ZenNotes/zennotes

Health v2 · maintenance only

Flags: young

Adoption not part of the score

2350 stars · 133 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

ZenNotes is a keyboard-first, local-first Markdown notes application with real Vim motions, split panes, diagrams (Mermaid, TikZ, KaTeX math), tasks, tags, and Notion-style CSV table/board views. It ships as an Electron desktop app, a self-hosted web app backed by a Go server, and includes a bundled MCP server and zen CLI so AI assistants can edit the same plain .md files on disk.

Use cases

• take markdown notes with vim keybindings
• keep notes as plain local md files instead of a proprietary database
• let Claude or another AI assistant read and edit my notes via MCP
• render mermaid diagrams and math in my notes
• self-host a notes app in a browser with Docker
• manage tasks and tags across a personal knowledge vault
• use Notion-style tables and boards over plain csv files
• write daily notes and search my vault from the keyboard

When to choose

• you know Vim and want real motions, operators, macros, and ex commands in a note editor
• you want local-first plain-text Markdown files you fully own and can sync or back up yourself
• you want an MCP server so AI assistants work directly on your vault
• you need cross-platform desktop apps plus a self-hosted web option
• you want diagrams, KaTeX math, and CSV-based tables without leaving Markdown

When to avoid

• you want a polished collaborative notes product with built-in cloud sync as the primary experience
• you prefer a GUI-first, mouse-driven editor with no modal editing
• you need a mobile-first experience as your main workflow
• you want a mature project with a long track record and large community

Facets

application · maturity active

editor markdown mcp search-engine cli pdf data-visualization developer-tools text-editors self-hosted files windows cross-platform self-hosted cli notes-app vim-motions local-first markdown-editor mcp-server knowledge-base mermaid-diagrams csv-database daily-notes raycast macos linux electron ios android web-server docker

Member repositories

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="ZenNotes/zennotes")