Quickstart#

1. Install Cairn#

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ndy40/cairn/main/install.sh | sh

2. Launch the TUI#

Run cairn with no arguments to open the interactive terminal UI:

cairn

TUI Keybindings#

3. Add a Bookmark (non-interactive)#

cairn add https://go.dev

Add with tags (up to 3):

cairn add https://pkg.go.dev --tags "go,reference,docs"

Cairn automatically fetches the page title and description.

4. Search#

cairn search golang

Combine with JSON output for scripting:

cairn search "rust" --json | jq '.[].url'

5. List All Bookmarks#

cairn list

# Newest first (default)
cairn list --order desc

# Oldest first
cairn list --order asc

# As JSON
cairn list --json

6. Delete a Bookmark#

# Find the ID first
cairn list

# Then delete by ID
cairn delete 42

7. Pin a Bookmark#

Pinned bookmarks are marked as permanent and won’t be auto-archived.

cairn pin 42   # toggles pin on/off

8. Check Configuration#

cairn config

Prints the resolved database path and whether the Dropbox app key is set.

9. Update Cairn#

Check whether a newer version is available:

cairn update --check

Apply the update (downloads, verifies checksum, and replaces the binary atomically):

cairn update

Update the Vicinae browser extension (if installed):

cairn update --extension

Next Steps#

• Configuration — set a custom DB path or Dropbox key
• Dropbox Sync — sync bookmarks across devices
• Vicinae Extension — save bookmarks from the browser