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blastbeat

Using Notes

Notes are Markdown documents. They live in Folders, can belong to a Project and carry Labels, and a checkbox line in one becomes a real Task.

Make a Note

Press N anywhere to start a Note, or go to Notes with gn. The Notes page has a list of Notes and the open Note beside it.

A Note has a title and a body. The body is the only place its text is kept. It can also have a Project, which is never the Inbox, any number of Labels, a Folder, and a Pin.

Edit, Hybrid and Preview

A Note has three modes, shown in the header.

  • Edit shows the raw Markdown in a monospace font. ⌘1
  • Hybrid is the default. It formats as you write. Markup hides until the caret reaches it, and shows as source on the line you are editing. ⌘2
  • Preview shows the rendered Note, read-only. ⌘3

The mode belongs to the open Note and is not saved. Opening another Note starts in Hybrid.

Slash menu

Type / at the start of a line to insert a block. The menu offers Properties, Heading 1 to 3, Task, Bullet list, Numbered list, Code block, Quote, Callout, Table, Divider, Link to Note and Link to Task. Move with the arrow keys, press ↵ to insert, and Esc to close it.

Vim

Settings, then Notes, has a Vim motions switch that gives every Note Vim keys. A badge beside the save status shows the mode. In Normal mode, Shortcuts that start with the Leader still work.

Focus mode

⌘⇧F hides everything but the Note. A narrow, medium or wide column, three text sizes and typewriter scrolling are set while you are in it, and Esc leaves it. The footer counts words and minutes to read.

Font and size

Settings, then Notes, picks the Font, Sans, Serif or Mono, and the Text size, from 14 to 22 px. They follow your account. The Note’s menu can change either for the Note you have open.

What Markdown works

Notes understand headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, inline code, quotes, links, bullet and numbered lists, task lists, tables, fenced code with syntax colors and horizontal rules. Callouts use > [!NOTE], and also TIP, IMPORTANT, WARNING and CAUTION.

Raw HTML is never rendered. Links open in a new tab, and images from other websites are not loaded.

In Preview you can click a checkbox to tick it.

Properties

A Note can start with a block of YAML between --- lines, called Frontmatter. The Properties editor shows it as fields of type Text, List, Number, Checkbox or Date, and you can switch to the source. Frontmatter is your own content. It never sets the Note’s title, Project, Labels or Pin.

Folders

A Folder holds Notes, and other Folders. Folders have nothing to do with Projects: a Note can sit in any Folder whatever its Project is.

  • Make one with New Folder in the Command palette, or from a Folder’s menu with New subfolder. Name it and choose where it goes.
  • Folders sort A to Z inside their parent. Their Notes can be shown recursively.
  • A Folder has a Glyph, an icon or an emoji, and a color. Its menu is where you change them.
  • F2 renames the selected Folder.
  • Deleting a Folder deletes its subfolders. Its Notes are not deleted. They become Unfiled and keep their Project and Labels.

Move a Note into a Folder with V, from the header, or by dragging it onto a Folder. A Note in no Folder is Unfiled, and still shows in All notes.

Notes views

The Notes list shows All notes, Pinned, Recent, Unfiled, a Folder or a Label. Recent is what you edited in the last 14 days, newest first. In every other view, pinned Notes come first. P pins or unpins the selected Note.

Settings, then Notes, sets the layout, with Folders beside the list or in the sidebar, the list’s density and Card style, how a Folder’s color shows, the default sort and whether each Note shows its Folder.

Linked tasks

Write a checkbox line in a Note and it becomes a Task.

- [ ] Order the proofs
- [x] Send the draft

When the Note saves, each new checkbox line becomes a Task in the Note’s Project, or in the Inbox if the Note has none. A hidden marker ties the line to its Task. In the editor it shows as a small link icon, which opens the Task.

The line and the Task stay in step in both directions.

  • Rename the line, tick it or untick it, and the Task follows. Rename or complete the Task, and the line follows.
  • Delete the line and the Task is deleted. Delete the Task and the line goes. Delete the Note and its Linked tasks go with it.

Only - lines count. Lines inside code fences or Frontmatter do not.

A Task reference, ![[Task title]], shows a chip for display. It does not link or embed the Task.

[[Note title]] links to another Note. Type [[ and Notes you can pick appear. Click the link in Hybrid or Preview, or press ⌘↵ with the caret on it in Hybrid, to open the Note.

If two Notes share a title, the link opens the first one found. If no Note has the title, a message says so, and nothing is created.

Autosave

A Note saves about half a second after you stop typing. ⌘S saves at once. The corner shows Saving, then Saved with the time.

If a Note cannot reach the server, the status reads Offline and your edit is kept on the device. It retries by itself, and again when you are back online.

If the same Note changed elsewhere in the meantime, blastbeat does not overwrite either version. The status reads Changed elsewhere, and you choose Keep mine or Use theirs.

Import and download

Vault import adds Notes from a Markdown ZIP, such as an Obsidian vault. Go to Settings, then Import, choose the ZIP, and preview it before you confirm.

  • Each .md file becomes a Note, titled from its file name. Each directory becomes a Folder.
  • tags in Frontmatter become Labels.
  • An import only adds. It never changes a Note, Folder or Label you already have.
  • Images and other attachments are skipped, and so are hidden folders such as .obsidian. The preview lists what it skipped.
  • You can choose to turn checkbox lines into Linked tasks. They land in the Inbox.
  • A ZIP can be up to 20 MB.

Downloads go the other way. A Note downloads as a Markdown file, and several Notes, a Folder or all your Notes download as a ZIP laid out in Folders. Linked-task markers are left out. Settings, then Import, has Download all Notes. Export in Settings, then Account, is different: it downloads your whole database.