Journal and Zettelkasten
Zettel (Zettelkasten Notes)
Section titled “Zettel (Zettelkasten Notes)”What is the Zettel space?
Section titled “What is the Zettel space?”Zettel is a dedicated space for atomic, densely-linked notes, separate from the diary-oriented Journal. It supports two ways of working. Tag a capture with a note’s name and it is appended straight into that note, so the thought is filed the moment you write it. Leave it untagged and it lands in inbox/ as a fleeting note, to be refined later into a permanent, titled note in notes/ and connected with links.
How do I capture a quick note?
Section titled “How do I capture a quick note?”Press Cmd+Shift+N (or type /capture) to open Quick Capture. The body is the same WYSIWYG editor as a document — formatting, the / slash menu, and dropped images all work. Cmd+Enter saves. Add an optional source URL, and tags to say where it should go.
Where does my capture go?
Section titled “Where does my capture go?”A tag is an address. A tag matching a note’s title or one of its frontmatter aliases: (case does not matter) appends the capture to the top of that note’s ## Captures section, as a ### date time entry with a block ID you can reference. Tags matching several notes append to all of them. A capture whose tags match nothing is saved as a fleeting note in inbox/{id}.md, exactly as before.
While you type, a line under the tag field shows where the capture will land; after you save, a toast names the note and offers Open.
Note that a tag matching no note is reported to you but not written into the file — in this workflow a tag is an address, not a classification. See Where a capture lands in the User Guide.
How do I turn an inbox note into a permanent note?
Section titled “How do I turn an inbox note into a permanent note?”Open the inbox note and press Cmd+Shift+U (Promote). Give it a title — it moves to notes/{id} {title}.md, keeping its body and tags. You can also create a permanent note directly with Cmd+Shift+V (New Zettel), or turn a selection into a new note with Cmd+Shift+Y.
Why do links look like [[id]] on disk but show titles in the editor?
Section titled “Why do links look like [[id]] on disk but show titles in the editor?”Zettel notes are addressed by a timestamp id, so links are stored as [[id]]. Baram renders the note’s current title in the editor, so links never break when you rename a note. Type [[ to search by title.
How do I enable it?
Section titled “How do I enable it?”Go to Settings > General > Zettel, toggle it on, and choose a directory. Then open the space from the space menu (status bar), the Command Palette (“Open Zettel”), or Cmd+Alt+2.
Journal / Daily Notes
Section titled “Journal / Daily Notes”What is the Journal feature?
Section titled “What is the Journal feature?”Baram includes a built-in journal system that automatically creates daily notes, provides a calendar sidebar for browsing, and supports @mentions for quick date linking.
How do I enable the Journal?
Section titled “How do I enable the Journal?”Open Settings > General > Journal, enable the toggle, and select a folder for your journal files. The journal directory must be an absolute path (e.g., /Users/me/journals).
How do I create a daily note?
Section titled “How do I create a daily note?”Three ways:
- Calendar — Open the Calendar sidebar (
Cmd+Alt+2) and click any date - @Mention — Type
@in the editor and select Today/Yesterday/Tomorrow from the popup, then click the resulting 📅 date chip - Auto-create — Set “On Startup” to “Open today’s journal” in Settings — today’s entry auto-opens when you launch Baram
Can I use a custom template for daily notes?
Section titled “Can I use a custom template for daily notes?”Yes. In Settings > General > Journal, select a .md template file. Templates support variables: {{date}}, {{year}}, {{month}}, {{day}}, {{dayName}}, {{monthName}}. If no template is set, Baram generates a default entry with frontmatter and a date heading.
How do I navigate between journal entries?
Section titled “How do I navigate between journal entries?”Use the Calendar sidebar. Days with existing entries are marked with a dot. Click any date to open or create that day’s journal.