Zeolite
A WYSIWYG Markdown editor for Zettelkasten-style linked notes, inside VS Code.
Build a network of [[wikilinked]] notes in plain-text Markdown — live formatting, DataviewJS, tasks, and more.
Why Zeolite?
Zeolite turns VS Code (and Cursor / VSCodium / Windsurf via Open VSX) into a what-you-see-is-what-you-get Markdown editor for a Zettelkasten — a vault of atomic notes wired together with [[wikilinks]]. You keep your plain-text, local-first .md files and Git workflow — but you get live rendering, clickable note links, and a Dataview-powered overview, without leaving your editor.
It opens .md / .markdown files in a rich editor by default; the raw text is always one click away (the View Source button).
Features
- WYSIWYG editing — Real-time formatting as you type (powered by Tiptap / ProseMirror). Changes sync both ways with the underlying
.md file.
[[Wikilinks]] — Rendered as clickable links that navigate to the target note. Type [[ to get an autocomplete dropdown of notes in your vault. Rename a note inside VS Code and Zeolite auto-updates every [[link]] to it across the whole vault (with an Undo toast).- DataviewJS — Run
```dataviewjs code blocks against your vault: dv.pages(), tags, tasks, headings, dv.table() / dv.list() / dv.taskList(), and more. Backed by an in-memory vault scan, so queries are instant.
- Frontmatter as a property table — YAML frontmatter renders as a clean, foldable property table, with clickable
[[wikilinks]] in values. Toggle to raw YAML anytime.
- Tasks —
- [ ] checkboxes, an @-triggered due-date picker inside task items, and a right-click menu for priority / blocker emojis. Toggling a task in a Dataview result writes back to the source note.
- Mermaid diagrams — Live preview with view/edit toggle, ELK layout, copy-as-PNG, and lightbox zoom.
- Rich content — Syntax-highlighted code blocks (19+ languages), tables, GitHub-style alerts (
> [!NOTE], [!WARNING], …), images (paste / drag-drop / lightbox / inline path editing), a Table-of-Contents sidebar, heading folding, and in-editor search (Cmd/Ctrl+F).
- Export — Export to PDF or DOCX (Mermaid diagrams included).
- Audio notes — Record audio straight into a note and embed it (see platform note below).
- Themes & typography — 12 built-in themes, adjustable font and per-heading sizes, zoom.
Roadmap (work in progress)
Zeolite is under active development — more features are planned. The current focus is extending
the in-app PDF deep-link ([[paper.pdf#page=7]] jumps straight to page 7) to other document
formats, so a note can link directly to a specific location in a source — without converting to PDF:
- Code / text / data files —
[[script.py#L42]], [[run.log#L1200]] jump to a line.
- Audio / video —
[[talk.mp4#t=3m20s]] jumps to a timestamp.
- Slides —
[[deck.pptx#slide=12]] jumps to a slide.
- Spreadsheets —
[[data.xlsx#sheet=Tensile&cell=B47]] jumps to a cell.
- eBooks / Word —
[[book.epub#…]], [[report.docx#heading=Methods]].
The goal: open and navigate any referenced document inside the note, turning a markdown vault into a
deep-linkable knowledge base. Some formats are intentionally out of scope (documented when released).
Feedback and feature requests are welcome.
Install
Search “Zeolite” in the VS Code Extensions view (or the Cursor / VSCodium extensions panel) and click Install.
Usage
Just open any .md / .markdown file — Zeolite is the default editor for Markdown. Use the toolbar for formatting, recording, refresh, and View Source (to drop into the raw text editor). To re-run DataviewJS and reload the file from disk, click the Refresh button in the toolbar.
For the best experience, open your vault folder as your VS Code workspace so wikilink autocomplete, rename-relinking, and DataviewJS can see all your notes.
Settings
All settings live under the zeolite.* namespace (e.g. zeolite.imageSaveFolder, zeolite.excludeFolders, zeolite.chromiumPath, zeolite.exportPageSize, zeolite.fontSize, zeolite.headingSizes.*). Search “Zeolite” in VS Code Settings.
- PDF export uses a Chromium-based browser already installed on your machine (Chrome / Edge / Chromium / Brave). Zeolite does not bundle one. If auto-detection fails, set
zeolite.chromiumPath.
- Audio recording currently ships an arm64 macOS recorder only. Recording is unavailable on Intel macOS, Windows, and Linux; playing and embedding existing audio works on all platforms.
Security note
Opening a .md file that contains a ```dataviewjs block will execute that JavaScript (it's how DataviewJS works). The code runs inside the sandboxed webview — it cannot touch your filesystem or shell — but you should still only open notes you trust, the same as you would with any script.
The name
A zeolite is a porous crystal lattice — the same shape as a graph of linked notes. It also reads as a Zettelkasten Editor that's Open, Local, Interactive, Threaded, and Extensible.
Acknowledgement
Originally forked from zaaack/markdown-editor (MIT), then rebuilt on Tiptap with wikilinks, DataviewJS, tasks, and more. Built with VS Code, Tiptap, and marked.
License
MIT — © 2017 zaaack (original), © 2026 Yang Jeong Park (Zeolite).
