Markdown notes and tasks for your Mac.

Sly turns a folder of markdown files into a fast writing and planning app. You get a calm editor, task lists that live with your notes, keyboard-first navigation, Git, and a CLI for the terminal habits you already have.

The center is still plain files on disk. Open the folder anywhere, sync it however you like, or keep it only on this machine.

Developed by Wayne Vernon as an independent fork of Scratch, the original project by Eric Li.

Releases · Report an Issue

Sly is for notes you want to keep, tasks you actually need to see, and work that moves faster from the keyboard. It feels like a native productivity app, but the workspace stays simple enough to understand from Finder.

• Work directly in a folder of markdown files.
• Keep notes in step when files change on disk, with a refresh prompt if your local edits might conflict.
• Write in a polished rich text editor, or switch to markdown source when you want the raw file.
• Capture tasks into Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday, Waiting, Completed, and Starred.
• Add dates, due dates, tags, links, waiting-for notes, stars, and recurrence.
• Search notes and tasks quickly, open commands from the keyboard, and keep recent work close.
• Use 1, 2, or 3 panes, detach notes into their own windows, and tune the editor width.
• Initialize, commit, and push Git repos from the app.
• Use the sly CLI for capture, search, scripting, and opening notes from the terminal.

I want notes software to feel good without making the storage mysterious. Sly is built around that preference: a proper Mac app on top, boring markdown files underneath.

That leaves room for useful app things: focus mode, wikilinks, Mermaid diagrams, KaTeX math, tables, images, syntax-highlighted code, task planning, themes, fonts, zoom, and Git. None of those should make it hard to leave, inspect your files, or script around your own workspace.

Install stable from Homebrew:

brew tap waynevernon/sly
brew install --cask waynevernon/sly/sly

Install the beta channel from Homebrew:

brew tap waynevernon/sly
brew install --cask waynevernon/sly/sly@beta

The beta channel follows whichever published release is newer between the latest stable and latest beta, so stable promotions flow through automatically. Homebrew stable and beta installs conflict by design, so install one channel or the other.

If you prefer a direct install, download the latest DMG from the Releases page, open it, and drag Sly to Applications.

Sly is designed to stay usable from the keyboard. A few of the core shortcuts:

Open Settings > Shortcuts inside the app for the full reference.

On macOS, install the CLI from Settings > Integrations. The sly command keeps the app launch behavior you would expect:

• sly launches Sly
• sly . opens a notes folder
• sly file.md opens a markdown file

It also gives you terminal access to notes and tasks:

sly doctor [--format table|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] note list [--folder PATH] [-q QUERY] [-n N] [--format table|json|csv]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] note search QUERY [--folder PATH] [-n N] [--format table|json|csv]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] note show SELECTOR [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] note create TITLE [--folder PATH] [--content TEXT | --content-file PATH] [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] note append SELECTOR TEXT [--no-newline] [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] note open SELECTOR
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task list [--view all|inbox|today|upcoming|waiting|anytime|someday|completed|starred] [-q QUERY] [-n N] [--format table|json|csv]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task search QUERY [--view all|inbox|today|upcoming|waiting|anytime|someday|completed|starred] [-n N] [--format table|json|csv]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task show SELECTOR [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task create TITLE [--description TEXT] [--link URL] [--waiting-for TEXT] [--date YYYY-MM-DD | --bucket anytime|someday] [--due-date YYYY-MM-DD] [--starred] [--recurrence RULE] [--tag TAG ...] [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task update SELECTOR [--title TEXT] [--description TEXT | --clear-description] [--link URL | --clear-link] [--waiting-for TEXT | --clear-waiting-for] [--date YYYY-MM-DD | --clear-date] [--bucket anytime|someday | --clear-bucket] [--due-date YYYY-MM-DD | --clear-due-date] [--starred | --unstarred] [--recurrence RULE | --clear-recurrence] [--tag TAG ... | --clear-tags] [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task complete SELECTOR [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task reopen SELECTOR [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task reschedule SELECTOR (--date YYYY-MM-DD | --bucket anytime|someday | --clear) [--format text|json]
sly [--notes-folder PATH] task delete SELECTOR

Single-task commands resolve selectors in this order:

