Binderus 1.0 — every major feature, version by version

Binderus 1.0 shipped today. instead of a launch-marketing post, here's what actually got built across the previous releases, in plain language. if you joined late, this is what you have access to in the app you're about to download.

Each version below is a real release on binderus.com/whats-new. i've grouped them into the eras they fell into, and called out the features that mattered.

v0.1 - v0.3 — the foundation#

the boring-but-required stuff that has to work before anything else does.

plain-text markdown editing with internal + external hyperlinks
search by file name, then by file content (including #tags written inline in your notes)
favorites + recents that persist across sessions
dark and light themes
custom data directory — point binderus at any folder on disk, including a dropbox / onedrive / google drive folder for free cross-machine sync
multi-language ui — started with chinese + japanese, then spanish
multi-format file support — images (png, jpg, gif, svg, etc.), video (mp4, webm), audio (mp3, ogg), and source code with syntax highlighting (js, ts, html, css, python, rust, go, java, c, php, sql, json, yaml)
tab switching shortcuts + sidebar toggle

v0.4 - v0.6 — the editor became a real editor#

the version range where binderus stopped being "a markdown viewer with edit mode" and started being something you could write a long document in.

encrypted database storage — passphrase-protected vault, alternative to plain .md files for things you want locked
multi-tab editing + cmd+f search inside the current note
multi-vault — multiple base directories for separate work / personal / etc.
tree view with file move (single + multi-select), rename, drag and drop
wikilinks — [target](#wikilink-target) renders as a clickable link, the foundation that made the v0.9.9 publisher's "notes that link here" backlinks panel possible
slash menu, mermaid diagrams, math blocks, tables, task lists, code blocks with language picker, inline link editing, single-line break rendering
floating style toolbar on text selection (bold, italic, strikethrough, code, math, link)
status bar with cursor position, word count, and language indicator
6 more locales — german, french, italian, hindi, russian, arabic. 10 total.
quick switcher (cmd+p) — show file location, export & print, toggle favorite, close other tabs

v0.7 — plugins#

The moment binderus got an extension model. you can install third-party plugins from a .zip, browse a gallery, and plugins can register their own keyboard shortcuts.

plugin system — enable / disable built-in plugins via a manage-plugins modal
plugin gallery — browse + one-click install official plugins
user plugins — install third-party plugins from a .zip. installer rejects zips that target a newer binderus.
pomodoro timer plugin — 25-min countdown in the status bar, start / pause / reset
word count plugin — live word + char count in the status bar
emoji autocomplete — type :wave and pick from the dropdown
md and md text editor modes — plain-text markdown with a syntax highlighting overlay, for when you want to see the raw #s and *s
ai chat plugin — chat with any openai-compatible llm (ollama, lm studio, openai, deepinfra, groq, together, openrouter) using your current note, selection, picked files, or an entire folder as context. cmd+l toggles the panel.
windows: .exe installer + portable .exe — replaced msi

AI chat is opt-in. binderus itself is intentionally not an ai-writing app. if you want generative ai in the editor, the plugin lets you bring your own key. if you don't, you never see it.

v0.8 - v0.9 — power-user polish#

mostly about doing the small things right.

image paste + drag-drop directly into notes, saved to your directory or the encrypted db
image preview overlay — click any image to view full-size and edit its description
.zip archive import to your vault, with progress + cancel
custom themes — drop a .css file into your themes folder and it appears in the picker. install themes from anywhere via the file picker.
theme inheritance — extends: dark-nord lets a custom theme override only the variables it cares about
export theme as starter — generate a copy of any theme to tweak in any text editor
file tree: duplicate any file or folder, names auto-bumped (foo copy, foo copy 2)
paste plain text — cmd / ctrl + shift + v, strips formatting from the clipboard before insert
fix: remember window dimensions between launches
recents list improvements — show file paths, clear-list button
performance optimizations across the editor and tree view

v0.9.9 - v1.0.0 — went outward#

The publish era, plus the trust-the-app finishing touches that made me willing to call this 1.0.

local html publisher plugin — publish a note or folder as a static html site to any folder on your disk. "notes that link here" backlinks panel on every page, dark mode by default, mermaid + math, table-of-contents, copy-code buttons, sitemap, rss, robots, 404. the previous post is the deeper dive on this one.
publisher 0.2.0 — publishes images alongside articles, reads yaml frontmatter (title, date, tags, excerpt) from your notes. this is the feature that lets the binderus blog you're reading right now get built by binderus itself.
encrypted db daily auto-backup — writes to <vault>/.binderus/backups/, keeps the last 7. one corrupted-write event during an os update would have eaten the whole vault before this. that wasn't acceptable for a 1.0.

what 1.0 is not#

Honest version-state, because the README ban on AI-style hype is in effect:

cloud sync — still using your dropbox / onedrive / google drive folder as the workaround
mobile apps — not yet

calling this 1.0 doesn't change the roadmap. it just means i'd put my own notes in here without caveats.

try it#

binderus 1.0 — download (free, ~9 mb, mac / windows / linux). github. discord — that's still the fastest way to get a bug fixed.

if you've been on the fence, 1.0 is the point at which i'd say give it a real run.

post #3 of the binderus blog. previous: hello, the publisher post.

— Van