keepnote

Lightning-fast note-taking for the command line

Dead simple. Blazingly fast. Just notes.

Why?

• Search is instant - ripgrep + fzf means you find what you need in milliseconds
• Dual search modes - Toggle between filename and content search with Tab
• Git status at a glance - See what's changed at the top of your search
• Delete from search - Press Ctrl+D to remove notes without leaving the interface
• Creating notes is frictionless - kn "my idea" and you're writing
• Opens right where you need - Jumps to the exact line in your editor
• Git sync built-in - One command backup your notes with automated commit messages
• Git commands made easy - Run any git command in your notes directory with keepnote git
• Works everywhere - Linux, macOS, Windows
• No lock-in - Just markdown files in a folder
• Preview while you search - See your notes with syntax highlighting before opening

Installation

npm install -g keepnote

What you need

Three excellent CLI tools (you probably already have them): ripgrep, fzf, bat

# macOS
brew install ripgrep fzf bat

# Windows
scoop install ripgrep fzf bat

# Linux
apt install ripgrep fzf bat

Usage

New note:

kn "My note title"

Creates a markdown file as YYYY-MM-DD_my-note-title.md and opens it in your editor. Just start typing.

Find your notes:

kn

Launches interactive search powered by ripgrep and fzf. Git status appears at the top showing what's changed (clean, modified, or untracked files). Type to filter through all your notes. Press Tab to toggle between searching filenames vs file content. bat shows a syntax-highlighted preview as you browse. Press Ctrl+D to delete a note. Hit Enter to open the note at the exact matched line.

Configure:

keepnote config

Opens ~/.config/keepnote/config.toml where you can set your notes path and editor:

notePath = "/path/to/your/notes"  # default: ~/notes
editor = "code"                    # default: $EDITOR or vim

Sync your notes:

keepnote sync

Shows git status and pending changes, then commits and pushes your notes with a timestamped message. Asks for confirmation before executing.

Run git commands:

keepnote git <command>

Run any git command in your notes directory. Examples:

• keepnote git status - Check what's changed
• keepnote git log - View commit history
• keepnote git diff - See what's different

Get help:

keepnote help

FAQ

Where are my notes stored? By default, in ~/notes, but you can change this with keepnote config.

How do I back up my notes? Your notes are just markdown files - use any backup solution. Or run keepnote sync to push to a git repository.

Can I use my own editor? Yes. Set it in ~/.config/keepnote/config.toml or keepnote will use your $EDITOR environment variable.

What's the file naming convention? Notes are named YYYY-MM-DD_your-title.md automatically when you create them.

Credits

Inspired by ripnote by cekrem.

License

MIT