Editor
Write and format your notes with a rich Markdown editor and toolbar
The editor is where you write. It's a rich Markdown editor that renders formatting as you type, auto-saves your changes, and gives you quick access to every block type from a single toolbar.
Opening a Note
Tap any note from the Notes page, Home, Daily Desk, Search results, or any other list. The editor opens full-screen — the bottom navigation bar hides to give you the full screen for writing. Swipe from the left edge to go back.
The Toolbar
When the keyboard is active, a toolbar appears directly above it. From left to right:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Undo / Redo | Step backward or forward through your edits |
| Dictation | Start voice-to-text input (if enabled in Settings) |
| + (Block Picker) | Open the block picker panel to insert any block type |
| [[ | Insert a wikilink and open the suggestion popover |
| B | Bold |
| I | Italic |
| ` | Inline code |
| Highlight | Apply a colored background to text |
| Text color | Apply a color to text |
| Bullet list | Start or toggle a bullet list |
| To-do list | Start or toggle a checkbox list |
| Image | Insert an image |
When your cursor is inside a list, indent and outdent buttons also appear. A Hide Keyboard button sits at the far right.
Active formatting (e.g., bold is on at the cursor) is shown with a highlighted button state.
Block Picker
Tap the + button in the toolbar to open the block picker panel, which slides up from the bottom. It's organized into sections:
Blocks — Text, Heading 1 through Heading 6, Bullet List, Numbered List, To-do List, Code Block, Blockquote, Inline Code, Divider, Table, Mermaid, Math Block.
Insert — Wiki Link, Image, File, Today's Daily, Tomorrow's Daily, Yesterday's Daily.
Highlight — Remove highlight, plus Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple color options.
Colored Text — the same seven color options applied to text instead of background.
Callouts — Info, Tip, Warning, Error, Success.
Date & Time — Today's Date, Tomorrow, Yesterday, Current Time, Date & Time.
Tap any item to insert it at your cursor position.
Text Formatting
Standard Markdown formatting is available through the toolbar or by typing the syntax directly:
| Format | Toolbar | Markdown syntax |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | B button | **text** |
| Italic | I button | *text* |
| Block picker | ~~text~~ | |
| Underline | Block picker | ~text~ |
Inline code | ` button | `text` |
Headings
Six heading levels are available. Use the block picker or type # through ###### followed by a space at the start of a line.
Lists
- Bullet list — tap the bullet list button or type
-at the start of a line. - Numbered list — use the block picker or type
1.at the start of a line. - To-do list — tap the checkbox button or type
- [ ]at the start of a line. Tap a checkbox to toggle it between complete and incomplete.
When inside a list, use the indent/outdent buttons to nest items.
Callouts
Callouts are highlighted blocks for drawing attention to specific information. Five types are available from the block picker:
| Type | Use for |
|---|---|
| Info | General information |
| Tip | Helpful suggestions |
| Warning | Caution or important caveats |
| Error | Problems or critical issues |
| Success | Confirmations or positive outcomes |
In Markdown, callouts use the blockquote syntax with a type marker:
> [!TIP]
> Your callout text here.
Code Blocks
Insert a code block from the block picker or type triple backticks (```) on a new line. Syntax highlighting is applied automatically based on the language. Many languages are supported including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go, Swift, HTML, CSS, SQL, and more.
Tables
Insert a table from the block picker. Tables use standard Markdown pipe syntax:
| Header 1 | Header 2 |
|----------|----------|
| Cell 1 | Cell 2 |
Math
Octarine supports LaTeX math rendering via KaTeX.
- Inline math — wrap an expression in single dollar signs:
$E = mc^2$ - Block math — insert a Math Block from the block picker, or use double dollar signs on their own lines:
$$
x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}
$$
Mermaid Diagrams
Insert a Mermaid block from the block picker to create diagrams using the Mermaid syntax. Supported diagram types include flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts, and more.
Images
Tap the image button in the toolbar to insert an image. Images stored in your workspace's .attachments/ folder can be referenced with wikilinks:
[[photo.png]]
[[photo.png|500]]
The number after the pipe sets the width in pixels.
Frontmatter
Notes can include YAML frontmatter at the very top of the file, between --- delimiters:
---
title: My Note
status: draft
pinned: true
tags:
- project
- planning
---
Frontmatter properties are displayed as a strip below the editor header when present. Tap the strip to open the properties sheet, where you can view, add, edit, and delete properties.
Supported property types: Text, Number, Date, Date & Time, Checkbox, List, Tags, and Files.
Note Info Panel
Swipe from the right edge of the screen to open the Note Info panel. It has three tabs:
- Stats — created date, updated date, word count, character count, line count, reading time, and a list of linked notes.
- Outline — a clickable table of contents generated from your headings. Tap a heading to scroll to it.
- Backlinks — a list of other notes that link to the current note via wikilinks.
Auto-Save
Changes are saved automatically as you type. There's no save button — just write and navigate away when you're done.