search options: -s, --sany keyword [...] find records with ANY search keyword -S, --sall keyword [...] find records with ALL search keywords special keywords - "blank": entries with empty title/tag "immutable": entries with locked title --deep match substrings ('pen' matches 'opens') --sreg expression run a regex search --stag [...] search bookmarks by a tag list all tags, if no arguments encryption options: -l, --lock [N] encrypt DB file with N (> 0, default 8) hash iterations to generate key -k, --unlock [N] decrypt DB file with N (> 0, default 8) hash iterations to generate key power toys: -e, --export file export bookmarks to Firefox format html use --tag to export only specific tags -i, --import file import bookmarks from html file FF and Google Chrome formats supported --markdown use markdown with -e and -i format: [title](url), 1 per line -m, --merge file merge records from another buku DB file -p, --print [...] show details of bookmark by DB index accepts indices and ranges show all bookmarks, if no arguments -f, --format N limit fields in -p or Json search output 1: URL, 2: URL and tag, 3: title -r, --replace oldtag [newtag ...] replace oldtag with newtag everywhere delete oldtag, if no newtag -j, --json Json formatted output for -p and search --noprompt do not show the prompt, run and exit -o, --open [N] open bookmark at DB index N in browser open a random index if N is omitted --shorten N/URL fetch shortened url from tny.im service accepts either a DB index or a URL --tacit reduce verbosity --upstream check latest upstream version available -z, --debug show debug information and verbose logs symbols: > title + comment # tags ### Operational notes - The SQLite3 database file is stored in: - **$XDG_DATA_HOME/buku/bookmarks.db**, if XDG_DATA_HOME is defined (first preference) or - **$HOME/.local/share/buku/bookmarks.db**, if HOME is defined (second preference) or - the **current directory**. - If the URL contains characters like `;`, `&` or brackets they may be interpreted specially by the shell. To avoid it, add the URL within single or double quotes (`'`/`"`). - URLs are unique in DB. The same URL cannot be added twice. - Bookmarks with immutable titles are listed with bold `(L)` after the URL. - **Tags**: - Comma (`,`) is the tag delimiter in DB. A tag cannot have comma(s) in it. Tags are filtered (for unique tags) and sorted. Tags are stored in lower case and can be replaced, appended or deleted. - **Update** operation: - If --title, --tag or --comment is passed without argument, clear the corresponding field from DB. - If --url is passed (and --title is omitted), update the title from web using the URL. - If indices are passed without any other options (--url, --title, --tag, --comment and --immutable), read the URLs from DB and update titles from web. Bookmarks marked immutable are skipped. - **Delete** operation: - When a record is deleted, the last record is moved to the index. - Delete doesn't work with range and indices provided together as arguments. It's an intentional decision to avoid extra sorting, in-range checks and to keep the auto-DB compaction functionality intact. On the same lines, indices are deleted in descending order. - Can delete bookmarks matching a search, when combined with any of the search options. - **Search** works in mysterious ways: - Case-insensitive. - Matches exact words in URL, title and tags. - --sany : match any of the keywords in URL, title or tags. - --sall : match all the keywords in URL, title or tags. - --deep : match **substrings** (`match` matches `rematched`) in URL, title and tags. - --sreg : match a regular expression (ignores --deep). - --stag : search bookmarks by a tag, or list all tags alphabetically with usage count (if no arguments). - Search results are indexed serially. This index is different from actual database index of a bookmark record which is shown in bold within `[]` after the URL. - **Encryption** is optional and manual. AES256 algorithm is used. To use encryption, the database file should be unlocked (-k) before using buku and locked (-l) afterwards. Between these 2 operations, the database file lies unencrypted on the disk, and NOT in memory. Also, note that the database file is *unencrypted on creation*. - **Proxy** support: environment variable *https_proxy*, if defined, is used to tunnel data for both http and https connections. The supported format is: http[s]://[username:password@]proxyhost:proxyport/ ## GUI integration ![buku](http://i.imgur.com/8Y6PTPw.png) `buku` can integrate in a GUI environment with simple tweaks. ### Add bookmarks from anywhere With support for piped input, it's possible to add bookmarks to `buku` using keyboard shortcuts on Linux and OS X. CLIPBOARD (plus PRIMARY on Linux) text selections can be added directly this way. The additional utility required is `xsel` (on Linux) or `pbpaste` (on OS X). The following steps explore the procedure on Linux with Ubuntu as the reference platform. 1. To install `xsel` on Ubuntu, run: $ sudo apt install xsel 2. Create a new script `bukuadd` with the following content: #!/bin/bash xsel | buku -a `-a` is the option to add a bookmark. 3. Make the script executable: $ chmod +x bukuadd 4. Copy it somewhere in your `PATH`. 5. Add a new keyboard shortcut to run the script. I use ``. #### Test drive Select a URL anywhere or copy a link and press the keyboard shortcut to add it to the `buku` database. The addition might take a few seconds to reflect depending on your internet speed and the time `buku` needs to fetch the title from the URL. To avoid title fetch from the web, add the `-t` option to the script. To verify that the bookmark has indeed been added, run: $ buku -p | tail -3 and check the entry. #### Tips - To add the last visited URL in Firefox to `buku`, use the following script: #!