Glade

Important

Status: This project is currently under active development. The main branch may contain incomplete features and minor bugs as it is the primary work-in-progress branch.

Note

No pre-built binary yet. Run from source: see Getting Started below.

A local-first, markdown note-taking desktop application built with Tauri v2, React, and Rust.

Overview

Glade is designed for developers and technical users who want to own their notes as plain files and edit them in a distraction-free rich text environment.

• Local-first: Your notes are plain .md files stored in ~/.glade/. No proprietary format, no lock-in.
• Git-ready: Notes are plain files — a .git repo and remote sync are on the roadmap.
• Markdown-native: Write raw markdown or use the rich text toolbar — both produce the same clean output.

Features

✍️ Editing

• Rich Text Editing — Powered by TipTap 2 with real-time markdown rendering, slash commands (/), and a floating bubble menu for quick formatting.
• Mermaid Diagrams — Write ```mermaid code blocks to render flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts, and more. Dedicated full-screen editor with live preview, zoom, and PNG export.
• Tables — Full table support with insert, delete, and (optionally) header rows.
• Task / Checkbox Lists — Checkable to-do items within your notes.
• Code Blocks — Syntax-highlighted code blocks (all languages via lowlight) with a language label and one-click copy button.
• Images & Links — Embed images inline; add hyperlinks with click-to-navigate in read mode.
• Formatting — Bold, italic, strikethrough, underline, inline code, blockquotes, and horizontal rules.
• Markdown Shortcuts — Paste rich text as clean markdown automatically.

🔍 Navigation & Discovery

• File Tree — Collapsible, hierarchical sidebar with drag-and-drop reorganization.
• Table of Contents — Auto-generated from headings (H1–H4), clickable with scroll tracking.
• Full-Text Search — Blazing fast search across all notes, powered by the Rust backend.
• Find & Replace — Cmd/Ctrl+F with support for case-sensitive, whole-word, and regex matching.
• Command Palette — Cmd/Ctrl+P for keyboard-driven navigation and actions.
• @-Mentions — Type @ to search and link any note; click mentions in read mode to navigate.
• Breadcrumbs — Vault > Folder > Note path at the top of the editor.

🗂️ Organization

• Tagging System — YAML frontmatter-based tags with auto-complete, popularity ranking, and click-to-filter (AND-combinable).
• Pinned Notes — Pin important notes to a dedicated section at the top of the sidebar.
• Multi-Vault Support — Create, rename, delete, and switch between multiple vaults.
• Read/Edit Mode — Toggle per-note between editable rich text and read-only view (Cmd/Ctrl+E).
• Raw Markdown Mode — Switch to a CodeMirror-based raw editor with syntax highlighting (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R).
• Editable Titles — Click the note title to rename inline.

💾 Storage & Portability

• Local-First — Notes stored as plain .md files in ~/.glade/. No proprietary format, no lock-in.
• Import — Import .md files and folders from your filesystem with conflict detection (skip / replace / keep both) and broken-link analysis.
• Export — Export notes to PDF, Markdown, or PNG (for diagrams). Option to strip YAML frontmatter. Copy clean Markdown to clipboard.

🎨 Appearance

• Themes — Claude, Everforest, Rose Pine, and Monochrome — each with light and dark variants. Toggle between light, dark, or system-follow mode.
• Resizable Panels — Sidebar, tag panel, pinned section, and table of contents are all resizable and collapsible.

⚡ Performance

• Zero-latency navigation with background note prefetching on hover, in-memory caching, scroll position restoration, and optimistic UI updates (rename, move, pin, tag changes apply instantly with rollback on error).

🎵 Extras

• Ambient Sounds — Built-in rain, white noise, and people sounds with individual volume controls and a master toggle in the status bar.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + P	Command Palette
Cmd/Ctrl + N	New note
Cmd/Ctrl + F	New folder (no note open) / Find in note (editor)
Cmd/Ctrl + H	Find & Replace
Cmd/Ctrl + E	Toggle read / edit mode
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + R	Toggle raw markdown mode
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T	Toggle table of contents
Cmd/Ctrl + B	Toggle sidebar
Cmd/Ctrl + ,	Settings
Cmd/Ctrl + S	Save note
Cmd/Ctrl + D	Delete note / folder
Alt + C	Search: case-sensitive toggle
Alt + W	Search: whole-word toggle
Alt + R	Search: regex toggle

How It Works (Architecture)

Glade leverages the power of Tauri v2 to combine a performant Rust backend with a flexible React frontend.

• Frontend: Built with React 18, Tailwind CSS v4, and Shadcn/ui for a premium, responsive interface.
• Backend: Rust handles the heavy lifting—filesystem operations, import scanning, and full-text search indexing.
• Local-First: Notes are stored as standard .md files in ~/.glade/. You own your data.
• Git (planned): Automatic versioning and remote sync via Git is on the roadmap.

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Rust: Install Rust
• Node.js / Bun: Install Bun (recommended) or Node.js
• Git: Ensure Git is installed and configured on your system.

Installation & Run

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/glade.git
   cd glade

2. Install dependencies

   bun install
   # or
   npm install

3. Run in Development Mode

   bun tauri dev
   # or
   npm run tauri dev

4. Build for Production

   bun tauri build
   # or
   npm run tauri build

Roadmap

🔄 Sync

• Git-powered sync — Automatic background commits, GitHub OAuth Device Flow, remote push/pull, sync status indicator.
• Conflict resolution UI — Visual merge conflict resolution (currently manual via CLI).

🔗 Linking & Discovery

• Wiki-style links — [[Note Name]] for fast inter-note navigation.
• Backlinks panel — See which notes link to the current note.
• Graph view — Visual note relationship graph.

🤖 AI (BYOK)

• AI-assisted writing — Inline suggestions, continue writing, rephrase selection.
• Automatic title generation — Suggest a title based on note content.
• Note summaries — Generate summaries stored in frontmatter.

🧩 Editor & UX

• Focus mode — Hide sidebar, center editor, dim surroundings.
• Note templates — Starter templates on new note creation.
• Word count & reading time — Status bar display.

For the full list, see the Feature Backlog.

Technical Documentation

For a deeper dive into the architecture and technical decisions, check out the docs/ directory.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Desktop Shell	Tauri v2
Frontend	React 18 + TypeScript + Vite
Editor	TipTap 2 (ProseMirror)
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4 + Shadcn/ui
State	Zustand
Backend	Rust (2021 edition)

License

MIT