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

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.

Saving Filters

Filter changes are not saved automatically. When you add, edit, or remove filters, a live preview updates the table immediately so you can see results before committing.

When filters have unsaved changes:

• A Save button appears in the top-right of the view header — click it to persist your filter changes
• An Undo button (↩) appears next to it — click it to discard changes and revert to the last saved state

All other view settings (columns, grouping, sorting, icon, color) save immediately when changed. Only filters require explicit saving.

System Fields

Built-in metadata tracked by Octarine:

Field	Description	Type
Name	Note filename	string
Path	Full file path	string
Folder	Folder path excluding the workspace 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.

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 pinned to the left 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.

Resizing Columns

Drag the edge of any column header to resize it. Column widths are saved per view and restored when you reopen it.

Reordering Columns

Drag and drop column headers to rearrange them. The Name column is always pinned to the left and cannot be moved.

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.

Grouping

Grouping organizes your view rows under collapsible section headers based on a field's values.

Selecting a Group Field

1. Click the Group icon in the view header toolbar
2. Select a field from the popover — system fields appear under "Octarine" and custom properties under "Properties"
3. To remove grouping, select No grouping at the top of the list

Not all fields support grouping. The following are excluded: Name, Path, Tasks, Linked Notes, Linked Media, Linked Files, and Related Notes.

How Groups Work

• Each unique value of the selected field becomes a group header
• Array fields (like Tags or list properties) place a note into multiple groups — one for each value
• Notes without a value for the grouped field appear under a "No value" group
• Click a group header to collapse or expand its rows
• A sticky group header remains visible at the top of the table as you scroll through a long group

Automatic Bucketing

Numeric and date fields are automatically bucketed into readable ranges instead of showing raw values:

Field	Buckets
Word Count	< 100, 101–200, 201–500, 501–1,000, 1,001–2,000, 2,001+
Line Count	< 10, 11–25, 26–50, 51–100, 101–250, 251+
Character Count	< 500, 501–1,000, 1,001–2,500, 2,501–5,000, 5,001–10,000, 10,001+
Reading Time	< 1 min, 1–5 mins, 6–10 mins, > 10 mins
Created / Modified Date	Today, Yesterday, Past 7 days, Past 30 days, Past 3 months, Past year, Over a year ago

Group Sorting

When grouping is active, a sort direction toggle appears next to the group field chip:

• Click to toggle between ascending (↑) and descending (↓) group order
• For bucketed fields, groups follow their canonical order (or reversed)
• For text fields, groups are sorted alphabetically
• The "No value" group always sorts last, regardless of direction

Group sort direction is saved with the view.

Note Preview Sheet

Clicking a note's name in the view table opens a preview sheet — a sliding panel on the right side of the screen that lets you inspect a note without leaving the view.

What the Sheet Shows

• Read-only preview of the full note content
• Note statistics — created date, modified date, word count, character count, line count, reading time
• Properties panel — collapsed view of the note's frontmatter properties
• "Edit in Tab" button to open the note for editing

Navigating Between Notes

Use the arrow buttons at the top of the sheet, or keyboard shortcuts:

Key	Action
j or ↓	Next note
k or ↑	Previous note

Navigation follows the current table order, respecting any active filters, sorting, and grouping.

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 — duplicate or empty names show an inline error.

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.

Managing Views

Opening Notes

Click any note name in the table to open the preview sheet. Use the "Edit in Tab" button in the sheet to open the note in a full editor tab.

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.

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"
• Save when ready — Tweak filters freely, preview results live, then save once you're happy
• Property-first workflow — Add properties to notes, then create views to organize them
• Preview without leaving — Click a note name to peek at its content in the sheet panel, navigate with j/k

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
View is empty	Remove filters one by one to identify which excludes your notes
Filters not persisting	Click the Save button after editing filters — changes require explicit saving
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
Grouping field missing	Some fields (Name, Path, Tasks, Links) cannot be used for grouping