Note

A simple, fast, and lightweight command-line note-taking application written in Rust.

Features

• Quick note creation: Add notes instantly from the command line
• Human-readable storage: Notes are saved in plain text format for easy viewing and editing
• Beautiful note listing: Clean, appealing display with color-coded IDs and natural date formatting
• Note removal: Remove notes using their unique ID (supports partial ID matching)
• Import/Export: Backup and restore notes with simple commands
• Multiline support: Create notes with multiple lines and preserve formatting
• Cross-platform: Build for Linux, Windows (x86_64 and x86_32), and macOS

Installation

Build from Source

1. Make sure you have Rust installed
2. Clone this repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd note

3. Build the application:

   make linux      # For Linux (default)
   make x86_64     # For Windows x86_64
   make x86_32     # For Windows x86_32
   make all        # Build for all platforms

4. The binary will be available in target/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/note (Linux)

Usage

Create a Note

note "This is my first note"
note Remember to buy groceries
note "Multi-line note
This is line 2
And this is line 3"

List All Notes

note

This displays all notes sorted by timestamp (newest first) with:

• Unique 4-character ID in yellow brackets [abc1]
• Date formatted as "Month Day" (e.g., "Dec 05")
• Note content with proper indentation for multiline notes

Example output:

[abc1] Mar 21
Note with slash date format
────────────────────────────────────
[def2] Jul 31
Multi-line note example
Line 2 of the note
Line 3 with more content

Remove a Note

note rm <note-id>

Examples:

# Remove with full ID
note rm a1b2

# Remove with partial ID (as long as it's unique)
note rm a1     # Works if only one note starts with "a1"
note rm a1b    # More specific partial ID

# If partial ID matches multiple notes, you'll see all matches
note rm a      # Shows all notes starting with "a" if ambiguous

Export Notes

# Export to stdout (pipe-friendly)
note output

# Export to file
note output backup.txt
note output backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).txt

Import Notes

# Import notes from a file
note import backup.txt
note import exported-notes.txt

Storage

Notes are stored in a human-readable text format:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.local/share/note/notes.txt
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.local\share\note\notes.txt

The storage file is created automatically when you save your first note.

Storage Format

Notes are stored in a simple, readable format:

#abc1 2025-03-21T00:00:00+08:00
This is the note content
Multiple lines are supported

#def2 2025-07-31T00:00:00+08:00
Another note here

This format supports:

• Various date formats: 2025/3/21, 2025-7-31, or full timestamps
• Multiline content with proper escaping
• Notes starting with # (automatically escaped as \#)
• Easy manual editing if needed

Backup and Restore

# Create a backup
note output backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).txt

# Restore from backup
note import backup-20250709.txt

# View storage location
note -h  # Shows storage path in help

Command Reference

# Basic usage
note                           # List all notes
note "content"                 # Create a new note
note rm <id>                   # Remove a note by ID (supports partial matching)

# Import/Export
note output                    # Export to stdout
note output <file>             # Export to file
note import <file>             # Import from file

# Help
note -h                        # Show help and storage location
note help <command>            # Show help for specific command

Dependencies

• clap - Command line argument parsing
• chrono - Date and time handling
• serde - Serialization/deserialization
• anyhow - Error handling
• dirs - Platform-specific directories
• colored - Terminal colors

Development

Build Commands

make linux      # Build for Linux
make x86_64     # Build for Windows 64-bit
make x86_32     # Build for Windows 32-bit
make all        # Build for all platforms
make clean      # Clean build artifacts

Project Structure

.
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs         # Application entry point
│   ├── cli.rs          # Command-line interface
│   ├── manager.rs      # Note management and storage
│   ├── note.rs         # Note data structure
│   └── parser.rs       # Text format parsing
├── Cargo.toml          # Package configuration
├── Cargo.lock          # Dependency lock file
├── Makefile            # Build automation
└── README.md           # This file

License

This project is open source. Please check the repository for license information.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.