TopMind Notes Workspace Assistant

🚀 Smart VSCode Markdown Notes Management Extension

中文版

A simplified notes management tool designed for knowledge workers, based on GTD principles, providing unified collection, intelligent organization, and periodic archiving workflow.

✨ Why Choose TopMind?

• 🎯 Simplified Workflow: Based on GTD principles, unified inbox design reduces decision fatigue
• 📱 Out-of-the-Box: One-click initialization, start using without complex configuration
• 🤖 Smart Organization: AI-assisted content analysis and periodic summaries, discover knowledge connections
• ⚡ Lightweight & Efficient: Focus on core features, perfectly integrated with VS Code

🚀 Core Features

📋 Workspace Management

• Auto Recognition: Detects .topmind/notes.config.json configuration file on startup
• One-click Initialization: Topmind: 工作区初始化 (Workspace Init) command creates complete configuration
• Directory Structure Generation: Topmind: 工作区目录生成 (Workspace Directory Structure Generating) automatically creates directories and templates

Simplified Directory Structure:

workspace/
├── .topmind/
│   ├── notes.config.json          # Main configuration file
│   ├── templates_notes/           # Note templates directory
│   └── templates_reports/         # Report templates directory
├── 00_Inbox/                      # 📥 Unified Collection Box (all daily notes)
├── 01_Reference/                  # 📚 Reference Materials (long-term storage)
├── 02_Reports/                    # 📊 Periodic Summary Reports
└── 03_Archive/                    # 🗄️ Completed Archive

🏷️ Metadata Management

• Smart Insertion: Topmind: 元数据插入 (Metadata Insert) intelligently infers status and category based on file location
• Quick Status Management: Topmind: 笔记 - 设置状态 (Note - Set Status) quickly changes note status
• Auto Folding: YAML Front Matter regions can be automatically folded (configurable)

Generated Metadata Example:

---
title: "My Note Title"
date: 2025-01-26
status: inbox
category: General
tags: []
summary: ''
---

✨ Note Creation

• Multiple Access Methods: Command palette, right-click folder, editor context menu
• Smart Template Selection: Supports blank notes, custom templates, built-in templates
• Smart Placeholders: Supports {{TITLE}}, {{DATE}}, {{AUTHOR}} and many other placeholders
• Auto Save: Automatically saves after creation, ensuring metadata is properly written

🎨 Visual Decoration System

• Smart Badges: Display processing status based on content richness
  • ◬ Metadata corrupted | ● Complete note | ☉ In progress | ○ Raw file
• Preset Theme Colors: Green indicates status match, orange suggests needs organization
• Hover Tips: Mouse hover shows metadata details

📊 Enhanced Smart Status Bar

• Rich Metadata Display: Shows current note status, category, tags count, and file name
• Detailed Tooltips: Hover to see comprehensive note information including summary, date, and all metadata
• Quick Metadata Access: One-click metadata editing for Markdown files
• Workflow Insights: Displays note counts by status to help manage workflow
• Smart Context Switching: Automatically adjusts actions based on current file type

🛠️ Quick Start

1. Install Extension

• Install from VSIX file:

  code --install-extension topmind-notes-workspace-X.Y.Z.vsix
  

  (Please replace topmind-notes-workspace-X.Y.Z.vsix with the actual VSIX file name, e.g., topmind-notes-workspace-0.7.2.vsix)
• Restart VSCode

2. Initialize Notes Workspace

1. Open or create a folder as your notes workspace.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) to open the command palette.
3. Type and execute: Topmind: 工作区初始化 (Workspace Init).
4. The plugin will automatically create the .topmind/notes.config.json configuration file. You can choose whether to generate the directory structure immediately or manually execute the Topmind: 工作区目录生成 (Workspace Directory Structure Generating) command later. It is recommended to reload the window after initialization to ensure all features are activated correctly.

3. Use Core Features

• Insert Metadata: Right-click on a Markdown file → Topmind: 元数据插入 (Metadata Insert)
• Set Note Status: Right-click on a Markdown file → Topmind: 笔记 - 设置状态 (Note - Set Status) or click the Status button in status bar
• Generate Directory Structure: Command Palette → Topmind: 工作区目录生成 (Workspace Directory Structure Generating)
• Create New Note:
  • Command Palette: Topmind: 笔记 - 新建 (Note - New)
  • Right-click on a folder in Explorer: Topmind: 笔记 - 新建 (Note - New)
  • Click the New Note button in status bar
• Enhanced Status Bar Features:
  • View current note status, category, tags, and workspace statistics
  • Rich tooltips with comprehensive metadata information
  • Quick metadata editing (in Markdown files) - click "Metadata" button
  • Quick note creation (in non-Markdown files) - click "New Note" button
  • Hover over status bar to see detailed note information including summary

