A Markdown note editor for desktop with canvas artifacts, Excalidraw drawings, AI assistant, version history, and calendar. Built with Electron and React for a fast, local-first workflow.
THIS PROJECT IS NOT FINISHED AND THERE'S A HIGH CHANCE THAT YOU WILL ENCOUTER BUGS.
Asterisk lets you work in a folder-based workspace: edit Markdown with live preview, manage notes in a file tree (with drag-and-drop), and use Artifacts — canvas boards stored as .artifact files — for cards, links, images, and connections. Create Excalidraw drawings directly in the app. An in-app AI assistant (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini) can suggest edits and manipulate artifacts. Version history lets you restore previous file states, and a calendar view surfaces notes with scheduled frontmatter. Theming, export (HTML, PDF, etc.), and keyboard-driven UX round out the experience and much more.
Requirements: Node.js 18+ and npm.
git clone <repository-url>
cd Asteris
npm install
npm run dev
| Script |
Description |
npm run dev |
Start app in development mode with hot reload |
npm run build |
Production build (Electron + renderer) |
npm run preview |
Run the production build locally |
npm run dist |
Build and package installers |
npm run typecheck |
TypeScript check (node + renderer) |
App icons: Located in resources/ folder:
macos_icon.icns — macOSwindows_icon.ico — Windowslinux_icon.png — Linux
- CodeMirror 6 — Markdown editing with syntax highlighting (highlight.js), line wrapping, and configurable font size / tab size
- Live preview — Split view with resizable editor/preview; rendered with marked, sanitized with DOMPurify
- Slash commands — Quick actions (e.g.
/ask to open AI chat)
- Content search — Full-text search across the workspace
- Open workspace — Point at a folder; file tree with expand/collapse and filters
- Tabs — Multiple open files; reorder by drag; close with middle-click or context
- Drag-and-drop — Move files or folders between directories in the tree
- Context menu — New file/folder, rename, delete, tags
- Automatic snapshots — Save file versions on manual save or autosave (configurable)
- History panel — View all snapshots with timestamps and sizes
- Restore — Preview and restore any previous version
- Storage — Snapshots stored in
.history/ folder in your workspace
- Canvas boards — Stored as
.artifact JSON files in your workspace
- Node types — Text (Markdown), file (link to workspace file), link (URL/YouTube embed), image, group
- File previews — Markdown, code with syntax highlighting, CSV tables, PDF, Excalidraw drawings
- Connections — Edges between nodes with optional labels
- Layout — Align, distribute, group; auto-layout (grid, layered DAG via dagre, force-directed via d3-force); pan and zoom; grid snapping
- History — Undo / redo (⌘Z, ⌘⇧Z) with toolbar back/forward buttons
- Export — Export canvas as PNG image
- Presentation mode — Step through nodes as slides with keyboard navigation
- Native integration — Create
.excalidraw drawings directly in the app
- Canvas embedding — Excalidraw files render as previews in artifact nodes
- Auto-scaling — Drawings scale to fit node size
- In-app chat — Side panel; resizable
- Providers — OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini (API keys in Settings)
- File context — Optional inclusion of current file for edits
- Artifact manipulation — AI can add, update, remove, connect nodes and create groups
- Diff view — Review and apply suggested changes to files
- Scheduled notes — Frontmatter:
scheduled: "YYYY-MM-DD" or ISO datetime
- Calendar view — Month grid; click to set/clear date for the active note
- Upcoming — Sidebar list of upcoming scheduled notes
- Reminders — Desktop notifications for scheduled notes (configurable)
- Themes — Preset colors and custom themes; accent, background, text; export/import JSON
