Nodal

Nodal is an open-source, desktop note-taking app with a Discord-inspired interface. Folders act like servers — select one from the sidebar and your notes appear as a scrollable message feed. Write in plain text or Markdown, and keep everything organized on your local filesystem.

✨ Features

• 📁 Folder-as-server layout — your note folders are listed in a sidebar just like Discord servers, click one to open its note feed
• 📝 Discord-style note feed — notes inside a folder are displayed as a chronological message list
• ✍️ Markdown support — write notes in Markdown with a built-in CodeMirror editor and rendered preview
• 📎 Attachment support — attach files to your notes
• 🗂️ Custom notes directory — choose any directory on your machine as the root for your notes
• 🎨 Theming — light and dark mode support via a theme store
• ⚡ Fast & local — built on Electron; all notes are stored as plain files on disk, no account or internet connection required
• 🔄 Auto Updater — built-in update mechanism using electron-updater

📋 Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Bun
• Git

🛠️ Quick Start

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/nodal.git
cd nodal

2. Install Dependencies

bun install

3. Start Development

bun run dev

This starts both the Vite dev server and Electron in development mode with hot reload.

📁 Project Structure

├── electron/                        # Electron main process
│   ├── main.ts                      # Main process entry point
│   ├── preload.ts                   # Preload script for IPC
│   ├── update.ts                    # Auto-updater logic
│   └── electron-env.d.ts            # TypeScript definitions
├── src/                             # React renderer source
│   ├── App.tsx                      # Root layout (Sidebar + Navbar + Notes feed)
│   ├── main.tsx                     # React entry point
│   ├── index.css                    # Global stylesheet & CSS variables
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── sidebar.tsx              # Folder list (the "server" sidebar)
│   │   ├── navbar.tsx               # Top bar for the active folder
│   │   ├── create-folder-dialog.tsx # Dialog for creating a new folder
│   │   ├── folder-select-dialog.tsx # Dialog for choosing the notes directory
│   │   ├── notes/
│   │   │   ├── notes-container.tsx  # Scrollable note feed
│   │   │   ├── note-item.tsx        # Individual note / message bubble
│   │   │   ├── notes-input.tsx      # Compose bar for new notes
│   │   │   └── markdown-editor.tsx  # CodeMirror-based Markdown editor
│   │   ├── providers/               # React context providers
│   │   └── ui/                      # Reusable shadcn/ui components
│   └── lib/
│       ├── types.ts                 # Shared TypeScript types (Note, etc.)
│       ├── utils.ts                 # Utility helpers
│       └── hooks/store/
│           ├── use-app-store.ts     # Zustand store (folders, notes, directory)
│           └── use-theme-store.ts   # Zustand store (light/dark theme)
├── public/                          # Static assets
├── docs/                            # Documentation assets (screenshots, etc.)
├── electron-builder.json            # Electron Builder configuration
├── vite.config.ts                   # Vite configuration
├── components.json                  # shadcn/ui configuration
└── package.json                     # Dependencies and scripts

🔧 How It Works

Discord concept	Nodal equivalent
Server	Folder
Channel	(the folder itself)
Message	Note

1. On first launch, choose a notes directory — the root folder where Nodal will read and write your notes.
2. Create folders from the sidebar. Each folder appears like a server icon.
3. Select a folder to open its note feed.
4. Type a note in the compose bar at the bottom and press Enter (or click Send). Notes support full Markdown syntax.
5. Notes are persisted as files inside the chosen directory, so they remain accessible with any text editor outside of Nodal.

🚀 Available Scripts

Script	Description
bun run dev	Start Electron + Vite in development mode with hot reload
bun run build	Compile TypeScript, bundle with Vite, and package with Electron Builder
bun run build:ci	TypeScript + Vite build only (no packaging)
bun run lint	Run ESLint across the project
bun run preview	Preview the Vite production build

📦 Building for Production

bun run build

Packaged output is placed in the release/ directory:

• Windows — .exe NSIS installer
• macOS — .dmg disk image
• Linux — .AppImage and .deb packages

🔄 Auto Updater

Nodal includes an automatic update system powered by electron-updater:

• Checks for updates on launch
• Shows download progress and notifications
• Configured via electron-builder.json → publish

To enable auto-updates for your own fork:

1. Create a GitHub repository for releases.
2. Update electron-builder.json with your owner and repo.
3. Add a RELEASE_PUSH_TOKEN secret to your repository (a GitHub token with repo scope).
4. Push a tag matching v* — GitHub Actions will build and publish the release automatically.

🎨 Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Desktop shell	Electron
Build tool	Vite
UI framework	React 18
Language	TypeScript
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4
Component library	shadcn/ui
State management	Zustand
Code editor	CodeMirror 6 via @uiw/react-codemirror
Markdown rendering	react-markdown + remark-gfm
Persistence	electron-store
Icons	Remix Icon + Lucide

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feat/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes
4. Open a pull request

Please make sure bun run lint passes before submitting.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.