Onenote desktop

OneNote Desktop

Use desktop OneNote COM directly. Prefer scripts/Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 for known operations, but do not treat it as a limit: when the task needs a capability the helper lacks, write a focused one-off PowerShell COM script and run it with Windows PowerShell STA.

Always use this shell shape for COM:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command '<OneNote COM code>'

or:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 <args>

Do not use pwsh for OneNote COM unless you just smoke-tested the exact call. Office COM is apartment-sensitive; powershell.exe -STA is the reliable baseline.

Quick Start

Check desktop OneNote and COM:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 -Operation check-install

List visible notebooks, sections, and pages:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 -Operation hierarchy -Scope pages

Read a page:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 -Operation get-page -PageId "<page-id>"

Export a page to PDF:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 -Operation publish -PageId "<page-id>" -TargetPath ".\exports\page.pdf" -PublishFormat pdf

Create a page:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 -Operation create-page -SectionId "<section-id>" -Title "Agent note" -Text "Written by an agent through OneNote COM."

Extract audio/media from a page:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -STA -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1 -Operation extract-media -PageId "<page-id>" -OutputDir ".\media-export"

Workflow

1. Run check-install.
2. Run hierarchy -Scope pages and identify the target notebook/section/page.
3. If hierarchy is empty, COM is working but no notebooks are open in this OneNote profile/session. Ask the user to open the notebook or create a local section with demo-write.
4. Use helper operations for routine tasks.
5. Use raw COM for anything not yet wrapped. Read references/raw-com.md before writing new COM code.
6. For page edits, read existing XML first and preserve namespaces, IDs, timestamps, object IDs, and unknown elements.

References

Read references/raw-com.md when writing direct New-Object -ComObject OneNote.Application scripts, probing methods, calling enums, navigating OneNote, publishing/exporting, or doing anything not already wrapped by Invoke-OneNoteCom.ps1.

Read references/page-xml.md before modifying page XML, generating multi-outline pages, preserving objects, or adding rich content.

Read references/media.md when extracting OneNote audio recordings or other embedded media from MediaFile elements.

Read references/storage.md for last-resort raw storage/cache inventory, .one/.onepkg/cache file signatures, and boundaries for probing storage without mutating OneNote internals.

Script Operations

check-install: report the detected desktop OneNote executable, version, STA state, and COM creation status.

hierarchy: call GetHierarchy and return raw XML plus parsed nodes. Scopes are self, children, notebooks, sections, and pages.

get-page: call GetPageContent for a page ID and return raw XML plus parsed nodes.

create-page: create a page in an existing section, set a title, and optionally add body text.

update-page-xml: update a page from a prepared XML file. Use only after preserving OneNote XML structure.

find-pages: call OneNote search with -Query.

find-meta: call OneNote metadata search with -Query.

get-parent: return the parent hierarchy ID for a page, section, or object ID.

get-hyperlink: return a OneNote hyperlink for a hierarchy object and optional page content object.

get-special-location: return OneNote special folders such as default notebook folder, backup folder, or unfiled notes section.

navigate: navigate OneNote to a hierarchy object and optional page content object.

publish: export a notebook/section/page to one, onepkg, mhtml, pdf, xps, word, or emf.

get-binary: fetch binary page content by callback ID from page XML.

demo-write: create/open a local .one section, create a page, and write test content.

control-page: create/open a local .one section and write a multi-outline control page with install status, hierarchy counts, recent page IDs, and next commands.

extract-media: scan a page for MediaFile XML elements, copy audio/media from OneNote source/cache paths into -OutputDir, and return copied file paths plus media IDs.

scripts/Probe-OneNoteCom.ps1: enumerate the installed OneNote interop assembly and optionally run safe smoke tests. Use it before adding wrappers for less common COM methods.

scripts/Probe-OneNoteStorage.ps1: inventory likely OneNote storage/cache locations read-only, report signatures, sizes, and optional hashes, and support -ExtraRoot for local notebook folders.

Release Notes

• Target desktop OneNote for Windows, not OneNote on the web.
• Detect the installed executable and version with check-install; do not assume a fixed Office path or version.
• The desktop app may be branded "Microsoft OneNote" even when it is the Office16 desktop product formerly known as OneNote 2016.
• Audio/media extraction depends on OneNote exposing MediaFile paths in page XML; use extract-media and report when neither pathSource nor pathCache exists locally.
• Raw .one and cache probing is a last resort. Prefer COM/page XML first, then use Probe-OneNoteStorage.ps1 for read-only discovery.
• Do not use a localhost HTTP server for v1 desktop automation.