Show HN: Ephe – A minimalist open-source Markdown paper for today

139•unvalley•3d ago

Hi HN,

I built Ephe, open-source markdown paper for daily todos and thoughts.

No sign-up, no ads, no subscriptions, no AI.

## Why I made this

We have plenty of Markdown editors. And too many overwhelming to-do apps. But few tools combine both in a way that’s lightweight and focused. I thought that all I need is a single page to organize today. So I built Ephe.

It uses CodeMirror v6, React(v19, React Compiler) and Vite with rolldown.

## What makes it different

“Ephe” comes from ephemeral. The main goal is to organize what you need to do today. It isn’t for teams. It’s a quiet space for your own priorities.

Give it a spin if that sounds useful to you.

Comments

Lyngbakr•3d ago

I'm excited to give this a try, as I think I'm the target audience. I tried using Helix[0] (my editor of choice) with mpls[1], but it didn't quite scratch the itch. These days, I use a sturdy notebook and cheap (but awesome!) fountain pen, because I just need something simple. No bells. No whistles. This seems ideal!

[0]https://helix-editor.com/ [1]https://github.com/mhersson/mpls

notnmeyer•3d ago

shameless plug, but if you’re looking for a daily note taking thing, take a look at https://github.com/notnmeyer/daylog-cli. it’s a cli tool for daily task tracking. edits in $EDITOR (i use helix) and renders markdown in the terminal.

i use it to take notes during the day at work and then use the notes for our standup.

Lyngbakr•2d ago

You had me at

    > DayLog ah ahh ahhhhhh, fighter of the night log ah ahh ahhhhh.

unvalley•3d ago

Thank you! Editors like Helix are a good choice. I just prefer GUIs, so I built one in the browser. Hope you’ll give it a try!

u5wbxrc3•2d ago

Helix was great until I discovered something that was a dealbreaker for me. They treat newline character as a normal character which is just very very non intuitive. I just wish there was option for behavior same as vim does. https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/2956

jakkos•2d ago

I actually use the fact newline is a pseudo-character pretty often (e.g t-return-d to "delete till newline"). I have the opposite issue where I use Helix most of the time, but sometimes have to compromise with rebinding a "vim mode" and little things like esc-i causing the cursor to move 1 character left drive me up the wall.

spankibalt•3d ago

Annoying feature bitch 'n' beg:

"Frictionless" text hoisting (incl. hoist-to-view document window capability) à la Symantec's GrandView (DOS) [1] is a must for me in a modern tool of this type. Table manipulation à la org-mode would be nice to have, text template import and export (e. g. screenwriting formats) a bonus. But lean and mean general-purpose text editors focusing on non-coding creators are just not a thing anymore.

Anyway, congratulations and good luck!

1. [https://welcometosherwood.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/grandview...]

unvalley•3d ago

Thank you, I’m definitely aiming to keep making it better. Gotta admit never heard of GrandView or org-mode-style tools before. I will look them up. And yeah, it’s surprisingly hard to find tools that just let you write raw Markdown.

spankibalt•3d ago

Friendly words of advice: don't get too carried away with this, especially org-mode, a massive black hole of features, nearly all of them completely irrelevant for a small, non-coder focused datatool. For me, org-mode's standout feature is just its ability to let you edit tables in a very neat fashion. And GrandView's outlining elegance, especially its text-hoisting behavior, is still completely and utterly unmatched. After 35 years! That's why I still use it. The OSF [1] is another good place to pick some brains, if you don't already know.

