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ChalkNotes
A Markdown workspace for Windows and macOS that keeps your notes as plain files in a folder you own.
The problem
Note apps tend to own your notes. Leave one and you export, convert, and lose your links on the way.
The idea
A Shelter is a real folder on disk. Notes are Markdown, canvases are JSON and attachments are ordinary files, all readable without the app. The app only adds an index it can rebuild at any time, and sync is optional.
Details
- 01
A Shelter on disk. The SQLite index lives in the app’s data folder, never inside your notes.
My notes/
- Journal/
- 2026-09-14.md
- 2026-09-15.md
- Website/
- Plan.md
- Plan board.json
- attachments/
- sketch.png
- Ideas.md
Outside the folder, in the app’s data folder: the SQLite index, which the app can rebuild at any time.
An example Shelter. Every file in it opens without ChalkNotes. - Journal/
- 02
Full-text search with SQLite FTS5, a SHA-256 index for attachments and a watcher that notices edits made outside the app.
- 03
Wiki links with aliases and autocomplete, backlinks and a list of broken links.
- 04
A graph view, a canvas for cards and arrows with a freehand layer, and mind maps built from headings.
- 05
Optional sync through Supabase with row-level security. Without it, every feature works offline.
Where it stands
Windows installers with automatic updates since September 2026, published in a public releases repository. The macOS build is prepared in CI.