How do I use AppleScript to open a specific note from Apple's Notes application?

Question

I would like to create an AppleScript (or a command from Terminal) that opens a specific note from Apple's Notes application, preferably in a separate window. To be clear, I don't want to create a new note; I want to open an existing one. Is there a way to do this?

After the note is opened, one way to open it in a separate window might be to trigger the keyboard shortcut ⌘1 which will open the note in a separate window. Can I use AppleScript to trigger keyboard shortcuts?

Note that you can assign custom keyboard shortcuts to any item in an application's menu bar (see see this apple page for more info). I assigned ⌘1 to Window > Float Selected Note.

EDIT: I figured out how to do it with UI scripting, but I have to wait for each command to be executed individually, rather than the note opening in a separate window immediately. I would still prefer a method that is quicker, so consider this question still unanswered and provide any suggestions you have.

First, open the note and click the Add people button and click on the title of your note. Then, click on copy link. ensure that the permission it set to Only people you invite can make changes. Finally, click Share. Don't worry; unless you start adding contacts, you haven't actually shared the note with anyone. Even if they have the link, other people can't access it unless they're signed in to your iCloud account.

Next, paste the following code into script editor and also paste your link in the section indicated below

set Time0ut to 10
set Timestamp to current date
set debug to false

#####################################################

if application "Notes" is running then quit application "Notes"

repeat until application "Notes" is not running

    if application "Notes" is running then quit application "Notes"


    if application "Notes" is running then
        if debug is true then say "Failed to quit"
        delay 1
    end if

    if (((current date) - Timestamp)) ≥ Time0ut then
        if debug is true then say "Timeout"
        return
    end if

end repeat

open location "https://www.icloud.com/notes/0TD6aphsUjK8vBscC6QgzWgXQ#Clipboard"

repeat until application "Notes" is running
    if (((current date) - Timestamp)) ≥ Time0ut then
        if debug is true then say "Timeout"
        return
    end if
end repeat

#####################################################
#####################################################
#####################################################




###########################
repeat 3 times

    if application "Notes" is not running then return

    try
        tell application "Notes" to activate
        menu_click({"Notes", "Window", "Float Selected Note"})
    end try
    delay 0.5

    if application "Notes" is not running then return

    if index of window "Notes" of application "Notes" is not 1 then
        exit repeat
    else
        if application "Notes" is not running then return
        if debug is true then say "Float Error"
        delay 1
        if application "Notes" is not running then return
    end if
end repeat
###########################



###########################
repeat 3 times

    if application "Notes" is not running then return

    try
        tell application "Notes" to activate
        tell application "Notes" to close (every window whose name is "Notes")
    end try

    if application "Notes" is not running then return

    if visible of window "Notes" of application "Notes" is false then
        exit repeat
    else
        if application "Notes" is not running then return
        if debug is true then say "Close Error"
        delay 1
        if application "Notes" is not running then return
    end if

end repeat
###########################



###########################
repeat 3 times

    if application "Notes" is not running then return

    try
        tell application "Notes" to activate
        set bounds of ((every window whose name is not "Notes") of application "Notes") to {0, 23, 540, 323}
    end try

    if application "Notes" is not running then return

    if (bounds of front window of application "Notes") is equal to {0, 23, 540, 323} then
        exit repeat
    else
        if application "Notes" is not running then return
        if debug is true then say "Resize Error"
        delay 1
        if application "Notes" is not running then return
    end if

end repeat
###########################




#####################################################
#####################################################
#####################################################

on menu_click(mList)
    local appName, topMenu, r
    if mList's length < 3 then error "Menu list is not long enough"
    set {appName, topMenu} to (items 1 through 2 of mList)
    set r to (items 3 through (mList's length) of mList)
    tell application "System Events" to my menu_click_recurse(r, ((process appName)'s ¬
        (menu bar 1)'s (menu bar item topMenu)'s (menu topMenu)))
end menu_click
on menu_click_recurse(mList, parentObject)
    local f, r
    set f to item 1 of mList
    if mList's length > 1 then set r to (items 2 through (mList's length) of mList)
    tell application "System Events"
        if mList's length is 1 then
            click parentObject's menu item f
        else
            my menu_click_recurse(r, (parentObject's (menu item f)'s (menu f)))
        end if
    end tell
end menu_click_recurse

Answer 1

I cannot believe that it took me this long to figure out, but there's an incredibly simple way to do it:

tell application "Notes"
    tell account "iCloud"
        tell folder "Clipboard"
            show note 1
        end tell
    end tell
end tell

The notes are indexed according to their last edited date.

Here's how to open a note by title

tell application "Notes"
    show note "awesome note"
end tell

If you have multiple notes with the same title, specify which folder the note is in:

tell application "Notes"
    tell folder "Code"
        show note "awesome note"
    end tell
end tell

This even works for nested folders:

tell application "Notes"
    tell folder "Code"
        tell folder "Regex"
            show note "another note"
        end tell
    end tell
end tell

Answer 2

I hope this isn't indiscreet, but you just have to add 'id'. This works:

tell application "Notes"
    show note id "x-coredata://DCE76A8C-ADAC-48D5-9783-30CD1BE73A78/ICNote/p21884"
end tell

Oddly, I'm having a bit of trouble re-wording this with the 'whose' syntax. This does NOT work:

tell application "Notes"
    show every note whose cell "id" = "x-coredata://DCE76A8C-ADAC-48D5-9783-30CD1BE73A78/ICNote/p21884"
end tell