I built Ephe, open-source markdown paper for daily todos and thoughts.
No sign-up, no ads, no subscriptions, no AI.
## Why I made this
We have plenty of Markdown editors. And too many overwhelming to-do apps. But few tools combine both in a way that’s lightweight and focused. I thought that all I need is a single page to organize today. So I built Ephe.
It uses CodeMirror v6, React(v19, React Compiler) and Vite with rolldown.
## What makes it different
“Ephe” comes from ephemeral. The main goal is to organize what you need to do today. It isn’t for teams. It’s a quiet space for your own priorities.
Give it a spin if that sounds useful to you.
Have you considered adding a small popup encouraging people to set it as their home page? I use Ensō (https://enso.sonnet.io) in that manner occasionally.
Also, the "system" button disappears during writing (good), but it's hard to get it back unless I click outside of the editor. In Ensō, I re-enable it on any pointer move - I would suggesting doing something similar.
PS I work on somewhat similar tools (like the one mentioned above), esp. for loose, stream-of-consciousness style of writing https://untested.sonnet.io/notes/stream-of-consciousness-mor... then copy paste the text into obsidian.
If you ever fancy chatting about privacy-friendly, idiosyncratic/home-cooked software hit me up on sonnet.io/posts/hi !
[0]https://helix-editor.com/ [1]https://github.com/mhersson/mpls
i use it to take notes during the day at work and then use the notes for our standup.
> DayLog ah ahh ahhhhhh, fighter of the night log ah ahh ahhhhh.Screenshot (it is not publicly available): https://i.imgur.com/js9S4wa.png
But the source is: https://github.com/entropie/ha2itat/tree/main/plugins/zettel
Ill dig a bit in your source.
I think the difference in philosophy shows up in the feature set too. For example, Ephe currently only gives you a single page because the focus is on today. If there are any features you find essential in apps like Joplin but missing in Ephe, I’d love to hear. I want to keep improving it.
"Frictionless" text hoisting (incl. hoist-to-view document window capability) à la Symantec's GrandView (DOS) [1] is a must for me in a modern tool of this type. Table manipulation à la org-mode would be nice to have, text template import and export (e. g. screenwriting formats) a bonus. But lean and mean general-purpose text editors focusing on non-coding creators are just not a thing anymore.
Anyway, congratulations and good luck!
1. [https://welcometosherwood.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/grandview...]
https://github.com/chroxify/haptic Pretty neat, mind the fact that is local based, so if you log from another device you will not have persistence
But this. Just wow. Thank you.
Demo: https://mkaz.github.io/browser-pad/
Source: https://github.com/mkaz/browser-pad/ - though I suppose you can just view source on demo too
``` data:text/html, <html contenteditable> ```
Plus bonus ephemeral, close the tab and your notes are gone with them. Here's an old post with examples using data URL adding style: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6005295
Mine takes minimalism to an extreme :-)
[1]: https://logseq.com/
For more enjoyment, you may even want to invest in a good fountain pen or two, and some fun inks to write with.
In my humble and subjective opinion, it is more tactile, enjoyable, better in terms of focus and forces you to write less / summarise, as my handwriting speed is like 1/10 of my typing speed.
My personal favourite pairing is Pilot Capless + Sailor Jentle Epinard + Clairefontaine Pupitre.
Your experience may vary.
