Open Sidenotes

A minimal, elegant side panel for quick note-taking on macOS

• Edge Activation — Move your mouse to the right edge of the screen to reveal the notes panel
• Keyboard Shortcut — Toggle window with customizable global shortcut (default: ⌘⌃Space)
• Live Markdown — Typora-style editing with real-time rendering while preserving source syntax
• Auto Save — Your notes are automatically saved as you type
• Smart Auto-Hide — Configurable auto-hide when mouse exits (0-3s delay)
• Session Restore — Automatically reopens your last note on launch
• In-App Updates — Automatic update checking with one-click download from GitHub Releases
• Customizable Settings — Control Dock icon, storage location, and window behavior
• Lightweight — Native SwiftUI app with minimal resource usage
• Always Available — Works across all spaces and during full-screen apps
• Local Storage — Notes stored as Markdown files in customizable directory

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases:

git clone https://github.com/mlhiter/open-sidenotes.git
cd open-sidenotes
xcodebuild -project open-sidenotes.xcodeproj -scheme open-sidenotes build

1. Launch the app — it runs as a menu bar utility
2. Show panel: Move mouse to the right edge OR press ⌘⌃Space
3. Start writing in Markdown with live rendering
4. Hide panel: Move to edge again, press shortcut again, or let it auto-hide
5. Access settings from the menu bar icon

Access settings to customize:

• Appearance: Show/hide Dock icon (requires restart)
• Storage Location: Choose where notes are saved
• Window Behavior: Enable auto-hide with custom delay (0-3s)
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Record custom shortcut for window toggle
• Software Updates: Check for updates manually or automatically (daily)

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• SwiftUI + AppKit for native macOS experience
• NSTextView for rich text editing
• File-based storage with YAML front matter
• Zero external dependencies

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing)
5. Open a Pull Request

MIT © mlhiter