/bin/bash sqlite3 $HOME/.mozilla/firefox/*.default/places.sqlite "select url from moz_places where last_visit_date=(select max(last_visit_date) from moz_places)" | buku -a - If you want to tag these bookmarks, look them up later using: $ buku -S blank Use option `-u` to tag these bookmarks. ### Import bookmarks to browser `buku` can export (or import) bookmarks in HTML format recognized by Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. To export all bookmarks, run: $ buku --export path_to_bookmarks.html To export specific tags, run: $ buku --export path_to_bookmarks.html --tag tag 1, tag 2 Once exported, import the html file in your browser. ## Sync database across systems `buku` has the capability to import records from another `buku` database file. However, users with a cloud service client installed on multiple systems can keep the database synced across these systems automatically. To achieve this store the actual database file in a synced directory and create a symbolic link to it in the location where the database file would exist otherwise. For example, `$HOME/.local/share/buku/bookmarks.db` can be a symbolic link to `~/synced_dir/bookmarks.db`. ## As a library `buku` can be used as a powerful bookmark management library. All functionality are available through carefully designed APIs. `main()` is a good usage example. It's also possible to use a custom database file in multi-user scenarios. Check out the documentation for the following APIs which accept an optional argument as database file: BukuDb.initdb(dbfile=None) BukuCrypt.encrypt_file(iterations, dbfile=None) BukuCrypt.decrypt_file(iterations, dbfile=None) NOTE: This flexibility is not exposed in the program. ## Examples 1. **Add** a bookmark with **tags** `linux news` and `open source`, **comment** `Informative website on Linux and open source`, **fetch page title** from the web: $ buku -a https://tuxdiary.com linux news, open source -c Informative website on Linux and open source Title: [TuxDiary – Linux, open source, command-line, leisure.] Added at index 336 336. https://tuxdiary.com > TuxDiary – Linux, open source, command-line, leisure. + Informative website on Linux and open source # linux news,open source where, >: title, +: comment, #: tags 2. **Add** a bookmark with tags `linux news` and `open source` & **immutable custom title** `Linux magazine`: $ buku -a http://tuxdiary.com linux news, open source -t 'Linux magazine' --immutable 1 336. http://tuxdiary.com (L) > Linux magazine # linux news,open source Note that URL must precede tags. 3. **Add** a bookmark **without a title** (works for update too): $ buku -a http://tuxdiary.com linux news, open source -t 4. **Update** existing bookmark at index 15012014 with new URL, tags and comments, fetch title from the web: $ buku -u 15012014 --url http://tuxdiary.com/ --tag linux news, open source, magazine -c site for Linux utilities 5. **Fetch and update only title** for bookmark at 15012014: $ buku -u 15012014 6. **Update only comment** for bookmark at 15012014: $ buku -u 15012014 -c this is a new comment Applies to --url, --title and --tag too. 7. **Export** bookmarks tagged `tag 1` or `tag 2` to HTML and markdown: $ buku -e bookmarks.html --tag tag 1, tag 2 $ buku -e bookmarks.md --markdown --tag tag 1, tag 2 All bookmarks are exported if --tag is not specified. 8. **Import** bookmarks from HTML and markdown: $ buku -i bookmarks.html $ buku -i bookmarks.md --markdown 9. **Delete only comment** for bookmark at 15012014: $ buku -u 15012014 -c Applies to --title and --tag too. URL cannot be deleted without deleting the bookmark. 10. **Update** or refresh **full DB** with page titles from the web: $ buku -u $ buku -u --tacit (show only failures and exceptions) This operation does not modify the indexes, URLs, tags or comments. Only title is refreshed if fetched title is non-empty. 11. **Delete** bookmark at index 15012014: $ buku -d 15012014 Index 15012020 moved to 15012014 The last index is moved to the deleted index to keep the DB compact. 12. **Delete all** bookmarks: $ buku -d 13. **Delete** a **range or list** of bookmarks: $ buku -d 100-200 $ buku -d 100 15 200 14. **Search** bookmarks for **ANY** of the keywords `kernel` and `debugging` in URL, title or tags: $ buku -s kernel debugging 15. **Search** bookmarks with **ALL** the keywords `kernel` and `debugging` in URL, title or tags: $ buku -S kernel debugging 16. **Search** bookmarks **tagged** `general kernel concepts`: $ buku --stag general kernel concepts 17. List **all unique tags** alphabetically: $ buku --stag 18. Run a **search and delete** the results: $ buku -s kernel debugging -d 19. **Encrypt or decrypt** DB with **custom number of iterations** (15) to generate key: $ buku -l 15 $ buku -k 15 The same number of iterations must be specified for one lock & unlock instance. Default is 8, if omitted. 20. **Show details** of bookmarks at index 15012014 and ranges 20-30, 40-50: $ buku -p 20-30 15012014 40-50 21. **Show all** bookmarks with real index from database: $ buku -p $ buku -p | more 22. **Replace tag** 'old tag' with 'new tag': $ buku -r 'old tag' new tag 23. **Delete tag** 'old tag' from DB: $ buku -r 'old tag' 24. **Append (or delete) tags** 'tag 1', 'tag 2' to (or from) existing tags of bookmark at index 15012014: $ buku -u 15012014 --tag + tag 1, tag 2 $ buku -u 15012014 --tag - tag 1, tag 2 25. **Open URL** at index 15012014 in browser: $ buku -o 15012014 26. List bookmarks with **no title or tags** for bookkeeping: $ buku -S blank 27. List bookmarks with **immutable title**: $ buku -S immutable 28. **Shorten URL** www.google.com and the URL at index 20: $ buku --shorten www.google.com $ buku --shorten 20 29. More **help**: $ buku -h $ man buku ## Contributions Pull requests are welcome. Please visit [#78](https://github.com/jarun/Buku/issues/78) for a list of TODOs. ## Mentions - [One Thing Well](http://onethingwell.org/post/144952807044/buku) - [It's F.O.S.S.](https://itsfoss.com/buku-command-line-bookmark-manager-linux/) ## Copyright Copyright © 2015-2016 [Arun Prakash Jana](mailto:engineerarun@gmail.com)