NoteMinder

A floating, keyboard-first notes app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It docks to the edge of your screen, gets out of the way, and comes back with ⌘⇧Space from anywhere.

Try it → · Download the latest release

Features

• Spotlight-style search — ⌘⇧Space opens a search palette from any app, on any desktop. It searches notes, passwords, clips, and links, and :n creates a new note without touching the mouse.
• Quick-copy links — write docs: https://… (or select text before inserting a link) and it becomes its own searchable result. Search for it, hit Enter, and the URL is on your clipboard — no need to open the note.
• Wiki-style note linking — type [[ to link one note to another with live autocomplete; it creates the note if it doesn't exist yet.
• Tags — write #tag anywhere in a note and it becomes a clickable filter in the sidebar.
• Dock / undock — pop the app out into a normal, resizable window when you want it, and dock it back to the screen edge with one click.
• Clips — ⌘⇧V saves whatever's on your clipboard, from any app, as a searchable clip you can grab again later.
• Smart reminders — one-time, daily, or weekly alerts on any note, with native notifications.
• Password vault — encrypted password entries alongside your notes, unlocked with Touch ID.
• Rich text editor — a floating formatting toolbar appears only when you select text (bold, italic, underline, headings, code, links), plus markdown-style shortcuts (#, -, **bold**, etc.) as you type.
• Color-coded notes, markdown import/export, and a built-in keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet (⌘/).
• Dark, Light, or Paper theme — same features, different mood.

Installation

macOS

Option 1: Homebrew (recommended)

brew install hypn05/noteminder/noteminder

Note: on first run, if you see an "app is damaged" error:

sudo xattr -cr /Applications/NoteMinder.app

Option 2: Direct download

1. Download from Releases:
   • Apple Silicon: NoteMinder-X.X.X-arm64.dmg
   • Intel: NoteMinder-X.X.X.dmg (no -arm64 suffix)
2. Open the DMG and drag NoteMinder to Applications.
3. Right-click the app and select "Open" (first time only).

Windows

1. Download NoteMinder-Setup-X.X.X.exe from Releases.
2. Run the installer and follow the wizard (no admin rights needed — it installs for your user only).
3. Launch from the Start Menu or the desktop shortcut.

Note: the installer isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC". Click More info → Run anyway to proceed — this is a one-time step per version.

Linux

Pick whichever matches your distro:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install ./NoteMinder-X.X.X.deb

# Fedora / RHEL / openSUSE
sudo dnf install ./NoteMinder-X.X.X.rpm

Or, for a portable option that needs no install:

chmod +x NoteMinder-X.X.X.AppImage
./NoteMinder-X.X.X.AppImage

All three are on the Releases page.

Usage

Search, anywhere

Press ⌘⇧Space (Ctrl⇧Space on Windows/Linux) from any app to open search. It's one flat list of notes, links, passwords, and clips:

Key	Action
:n	Create a new note
↵	Open a note, or copy a link/clip/password
⌘⇧V	Save the current clipboard contents as a searchable clip
Esc	Close the search window

Formatting

Select text and a small floating toolbar appears with Bold, Italic, Underline, headings, code, and links — nothing takes up space until you need it. Everything else (images, tables, dividers) lives in the + Insert menu. You can also type markdown as you go: # for a heading, - for a bullet, **bold**, `code`, and so on.

• #tag anywhere in a note becomes a clickable filter in the sidebar.
• [[ starts a note link with live autocomplete; pick an existing note or create a new one on the fly.
• Press ⌘/ at any time for the full keyboard shortcuts reference.

Reminders

1. Click the ⏰ icon on a note card.
2. Choose One-time, Daily, or Weekly.
3. Set a date/time and an optional message.
4. Click "Set Reminder".

Dock and undock

Click the 🗗 button to pop the note window out into an ordinary, resizable window — useful when you want more room or need to move it to another display. Click it again to dock the app back to the edge of your screen.

Customization

• Color: click 🎨 on a note to give it a background color.
• Theme: right-click the tray icon → Theme → Dark, Light, or Paper.
• Stay in View: right-click the tray icon → Stay in View.

Import / export

• Import markdown: open the ➕ Insert menu → Import Markdown.
• Export/import notes: right-click the tray icon.

Clips

Press ⌘⇧V from any app to save whatever's on your clipboard as a clip. Clips show up in search and in their own tab, so you can grab something you copied earlier without digging through your clipboard history.

Updates

Windows and Linux (direct download)

The app checks for updates automatically, downloads them in the background, and prompts you to restart when the new version is ready — no manual download needed after the first install.

macOS

macOS builds aren't code-signed (no Apple Developer account), so silent auto-update isn't available. The app checks for updates and notifies you when a new version is out:

brew upgrade noteminder

or grab the new DMG directly from Releases.

---

For developers

Setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/hypn05/NoteMinder.git
cd NoteMinder

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run app
npm start

Development

# Run in development mode
npm start

# Build for current platform
npm run build

# Build for a specific platform
npm run build -- --mac
npm run build -- --win
npm run build -- --linux

Project structure

NoteMinder/
├── main.js             # Electron main process — windows, IPC, tray, shortcuts
├── renderer.js         # Main window UI logic
├── search-renderer.js  # Spotlight-style search window logic
├── index.html          # Main window
├── search.html         # Search window
├── components/         # UI components (editor, note cards)
├── utils/               # Storage, reminders, auto-updater
├── styles/              # CSS, including theme variables
└── build/               # Icons, entitlements, packaging resources

Creating a release

./scripts/release.sh

This prompts for a version number, then:

• updates the version in package.json,
• builds for macOS (Intel + ARM), Windows, and Linux,
• creates a git tag and pushes to GitHub,
• creates a GitHub release with the built installers,
• updates the Homebrew formula, if the homebrew-noteminder tap exists alongside this repo.

Data storage

Notes are stored locally, under the app's package name (lowercase):

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/noteminder/
• Windows: %APPDATA%/noteminder/
• Linux: ~/.config/noteminder/

Technologies

• Electron — desktop framework
• Node.js — JavaScript runtime
• CSS custom properties — theming (Dark/Light/Paper)
• contenteditable — rich text editing

License

MIT License

Credits

Built with ❤️ using Electron.