Portable Notes Web

A private, local-first Markdown knowledge base inspired by Obsidian, Notepad++, and OneNote. It runs in your browser on localhost, requires no cloud account, and stores everything in a local SQLite database. Local-first markdown note taking and personal knowledge management system with wiki links, backlinks, folders, tags, search, favorites, autosave and offline storage.

About Portable Notes

Portable Notes is a lightweight Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) platform. Built for people who want the power of Obsidian, OneNote and Notepad++ without vendor lock-in. Your notes remain on your computer as local data.

• No cloud account.
• No subscriptions.
• No telemetry.
• No tracking.

Create notes, organize knowledge, link ideas, track projects and build your second brain entirely offline.

Highlights

• Markdown editor with live Reader and split view
• Obsidian-style [[wiki links]], outgoing links, and backlinks
• Fast full-text search across titles, content, folders, and tags
• Folders, tags, favorites, pinned notes, trash, and autosave
• Light/dark themes and keyboard shortcuts
• ZIP export containing Markdown files plus a JSON backup
• Responsive interface and 100% local storage
• No third-party Python packages required

Run

git clone https://github.com/iwebslogtech/Portable-Notes.git
cd portable-notes-web
python app.py

The app opens at http://127.0.0.1:8765. Press Ctrl+C in the terminal to stop it.

Windows shortcut

Double-click start.bat.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Ctrl+N: New note
• Ctrl+S: Save now
• Ctrl+K: Focus search
• Ctrl+Shift+P: Cycle editor, split, and reader modes

Data and privacy

Notes are stored in data/notes.db. The server binds only to 127.0.0.1, so it is not exposed to other devices. Use Export regularly for portable Markdown backups. Do not commit the data/ directory.

Project structure

portable-notes-web/
├── app.py
├── static/
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── style.css
│   └── app.js
├── data/
├── start.bat
├── start.sh
├── LICENSE
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── SECURITY.md
├── CHANGELOG.md
└── .github/

Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md. Suggested next milestones include note attachments, nested folders, database encryption, graph view, and optional sync adapters.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.