notepad-cleanup 0.2.1

Extract and organize text from Windows 11 Notepad tabs using AI

notepad-cleanup

Extract and organize text from all open Windows 11 Notepad tabs using AI-powered categorization.

What It Does

Windows 11 Notepad supports multiple tabs, making it easy to accumulate dozens of text snippets, code fragments, notes, and temporary data across multiple windows. notepad-cleanup extracts all that text in one command and organizes it into categorized folders using Claude Code CLI.

Two-phase extraction:

• Phase 1 (silent): Extracts loaded tabs via WM_GETTEXT without stealing focus
• Phase 2 (announced): Switches through unloaded tabs using UI Automation to capture everything

AI organization:

• Reads extracted files using Claude Code CLI
• Categorizes by content type (code, notes, configs, etc.)
• Renames files descriptively based on actual content
• Creates organized folder structure automatically

Features

• Silent extraction — No focus stealing for already-loaded tabs
• Two-phase capture — Gets all tabs including unloaded ones via UIA tab switching
• AI-powered organization — Claude Code CLI reads and categorizes your content
• Cross-session deduplication — Compare new extractions against historical sessions to find exact and near-duplicate files. See docs/fuzzy-matching.md
• Filesystem linking — Replace duplicates with hardlinks, symlinks, or DazzleLink descriptors
• Configuration system — Unified folder registry with ... notation, MRU history, persistent settings. See docs/config.md
• CLI interface — Commands: extract, compare, organize, diff, config, run
• Manifest tracking — JSON metadata about every extracted file
• Windows 11 native — Built for the new Notepad with RichEditD2DPT controls

Requirements

• Windows 11 (uses Windows 11 Notepad tab features)
• Python 3.10+
• Claude Code CLI (optional, for organize step)

Installation

Using pip

pip install notepad-cleanup

Using venv (recommended)

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

# Install
pip install notepad-cleanup

# Or install from source
git clone https://github.com/DazzleTools/notepad-cleanup.git
cd notepad-cleanup
pip install -e .

Claude Code CLI (optional)

The organize step requires Claude Code CLI for AI categorization:

# Install from https://claude.ai/claude-code
# Verify installation
claude --version

Usage

Typical workflow

# 1. Extract all Notepad tabs
notepad-cleanup extract

# 2. Compare against previous sessions to find duplicates
notepad-cleanup compare --last

# 3. Spot-check matches in your diff tool
notepad-cleanup diff --last

# 4. Link duplicates (hardlink/symlink/dazzlelink)
notepad-cleanup compare --last --link auto

# 5. Organize new files with AI
notepad-cleanup organize --last

First-time setup

# Register your folders
notepad-cleanup config add "C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\Notepad Organize"
notepad-cleanup config set search "...1"
notepad-cleanup config set diff_tool bcomp

After setup, --last and saved search dirs make the workflow short:

notepad-cleanup extract
notepad-cleanup compare --last --link auto
notepad-cleanup organize --last

Extract

notepad-cleanup extract                   # Extract to default output folder (...)
notepad-cleanup extract -o ./my-backup    # Custom output directory
notepad-cleanup extract --silent-only     # Skip unloaded tabs (no focus stealing)
notepad-cleanup extract --dry-run         # Preview without saving

Compare

notepad-cleanup compare --last                # Use last extraction + saved search dirs
notepad-cleanup compare --last --no-fuzzy     # Exact matches only (fast)
notepad-cleanup compare --last --link auto    # Compare and link duplicates
notepad-cleanup compare "...-2"               # Compare a specific past extraction
notepad-cleanup compare --last -s "D:\archive"  # Search only this directory
notepad-cleanup compare --last -ss "D:\archive" # Search this + saved dirs

See docs/fuzzy-matching.md for details on near-duplicate detection.

Organize with AI

notepad-cleanup organize --last               # Organize most recent extraction
notepad-cleanup organize --last --verbose     # Stream Claude output in real-time
notepad-cleanup organize --last --dry-run     # Preview without executing

Configuration

notepad-cleanup config show                   # Show all settings
notepad-cleanup config show ...               # Resolve a ... reference
notepad-cleanup config add "C:\path"          # Register a folder
notepad-cleanup config set search "...1"      # Add folder to search list
notepad-cleanup config set diff_tool bcomp    # Set diff tool

See docs/config.md for the full configuration reference including ... notation.

One-command workflow

notepad-cleanup run                           # Extract + organize
notepad-cleanup run --verbose                 # With real-time Claude output

Options:

• --output-dir PATH — Custom output directory
• --yes — Skip confirmations
• --verbose — Stream Claude output

How It Works

Phase 1: Silent Extraction

Uses WM_GETTEXT message to read text from RichEditD2DPT child windows. This is completely silent and invisible — no focus changes, no window activation, no disruption to your workflow.

Limitation: Only works for tabs that have been loaded (visited) at least once in the current Notepad session. Unloaded tabs have no RichEditD2DPT control yet, so they cannot be read silently.

Phase 2: Tab Switching (Announced)

For unloaded tabs, uses UI Automation (TabItem.Select()) to activate each tab, which forces Windows to load the RichEditD2DPT control. Once loaded, the same WM_GETTEXT method reads the content.

Warning: This steals focus and activates Notepad windows. The tool warns you before Phase 2 starts and waits for confirmation. Do not type or click during Phase 2.

Organization with AI

After extraction, Claude Code CLI:

1. Reads manifest.json to understand the collection
2. Reads each extracted file to determine content type
3. Returns a JSON plan with categories and renamed filenames
4. The tool executes the plan locally (copy files to organized folders)

Categories might include:

• code-snippets — Python, JavaScript, batch scripts, PowerShell, etc.
• config-files — INI, YAML, JSON configs
• personal-notes — Short reminders, quick notes
• project-planning — Design docs, task lists
• reference — Documentation, links, resources
• misc — Everything else

Output Structure

notepad-cleanup-2026-02-14__00-15-30/
├── manifest.json                  # Metadata about all extracted files
├── window01/
│   ├── tab01.txt                  # Original extracted files
│   ├── tab02.txt
│   └── tab03.txt
├── window02/
│   └── tab01.txt
├── organized/                     # AI-organized output (after organize step)
│   ├── code-snippets/
│   │   ├── process-data.py
│   │   └── batch-rename.bat
│   ├── personal-notes/
│   │   └── grocery-list.txt
│   └── _summary.md               # Organization summary
├── _organize_prompt.md           # AI prompt used
└── _organize_log.txt             # Claude CLI output

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/DazzleTools/notepad-cleanup.git
cd notepad-cleanup
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .

Testing

Manual testing recommended (this tool manipulates real Notepad windows):

1. Open multiple Notepad windows with various tabs
2. Include empty tabs, large tabs, code snippets, notes
3. Run notepad-cleanup extract --verbose
4. Verify accuracy of extracted content
5. Run notepad-cleanup organize on output
6. Check organized folder structure

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

notepad-cleanup, Copyright (C) 2026 Dustin Darcy. This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License v3.0 as published by the Free Software Foundation.

See LICENSE for full details.