Choose a vault
A vault is just a folder of Markdown files. ZenNotes reads it directly, keeps everything file-based, and never hides your notes behind a database.
ZenNotes manual
Docs
The same in-app help, on the web. Quick start, concepts, the full keyboard
and : ex reference, and every setting.
Overview
ZenNotes is a keyboard-first, Markdown-first desktop notes app. Your notes
stay as plain .md files in a vault you own. Modal editing,
Vim motions, split panes, preview, and a bundled MCP server are all
first-class.
This page is a live copy of the built-in manual. Press :h or open Help from the sidebar footer to browse the same content inside the app.
Quick start
The shortest path from install to a working vault.
Use the three working zones
The sidebar is your navigator, the note list is your current folder or attachments view, and the editor pane is where tabs, splits, preview, and focused writing happen.
Capture, organize, archive
Quick Notes are for fast capture, Inbox is active work, Archive is cold storage, and Trash is recoverable deletion. Archive and Trash open as dedicated main-pane lists so the sidebar stays singular; Quick Notes stays foldable in the sidebar and can also open its own list tab from the context menu.
Stay keyboard-first
Search notes, search vault text, and open the command palette from their configured shortcuts. Use Vim mode for ex commands, pane motion, hint mode, leader hints, link-following, and keyboard-opened context menus. Vault text search can use auto-detected system tools like fzf or ripgrep, custom binary paths, or the built-in searcher.
Insert structure inline
Type / in the editor to open a slash menu for headings, lists, callouts, code blocks, dividers, tables, links, images, and more. Type @ to insert date shortcuts like Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow as Markdown-friendly ISO dates.
Use the built-in manual
Open Help from the sidebar footer or with :help to browse shortcuts, commands, panel behavior, Vim flows, and settings in one place.
Seed a starter vault tour
Run Generate Demo Tour Notes from the command palette to add a guided set of demo notes under inbox/demo, plus a local attachment. Run Remove Demo Tour Notes to clear them later.
Pick up where you left off
ZenNotes restores the last open tabs, splits, built-in views, and sidebar layout for each vault, and remembers the main window size, position, and maximized state between launches.
Core concepts
How ZenNotes thinks about files, panes, leaders, and keyboard control.
Notes are real Markdown files
ZenNotes edits Markdown on disk. Rename, move, archive, restore, and floating-window operations all work on the underlying files, not an internal copy.
Tabs and splits are first-class
Each editor pane can hold multiple tabs. Split the current tab right or down, move between panes with motions, switch the active note between Edit, Split, and Preview, and use the buffer switcher or :buffers when tabs are hidden. The active tab has a full keyboard context menu — Close Others, Close Right, Pin, Pin as Reference, Open in Floating Window, and Reveal in Finder.
Context menus are part of the keyboard model
ZenNotes treats context menus as keyboard-reachable UI. Use the configured context-menu binding on the selected sidebar or note-list row, or use Shift+F10 / the system Context Menu key to open the active tab menu from the editor.
Sessions restore on relaunch
Workspace restore is saved per vault, while the window frame is global. Reopening ZenNotes brings back your pane layout, open buffers, built-in views, and the last window bounds.
Leader mode can teach itself
If Leader key hints are enabled, pressing Leader opens a which-key style panel that shows the next available actions. Settings let you pick a timed hint or a sticky leader overlay that stays open until you dismiss it.
Tasks, Tags, Archive, and Trash are vault-wide views
Tasks scans every note for checkboxes. Tags lets you browse notes by tag. Archive gives you cold storage. Trash gives you recovery without turning the left rail into a second browser.
Moving notes is path-first
Use the note context menu, the command palette, or :move / :mv to move a note. The move prompt autocompletes folder paths, and the ex command accepts a destination directly like :mv archive/Reference.
Command palette mirrors tab actions
You do not need to remember where a tab action lives. The command palette exposes direct entries for closing, splitting, pinning, referencing, floating-window, and reveal actions.
Slash commands speed up writing
Type / at the start of a line or after whitespace to open an inline insert menu for common Markdown structures: headings, lists, to-do items, callouts, code blocks, dividers, tables, math blocks, links, images, and new-note links.
@ shortcuts insert relative dates
Typing @ in normal text opens date suggestions for Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow, inserting ISO dates like 2026-04-15 — file-friendly and sortable.
Reference and connections support research-heavy work
Pin a companion note or PDF in the reference pane, then toggle the connections panel to inspect backlinks and unresolved links while you draft.
Zen mode removes chrome
Use the configured Zen shortcut to strip away the title bar, sidebar, note list, tabs, pane headers, side panels, and status bar. Only the active editor, preview, or split view stays visible.
Links are actionable
Use [[wikilinks]] or Markdown links. In normal mode, the follow-link motion opens the link under the cursor, offers to create missing notes, and pins PDFs into the reference pane.
