ZenNotes: Keyboard-First Markdown Notes with Vim, Diagrams, and MCP Integration

Introduction

ZenNotes is a powerful, keyboard-first Markdown notes application designed for efficiency and flexibility. It allows users to manage their notes as ordinary Markdown files directly on disk, providing a local-first approach without relying on hidden databases. Built with a shared product core, ZenNotes offers multiple runtimes, including a robust desktop app powered by Electron and a self-hosted web app backed by a Go server.

This versatile tool integrates Vim-friendly editing, split and preview workflows, task management, tags, archiving, search capabilities, daily notes, and even CSV databases. It also supports rendering various diagrams and offers integration with MCP (Multi-Client Protocol) tools, making it a comprehensive solution for personal knowledge management.

Why Use ZenNotes and Key Benefits

ZenNotes stands out with its commitment to core principles that enhance productivity and data ownership:

• Plain Files First: Your notes are standard .md files, ensuring complete ownership and easy portability. ZenNotes does not store content in a proprietary database.
• Keyboard-First Design: Optimized for speed, it features a first-class Vim mode, leader-key flows, a command palette, pane and tab motion, and local ex commands, allowing for rapid navigation and editing.
• Integrated Workflow: Seamlessly switch between edit, preview, and split modes. It supports pinned reference panes and detached note windows on desktop, ensuring you never lose context.
• Rich Content Support: Render math with KaTeX, and create diagrams using Mermaid, TikZ, JSXGraph, and function-plot directly within your Markdown notes.
• Comprehensive Management: Keep tasks, tags, search, archive, trash, and quick capture functionalities within the same vault.
• MCP Integration: Expose your vault to MCP-capable tools through a first-party server, enabling advanced integrations and workflows.
• Cross-Platform Availability: Enjoy a consistent experience across macOS, Windows, and Linux with the desktop application, or deploy it as a self-hosted web app for browser access.
• Obsidian-Friendly Vaults: ZenNotes works harmoniously with existing Obsidian-style vaults, supporting top-level notes, folders, and embedded files more naturally.

Installation

ZenNotes is available across various platforms. You can grab the latest builds from the official GitHub Releases. The desktop app supports auto-updates, so you typically only need to download it once.

macOS

• Homebrew (recommended):

  brew install --cask zennotes/tap/zennotes
  

• Alternatively, download the .dmg for your chip (Apple Silicon or Intel), open it, and drag ZenNotes to your Applications folder.

Windows

• Download and run the ZenNotes-<version>-win-x64.exe installer.

Linux

• Arch / CachyOS / Manjaro (AUR recommended):

  yay -S zennotes-bin # or: paru -S zennotes-bin
  

• Arch (native package):

  sudo pacman -U ZenNotes-<version>-linux-x86_64.pacman
  

• Debian / Ubuntu:

  sudo apt install ./ZenNotes-<version>-linux-amd64.deb
  

• Any distro (AppImage):

  chmod +x ZenNotes-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage
  ./ZenNotes-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage
  

  (Note: AppImages may require FUSE 2. Refer to the README for details.)

zen CLI

The desktop app can install a zen command-line companion from Settings ? CLI, enabling workflows for listing, reading, searching, capturing, editing, archiving, trashing notes, and managing tasks, folders, and MCP.

Self-hosted Web App

ZenNotes can also run as a self-hosted web app with a Go server. Refer to the "Local development" section in the official repository's README for detailed setup instructions.

Examples

ZenNotes offers a rich set of features to enhance your note-taking experience:

• Daily and Weekly Notes: Enable and customize daily and weekly notes with flexible date patterns (e.g., yyyy/MM-MMM, yyyy-'W'ww) and dedicated directories, making it easy to track your progress over time.
• Advanced Editor and Preview: The editor, built on CodeMirror 6, provides live preview, heading folding, outline extraction, syntax highlighting for code blocks, and Vim block cursor navigation. The preview supports GitHub-flavored Markdown, KaTeX math, and various diagramming tools.
• Powerful Search and Views: Utilize note search by title and path, or perform vault-wide text searches with configurable backends like ripgrep or fzf. Dedicated views for tags, tasks, archive, trash, and quick notes help you organize and retrieve information efficiently. On macOS, the zen CLI integrates with Raycast for quick access.
• Obsidian-Friendly Vault Support: ZenNotes is designed to work seamlessly with existing Obsidian vaults. It allows primary notes to reside at the vault root, correctly resolves embedded files like ![[image.png]], and surfaces loose files as assets, ensuring a smooth transition or co-existence.
• Files and Local Assets: Manage local images, SVGs, videos, audio, and PDFs directly within ZenNotes tabs or reference panes. The sidebar supports multi-select for efficient organization and actions.

Links

• GitHub Repository: ZenNotes/zennotes
• Official Website: zennotes.org
• Latest Releases: GitHub Releases
• Support Development: GitHub Sponsors