Notes

notes stores Markdown files in a Git-backed vault and opens an interactive browser when run without a command. The default vault is ~/Documents/notes; set NOTES to use a different path. DOT_NOTES_DIR is still read as a compatibility fallback when NOTES is unset.

Browse

notes
notes --all

The TUI is a document-first browser. Wide terminals use a 35/65 split between the note list and Markdown preview. When both pane minimums no longer fit, it switches to a one-pane master/detail layout while preserving each pane’s selection and scroll position. Terminals below the compact floor show a stable resize screen instead of a broken workspace.

The preview keeps the title and priority summary visible above the document. Metadata is expanded by default in split mode and collapsed in master/detail mode. Toggle it with i; your choice persists for the rest of the TUI session. The bottom command bar only shows commands relevant to the active pane, while ? opens the complete grouped shortcut reference.

Useful controls:

Key	Action
up / down	Move through notes
Tab	Switch between list and preview
Enter	Open the selected note preview
/	Search note names, tags and summary
s	Cycle sorting
v	Toggle current repo/all repos
a / A	Create a note in editor/visual
e / E	Edit in editor/visual
o	Open the full note in OpenCode
O	Plan from the full selected note
d	Delete after confirmation
r	Refresh
i	Toggle preview metadata
?	Open grouped keyboard help
Esc / Backspace	Exit or go back

Editor actions are launched through Bash and must stay attached until editing finishes. Set EDITOR for terminal editing and use a waiting visual command such as VISUAL="code --wait" for A and E. Both modes fall back to Neovim when no editor is configured.

The o and O actions require OpenCode. O reads the merged OpenCode configuration and injects the configured /plan command template when available, expanding ${ARGUMENTS} with the full selected note context. If no plan command can be resolved, Notes uses portable built-in planning instructions instead.

OpenCode runs from the selected note’s source checkout, including when Notes was opened from another directory or with --all. Notes remembers exact checkout paths as machine-local state under $XDG_STATE_HOME/notes; paths are not written into portable note files. A local note whose remembered directory no longer exists keeps the Notes process’s current directory.

Layout

Repository notes live under:

{vault}/projects/{owner}/{repo}/{slug}.md

The {owner}/{repo} segment is resolved from the current Git repository’s remote URL. notes prefers upstream, then origin, then the first remote. When no usable remote exists, notes use projects/local/{project}. The project name comes from the Git worktree root, or from the current directory outside Git.

Frontmatter

Notes are ordinary Markdown files with YAML frontmatter:

---
repo: owner/repo
date: 2026-07-06T12:00:00+01:00
name: Useful Note
description: One-line summary.
tags: [research, handoff]
priority: medium
---

name, description, tags, and priority are used for listings. Writes validate the frontmatter and refresh date: automatically.

Safety

Read, write, and delete operations are restricted to physical Markdown files under projects/{owner}/{repo}. Symlinks, special files, malformed project identities, and paths elsewhere in the vault are rejected. Writes use atomic replacement, and draft creation never overwrites an existing filename.

Before a mutation, notes refuses an existing staged index and rebases safely onto the configured upstream. Mutations are serialized across processes, committed to the vault Git repo, and then pushed when a remote exists. Editor sessions hold the same transaction lock until the resulting note is validated and committed. A commit or push failure is reported as partial success because the local file change has already completed.

notes read --json and MCP note_read return a SHA-256 revision. Pass it to notes write --expected-hash or MCP note_write.expectedHash to reject a stale overwrite.

Listing

notes list
notes list --format json
notes list --all
notes list --tag research

The JSON form returns structured note metadata for scripts and plugins.