Install mdnb and start writing Markdown notes on your Mac.

Prerequisites

• macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel Mac

Installation

Install via Homebrew:

brew install sidequery/tap/mdnb

Or download the latest .zip from the releases page.

Quick Start

1. Open mdnb
2. Your notes live in ~/mdnb as plain .md files
3. Press Cmd+N to create a new note
4. Start writing Markdown

Every note is a regular file in a regular folder. Open them in any editor, grep them from the terminal, back them up however you want.

Creating Notes and Folders

• Cmd+N creates a new note (with auto-incrementing names if Untitled.md already exists)
• Cmd+Shift+N creates a new folder
• Right-click the sidebar for more options: rename, show in Finder, delete

You can toggle "Rename new notes immediately" in Settings > General to automatically start editing the filename when a new note is created.

Sidebar

The sidebar shows your file tree with expandable folders. You can:

• Drag and drop files between folders
• Right-click for context menus (rename, delete, show in Finder)
• Sort notes by name, modified date, or created date (ascending or descending)

Folders always appear above files in the sidebar.

Syncing

mdnb works with any folder on your machine. To sync across devices, point your notes folder at:

• iCloud Drive for automatic Apple device sync
• Dropbox or another cloud storage provider
• A git repository for version-controlled notes

Since your notes are plain Markdown files, they work with any sync solution.

External Edits

mdnb watches ~/mdnb for changes. If you edit a note in another app or from the terminal, mdnb picks up the change automatically.