Features

A tour of the writing surface and what makes Binderus feel different. Every feature here works with plain Markdown files — no proprietary format, no lock-in.

The editor

Live preview without split panes. Markdown renders inline as you type, so what you see is what you get — no second editor pane fighting for attention. Cmd S saves at any time and the status bar shows a "Saving…" / "Saved" indicator so you always know where things stand.

Slash menu

Type / at the start of a new line to bring up the command palette. Insert headings, code blocks, callouts, tables, task lists, math blocks, Mermaid diagrams, horizontal rules, and more — all without taking your hands off the keyboard.

Select text and a compact toolbar appears with Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, Code, Math, and Link. The status bar at the bottom shows cursor position (Ln/Col), word count, and current language.

Wiki links & backlinks

Use [[Note Title]] to link to another note. Every note shows its incoming backlinks at the bottom, so you can see who references you. Unlinked mentions are detected too.

Emoji autocomplete & paste plain text

Type :wave to pick from an emoji dropdown — inserts the native character. Need to drop in text without bringing its formatting along? Cmd Shift V pastes plain text, also available from Edit → Paste Plain Text.

Editor modes

Switch between WYSIWYG, MD (raw markdown with syntax highlighting), and MD Text. Toggle the side panel with Cmd ; to inspect the raw markdown for any note.

Plugins

Binderus is built on a plugin system — built-in features and third-party extensions share the same surface. Enable, disable, and install from Manage Plugins.

Plugin Gallery

Browse official plugins and install them with one click from Manage Plugins → Browse. Install a third-party plugin from any .zip file; the installer rejects archives that require a newer Binderus.

AI Chat

Chat with any OpenAI-compatible LLM — Ollama, LM Studio, OpenAI, DeepInfra, Groq, Together, OpenRouter — using the current note, selection, picked files, or a folder as context. Toggle the panel with Cmd L.

Local HTML Publisher

Publish a note or folder as a static HTML site to any folder on your computer. No cloud, no account, no internet. Images publish alongside articles, and YAML frontmatter (title, date, tags, excerpt) is read straight from your notes.

Pomodoro & Word Count

A 25-minute Pomodoro timer with start/pause/reset and a live word/character counter — both in the status bar, out of the way until you need them.

Themes

Pick from built-in light and dark themes, or drop a .css file into your themes folder (Settings → Theme → Open themes folder) to ship a fully custom look. Install themes from any path via Install theme from file…

Custom themes can extend a built-in one — extends: dark-nord means you only override the variables you care about. Export the current theme as a starter to tweak in any text editor.

Organize your notes

Folders and tags

Use folders for the strict hierarchy, tags (#topic) for cross-cutting themes. Pick whichever model fits your brain — Binderus doesn't force you into one.

Tree view & file management

A real tree view with drag-and-drop. Move single or multiple files and folders, duplicate any item from the three-dot menu (names auto-bumped: foo copy, foo copy 2), and reveal the file in Finder/Explorer with one click.

Search & quick switcher

Full-text search across every note in your vault, with inline match highlighting. Cmd F searches inside the current note. The Quick Switcher jumps to any file by name and exposes commands like Show File Location, Export & Print, Toggle Favorite, and Close Other Tabs.

Multi-tab

Open as many notes as you need across tabs. Cmd < and Cmd > switch tabs; Cmd \ toggles the sidebar.

Media & embeds

Images

Paste or drag-and-drop images directly into a note — saved to your directory or encrypted DB. Hover any image for a Move… action (to the note's folder or anywhere else, via the in-app folder picker). Click an image to open the full-size preview overlay and edit its description. Supported formats: PNG, APNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, ICO, SVG.

Code blocks

Triple-backtick blocks with syntax highlighting for 100+ languages, plus a language dropdown right on the block. Specify the language after the opening fence:

```python
def hello():
    print("Hello, Binderus")
```

Diagrams & math

Mermaid diagrams and math blocks render inline. Tables, task lists, and horizontal rules are first-class through the slash menu.

Audio & video

Drop in MP4, WebM, MP3, or OGG and Binderus embeds the player inline.

Storage

Multi-vault

Keep work, personal, and project notes in separate vaults. Switch between them whenever you need a different context.

Encrypted database (optional)

Prefer encryption-at-rest? Switch a vault to the encrypted DB storage option. Binderus writes a daily backup to <vault>/.binderus/backups/ and keeps the last 7 — automatic, no extra setup.

Import & export

Import a .zip archive into any folder of your vault — pick a destination, watch progress, cancel anytime. Export to DOCX or HTML, or export an encrypted DB to a directory of plain Markdown files.

Local-first & private

Your notes live as plain .md files on your disk. There's no proprietary database, no cloud lock-in, no analytics on your content. Pair Binderus with iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or git — whatever sync you trust.

Tip: Add your vault to a private GitHub repo for free, versioned, encrypted-at-rest backup with full history.

Languages

Binderus ships with a UI in 10 languages: English, 中文, 日本語, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, हिन्दी, Русский, and العربية. Auto-detected from your system locale, switchable from Settings → Language.