Tipsboard
A Markdown wiki and personal knowledge management workspace for VS Code.
Create connected notes with wiki-style links, backlinks, tags, and rich Markdown editing directly inside your editor.
Tipsboard helps developers, researchers, and technical writers build a searchable, linkable knowledge base using plain Markdown files.
No sign-in. No proprietary database.
Why Tipsboard?
Tipsboard is designed for people who already live inside VS Code and want a connected Markdown knowledge workspace without switching tools.
Build a searchable personal wiki using plain Markdown files, connect ideas with backlinks and tags, and explore relationships between notes directly inside your editor.
Tipsboard combines:
- wiki-style Markdown notes
- backlinks and two-hop discovery
- rich Markdown editing
- Kanban organization
- image embedding and preview
- English and Japanese UI
Everything stays compatible with your existing Markdown workflow and works naturally with Git and external backups.
Features
Connected Markdown Notes
Create notes inside pages/*.md and connect them with wiki-style links.
[Project Ideas]
[Daily Notes]
#research
Tipsboard automatically shows:
- outgoing links
- backlinks
- two-hop related notes
- suggested new links
This makes it easy to navigate and grow a connected knowledge base over time.
Rich Markdown Editing
Supported features include:
- GitHub Flavored Markdown
- Mermaid diagrams
- tables
- KaTeX-style math rendering
- internal link autocomplete
- tags
- image embeds and file attachments (
assets/files/)
Knowledge Discovery
Tipsboard helps you discover relationships between notes as your knowledge base grows.
Explore:
- backlinks
- shared references
- related pages
- two-hop note relationships
- suggested new links
The experience is inspired by connected-note and personal knowledge management workflows.
Local Markdown Files
Tipsboard stores notes as ordinary Markdown files on disk.
pages/*.md
assets/images/*
assets/files/*
.tipsboard/kanban.json
Works naturally with:
- Git
- Dropbox
- Syncthing
- external backup systems
- existing Markdown workflows
No lock-in or proprietary storage format.
While the Tipsboard panel is open, changes made outside Tipsboard (another editor, Git, or a sync tool) to pages/*.md, .tipsboard/kanban.json, or .tipsboard/pins.json are picked up automatically: the panel refreshes from disk when you have no unsaved edits in the Tipsboard editor. If you do have unsaved edits, a notice appears with Reload; choosing it asks to discard unsaved changes, then reloads.
Editor Tabs and Navigation
In list view, a tab strip under the header holds open notes and tag searches (#tag). Cmd/Ctrl-click links, tags, or list/search hits opens another tab without the unsaved-changes prompt; normal clicks still confirm when needed. Duplicate note paths or tags share one tab; the last tab cannot be closed.
NavMemory (Tipsboard-only back/forward—not VS Code editor history) restores tabs, view mode, and search state. See Keyboard Shortcuts and Commands for keys, mouse thumb buttons, and Tipsboard: Close active tab.
Kanban Boards
Organize projects and workflows visually using built-in Kanban boards.
Boards are stored in:
.tipsboard/kanban.json
Moving cards updates board metadata without modifying note contents.
Within a column, drag a card and drop it on another card’s top half to place it above, or bottom half to place it below; drop on the empty area below the card list to move to the end of that column (unchanged behavior for trailing space).
Wiki brackets after renaming a note
After you edit the opening title and save, Tipsboard may ask whether to rewrite other notes’ [ … ] wiki links for consistency—not [Label](https://github.com/kyu999/tipsboard-vscode/blob/HEAD/path) markdown. Confirm to apply in order; cancel to skip.
Built-in User Guide
Tipsboard includes an in-app user guide covering:
- syntax
- shortcuts (including tabs, NavMemory navigation, closing tabs)
- onboarding
- editor behavior
- vault structure
Use the book icon in the panel to open it anytime.
Attachments (Shift+drag), preview, and zoom
Hold Shift while dropping files into the editor to copy them into the vault and insert Markdown.
- Images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP) go to
assets/images/ as .
- Other files go to
assets/files/ as [label](https://github.com/kyu999/tipsboard-vscode/blob/HEAD/assets/files/...). Executable/installer-like extensions are skipped.
This is easy to miss: a normal drop is ignored so accidental file drops do not modify your Markdown.