- Typography — Sans, serif, mono
- Export — HTML, plain text, Markdown, print/PDF from the top bar
| Technology |
Role |
| Electron |
Cross-platform desktop shell (main + renderer process) |
| electron-vite |
Build tooling for Electron + Vite |
| Vite |
Dev server, HMR, production bundling (renderer) |
| TypeScript |
Typing for main, preload, and renderer |
| Technology |
Role |
| React |
UI components and composition |
| Zustand |
Global state (workspace, settings, artifacts, AI chat) |
| Lucide React |
Icon set |
| Technology |
Role |
| CodeMirror 6 |
Editor core and extensions |
| @codemirror/lang-markdown |
Markdown language support |
| @codemirror/search |
Find in file |
| @codemirror/autocomplete |
Inline completion |
| marked |
Markdown → HTML |
| DOMPurify |
Sanitize HTML in preview |
| highlight.js |
Syntax highlighting in preview |
| @excalidraw/excalidraw |
Drawing canvas |
| Mermaid |
Diagram rendering |
| Technology |
Role |
| OpenAI |
GPT models |
| @anthropic-ai/sdk |
Claude models |
| @google/generative-ai |
Gemini models |
| diff |
Diff computation for AI suggestions |
| Technology |
Role |
| date-fns |
Date formatting and calendar logic |
| D3 |
Graph visualization (neural / note graph); d3-force for artifact auto-layout |
| dagre |
Layered directed graph layout for artifacts |
| Custom canvas |
Artifact board (nodes, edges, pan/zoom) |
Standard Electron three-process layout:
| Context |
Path |
Responsibility |
| Main |
src/main/ |
Window lifecycle, app menu, IPC handlers (file system, dialogs, AI, reminders) |
| Preload |
src/preload/ |
Safe bridge; exposes window.asterisk API to renderer |
| Renderer |
src/renderer/src/ |
React app: TopBar, Sidebar, Editor, Preview, Canvas, AIChat, Calendar, Settings, History |
IPC is used for all file and system access; the renderer never imports Node directly.
Asteris/
├── resources/
│ ├── macos_icon.icns
│ ├── windows_icon.ico
│ └── linux_icon.png
├── src/
│ ├── main/
│ │ ├── index.ts # App entry, window creation
│ │ ├── menu.ts # Application menu
│ │ └── ipc/
│ │ ├── handlers.ts # IPC registration
│ │ ├── fileSystem.ts # File ops, search, tree, version history
│ │ ├── ai.ts # AI provider integration
│ │ └── reminders.ts # Desktop notifications
│ ├── preload/
│ │ ├── index.ts # window.asterisk API
│ │ └── types.ts # Shared TS types
│ └── renderer/
│ ├── index.html
│ └── src/
│ ├── main.tsx # React entry
│ ├── App.tsx # Root layout
│ ├── types/ # Shared types
│ ├── store/ # useWorkspace, useSettings, useArtifacts, useAIChat
│ ├── hooks/ # useAutoSave, useFileOps
│ ├── styles/ # global.css, layout.css
│ └── components/
│ ├── TopBar/
│ ├── Sidebar/ # File tree, filter bar, context menu
│ ├── Editor/ # CodeMirror, tabs, Excalidraw pane
│ ├── Preview/
│ ├── Canvas/ # Artifacts (nodes, edges, toolbar, presentation)
│ ├── AIChat/
│ ├── Calendar/
│ ├── History/ # Version history panel
│ ├── NeuralGraph/
│ └── Settings/
├── electron.vite.config.ts
├── package.json
└── README.md
| Action |
Shortcut |
| Open folder |
⌘⇧O |
| New file |
⌘N |
| Save |
⌘S |
| Toggle sidebar |
⌘⇧B |
| Toggle preview |
⌘\ |
| Fullscreen |
⌘⇧F |
| Action |
Shortcut |
| Bold |
⌘B |
| Italic |
⌘I |
| Link |
⌘K |
| Find |
⌘F |
| Insert table |
⌘⇧T |
| Action |
Shortcut |
| Undo |
⌘Z |
| Redo |
⌘⇧Z |
| Action |
Shortcut |
| Next slide |
→ / ↓ / Space / Enter |
| Previous slide |
← / ↑ / Backspace |
| First slide |
Home |
| Last slide |
End |
| Toggle fullscreen |
F |
| Exit presentation |
Esc |
- State: Zustand stores; no Redux.
- Styling: Component-level CSS files next to components (
Component.tsx + Component.css).
- IPC: All node/fs/dialog usage in main; renderer uses
window.asterisk only.
Personal Use Only — You may use this software for personal, non-commercial purposes. Redistribution is not permitted. See LICENSE for details.
© Jan Kouba
