Properties

Properties let you add structured metadata to your notes—custom fields for organizing, categorizing, and searching your content. Define them once, reuse them across your workspace.

Overview

Properties are metadata fields stored at the top of your notes. Track status, priority, due dates, or anything else that helps you stay organized. Since properties are defined at the workspace level, they remain consistent across all your notes.

Common use cases:

• Track project status and priority levels
• Monitor word count and publication stages for writing
• Tag sources and confidence levels for research
• Set reminders and categorize topics for personal notes

Property Types

Octarine supports seven property types:

String

Free-form text for names, descriptions, or categories. Supports [[wikilink]] syntax for linking to other notes.

Author: Jane Smith
Summary: Meeting notes about project timeline
Related to: [[Project Alpha]]

Number

Numeric values for counts, ratings, scores, or measurements.

Word Count: 1250
Priority: 5
Rating: 8.5

Date

Date values without time—ideal for deadlines and milestones.

Due Date: 2024-03-15
Publication Date: 2024-04-01

DateTime

Precise timestamps when time matters.

Last Edited: 2025-09-23T09:42
Meeting Time: 2025-09-23T15:30

Checkbox

True/false toggles for completion status or flags.

Published: true
Archived: false

List

Predefined dropdown options for consistent categorization. Supports multiple selections and [[wikilinks]].

Status:
  - In Progress
  - Under Review
Person:
  - [[Jane Doe]]
  - [[Rajat K]]

Tags

A reserved type that syncs with your workspace's tag tree. Applies only to the tags property.

tags:
  - project-alpha
  - meeting
  - urgent

Adding Properties to Notes

The properties panel appears at the top of each note, below the title. Toggle it with the properties icon in the toolbar—it also shows automatically when a note has existing properties.

Add an Existing Property

1. Click + Add property at the bottom of the panel
2. Select from the dropdown of workspace properties
3. Set your value

Create a New Property

1. Click + Add property then Create new property...
2. Enter a name and choose a type
3. For List types, define your options
4. The property becomes available across your workspace

Remove a Property

Click the X next to any property to remove it from the current note. The property definition remains available for other notes.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Cmd/Ctrl + ; — Add property
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + ; — Focus properties panel
• Tab — Navigate between properties
• Enter — Save changes
• Escape — Cancel editing

Managing Properties

Properties are shared across your workspace—changes affect all notes using them.

Change a Property's Type

1. Click the property name in any note
2. Select Change property type
3. Choose the new type

Rename a Property

1. Click the property name
2. Select Rename property
3. Enter the new name

Reserved Properties

Some properties are managed by Octarine:

• tags — Syncs with your tag tree
• pinned, ai_recap, migrated, locked — Hidden system properties for internal tracking

Additional Features

• AI suggestions — Click the sparkles icon to analyze your note content and get property suggestions.
• Drag to reorder — Arrange properties by dragging rows. The order is saved per note.
• Copy properties — Use the more options menu to copy all properties to your clipboard.
• Undo changes — Click the undo arrow to revert recent modifications.

Searching by Properties

Filter notes using property values in the search interface with the syntax [property:] (e.g., [status:]).

Technical Details

Storage

Property definitions are stored in .octarine/properties.json—a JSON array that syncs with Git-based backup and is included in workspace backups.

Property values live in YAML frontmatter at the top of each note file. This standard format keeps your notes portable and editable with any text editor or Markdown tool.

---
Status:
  - In Progress
Priority: 3
Due Date: 2024-03-15
Published: false
Author: Jane Smith
tags:
  - project-alpha
  - meeting
---

# Your Note Title

Your note content goes here...

Using Properties with Templates

Add properties to templates for quick reuse. Use Cmd/Ctrl + K then Create note from template to create a new note with both template content and properties applied.