Attachments stay local
Drop files into a note to insert local assets. ZenNotes tracks the attachments folder, can reveal it from the app, and treats PDFs specially in preview and reference workflows.
Math, diagrams, and plots render from plain fences
Inline $…$ and display $$…$$ math render via KaTeX. Four fenced block languages turn into live diagrams: mermaid for flow and sequence; tikz for LaTeX-native coordinate systems (runs on-device); jsxgraph for interactive geometry; and function-plot for Cartesian plotting. Each block is ordinary Markdown on disk.
Footer actions expose utility views
The sidebar footer gives you direct access to Attachments, Help, and Settings, so utility screens stay discoverable.
Destructive actions ask first
Moving a note to Trash asks for confirmation before anything is deleted. The Trash view separates restore from permanent delete.
Keyboard shortcuts
Every binding is remappable in Settings. Mod is ⌘ on
macOS, Ctrl on Windows and Linux.
Global shortcuts
These work across the main app shell.
Mod+P
Search notes
Open the note search palette.
Mod+F
Search notes (non-Vim)
Open the note search palette directly when Vim mode is off.
Shift+Mod+P
Open commands
Open the command palette.
Shift+Mod+N
New Quick Note
Create a quick capture note and focus its title.
Mod+,
Open Settings
Appearance, editor behavior, fonts, vault controls.
Mod+1
Toggle sidebar
Hide or show the left sidebar.
Mod+2
Toggle connections
Toggle the connections panel for the active editor pane.
Mod+.
Toggle Zen mode
Hide or restore the app chrome.
Mod+W
Close active tab
Close the current note or virtual tab.
Alt+Z
Toggle word wrap
Switch between wrapped lines and horizontal scrolling.
Esc
Dismiss overlay
Close note search or the command palette.
Pane and panel motion
The primary keyboard-first movement patterns. The Vim-style ones assume Vim mode is on.
Ctrl-w
h/j/k/l
Move focus
Move between sidebar, note list, editor, connections, or adjacent panes.
Ctrl-w
v
Split right
Clone the current tab into a pane to the right.
Ctrl-w
s
Split down
Clone the current tab into a pane below.
Space
o
Open buffers
Show a searchable list of every open buffer across every pane.
Space
f
Search notes
Open the vault-wide note search palette.
Space
s
t
Search vault text
Fuzzy-search matching text lines across notes.
Space
e
Toggle left sidebar
Show or hide the folder/tag sidebar.
Space
p
Note outline
Jump to any heading in the active note.
Space
(pause)
Show leader hints
Open a which-key style guide if hints are enabled.
Mod+3
Toggle outline panel
Show or hide the persistent outline in the active pane.
zc
/
zo
Fold / unfold heading
Collapse or expand the section below the heading at the cursor.
zM
/
zR
Fold / unfold all
Collapse or expand every heading section in the note.
Ctrl-o
Go back
Jump to the previous note location in history.
Ctrl-i
Go forward
Jump forward in note history.
f
Hint mode
Show jump labels for clickable targets when not in insert mode.
Editor writing aids
Inline completions that appear while you type in the Markdown editor.
/
Open slash commands
Insert menu for headings, lists, to-dos, callouts, code blocks, dividers, tables, math, links, images, new page.
Type
after
/
Filter the insert menu
Narrow the slash command list by name, then confirm to insert.
@
Open date shortcuts
Inline suggestions for Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow.
Type
after
@
Filter date suggestions
Match by weekday, month, day number, or ISO date fragment.
Preview and connections
These keys apply when reading preview content or the connections panel.
j
/
k
Scroll preview
Move through rendered preview content line-by-line.
Ctrl-d
/
Ctrl-u
Half-page scroll
Move preview content by half a viewport.
g
g
/
G
Jump to top or bottom
Go to the start or end of the preview or connections list.
m
/
Shift+F10
Open active tab menu
Close, Split, Pin, Pin as Reference, Floating Window, Reveal.
/
Search notes
Open note search without leaving keyboard navigation.
p
Peek backlink
In connections, open a hover preview for the selected note.
h
/
Esc
Back out
Return from hover preview to connections, or from connections to the editor.
Vim ex commands
Run any of these from the : prompt. Tab on the ex line completes commands and supported arguments.
:w
Save the active note
Flush the current buffer to disk immediately.
:q
Close the current tab or virtual view
Closes the active note or virtual tab (Tasks, Tags, Help, Trash).
:wq
Save and close
Writes the current note, then closes it.
:format
Format Markdown
Runs Markdown formatting on the active note.
:tasks
Open Tasks
Open the vault-wide Tasks virtual tab.
:tag foo bar
Open Tags with a selection
Open the Tags view and replace the tag set with the given tags.
