Simple Note VSCode Extension

A Visual Studio Code extension for quickly jotting down notes and thoughts without leaving your editor.

Features

• Dedicated Note Explorer: Access and manage your notes easily through a dedicated view in the Activity Bar.
• Note Operations:
  • Create new notes (supports configurable default file extensions).
  • Create new subdirectories to organize your notes.
  • Rename notes and directories.
  • Delete notes and directories.
• Journaling:
  • Quickly create or open today's journal note (YYYY_MM_DD format) in a dedicated journal sub-folder using the "Simple Note: New Journal Note (Today)" command or the calendar icon.
• Template-Based Note Creation:
  • Quickly create new notes from predefined templates.
  • Optional Default Template: Configure a default template to be used automatically when creating a new note via "Simple Note: New Note".
  • Optional Journal Template: Configure a specific template for journal notes. Falls back to the default template or a blank note if not set.
  • Easily create new templates from existing notes or new content.
• Powerful Search:
  • Find notes by their file names.
  • Search for text within the content of all your notes.
• Intuitive Interface:
  • Refresh the Note Explorer to reflect external changes.
  • Most actions are available via context menus within the Note Explorer.
  • Dedicated icons for common actions in the Note Explorer's title bar.

Usage

1. Configure your notes directory:
   • Set the simpleNote.notesPath to the absolute path where you want to store your notes (e.g., /YOUR_NOTE_PATH.
2. (Optional) Configure your templates directory:
   • If you plan to use templates, set simpleNote.templatesPath to the absolute path of your templates folder.
3. Access the Note Explorer:
   • Click on the "Simple Note" icon in the Activity Bar (it looks like a document or a custom icon if resources/icon.svg is used).
   • If you don't see the icon, you might need to open the view via the command palette: View: Show Simple Note.
4. Using the Explorer:
   • View Title Bar Actions:
     • Refresh: Updates the list of notes and directories.
     • New Note: Creates a new note in the root of your notesPath or selected directory.
     • New Directory: Creates a new subdirectory in the root of your notesPath or selected directory.
     • New Note From Template: Prompts you to select a template to create a new note.
     • Create New Template: Helps you create a new template.
     • Find Note by Name: Searches for notes by filename.
     • Search Content: Searches for text within your notes.
   • Context Menu (Right-click on an item or empty space):
     • On a directory: New Note, New Directory, New Note From Template, Rename, Delete.
     • On a file: Rename, Delete.
     • In an empty area of the explorer: New Note, New Directory, New Note From Template.
5. Commands:
   • All features are also available via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P). Search for "Simple Note:" to see all available commands.

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings (configurable in User or Workspace settings):

• simpleNote.notesPath (string):
  • Description: The absolute path to your notes directory.
  • Default: "" (User must configure this for the extension to work properly)
• simpleNote.defaultExtension (string):
  • Description: The default file extension for new notes (e.g., md, txt). Do not include the leading dot.
  • Default: "md"
• simpleNote.templatesPath (string):
  • Description: The absolute path to your notes templates directory. Leave empty to disable template functionality or if you don't use templates.
  • Default: ""
• simpleNote.defaultTemplatePath (string):
  • Description: The absolute path to your default note template. If set, this template will be used when creating a new note (using the "Simple Note: New Note" command) without explicitly selecting a template. Placeholders like {title}, {date}, {time}, {uuid}, etc., will be replaced. Leave empty to create a blank new note.
  • Default: ""
• simpleNote.journalTemplatePath (string):
  • Description: The absolute path to your dedicated journal note template. If set, this template will be used when creating a new journal note via the "Simple Note: New Journal Note (Today)" command. If not set, it will fall back to using the simpleNote.defaultTemplatePath. If neither is set, a blank journal note is created. Supports the same placeholders.
  • Default: ""

Known Issues

• Please report any issues on the GitHub Issues page.

Roadmap

• (To be defined) Future enhancements and features will be tracked on the GitHub Issues page and project boards.