1. Exact UUID
2. Exact title
3. Unique UUID prefix
4. Unique case-insensitive title fragment

Global option:

• --notes-folder PATH: use a specific notes folder instead of the folder saved in Sly app config

doctor:

• --format table|json: show discovery details as a terminal report or machine-readable JSON

note list options (note search is an alias that takes the query as a positional argument):

• -q/--query TEXT: filter notes by text across title, preview, and note ID
• --folder PATH: limit results to a folder and its subfolders
• -n/--limit N: cap the number of returned notes
• --format table|json|csv: choose human-readable table output or machine-readable JSON/CSV

note show, note create, note append, and note open:

• SELECTOR: exact note ID, exact title, unique ID prefix, or unique case-insensitive title fragment
• note show --format text|json: print raw markdown content or the full note object
• note create TITLE: create a markdown note with # TITLE
• note create --folder PATH: place the note in a folder
• note create --content TEXT or --content-file PATH: add initial body content below the heading
• note append SELECTOR TEXT: append text to an existing note
• note append --no-newline: append without adding a trailing newline
• note open SELECTOR: open the note in Sly

task list options (task search is an alias that takes the query as a positional argument):

• -q/--query TEXT: filter tasks by text across title, description, link, waiting-for, and tags
• --view ...: filter to one task horizon or bucket
• -n/--limit N: cap the number of returned tasks
• --format table|json|csv: choose human-readable table output or machine-readable JSON/CSV

task show:

• SELECTOR: exact UUID, exact title, unique UUID prefix, or unique case-insensitive title fragment
• --format text|json: show a terminal-friendly view or the full task object

task create:

• TITLE: task title
• --description TEXT: set description
• --link URL: set link
• --waiting-for TEXT: mark the task as waiting on someone or something
• --date YYYY-MM-DD: schedule the task for a specific day
• --due-date YYYY-MM-DD: set a deadline separate from the action date
• --bucket anytime|someday: assign an unscheduled horizon bucket
• --starred: star the task
• --recurrence RULE: set recurrence, such as daily:schedule, weekly:completion, or monthly:schedule:15
• --tag TAG: add a tag; repeat for multiple tags
• --format text|json: print terminal text or the full task object

task update:

• SELECTOR: same selector rules as task show
• --title TEXT: replace the title
• --description TEXT or --clear-description: replace or clear the description
• --link URL or --clear-link: replace or clear the link
• --waiting-for TEXT or --clear-waiting-for: replace or clear the waiting-for field
• --date YYYY-MM-DD or --clear-date: replace or clear the scheduled day
• --bucket anytime|someday or --clear-bucket: replace or clear the schedule bucket
• --due-date YYYY-MM-DD or --clear-due-date: replace or clear the deadline
• --starred or --unstarred: update star state
• --recurrence RULE or --clear-recurrence: replace or clear recurrence
• --tag TAG or --clear-tags: replace tags with the provided repeated tag list, or clear all tags
• --format text|json: print terminal text or the full task object

task complete, task reopen, and task reschedule:

• SELECTOR: same selector rules as task show
• task complete / task reopen: toggle completion state
• task reschedule --date YYYY-MM-DD: assign a specific day
• task reschedule --bucket anytime|someday: assign a bucket instead of a date
• task reschedule --clear: clear both date and bucket
• --format text|json: print terminal text or the full task object

Examples:

# Show discovery and task-store status
sly doctor

# Use a specific vault without changing the app's saved folder
sly --notes-folder ~/Notes task list --view today

# Capture a new task directly into Anytime
sly task create "Plan launch notes" --bucket anytime

# Search tasks as JSON for scripting
sly task search launch --format json

# Schedule a task for a specific day
sly task reschedule "Plan launch notes" --date 2026-04-12

# Mark a task complete by UUID prefix
sly task complete 0195d9f1

• macOS
• Node.js 18+
• Rust stable
• Xcode command line tools

git clone https://github.com/waynevernon/sly.git
cd sly
npm install
npm run tauri dev

npm run verify
cd src-tauri
cargo test
cargo check
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings

• Sly is maintained by Wayne Vernon.
• Sly builds on Scratch, the original project created by Eric Li.
• Scratch's original work remains credited under the MIT license.

MIT