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

Click the Properties button in the note breadcrumb to open the Meta Sidebar directly on the Properties tab. When the note already has visible properties, the button shows their count. You can also open the note menu and choose Add property.

The panel shows the note type first, followed by the frontmatter fields already present on the note.

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 enter a new property name
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

Open the property row's actions and remove it from the current note. The property definition remains available for other notes.

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 workspace tag tree and uses the reserved Tags property type.
• oct.related — Stores relationships saved from Related Notes.
• oct.* — The oct. namespace is reserved for built-in fields such as note type, sharing metadata, location, file statistics, and other computed values. You cannot create a custom property with this prefix.
• pinned, ai_recap, ai_recap_format, migrated, and locked — Legacy internal fields hidden from the normal Properties panel.

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 stored in the note's frontmatter.
• 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...

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