1. [https://www.outlinersoftware.com]

unvalley•3d ago

Yeah, one of Ephe’s selling points is actually how few features it has. Finding that balance is fun, so I’ll keep exploring. Markdown really isn’t great for editing tables though, totally agree. Once I wrap up some work, I’ll take a closer look at outlining tools too. Thanks again!

ctkhn•3d ago

It looks nice and I like the general idea, but what's the difference between this and a todos folder in joplin or any existing notes app? That's what I use personally and at work I do the same thing with onenote (because of mega enterprise install restrictiveness) and a new note page every day seems to do essentially what this app offers.

unvalley•3d ago

Thank you, I’ve written a bit about the thinking behind this app in the form of a short guide: https://github.com/unvalley/ephe/blob/main/.github/guide.md

I think the difference in philosophy shows up in the feature set too. For example, Ephe currently only gives you a single page because the focus is on today. If there are any features you find essential in apps like Joplin but missing in Ephe, I’d love to hear. I want to keep improving it.

bryanhogan•3d ago

I have been using Logseq [1] for this. It displays all days in a list view that you can scroll down, which I prefer.

[1]: https://logseq.com/

unvalley•3d ago

I think the all days, you mean a list of past documents In Ephe, there’s only one page, so the only way to look back is through snapshots. That’s maybe part of the philosophy behind the app. Anyway, I’ll take another look at Logseq. Thank you

jonahx•3d ago

It looks similar to Obsidian. Are there significant advantages?

chthonicdaemon•3d ago

Logseq is block-based while Obsidian is more focused on pages. If you want to build something like Wikipedia, Obsidian fits that well. If you're more used to notion and you think more in bullets, Logseq could be a better fit.

spankibalt•3d ago

Yes. Obsidian resembles the classic desktop wiki while Logseq is more suitable for outlining. If the block-based approach to the problem is to your taste, that is.

unvalley•3d ago

Great question. At a glance, it might look like Obsidian and logseq (PKM) — but Ephe is less features and simpler. No login. No install. No plugin system. No even multiple documents. We just open the page and write. It’s intentionally minimal — one page, focused on just today. That focus is what sets it apart.

marcuskaz•3d ago

Here's a dead simple note "app" - it's a single html file using CSS and JavaScript, a whopping 62 lines. Uses content editable and localStorage.

Demo: https://mkaz.github.io/browser-pad/

Source: https://github.com/mkaz/browser-pad/ - though I suppose you can just view source on demo too

keb_•3d ago

Nice one! Although it doesn't seem to save newlines on refresh.

marcuskaz•3d ago

You're right, fixed. Switched it to use innerHTML.

unvalley•3d ago

That works too, for sure. I’ve paid special attention to certain features like how task creation works in Markdown with Ephe. Would love for you to give it a try.

marcuskaz•3d ago

For sure, yours is far more elegant and nice to use.

Mine takes minimalism to an extreme :-)

unvalley•3d ago

Thank you, I was surprised at your quick ship:)

