Noote — Markdown Slash Commands
Noote brings Notion-style slash commands, snippets, and smart list continuation to the VS Code Markdown editor. Type / in any Markdown file to open a filterable menu of block commands, inserted as snippets with tab stops — while everything stays a plain .md file under git.
Website: https://noote.iamsajaad.com · If Noote makes your notes flow, you can buy me a coffee. ☕
VSCodium / Open VSX: Noote is not listed on Open VSX yet — install the .vsix from GitHub Releases.
Usage
Start typing / on an empty line (or right after whitespace) in a markdown file. Keep typing to filter by a command's label or alias — e.g. /tab or /table both match Table. Accepting a suggestion replaces the / with the inserted snippet and places your cursor at its first tab stop.
The menu does not open inside fenced code blocks, inline code spans, or after a non-whitespace character (so it won't fire inside a URL like https://).
List continuation
Pressing Enter inside a Todo, Bulleted list, or Numbered list item continues the list on the next line (numbered lists auto-increment; todos always start unchecked), matching WYSIWYG editor behavior. Pressing Enter on an empty list item exits the list instead — the marker is cleared and you're left on a plain paragraph line, i.e. "double Enter" ends the list.
Right-to-left (RTL) text in VS Code's Markdown editors
VS Code ships more than one Markdown editing surface, and RTL support differs between them:
| Surface |
RTL behavior |
| Text editor (default) |
Renders RTL runs in the correct reading order on each line. |
| Markdown preview |
Renders correct bidi order, but paragraphs stay left-aligned. |
| Markdown Editor (WYSIWYG, via Reopen Editor With… → Markdown Editor) |
No RTL support — content is laid out with a left-to-right base direction, so RTL paragraphs align left, the caret starts on the wrong side, and punctuation at line edges is ordered incorrectly. |
Noote does not add RTL support, and it cannot patch the WYSIWYG editor: that surface is a sealed webview with a locked-down CSP and no extension contribution point for styles or scripts. The gap is tracked in bysajaad/noote#1, with the upstream report at microsoft/vscode#337009.
Workarounds
- Edit RTL-heavy files in the text editor. Right-click the editor tab and choose Reopen Editor With… → Text Editor, or pin it with
"workbench.editorAssociations": { "*.md": "default" } in your settings.
- Read and share via the Markdown preview (Markdown: Open Preview), which renders RTL text in correct bidi order.
- Force right-aligned rendering in the preview and on GitHub by wrapping RTL sections in
<div dir="rtl">…</div>. Markdown inside the div needs a blank line before and after it to render, and Noote's / menu also fires inside such HTML blocks (inserted markdown follows the same blank-line rule).
- Customize the preview further with the
markdown.styles setting.
Noote's slash commands and list continuation work identically regardless of text direction. For why Noote does not ship its own editor, see Non-goals.
Commands
| Command |
Aliases |
Inserts |
| Title |
title |
# |
| Heading 1 |
h1 |
# |
| Heading 2 |
h2 |
## |
| Heading 3 |
h3 |
### |
| Heading 4 |
h4 |
#### |
| Todo |
todo, task, checkbox |
- [ ] |
| Bulleted list |
bullet, ul |
- |
| Numbered list |
number, ol |
1. |
| Strikethrough |
strikethrough, strike |
~~text~~ |
| Underline |
underline |
<u>text</u> |
| Table |
table |
3×2 GFM table skeleton |
| Quote |
quote, blockquote |
> |
| Code block |
code, fence |
fenced code block with a tab stop on the language |
| Toggle block |
toggle, details, collapsible |
<details><summary>...</summary>...</details> |
| Divider |
divider, hr |
--- |
| Page break |
pagebreak, break |
<!-- pagebreak --> |
| Link |
link |
[text](https://github.com/bysajaad/noote/blob/HEAD/url) |
| Image |
image, img |
 |
| Date |
date, today |
today's date as YYYY-MM-DD |
| Note |
note |
GFM > [!NOTE] alert |
| Tip |
tip |
GFM > [!TIP] alert |
| Warning |
warning |
GFM > [!WARNING] alert |
| Important |
important |
GFM > [!IMPORTANT] alert |
| Caution |
caution |
GFM > [!CAUTION] alert |
Configuration
| Setting |
Type |
Default |
Description |
mdSlash.enabled |
boolean |
true |
Enable the / slash command menu in markdown files. |
mdSlash.disabledCommands |
string[] |
[] |
Command labels to hide from the menu (e.g. ["Underline"]). |
mdSlash.customSnippets |
{ label, aliases?, snippet }[] |
[] |
User-defined commands merged into the menu. snippet uses VS Code snippet syntax ($1, $0, etc). |
Example:
"mdSlash.disabledCommands": ["Underline", "Page break"],
"mdSlash.customSnippets": [
{ "label": "Meeting notes", "aliases": ["meeting"], "snippet": "## ${1:Meeting}\n\n- Attendees: $2\n- Notes: $0" }
]
Development
npm install
npm run compile # bundle src/extension.ts -> dist/extension.js
npm run watch # same, in watch mode
Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host with the extension loaded.
npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm run test:unit # plain mocha tests for pure logic (context.ts)
npm test # unit tests, then the @vscode/test-electron integration suite
Non-goals
This extension is intentionally narrow: no webviews or custom editors, no WYSIWYG rendering, no git/GitHub sync, no note graph/wikilink features, and no telemetry. See project-brief.md for the full rationale and the longer-term (out-of-scope) vision.
License
MIT