:trash
Open Trash
Open the built-in Trash recovery view in the active pane.
:split / :vsplit
Split the current tab
Clone the active tab down or right.
:edit path / :e path
Open or create by vault path
Open a note by vault-relative path; create if needed.
:new [path]
Create a new note
No path → new inbox note. With a path → opens or creates exactly there.
:move [folder] / :mv
Move the active note
No argument opens the move prompt. With a path like archive/Reference, moves directly.
:bn / :bp
Cycle tabs
Move to the next or previous tab.
:buffers / :ls
Open the buffer switcher
List the current pane’s open buffers in a searchable overlay.
:bd / :bc
Close the active tab
Buffer-delete aliases for the current tab.
:only
Close sibling tabs
Keep only the active tab in the current pane.
:qa / :quitall / :xa / :wa
Close every tab everywhere
Closes all tabs across all panes.
:help / :h
Open this manual
Bring up the built-in Help tab.
:demo_generate / :demo_remove
Seed or remove the demo tour
Install or remove onboarding notes under inbox/demo.
:cmd query / :commands
Run or browse palette commands
Fuzzy-run the best matching command, or open the palette.
:tab_menu / :tab_close_others / :tab_close_right
Tab-menu actions from the ex line
Every palette tab action is also on the : line.
gd
Follow the link under the cursor
Open wikilinks, external links, create missing notes, or pin PDFs.
<Tab> on the ex line
Complete ex commands
Cycle through registered commands with a wildmenu popup; complete args like :view edit|split|preview.
<Space> l f
Leader-format
Format the active note from normal mode.
<Space> (pause)
Show leader hints
Which-key overlay for the next available leader actions.
<Space> o
Leader buffer switcher
Open every open buffer across every pane.
<Space> f
Leader note search
Open the vault-wide note search palette.
<Space> e
Leader toggle sidebar
Show or hide the left sidebar.
<Space> p
Leader note outline
Searchable list of every heading in the active note.
:outline
Note outline palette
Ex-line path to the searchable note outline.
:view edit|split|preview
Switch the active note layout
Editor-only, side-by-side split, or preview-only.
:zen [toggle|on|off]
Toggle Zen mode
:zen toggles; :zen on / off force a state.
:editmode / :splitmode / :previewmode
Direct mode aliases
Single-command aliases for switching the active note layout.
:fold / :unfold
Toggle the heading at the cursor
Collapse or expand the section beneath the current heading.
:foldall / :unfoldall
Fold every heading
Collapse or expand every heading section at once.
Settings reference
Every setting in ZenNotes, grouped by panel.
Appearance
- Theme, mode, and variant
- Pick a theme family, light or dark mode, and the active flavor where supported.
- Dark sidebar
- Tint the sidebar slightly darker than the canvas so chrome reads as a distinct surface.
Editor behavior
- Vim mode
- Turn CodeMirror Vim bindings on or off for the editor and reference pane.
- Leader key hints
- Show a which-key style guide after pressing Leader. Available when Vim mode is enabled.
- Leader hint behavior
- Choose between timed auto-hide or a sticky overlay that stays open until dismissed.
- Leader hint duration
- When timed, control how long the overlay stays visible and how long the pending sequence remains active.
- Vault text search backend
- Auto, built-in, ripgrep, or fzf. Auto prefers system tools when installed. Settings shows the resolved runtime backend.
- Live preview
- Hide Markdown syntax on lines you are not actively editing.
- Note tabs
- Enable or disable tab-based editing and split-friendly workflows.
- Word wrap
- Wrap long lines to editor width or let them scroll horizontally.
- PDFs in edit mode
- Choose between compact PDF cards or full inline PDF embeds.
- Date-titled Quick Notes
- Name quick notes by date instead of timestamp-based titles.
Typography and layout
- Interface, text, and monospace fonts
- Choose different fonts for chrome, reading text, and code blocks.
- Font size and line height
- Tune reading density in the editor and preview.
- Reading and editor width
- Cap long lines so wide windows stay readable.
- Content alignment
- Center note content in its column or left-align to the pane edge.
- Line numbers
- Off, absolute, or relative gutter numbering.
Keymaps
- Shortcut overrides
- Remap global shortcuts, Vim bindings, panel navigation, and view actions from one place.
- Recorded sequences
- Capture single shortcuts or multi-step sequences like Leader flows, pane prefixes, g g, g d, or fold motions — no raw config editing.
- Context-menu bindings
- The same keymap table controls the context-menu action used across the sidebar, note list, and active-tab menu.
- Reset controls
- Clear an individual override or reset the entire keymap table to shipped defaults.
Vault
- Vault location
- Reveal or change the root folder ZenNotes treats as the active vault.
About
- App identity
- App icon, current version, and a short description of ZenNotes.
- Lumary Labs
- About section links to lumarylabs.com.