DailyNotes: Daily tasks and notes in Markdown

In Loving Memory of Joe Ipson

This project is dedicated to Joe Ipson, the original creator of DailyNotes, who passed away in the summer of 2025 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Joe was a kindred spirit who believed in the simple power of writing things down. He built DailyNotes to bring the mindful experience of a physical planner into the digital world. His vision was to create something personal, self-hosted, and beautifully simple.

This project continues in his memory. Every commit, every feature, every bug fix is a small tribute to a dear friend whose spirit lives on in the code he wrote and the ideas he shared.

Rest easy, Joe. We'll take it from here.

About

The idea for this app came from using my Hobonichi Techo planner every morning to write down what I needed to accomplish that day & using it for scratching down random thoughts and notes as the day went on. The closest thing I've seen to an app for replacing this system is Noteplan, but I don't use a Mac or an iOS device, and it's not self-hostable, so I decided to write my own.

To check your current version, open Settings in the app and look in the About section.

Since I had the need for keeping track of to-dos throughout the day, regular Markdown didn't work for me since it doesn't natively support tasks. So as an alternative I'm using Github Flavored Markdown (GFM). I really wanted it to feel like an actual text editor and not just a textbox, so I decided to use CodeMirror to handle all the input. Fira Code is used to provide font ligatures. Some other nice features include code highlighting, text/code folding, and a task list where you can toggle the status of any task from any date or note.

Features

Joe had a vision for what DailyNotes could become before calling it a 1.0 release. I've done my best to interpret and implement those features, along with feature requests from GitHub issues that Joe was considering. Here's what makes DailyNotes a powerful daily planning tool:

Core Experience

GitHub Flavored Markdown — Full GFM support with task lists (- [ ] / - [x]), tables, code blocks, and more
CodeMirror Editor — A real text editor experience with syntax highlighting, code folding, and keyboard shortcuts
Fira Code Font — Beautiful font ligatures for a polished writing experience
Auto-save — Never lose your work with optional automatic saving
Data Encryption — All notes encrypted at rest with AES encryption

Organization & Search

Powerful Search — Syntax-based search with tag:, project:, and full-text queries
Nested Tags — Hierarchical tag organization (e.g., work/meetings, home/family)
Kanban Board — Visual task management with drag-and-drop columns
Task List — View and toggle tasks within each note with one-click status updates

Preview & Visualization

HTML Preview — Live markdown preview with Cmd+K V (side-by-side) or Shift+Cmd+V (full screen)
Mermaid Diagrams — Create flowcharts, sequence diagrams, ERDs, and more directly in your notes
Themes — Light, Dark, and System themes to match your environment

Calendar Integration

Calendar Feed (ICS) — Subscribe to your notes in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or any ICS-compatible app
External Calendar Support — Display events from external ICS feeds alongside your daily notes

Self-Hosted & Private

Self-hosted — Your data stays on your server, under your control
Docker Ready — Easy deployment with Docker and Docker Compose
Multi-user Support — Multiple users with separate, encrypted data
No Vendor Lock-in — Export all your notes as markdown files anytime

Account Security

Password Recovery — Reset your password via email if forgotten
Magic Link Sign-in — Sign in with a secure email link instead of a password
Email Management — Add or update your email in Settings to enable these features

Password Recovery & Magic Link

DailyNotes supports password recovery and passwordless sign-in via email. These features require SMTP configuration (see Environment Variables).

Setting Up Your Email

Click the menu icon (⋮) in the header
Select Settings
In the Account section, enter your email address
Click Add Email

Once configured, you can use password recovery and magic link sign-in.

Forgot Password

If you forget your password:

Go to the login page
Click Forgot password?
Enter your email address
Check your email for a reset link (valid for 1 hour)
Click the link and enter your new password

Magic Link Sign-in

Go to the login page
Click Sign in with email
Enter your email address
Check your email for a sign-in link (valid for 15 minutes)
Click the link to automatically sign in

Security Features

| Feature | Description | | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | Secure tokens | Cryptographically random, SHA-256 hashed | | Rate limiting | 3 requests per email per hour | | Short expiration | Reset: 1 hour, Magic link: 15 minutes | | Single-use tokens | Each token can only be used once | | Email enumeration prevention | Same response whether email exists or not | | Encrypted email storage | Email addresses encrypted at rest (AES) |

SMTP Configuration Examples

Gmail (with App Password):

SMTP_HOST: smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT: 587
SMTP_USER: your-email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASSWORD: your-app-password # Generate at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords
SMTP_FROM_NAME: DailyNotes
APP_URL: https://your-dailynotes-instance.com

Mailgun:

SMTP_HOST: smtp.mailgun.org
SMTP_PORT: 587
SMTP_USER: postmaster@your-domain.mailgun.org
SMTP_PASSWORD: your-mailgun-password
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL: noreply@your-domain.com
APP_URL: https://your-dailynotes-instance.com

Amazon SES:

SMTP_HOST: email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
SMTP_PORT: 587
SMTP_USER: your-ses-smtp-username
SMTP_PASSWORD: your-ses-smtp-password
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL: noreply@your-verified-domain.com
APP_URL: https://your-dailynotes-instance.com

Important Notes:

Gmail requires an App Password, not your regular password
The APP_URL must match the URL users access DailyNotes from (for email links to work)
If SMTP is not configured, password recovery and magic link features are automatically disabled
Users can still sign in with username/password even without email configured

Themes

DailyNotes supports Light, Dark, and System themes to match your preferred working environment.

Theme Options

| Theme | Description | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 🌙 Dark | Default dark interface, optimized for low-light environments | | ☀️ Light | Clean, bright interface with light backgrounds | | 💻 System | Automatically follows your operating system's color scheme setting |

How to Change Themes

Click the menu icon (⋮) in the header
Select Settings
In the Appearance section, click your preferred theme
The theme changes instantly and is saved for future sessions

The System option automatically switches between light and dark themes based on your OS settings (e.g., macOS Dark Mode, Windows Dark Theme). This is perfect if you prefer dark mode at night and light mode during the day.

Mermaid Diagrams

DailyNotes supports Mermaid diagrams in the markdown preview, allowing you to create flowcharts, sequence diagrams, class diagrams, and more directly in your notes.

Creating Diagrams

Use a fenced code block with mermaid as the language:

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Decision}
    B -->|Yes| C[Do something]
    B -->|No| D[Do something else]
    C --> E[End]
    D --> E
```

Viewing Diagrams

Diagrams are rendered in the HTML preview:

Side-by-side: Press Cmd+K V (Mac) or Ctrl+K V (Windows/Linux)
Preview only: Press Shift+Cmd+V (Mac) or Shift+Ctrl+V (Windows/Linux)

Supported Diagram Types

Mermaid supports many diagram types. Here are some examples:

| Diagram Type | Use Case | Example Syntax | | ------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------ | | Flowchart | Process flows, decisions | graph TD or graph LR | | Sequence | API calls, interactions | sequenceDiagram | | Class | Object relationships | classDiagram | | State | State machines | stateDiagram-v2 | | Entity Relationship | Database schemas | `e

DailyNotes

Install / Use

README