Notes - Blazingly Fast Note-Taking App

An extremely fast, simple, offline-first note-taking app for macOS built with SwiftUI.

Features

⚡️ BLAZINGLY FAST - Launches in < 100ms, instant UI feedback ✅ Zero Dependencies - No external libraries, pure SwiftUI + AppKit ✅ Offline-First - All notes stored as markdown files on your machine ✅ Simple & Clean - Distraction-free text editor with file tree ✅ Smart File Tree - Auto-hides empty folders, lazy loading ✅ File Organization - Create folders with inline path editing ✅ Keyboard Shortcuts - Cmd+N for new notes, Cmd+D to delete

Installation

1. Open notes.xcodeproj in Xcode
2. Build and run! (No dependencies needed)
3. Start writing!

Architecture

File Storage

• All notes are stored as .md files in ~/Documents/Notes
• No database, no sync conflicts, just plain markdown files
• You can edit files with any text editor and changes will reflect in the app

Components

FileSystemManager (Managers/FileSystemManager.swift)

• Manages all file operations using native FileManager
• Handles note creation, deletion, reading, and writing
• Automatically loads and refreshes the file tree

FileTreeView (Views/FileTreeView.swift)

• Displays folders and files in a hierarchical tree
• Supports context menus for creating/deleting notes and folders
• Collapsible folder structure

MarkdownEditorView (Views/MarkdownEditorView.swift)

• Clean, simple text editor with comfortable padding
• Auto-saves changes as you type
• Native NSTextView for optimal performance and native feel

Models (Models/FileItem.swift)

• Lightweight models for files and folders
• No heavy ORM or database layer

Usage

1. Open the app - launches instantly ⚡️
2. Click the "+" button or press Cmd+N to create a new note
3. Write in plain text/markdown
4. Your notes are automatically saved to ~/Documents/Notes
5. Edit file paths directly to rename or move notes

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Cmd+S - Toggle sidebar (show/hide file tree)
• Cmd+N - Create new note (inline rename)
• Cmd+D - Delete selected note

Future Enhancements (Optional)

• Search functionality
• Tags support
• Export to PDF
• Custom themes
• iCloud sync (while keeping files as markdown)

Technical Details

• Language: Swift
• Framework: SwiftUI + AppKit (NSTextView)
• Target: macOS 14+
• Dependencies: Zero! Pure Swift
• Storage: Local file system (no database)
• Format: Markdown (.md files)
• Performance: Async file loading, lazy tree rendering, optimized for speed

Performance Optimizations

See PERFORMANCE_OPTIMIZATIONS.md for details on how we achieved blazing fast launch times:

• ⚡️ Async initialization
• 🎯 Skeleton UI for instant feedback
• 🚀 Lazy file tree loading
• ⚙️ Concurrent folder scanning
• 📦 Zero external dependencies