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Baram

Appearance and workspace

Themes & Appearance

Section titled “Themes & Appearance”

How do I change the theme?

Section titled “How do I change the theme?”

Open Settings > Appearance (Cmd+,). You’ll see a gallery of theme cards — click any card to apply it. Select System (Auto) to follow your OS light/dark mode setting.

What built-in themes are available?

Section titled “What built-in themes are available?”

Baram includes 8 built-in themes: Default Light, Default Dark, Tokyo Night, Solarized Light, Solarized Dark, Nord, Baram Garden Light, and Baram Garden Dark. Built-in themes cannot be deleted.

How do I create a custom theme?

Section titled “How do I create a custom theme?”
  1. Go to Settings > Appearance and click Customize…
  2. Enter a name for your theme
  3. Choose a base mode (Light or Dark) — this determines how code blocks and diagrams render
  4. Adjust the 25 colors using the color pickers (Background, Text, Border, Accent, Editor, Status, Graph)
  5. Click Save

Your custom theme appears in the gallery with a “Custom” badge.

How do I share themes with others?

Section titled “How do I share themes with others?”

In the theme editor, click Export to save your theme as a .json file. Others can import it by clicking Import Theme… in the Appearance tab.

How do I delete a custom theme?

Section titled “How do I delete a custom theme?”

Hover over a custom theme card in the gallery and click the x button. Built-in themes cannot be deleted.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Section titled “Keyboard Shortcuts”

Can I customize keyboard shortcuts?

Section titled “Can I customize keyboard shortcuts?”

Yes. Open Settings > Keybindings to see all shortcuts organized by category (File, Editing, Formatting, Blocks, View, Navigation, Tools, AI, Workspace). Click Edit on any shortcut, press the new key combination, and click Apply.

What happens if I assign a key that’s already in use?

Section titled “What happens if I assign a key that’s already in use?”

Baram shows a conflict warning with the name of the command that already uses that key combination. You can choose to override (which removes the old binding) or cancel.

Does Baram have Vim keybindings?

Section titled “Does Baram have Vim keybindings?”

Yes — Settings > Editor > Vim Keybindings, off by default. One switch covers the WYSIWYG editor, Source Mode, and code blocks inside a document. Source Mode and code blocks get full vim (text objects, . repeat, / search, macros, registers); WYSIWYG has motions, operators with counts, f/t, / search, visual mode, and :w / :q / :N line jumps, but not yet text objects, . repeat, or marks. The status bar shows the mode and doubles as the : and / command line.

Vim commands work with the Korean IME active: in normal mode keys resolve by physical position, so j moves down even when it would type ㅓ. Vim key sequences are a separate layer and are not remappable in Settings > Keybindings. See the full command list.

How do I reset a shortcut to its default?

Section titled “How do I reset a shortcut to its default?”

Click the reset button (↺) next to any customized shortcut to restore its default key combination. To reset all shortcuts at once, click Reset All at the bottom of the Keybindings tab.

Perspectives

Section titled “Perspectives”

What is a perspective?

Section titled “What is a perspective?”

A perspective is a saved layout — sidebar panel, right panel, and theme — under a name you can apply later. Baram ships four (Writing, Zettel, Journal, Skills) and you can add your own.

How do I switch perspectives?

Section titled “How do I switch perspectives?”

Two ways:

  1. Keyboard shortcuts — Cmd+Alt+1 (Writing), Cmd+Alt+2 (Zettel), Cmd+Alt+3 (Journal), Cmd+Alt+4 (Skills)
  2. Perspective menu — in the menu bar

Can I create my own?

Section titled “Can I create my own?”

Yes. Go to Settings > Appearance, arrange your layout, and click Save Current Layout. Custom perspectives can be renamed or deleted from the same tab.

Vault & Context

Section titled “Vault & Context”

What is a vault?

Section titled “What is a vault?”

A vault is a folder that contains a .baram/config.json file. When Baram detects this file, it treats the folder as a fully initialized workspace with vault-level settings, a configurable Journal directory, and a vault alias for cross-vault linking. A plain folder without .baram/config.json still works as a normal workspace — vaults simply unlock extra features.

To turn any folder into a vault, open it in Baram, then go to Settings > Vault and click Initialize as Vault.

Can I use multiple vaults simultaneously?

Section titled “Can I use multiple vaults simultaneously?”

Yes. Each vault (or plain folder) you open appears as a tab in the Context Tab Bar across the top of the window. Click any tab to switch between contexts. Each context has its own file tree, tab history, and settings.

Why does Baram ask permission before opening a folder?

Section titled “Why does Baram ask permission before opening a folder?”

Baram reads and writes only where you have allowed it to. The first time you open a folder or a file it has not been allowed into, it asks — Allow Baram to read and write this folder and everything under it? An approved folder covers everything beneath it, so you are asked once per workspace rather than once per file; an approved single file also covers images sitting next to it, so the pictures in it still render.

Denying is not an error: the location simply does not open, and nothing is recorded, so you can choose it again later and be asked again. At startup, a saved context that is no longer approved is asked for again — deny it and only that one is skipped, while the rest of your workspace still restores.

Approvals are kept by Baram in its own application data directory, not inside your vault and not in any file the editor itself can write, so a document or a plugin cannot approve locations on your behalf.

How do I see or undo what I have approved?

Section titled “How do I see or undo what I have approved?”

Settings > Vault > Approved locations lists every approved folder and file, each with a Revoke button. Revoking removes the approval and closes that vault’s tab; it takes full effect after a restart.

On macOS this is separate from the system’s own Files and Folders prompt — see macOS asks for folder access.

Section titled “How do I link files across vaults?”

Use the cross-vault wikilink syntax: [[alias::filename]]. Replace alias with the target vault’s short name (configured in Settings > Vault > Alias) and filename with the file name (without .md). For example, [[research::climate-data]] links to climate-data.md in the vault aliased research. If the target vault is not open, Baram prompts you to open it.

What happens when I open a file outside a vault?

Section titled “What happens when I open a file outside a vault?”

The file opens as a File context tab, indicated by a 📎 icon. The left sidebar is hidden — only the editor is shown. This is ideal for quick edits to files that don’t belong to any workspace. There is no file tree, backlinks, or vault-level settings in this mode.

How do I convert a folder to a vault?

Section titled “How do I convert a folder to a vault?”
  1. Open the folder in Baram with File > Open Folder
  2. Go to Settings > Vault
  3. Click Initialize as Vault

Baram creates a .baram/config.json file inside the folder. Your existing files are not changed. To revert back to a plain folder, click Revert to Folder — this removes .baram/config.json but leaves all your markdown files intact.

Section titled “How is Journal related to vaults?”

Each vault can have its own journal directory set in Settings > Vault > Journal Directory. When you are working in a vault context, the Calendar sidebar and @mention date chips (Today/Yesterday/Tomorrow) create journal entries in that vault’s configured directory. Switching vault contexts switches the active journal, so you can maintain separate journals per vault (e.g., personal vs. work).