Notes — Markdown Notebook

A minimalist markdown notebook that lives in your VS Code sidebar, with optional Claude Code AI generation. Plain .md files on disk — no database.

A from-scratch VS Code port of the JetBrains "Notes — Markdown Notebook" plugin. Same idea, rebuilt natively for VS Code in TypeScript.

Notes — a markdown notebook in the VS Code sidebar

Features

Notebooks & sections — create, rename, duplicate, and delete .md notebooks; group them into section folders.
Multiple notes folders — track several notes directories at once (e.g. ~/Notes and a project wiki). Each appears as a top-level group in the tree. (New in the VS Code edition.)
Shared or per-project folders — keep some folders available everywhere and scope others to the current workspace with a single checkbox in the Settings page.
Quick Open — fuzzy-search and jump to any notebook across all folders (Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+N).
Generate with Claude — write markdown with Claude Code using your existing Pro/Max subscription (no API key). Pick a model per request, preview the rendered result, then insert at your cursor.
Sandboxed AI — Claude runs with all tools disabled, no MCP servers, and no skills. It can only read and write text back to you; it cannot run commands or touch your files.
Native markdown preview — open any notebook in VS Code's built-in editor and preview.
Settings page — a one-stop panel (gear icon) for the default model, notebook ordering, delete/create behaviour, notes folders, and Claude CLI status.
Theme-aware — uses native file/folder icons and a light/dark Claude action icon.

Screenshots

Generating with Claude — pick a model, describe what you want, then review the rendered result before it touches your note:

Choose a model	Review, then insert

The Settings panel — one place for the default model, generation behaviour, tree ordering, notes folders, and Claude CLI status:

Notes settings panel

How it works

Click the Notes icon in the Activity Bar. The view shows a tree of your notebooks and sections.

Title bar: New Section, New Notebook, Generate with Claude, Quick Open, Refresh. The … menu has Open Settings.
Right-click a notebook: Open Preview, Rename, Duplicate, Reveal in File Explorer, Delete.
Click a notebook to open it in the editor.

Notes are stored as .md files in the folders you configure (default ~/Notes):

~/Notes/
  Meeting Notes.md
  Backend/
    API Endpoints.md
  Ideas/
    Roadmap.md

Generate with Claude

Open a markdown note.
Run Generate with Claude (title-bar button, editor title, Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+G, or the command palette).
Choose a model (Haiku / Sonnet / Opus) and type a prompt.
Review the rendered preview, then Insert at cursor or Discard.

Under the hood it runs:

claude -p "<prompt>" --output-format stream-json --verbose --model <model> \
  --system-prompt "<writing assistant>" --strict-mcp-config --mcp-config '{"mcpServers":{}}' \
  --no-session-persistence --disable-slash-commands --tools "" --settings <sandbox.json>

The sandbox settings (deny-list of tools) are managed for you and editable via Notes: Edit Claude Sandbox Settings.

Requirements for AI features: Claude Code CLI installed, and an active Claude Pro or Max subscription.

Settings

Setting	Description	Default
`notes.notebookDirectories`	Shared notes folders, visible in every window (`~` expands to home)	`["~/Notes"]`
`notes.projectDirectories`	Notes folders scoped to the current workspace only	`[]`
`notes.claudeCliPath`	Path to the `claude` binary (auto-detected if empty)	`""`
`notes.defaultModel`	Default model for generation	`haiku`
`notes.includeDocumentContext`	Send the current note as context to Claude	`true`
`notes.sandboxSettingsPath`	Custom Claude settings JSON (optional)	`""`
`notes.notebookSort`	Notebook order: `modified` or `name`	`modified`
`notes.confirmDelete`	Confirm before deleting a notebook/section	`true`
`notes.openOnCreate`	Open a new notebook right after creating it	`true`

Most of these are also editable from the Notes: Open Settings panel (the … overflow menu in the view title bar), including per-project folder scoping.

Notes — Markdown Notebook

ihor-petrov

Notes — Markdown Notebook

Features

Screenshots

How it works

Generate with Claude

Settings

License