Quicknote

A minimal idea capture tool for Windows. Runs silently in the system tray and lets you jot down ideas instantly with a global hotkey - no windows to find, no apps to open.

Features

• Instant capture - Press Ctrl+Alt+N anywhere to summon a quick-capture overlay. Type your idea, hit Ctrl+Enter, done.
• Folder organization - Create color-coded folders to sort ideas. Drag-and-drop or right-click to move ideas between folders.
• Search - Full-text search across all ideas, instant filtering as you type.
• Export / Import - Save your ideas as JSON. Import them on another machine. Folder structure is preserved.
• System tray - Quicknote lives in your tray. Left-click or right-click to open the review window.
• Auto-start - Launches on Windows boot so the hotkey is always ready.
• Light and dark theme - Follows your Windows system theme automatically.
• Local-only storage - All data stays on your machine in a SQLite database. No cloud, no accounts.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Runtime	Tauri v2
Backend	Rust
Frontend	TypeScript, vanilla HTML/CSS
Database	SQLite (via tauri-plugin-sql)
Bundler	Vite 6

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• Rust (latest stable)
• Windows 10/11

Install dependencies

npm install

Run in development

npm run tauri dev

Build the installer

npm run tauri build

The NSIS installer will be at src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Alt+N	Open quick-capture overlay
Ctrl+Enter	Save idea (in overlay or modal)
Esc	Dismiss overlay / close modal

Project Structure

quicknote/
  src/                        Frontend
    main.html                 Review window
    main.ts                   Review window logic
    main.css                  Styles (light/dark themes)
    overlay.html              Quick-capture overlay
    overlay.ts                Overlay logic
    overlay.css               Overlay styles
    shared/
      time.ts                 Utilities (relative time, HTML escaping)
  src-tauri/                  Rust backend
    src/
      lib.rs                  Tauri setup, tray, hotkey, window mgmt
      db.rs                   SQLite migrations
    tauri.conf.json           App config (windows, plugins, bundle)
    icons/                    App icons
  package.json
  vite.config.ts
  tsconfig.json

License

MIT