marcuskaz•3d ago

You can also create a writing space in your browser using a data URL, paste the following into your address bar and boom! instant editor. You can bookmark it and will always be available.

``` data:text/html, <html contenteditable> ```

Plus bonus ephemeral, close the tab and your notes are gone with them. Here's an old post with examples using data URL adding style: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6005295

submeta•3d ago

Reminds me of TaskPaper. But markdown is ubiquitously available. So yeah, makes sense.

unvalley•2d ago

Thank you! To be honest, I didn't know much about taskpaper but I have seen it. The concept is similar. If there are any good features, I'd like to refer to them.

shlomo_z•3d ago

Can someone recommend something like this, but where my notes are published online (on my domain)?

SilverServer•3d ago

I self host this

https://github.com/chroxify/haptic Pretty neat, mind the fact that is local based, so if you log from another device you will not have persistence

FinnKuhn•2d ago

Considering that the comment was mentioning online publication I don’t see how a local only tool would be of any relevance here.

inquist•1d ago

Looks like `haptic` is local first, not local only

dhruv3006•2d ago

Good one!

unvalley•2d ago

Thank you:)

u5wbxrc3•2d ago

Looks neat and simple! Gonna try it for few days atleast, thanks.

unvalley•2d ago

Thank you! Any feedback is welcome, have fun.

chrisvalleybay•2d ago

Like that you're using CodeMirror! With CodeMirror you can very easily add VIm-support as well [0], which many might enjoy.

[0] https://github.com/replit/codemirror-vim

unvalley•2d ago

Interesting! Actually I use VSCode to be honest, but wanna try that out.

chenzhekl•2d ago

Nice product. Just one minor issue. The font looks ugly on Windows.

unvalley•2d ago

Thanks! really, I'll check on Windows.

scaradim•2d ago

Sorry, TL;DR What does this bring more than organizing own thoughts and tasks in a Obsidian md note?

unvalley•2d ago

Thank you for your question. If Obsidian can do the same, that works. But I don’t think I need past tasks saved as documents. Personally, I don’t want to manage TODOs in my PKM. I prefer to keep app responsibilities separate. (For example, I don't like todo apps that integrate calendars)

oneeyedpigeon•2d ago

This is at least one order of magnitude less complex than an Obsidian note.

rpastuszak•2d ago

It looks really nice! (tested on Safari/Mac).

Have you considered adding a small popup encouraging people to set it as their home page? I use Ensō (https://enso.sonnet.io) in that manner occasionally.

Also, the "system" button disappears during writing (good), but it's hard to get it back unless I click outside of the editor. In Ensō, I re-enable it on any pointer move - I would suggesting doing something similar.

PS I work on somewhat similar tools (like the one mentioned above), esp. for loose, stream-of-consciousness style of writing https://untested.sonnet.io/notes/stream-of-consciousness-mor... then copy paste the text into obsidian.

If you ever fancy chatting about privacy-friendly, idiosyncratic/home-cooked software hit me up on sonnet.io/posts/hi !

unvalley•2d ago

Thank you! I checked you app Ensō, it's awesome. I really like this kind of app. Yeah I need to polish the "system" button. Currently, it should appear after writing texts within 1 sec. I’d love to chat and will reach out!

bronxpockfabz•2d ago

I'll kindly remind people that actual [physical] paper does, in fact, still exist. You may have various feelings about how sustainable and eco friendly it is - sure, but for simple daily notes it is a good alternative, in my opinion.

For more enjoyment, you may even want to invest in a good fountain pen or two, and some fun inks to write with.

In my humble and subjective opinion, it is more tactile, enjoyable, better in terms of focus and forces you to write less / summarise, as my handwriting speed is like 1/10 of my typing speed.

My personal favourite pairing is Pilot Capless + Sailor Jentle Epinard + Clairefontaine Pupitre.

Your experience may vary.

unvalley•2d ago

I enjoy writing on paper too. I use the word “paper” when describing this app though honestly, I did hesitate. That said, for people like me, typing can actually be a way to clear noise. If we can combine the freedom of physical paper with the flexibility of software that’s the ideal I’m chasing.

Superbowl5889•2d ago

That looks very neat.I was searching for a local notepad, went to length of installing a extension.

But this. Just wow. Thank you.

unvalley•2d ago

Thank you! I’ll keep improving it.

asjo•2d ago

What is a "Markdown Paper"?

unvalley•2d ago

I wanted to create a catchy, attention-grabbing phrase:) This app is meant to feel like a single sheet of paper on our desk where we can write in Markdown.

entropie•2d ago

Pretty cool! I made something similar for myself. My primary motivation back then was to make a tomboy-like system to link the individual todo lists together. I use #hashtags to group “zettel” and individual zettel also know other zettel that refer to them. What I also find very useful are [ ] and [x] which I use as lists to check off (seems you do that allready).

Screenshot (it is not publicly available): https://i.imgur.com/js9S4wa.png

But the source is: https://github.com/entropie/ha2itat/tree/main/plugins/zettel

Ill dig a bit in your source.

unvalley•2d ago

Thank you! I like how it makes Zettelkasten-style organization easy. For this ephe.app though, I intentionally limited it to a single page as you know. A deliberate choice not to expand. I’m looking forward to yours!

nashashmi•2d ago

Day of silly submissions. First byte wordle. Now this.

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Comments