Five Subject Notebook App (working title)

A note-taking app that works like a physical five-subject notebook. Your notes are saved as plain files on your own device — no account, no cloud, no subscription required.

What it does

• Organizes notes by Notebooks → Subjects → Notes — just like a real notebook
• Rich text editing: bold, italic, headings, lists, links, and images
• Images can be resized and aligned right in the editor
• Saves to plain text files on your computer — easy to read, search, and back up
• Works offline after the first load
• Installable as a desktop app via Chrome or Edge

Saving & backing up notes

Ctrl+S (or the Save button) saves your note instantly to your chosen folder on your device. Your notes are plain .md files — they live on your computer, not in any cloud.

You can back them up any way you like:

• Copy the folder to an external drive or USB
• Sync with Dropbox, OneDrive, or iCloud
• Use GitHub Desktop to push to a private GitHub repo for version history

No account required. No subscription. Your notes, your choice.

Browser support

Requires Chrome, Edge, or Opera (desktop or Android). Safari and Firefox are not supported — they don't allow web apps to read and write local files directly. Chrome on Android may work depending on your device and OS version. iOS is not supported yet — a native mobile app is on the roadmap.

How your notes are stored

The app reads from a folder you choose on your computer. Notes are organized like this:

your-notes-folder/
├── notebook-name/
│   └── subject-name/
│       └── note-title.md

Each note is a plain text file you can open in any text editor.

Running locally (for developers)

npm install
npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:5173 in Chrome or Edge and click Open Folder to select your notes folder.

Built with

• React + Vite
• TipTap (rich text editor)
• PWA support for offline use and installability

Data & privacy

• Notes never leave your device — everything stays local
• No analytics, no telemetry, no third-party scripts

License

This project is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 (BUSL-1.1). Free for personal, non-commercial use. Commercial use requires a license from the author. Modifications are only permitted as contributions to this project. On May 14, 2040 this license converts to GNU General Public License v3.0.

Contributing

Found a bug or have an idea for a new feature? I'd love to hear from you! Head over to the Issues tab and open a new issue — there are templates for both bug reports and feature requests to make it easy.

A few things already in the pipeline (no need to file these):

• Paper style toggle — lined, grid, or plain white
• Improved iOS mobile experience
• Themes and custom notebook cover colors
• Custom notebook icons

Outside of those, all feedback is welcome. This is a personal project shared with the community, so even small quality-of-life suggestions are appreciated.