Developer Notes (Keep Notes) for VS Code

Google Keep simplicity meets VS Code native power.
A lightweight, non-intrusive scratchpad and notes manager living in the VS Code Secondary Side Bar (Right Sidebar). Capture thoughts, markdown notes, code snippets, interactive TODOs, and bookmarked file locations right next to your active code and terminal.

📸 Overview

Developer Notes running seamlessly in the VS Code Secondary Side Bar alongside editor and terminal.

✨ Features

1. ⚡ Quick Note Creator & In-Place Editing

Collapsible + Take a note... bar that expands directly into an inline creator. Add titles, markdown bodies, color tints, scope tags, and task lists without leaving your workflow.

2. 💻 Code Snippets & Clickable Tags

Full markdown support for code blocks (```) with one-click copy buttons (📋), URLs, and #hashtags (#api, #todo, #auth) with instant tag filtering.

3. ☑️ Interactive Task Checklists

Check off items directly from the note cards without opening an edit modal.

4. 📄 Editor Integration & Context Menu

Select any code in the editor, right-click, and select "Developer Notes: Create Note from Selection" to immediately turn highlighted code into a persistent note with the file path and line number attached.

5. 🌐 Workspace & Global Scoping

• 📂 Workspace Notes: Scoped exclusively to your current project repository.
• 🌐 Global Notes: Available across all projects and VS Code windows (perfect for bash cheatsheets, command snippets, and ongoing reminders).

6. 🔒 100% Local, Offline & Theme Adaptive

• Stored directly in VS Code's internal persistent storage. Zero external accounts, databases, or tracking.
• Seamlessly inherits your active theme's colors across Dark+, Light+, Monokai, Solarized, and High Contrast.

🚀 Quick Start: Placing in the Secondary Side Bar

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).
2. Run:

   Developer Notes: Move to Secondary Side Bar
   

3. Alternative manual way:
   • Click the Developer Notes icon $(notebook) in the Activity Bar.
   • Drag the icon header to the right edge of VS Code, or right-click the header and select "Move to Secondary Side Bar".
4. Press Ctrl+Alt+B / Cmd+Alt+B anytime while coding to toggle the Secondary Side Bar on/off.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

🛠️ Available Commands

Access all commands from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

• Developer Notes: New Note — Open quick note creator.
• Developer Notes: Create Note from Selection — Convert selected editor code into a code snippet note.
• Developer Notes: Create Note for Active File — Create a note with the current file reference attached.
• Developer Notes: Focus Search — Jump directly to search filter.
• Developer Notes: Show All Notes — Show all active notes.
• Developer Notes: Show Workspace Notes — Filter to project-specific notes.
• Developer Notes: Show Global Notes — Filter to cross-workspace global notes.
• Developer Notes: Move to Secondary Side Bar — Position the panel on the right sidebar.

⚙️ Configuration Settings

Customize Developer Notes in VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, / Cmd+, -> search developerNotes):

{
  // Default scope for new notes ("workspace" or "global")
  "developerNotes.defaultScope": "workspace",

  // Default color tint for new notes
  "developerNotes.defaultColor": "default",

  // Confirm before deleting a note
  "developerNotes.confirmDelete": true,

  // Default sorting order ("pinnedFirst", "updated", "created", "title")
  "developerNotes.sortOrder": "pinnedFirst",

  // Enable subtle UI transitions and animations
  "developerNotes.enableAnimations": true
}

📄 License

MIT License.