⚙️ Configuration

Configuration file is located at .topmind/notes.config.json, including the following main configurations:

Basic Configuration Structure

{
  "workspaceType": "notes",        // Must be "notes"
  "version": "0.7.2",              // Configuration version
  "decorations": {
    "enable": true,                // UI enhancement master switch
    "hover": {
      "enabled": true,             // Hover tips switch
      "fields": ["title", "date", "status", "category", "tags", "summary"]
    }
  },
  "directoryProfiles": [           // Directory configuration
    {
      "path": "00_Inbox/",
      "expectedStatus": "inbox"
    },
    {
      "path": "01_Reference/",
      "expectedStatus": "reference"
    },
    {
      "path": "02_Reports/",
      "expectedStatus": "report"
    },
    {
      "path": "03_Archive/",
      "expectedStatus": "archived"
    }
  ],
  "statusSettings": {              // Status configuration
    "inbox": {
      "displayName": "📥 Inbox",
      "icon": "inbox"
    },
    "reference": {
      "displayName": "📚 Reference",
      "icon": "book"
    },
    "report": {
      "displayName": "📊 Report",
      "icon": "graph"
    },
    "archived": {
      "displayName": "🗄️ Archived",
      "icon": "archive"
    }
  }
}

Custom Directory Structure (directoryProfiles)

{
  // ...
  "directoryProfiles": [
    {
      "path": "00_Inbox/",          // Directory path (relative to workspace root)
      "expectedStatus": "inbox"     // Expected status for notes in this directory
    },
    {
      "path": "01_Reference/",
      "expectedStatus": "reference"
    },
    {
      "path": "02_Reports/",
      "expectedStatus": "report"
    },
    {
      "path": "03_Archive/",
      "expectedStatus": "archived"
    }
  ],
  // ...
}

Custom Status Settings (statusSettings)

{
  // ...
  "statusSettings": {
    "inbox": { // Status key, must correspond to expectedStatus in directoryProfiles
      "displayName": "📥 Inbox",      // Name displayed in UI
      "icon": "inbox",  // VSCode Codicon Icon ID (optional)
      "label": "[Inbox]"            // Optional label
    },
    "reference": {
      "displayName": "📚 Reference",
      "icon": "book",
      "label": "[Reference]"
    },
    "report": {
      "displayName": "📊 Report",
      "icon": "graph",
      "label": "[Report]"
    },
    "archived": {
      "displayName": "🗄️ Archived",
      "icon": "archive",
      "label": "[Archived]"
    }
  },
  // ...
}

VS Code Extension Settings

• topmind.defaultAuthor: Default author name for new notes (string)
• topmind.features.folding.autoFoldOnOpen: Whether to auto-fold metadata (boolean, default true)

📋 Simplified Notes Workflow

1. Collection → 00_Inbox/ (all ideas, notes, meeting records unified collection)
2. Organization → Enhance content directly in 00_Inbox/, no need to move files
3. Reports → Periodically let AI analyze and generate summaries to 02_Reports/
4. Archiving → Move completed projects/topics to 03_Archive/

🎨 Visual Indicators

Badge Meanings

• ◬ Metadata corrupted | ● Complete note | ☉ In progress | ○ Raw file

Color System

• Green: Status matches | Orange: Needs organization | Default: No status

❓ FAQ

📋 Version Information

Current Version: v0.7.2 (Simplified Architecture Refactoring)

Latest Improvements (December 19, 2024):

• 🎯 Architecture Simplification: Based on GTD principles, simplified from 5-level to 4-level directory structure, reducing cognitive load
• 📁 Unified Collection: All notes go to Inbox, reducing decision fatigue
• 🔄 In-Place Organization: Enhance content directly in Inbox without file movement
• 📊 Quality Assurance: 130 test cases with 100% pass rate, ensuring refactoring quality

For detailed version history and change information, please see CHANGELOG.md.

🧪 Development and Build

1. Clone the project: git clone <repository-url>
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Compile and bundle: npm run compile or npm run watch (real-time compilation with webpack)
4. Run tests: npm test
5. Package for production: npm run package (creates optimized bundle)
6. Package VSIX: vsce package (Requires vsce to be installed globally first: npm install -g @vscode/vsce)
7. Press F5 in VSCode to start the Extension Development Host for debugging.

Note: The extension now uses webpack for bundling dependencies. The main entry point is dist/extension.js (bundled) rather than out/extension.js (compiled only).

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please visit our GitHub repository to:

• Report bugs or request features in Issues
• Submit improvements via Pull Requests
• View the source code and documentation

📄 License

MIT License