Evernote Local Vault

A local-first, open-source workflow to archive Evernote notes — keeping everything on your filesystem, searchable, and under your own control.

PythonENEXEvernote

The problem

Evernote holds years of thinking in a proprietary format, behind a paywall, on someone else’s servers. The export format (ENEX) exists — but a raw export is a single monolithic file containing every note from a notebook, which is not useful for anything.

This project solves the extraction problem: getting your notes into a form that works with the tools you already use (Spotlight, iCloud Drive, standard filesystem navigation) without requiring a new app, a subscription, or trust in another service.

What it does

A Python tool that splits an Evernote ENEX export into one file per note, with an optional compendium index note for navigation. Each output file is a valid ENEX that can be re-imported into Evernote or read directly.

The design is deliberately minimal:

Status

Design and tooling complete. Published as open source for anyone solving the same problem. Not a product — a design-first utility built for a specific, real need.