Secret Notes

A VS Code extension for keeping local text notes encrypted on disk while editing them in a temporary decrypted view.

简体中文

How it works

• Works with local files only.
• Manages configurable file extensions; defaults: .txt, .md.
• Encrypt Current File encrypts the active plaintext file, saves it, then opens a decrypted virtual editor for continued editing.
• When an encrypted file becomes active, the extension asks for a password and opens the decrypted virtual editor.
• Saving the decrypted virtual editor writes encrypted content back to the original file.
• Permanently Decrypt Current File writes plaintext back to disk and ends the auto-encrypted editing session.
• Action buttons can appear on the first line (CodeLens, default) or in the editor title.

Encrypted file format

ENCRYPTED_FILE
{"v":1,"alg":"AES-256-GCM","kdf":"PBKDF2-SHA256","iter":210000,"salt":"...","iv":"...","tag":"..."}
<base64 ciphertext>

• Algorithm: AES-256-GCM
• KDF: PBKDF2-SHA256
• PBKDF2 iterations: 210000

Commands

• Secret Notes: Encrypt Current File (secret-notes.encrypt)
• Secret Notes: Permanently Decrypt Current File (secret-notes.decrypt)

The UI Decrypt button / CodeLens runs the permanent decrypt command. Temporary decrypted editing is opened automatically after password entry.

Settings

{
  "secret-notes.fileExtensions": ["txt", "md"],
  "secret-notes.exclude": ["**/node_modules/**", "**/dist/**"],
  "secret-notes.actionButtonLocation": "Fisrt Line",
  "secret-notes.passwordKeepMinute": 5,
}

• fileExtensions: accepts values with or without leading dots.
• exclude: glob patterns for folders or files that should be ignored. The default list includes common generated or vendor folders such as node_modules, dist, out, build, coverage, .git, .next, and .turbo.
• actionButtonLocation: English values are "Fisrt Line" and "Editor Title"; Chinese values "首行" and "编辑器右上角" also work.
• passwordKeepMinute: password cache time in memory. 0 effectively clears the password immediately after it is set.

Limitations

• Intended for UTF-8 text files.
• Only local files are supported.
• Passwords are cached in memory only and are not persisted across VS Code restarts.

Lisense

MIT License