fnote

日本語

Write in Markdown. Organize in a hierarchy. Find with tags.

fnote is a VS Code extension for managing notes and work logs. Organize project notes in a hierarchy and use tags such as @TODO and dates to find the information you need across multiple notes.

Edit your notes in the familiar Markdown editor. Notes are saved as Markdown files and stay available when you switch workspaces.

• Hierarchical notes: Organize notes as parents and children, and move or reorder them with drag and drop.
• Heading outline: Open a heading from the note list to jump to its position in the note.
• Tags and search: Find notes and matching lines by tag or keyword.
• Time tracking: Add dates and durations to review your work by day, month, or year.
• Colors and icons: Give tags their own icons and colors to make them easier to recognize in lists.

Getting started

Requires VS Code 1.85 or later. You do not need to install Node.js or Python to use the extension.

Search for fnote in the VS Code Extensions view and install the extension published by maoren. To install a VSIX file, select Install from VSIX... from the … menu in the Extensions view.

Create your first note

1. Open Explorer and click ＋ in Fnote - List.
2. Name the note “Today's work”.
3. Enter the following example in the note and save it (Ctrl+S on Windows / Linux, Cmd+S on macOS).

# Today's work

## To do

@TODO Update the README
@TODO Record a walkthrough video

## Work log

@2026/09/21 @30m Reorganized the README

4. Click TODO in Fnote - Tags. Notes and lines containing the tag appear in the results.

5. Click a matching line to jump to that position in the original note.

You can now write a note, find it by tag, and pick up where you left off.

Organize your notes

Use child notes and headings

Right-click a note and select “Add Child Note” to create a separate note under it. For example, you can keep “Meeting notes” and “Research notes” under “Work”.

To divide a single note into sections, use Markdown headings from ## to ######. Headings also appear as a hierarchy in the note list. Click one to open its position in the note.

Common actions

Drop at the top or bottom edge of a row to place a note before or after it, in the center to make it a child, or in the empty space below the list to move it to the top level. Moving a parent note also moves its children.

The list uses the first # Heading in the note as its title. Editing that heading changes the displayed name. Renaming with F2 changes both the folder name and the first heading.

“Close All” closes fnote notes and the tag / search results view. Other files stay open. VS Code asks whether to save any unsaved notes; if you cancel closing them, the results view also stays open.

Find notes with tags

Write @tag-name in a note to add it to the tag list. No registration is needed.

@TODO Decide on the next task
@Reference Keep a configuration example
@Work/Meetings Prepare the next agenda

Use / to create a hierarchy, such as Work → Meetings. Clicking a parent tag also searches its children. Tag names are case-sensitive: @TODO and @todo are different tags.

Results show matching lines along with their headings and parent notes, so you can see the context before returning to the original position. The number beside a tag is the count of matching notes, including its child tags.

You can also drag tags within the same level to change their display order.

Tags are not recognized inside code blocks or inline code, in email addresses, or when escaped as \@.

Search by keyword

Use the magnifying glass button in Fnote - List, or fnote: Search Notes in the Command Palette. Search matches parts of note names and content, ignoring case.

Tag and keyword searches share the same results tab. Each new search replaces the contents of that tab.

Record dates and work time

Write a date and time on the same line to total your work time through date tags.

# Work log

@2026/09/21 @30m Updated the documentation
@2026/09/21 @10:00-11:00 Checked the workflow
@2026/09/22 @1h Planned the next feature

Expand 2026 → 09 → 21 in the tag list and select the day. This example shows 1h30m. Select 09 for the monthly total or 2026 for the yearly total.

Time is counted only on lines containing exactly one date. Time tags themselves do not appear in the tag list. Use whole numbers and lowercase m / h for durations.

Customize fnote

Open VS Code Settings and enter @ext:maoren.fnote in the search field to show fnote settings.

To edit tag settings together, select Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON) in the Command Palette. Add the examples below inside the { ... } of your existing settings.json. Replace the setting if it already exists.

Change tag icons and colors

{
  "fnote.tagStyles": [
    {
      "tag": "TODO",
      "mark": "$(circle-filled-compact)",
      "markColor": "#FF5555",
      "color": "#FF5555"
    },
    { "tag": "Done", "mark": "✅", "color": "#66BB6A" },
    {
      "tag": "Reference",
      "mark": "$(book)",
      "markColor": "#66AAFF",
      "excludeFromNoteMark": true
    },
    { "tag": "date", "mark": "$(calendar)", "markColor": "#66AAFF" }
  ]
}

• tag: The tag name, without @. Use date for settings shared by date tags.
• mark: The icon shown in lists. Use an emoji or a built-in VS Code icon such as $(book). See the VS Code icon reference for available icons.
• markColor: The color of a built-in icon. This does not change emoji colors.
• color: The tag's text color in notes and search results.
• backgroundColor: The tag's background color in notes and search results. An empty string means no background color.
• excludeFromNoteMark: Set to true to exclude the tag when choosing a note's icon. The tag still appears in the tag list.

When a note has multiple tags, icon settings earlier in the array take priority. Date and time tags are not used as note icons. When a parent note is collapsed, tags in its descendants are also considered.

A child tag inherits its parent's icon if it has no icon setting of its own. Text and background colors use an exact match, or the closest /-separated parent's settings if there is no exact match. If a child has its own settings, omitted text and background colors fall back to the global defaults.

The default value of fnote.tagStyles is:

[
  { "tag": "FIX", "mark": "$(bug)", "color": "#f87171" },
  { "tag": "TODO", "mark": "$(circle-filled-compact)", "color": "#f87171" },
  { "tag": "date", "mark": "$(calendar)", "excludeFromNoteMark": true }
]

Tags without individual settings use the default icon and an automatically generated color based on the tag name. An array in your user settings replaces the default array, so include any tag settings you want to keep. Icon and color changes take effect without restarting.

Group tags without renaming them

To group @TODO and @Done under “Status”, use:

{
  "fnote.tagHierarchy": {
    "Status": ["TODO", "Done"]
  }
}

Selecting “Status” in the tag list shows notes matching any of its child tags. You do not need to change tag names in your notes.

Change the storage location

The default location is .fnote in your home folder. The same notes are shared across all workspaces.

Set an absolute path or a path starting with ~/ in your user settings, then run Developer: Reload Window from the Command Palette. The storage location cannot be changed through workspace settings.

{
  "fnote.storagePath": "~/Documents/fnote"
}

On Windows, you can use an absolute path such as "C:/Users/your-name/Documents/fnote".

Changing the storage location does not move existing notes automatically. Save any notes you are editing, copy the note folders from the old location to the new one, and then change the setting.

Key settings

Storage and backups

Notes are saved as UTF-8 Markdown files. For example, creating “Meeting notes” under “Work” produces this structure:

.fnote/
└── Work/
    ├── index.md
    └── Meeting notes/
        └── index.md

To back up your note content, copy the storage folder. Automatic synchronization between devices is not available. List ordering is managed by VS Code, so copying the folder alone does not preserve it.

Troubleshooting

Report bugs and suggestions through GitHub Issues. Include your VS Code and fnote versions and steps to reproduce the issue.