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Zen Notes: A Tiny, Powerful Note-Taking App You Might Love

Okay, let me tell you about something I’ve been playing with – a note-taking app called Zen Notes. It’s super simple, but incredibly effective if you’re looking for something focused and distraction-free. I found it on Reddit, and honestly, it’s exactly what I was missing.

The creator, /u/sheshbabu, built this thing, and it’s based on Go, meaning it’s incredibly fast and lightweight. It uses a SQLite database to store your notes, and it doesn’t hog a ton of resources. Seriously, it’s only around 20MB, which is amazing for an app like this.

What Makes Zen Notes Different?

Let’s be honest, there are a *ton* of note-taking apps out there. Most of them are packed with features you never use, and they’re constantly distracting you with notifications and fancy interfaces. Zen Notes takes a different approach. It’s built for pure, focused note-taking.

Here’s what you get:

• Distraction-Free Writing: This is the big one. No fancy menus, no tabs, no distracting notifications. Just a clean, minimalist interface where you can get down to writing.
• Go and SQLite: As I mentioned, the use of Go and SQLite is key. It’s incredibly fast and efficient, using very little CPU and memory.
• Markdown Support: You can write in standard Markdown, which means you can easily format your notes with headings, lists, tables, and code snippets.
• BM25 Search: They’ve even included a search function that uses BM25 ranking, which is pretty smart. It helps you find your notes quickly.
• Minimalist Design: The UI is thoughtfully designed with a calming color palette – perfect for reducing eye strain.

The Export Feature – A Game Changer?

But here’s the really exciting part. /u/sheshbabu added an export feature! You can now export all your notes as Markdown files, which is fantastic. But even better, they also allow you to export a JSON file. This means you can import your notes into other apps, like Obsidian or Logseq, which is something that was really missing before.

I’ve been experimenting with exporting my notes into Obsidian, and it’s worked flawlessly. It’s given me the flexibility to combine Zen Notes with my existing workflow. It’s a clever move and a massive usability boost.

It’s Really Simple to Use

Honestly, I was expecting something complicated, but Zen Notes is incredibly straightforward. It’s really easy to get started.

1. Download the app from the project page: https://www.sheshbabu.com/zen/
2. Check out the demo: https://zendemo.fly.dev/
3. Read the documentation: https://www.sheshbabu.com/zen/documentation
4. See the GitHub repository: https://github.com/sheshbabu/zen

I’m not saying this is the *best* note-taking app ever created, but it’s a fantastic little tool, especially if you value simplicity and speed.

Have you found any good lightweight note-taking apps lately? Let me know in the comments!