Maximum size per dropped file is tipsboard-vscode.maxAttachmentBytes (default 10 MiB).
Click assets/files/... links in the editor to open the file with your operating system's default application.
On lines you are not editing, attachment links show a clip icon and label; move the caret onto that line (or select inside the link) to see and edit the raw [label](https://github.com/kyu999/tipsboard-vscode/blob/HEAD/assets/files/...) Markdown, same as other Tipsboard decorations.
Embedded images open a large preview overlay. Supports:
- mouse wheel zoom
- trackpad pinch
+ / - zoom0 to reset zoom
Getting Started
- In VS Code, open Extensions (
Cmd+Shift+X on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows/Linux), search for Tipsboard, then choose Install
- Open a folder in VS Code (this folder is your vault)
- Open the Command Palette (
Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux) and run:
Tipsboard: Open
The folder you have open in VS Code becomes your Tipsboard vault automatically.
To use a different folder as your vault, run:
Tipsboard: Select Vault Folder...
Vault Structure
pages/*.md
assets/images/*
assets/files/*
.tipsboard/kanban.json
| Path |
Purpose |
pages/*.md |
Markdown notes |
assets/images/* |
Embedded images |
assets/files/* |
Attached files (linked from Markdown) |
.tipsboard/kanban.json |
Kanban board state |
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut |
Action |
Ctrl+Shift+L |
Open note grid |
Ctrl+Shift+K |
Open Kanban |
Ctrl+N (mac: Cmd+N) |
Create note (while the Tipsboard panel is focused; otherwise VS Code keeps this for New File). The sidebar + button does the same. |
Alt+← / Ctrl+[ (mac: ⌥← / ⌘[ ) |
Navigate back in Tipsboard (NavMemory; skips native inputs and discard dialogs). |
Alt+→ / Ctrl+] (mac: ⌥→ / ⌘] ) |
Navigate forward in Tipsboard when available; may conflict with IDE indent elsewhere—override in Keyboard Shortcuts if needed. |
| Mouse button 3 / 4 (typ.) |
Thumb Back / Forward mapped to Tipsboard NavMemory when the panel receives browser events |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+W (mac: ⌘⌥⇧W ) |
Close active tab (Tipsboard panel focused; skipped in native <input>) |
Commands such as Tipsboard: New Note remain available regardless of conflicting global keys.
Commands
| Command |
Description |
Tipsboard: Open |
Open or focus the Tipsboard panel |
Tipsboard: Select Vault Folder... |
Choose a vault directory |
Tipsboard: New Note |
Create a note (also bound to Ctrl/Cmd+N while the Tipsboard panel is focused) |
Tipsboard: Close active tab |
Close the active Tipsboard tab (also bound to Ctrl+Alt+Shift+W / macOS Cmd+Alt+Shift+W; blocked when only one tab remains) |
Settings
| Setting |
Description |
tipsboard-vscode.vaultFolder |
Vault folder for multi-root workspaces |
tipsboard-vscode.manualVaultPath |
Explicit vault path override |
tipsboard-vscode.maxAttachmentBytes |
Maximum size in bytes per Shift+drag attachment (images and other files); default 10485760 (10 MiB) |
| Situation |
Vault Root |
| Single-folder workspace |
Workspace folder |
| Multi-root workspace |
tipsboard-vscode.vaultFolder |
| Manual override |
tipsboard-vscode.manualVaultPath |
If manualVaultPath is set, it overrides the workspace folder until cleared.
Requirements
- A VS Code–compatible editor with extension support for Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or later (for example Visual Studio Code, Cursor, or VSCodium)
Troubleshooting
Vault Looks Incorrect
Clear or edit:
tipsboard-vscode.manualVaultPath
The panel reloads automatically when the setting changes.
Blank Panel
With the panel focused, run:
Developer: Open Webview Developer Tools
Then inspect the console for errors.
Development
Additional documentation:
Release Notes
See:
CHANGELOG.md
Rate and review
If Tipsboard works well for you, please give it a star rating and a short review on the Visual Studio Code Marketplace or on Open VSX. That helps others find the extension and informs what to improve next.
License
Apache License 2.0.
See the LICENSE and NOTICE files included in this package.
