Views

Views are dynamic, database-style tables that display your notes based on filters, sorting rules, and custom columns. Think of them as smart saved searches that update automatically.

Getting Started

Unlike the file tree which shows a static folder structure, views let you slice and organize notes by any criteria—dates, properties, tags, tasks, links, and more.

Common use cases:

• Track project notes by status, priority, and deadlines
• Monitor all notes with pending tasks across your workspace
• Find recently modified notes from the past week
• Organize research notes by tags and linked sources
• Create custom dashboards for different workflows

Default Views

Octarine creates three views automatically when you set up a workspace:

• Organised Notes — All notes in your workspace's Notes folder, sorted by last modified date
• Pending Tasks — Notes containing task checkboxes, showing task status and counts
• Recently Written — Notes modified in the past 7 days with their linked notes

Creating a View

1. Open Views from the sidebar or use Cmd/Ctrl + K → Go to Views
2. Click + Create View in the Views panel
3. Name your view and optionally set an icon and color
4. Add filters to define which notes appear
5. Configure columns to display the data you need

Keyboard shortcut: g w — Go to Views from anywhere

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Filters

Filters define which notes appear in your view. Combine system fields and custom properties to create precise queries.

Adding a Filter

1. Click the Add filter icon in the filter panel
2. Select a field (system or custom property)
3. Choose an operator (equals, contains, before, etc.)
4. Enter or select a value

Multiple filters use AND logic—all conditions must match for a note to appear.

System Fields

Built-in metadata tracked by Octarine:

Field	Description	Type
Name	Note filename	string
Path	Full file path	string
Location	Daily, Weekly, Templates, or Notes folder	list
Created Date	When the note was created	date
Modified Date	When the note was last edited	date
Tags	Tags from properties frontmatter	tags
Linked Notes	Files referenced in note	list
Linked Media	Attachments referenced in note	list
Linked Files	External files referenced in note	list
Task Status	Pending, Complete, or No Tasks	list
Is Pinned	Note is pinned in file tree	boolean
Is Locked	Note is read-only	boolean

Custom properties you've defined in your workspace are also available as filter fields. See Properties for more.

Filter Operators

Available operators depend on the field type:

Type	Operators
String	equals, does not equal, contains, does not contain, starts with, ends with, is empty, is not empty
Number	equals, does not equal, greater than, less than, greater than or equal, less than or equal, is empty, is not empty
Date/Time	is, is before, is after, is empty, is not empty
Boolean	is, is not
List/Tags	is any of, is not any of, is empty, is not empty
Files	is empty, is not empty

Date Shortcuts

When filtering by dates, use relative options like Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days, Last Week, Last Month, This Quarter, or pick a specific date from the calendar.

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Columns

Columns control which data fields appear in your view table.

Managing Columns

1. Click the columns icon in the view header
2. Toggle checkboxes to show or hide columns
3. Drag to reorder columns

The Name column is always sticky and stays visible when scrolling horizontally.

Column Types

Each column renders data based on its type:

Type	Display
String	Plain text (supports doclinks)
Number	Right-aligned numeric values
Date/DateTime	Formatted dates and times
Checkbox	Visual checkmark or empty state
List	Comma-separated values
Tags	Color-coded tag pills
Tasks	Task count and status indicator
Links	Clickable note/file references

Column types are detected automatically from property definitions or system fields.

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Sorting

Click a column header to sort by that field. Click again to toggle between ascending and descending order. Sort indicators (↑↓) show the current direction.

Sorting is saved with the view and applied automatically when reopened.

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Customizing Views

Name

Click the view name at the top to edit it. Press Enter to save or Escape to cancel. View names must be unique within the workspace.

Icon and Color

Click the icon next to the view name to open the picker:

• 50+ built-in icons organized by category
• Multiple preset colors that adapt to your theme

Icons and colors help identify views at a glance in tabs and the sidebar.

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Managing Views

Opening Notes

Click any note name in the table to open it in a new tab, just like clicking from the file tree.

Duplicating

Right-click a view in the Views tree and select Duplicate View. Modify the copy without affecting the original.

Deleting

Either right-click a view and select Delete, or open the view and click the delete icon. All tabs displaying that view close automatically.

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Tips

• Quick navigation — Use Cmd/Ctrl + K and type a view name to jump directly to it
• Stack filters — Create complex queries like "tags contains project-alpha AND modified this week"
• Property-first workflow — Add properties to notes, then create views to organize them
• Task monitoring — Filter by Task Status: Pending to track to-dos across your workspace
• Recent activity — Filter by Modified Date: Last 7 Days to see what you've been working on
• Tag collections — Use Tags: is any of to create dynamic groups of related notes

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
View is empty	Remove filters one by one to identify which excludes your notes
Slow performance	Prefer metadata filters (properties, tags, system fields) over content searches
Missing columns	Click the columns icon—some may be hidden
Properties not showing	Ensure the property exists in properties.json and is set on at least one note