zk

A note-taking tool based on the famous Zettelkasten method with support for fuzzy searching, tags & link exploration, in Rust!

What is a Zettelkasten?

A zettelkasten, or 'slip box' is a method of note-taking famously used by the sociologist Niklas Luhmann. Notes essentially contain metadata such as tags that describe key aspects of the note or links to other notes. The goal is to enhance creativity by exploring the relationships between notes and making new connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.

Features

• Fast fuzzy search and link exploration powered by skim
• Works with a flat directory of markdown files
• Minimal configuration with sensible defaults

Here is a quick demo showcasing the new, search, tag, link and explore features.

Installation

zk should run on any system, including Linux, MacOS, and the BSDs.

The easiest way to install it is by using cargo, the Rust package manager:

cargo install zk-cli

Pre-built binaries

Pre-built binaries for Linux, MacOS, and Windows can be found on the releases page.

Usage

The primary way to use zk is via the provided command-line interface, for which help output is provided below:

zk-cli 0.1.0
Liam <liam@scalzulli.com>
A note-taking tool based on the famous Zettelkasten method

Usage: zk <COMMAND>

Commands:
  dir      Output the Zettelkasten directory path
  explore  Explore note links
  find     Find notes by tag
  link     Link two notes
  new      Create a new note
  open     Open a note
  rm       Remove a note
  rmtag    Remove a tag from a note
  rmlink   Remove a link between two notes
  search   Fuzzy search notes
  tag      Add a tag to a note
  help     Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help
  -V, --version  Print version

Configuration

zk currently looks for a configuration file called .zk.toml using the rust-xdg crate.

If a configuration file is found it must have the following key-value pairs set (default values are shown below if no configuration file is present):

# .zk.toml

# The Zettelkasten directory path.
path = '~/.zk'

# The preferred editor of choice when opening
# and editing notes.
editor = 'vim'

Keybindings

The fuzzy finder skim supports the implementation of custom keybindings, this section documents the custom keybindings that are implemented when using various commands.

Command	Keybindings
explore	<C-e> - Edit the selected note Enter - Explore the selected notes links

Prior Art

• srid/neuron - Future-proof note-taking and publishing based on Zettelkasten
• AndrewCopeland/zettelkasten - Creating notes with the zettelkasten note taking method and storing all notes on github
• sirupsen/zk - Zettelkasten on the command-line 📚 🔍