From the App

Sharing a note from the Octarine desktop app turns it into a public web page. Octarine uploads a copy of the note, gives you a link to share, and lets you update or unpublish it later without changing the local Markdown file.

Before You Share

A shared note can use an ordinary public link or an optional password-protected link. Anyone with an ordinary link can open it without signing in. Password protection controls access to the whole published note, but it does not create reader accounts or individual permissions.

Review the note before publishing and remove anything that should stay private. This includes the note body, visible properties, and images referenced in the note.

The Show properties switch controls whether properties appear on the rendered page and public note endpoint. When it is off, the public endpoint returns an empty properties object. The note body, title, summary, timestamps, and any enabled author name remain public.

Create A Public Link

1. Open a non-empty note in the desktop app.
2. Click the globe icon in the note breadcrumb.
3. On your first share, read the short introduction and click Continue to sharing.
4. Review the public title. Octarine starts with the note's title property when one exists, or the Markdown filename otherwise.
5. Optionally add a summary. If an AI model is configured, click Generate to draft one from the note.
6. Choose whether to show the note's properties.
7. Optionally enable Protect with a password. Octarine securely generates the password when it creates the link.
8. Review the expiration date and click Create link.

For an ordinary link, Octarine copies the new link to your clipboard. Use Open link in the confirmation message to check the published page in your browser.

For a protected link, Octarine displays the generated 22-character password and gives you separate actions to copy the password, copy the protected link, or open it. The protected link contains the password, so treat the complete URL like a secret and send it only to intended readers. You can copy the protected link again from the sharing popover while the note remains shared, but the password and protected recipient URL are not stored in the note's frontmatter.

The globe icon uses the accent color while the local note is connected to a public link.

Octarine loads the current title, summary, property visibility, and expiration from your publishing account. While those details are loading, the globe icon shows a spinner and the sharing popover shows placeholders. If the request fails, check your connection and click Try again in the popover.

The Command Bar also includes Share Note for a one-step publish. Use the breadcrumb popover when you want to review the title, summary, and property visibility before creating the link.

Change Password Protection

Password protection is chosen when the link is created and cannot be toggled on an existing publication. To change between an ordinary and protected link, stop sharing the note and create a new link with the setting you want.

What Gets Published

Octarine uploads:

• The current Markdown content.
• The public title and optional summary.
• Visible note properties.
• Supported images referenced with wikilinks such as [[diagram.png]].

Image wikilinks with display options, such as [[diagram.png|400]], are supported. Octarine finds the matching file in the workspace's .attachments folder and uploads it with the note.

Supported image types are PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP. Each image can be up to 5 MiB, and your publishing account has 1 GB of image storage. Other attachments, SVG files, videos, and local files are not uploaded when sharing. If an image cannot be found, Octarine publishes the rest of the note and tells you that the missing image will not appear.

The public page uses Octarine's web reader. Standard Markdown links continue to work, while workspace-only links may not make sense outside your local workspace.

Comments On Shared Notes

Comments are enabled by default. A reader can select a passage on the shared page, sign in with Google or GitHub, and leave an anchored comment. Visible conversations can be read by anyone with the public link, while only the reader who started a thread and the note creator can reply.

Comment review and moderation happen on the shared page rather than in the desktop app. Octarine emails you when a reader comments or replies; use the review link in that email, or sign in on the shared page with a Google or GitHub account whose verified email matches your Octarine license email.

From the Comments panel you can reply, resolve or reopen threads, hide content, and turn new comments and replies off for that note. Existing conversations are preserved when comments are turned off.

See Comments for the complete reader and creator workflow, privacy details, and limits.

Update A Shared Note

Editing the local note does not update its public copy automatically.

To publish your latest changes:

1. Open the shared note.
2. Click the globe icon in the breadcrumb.
3. Adjust the title, summary, or Show properties setting if needed.
4. Click Save changes.

Octarine uploads the current Markdown, properties, and supported images while keeping the same public URL. The original expiration date does not change.

You can also use Sync Shared Note from the Command Bar. Other sharing actions there let you open or copy the current link.

Copy Or Open A Link

Click the globe icon to see the public URL. Use the buttons beside it to:

• Copy the link to your clipboard.
• Open the published note in your default browser.

The Command Bar also includes Copy Share Link and Open Share Link for a shared note.

Choose Sharing Defaults

Open Settings -> Sharing -> General to manage account-wide sharing settings, then click Save changes.

Identity

Set a display name and turn on Show author when you want your name at the top of shared notes. Your account email is shown in Settings for reference but is not used as the public author name.

Expiration

New links expire automatically. Choose 3, 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days; the default is 30 days.

Changing this setting affects new links only. Existing links keep the expiration date they received when they were created, and updating a shared note does not extend it.

An expired note and its image API URLs stop serving new reads, but expiration does not delete the stored image bytes. Unpublish the note when its hosted images should be removed and its storage usage released. Copies that readers already downloaded or cached cannot be recalled.

When the current note's link has expired, the globe icon changes to an expired-sharing indicator. Open it, choose the new duration, and click Extend expiry to reactivate the same public link.

Properties

Use Show properties by default to choose the initial state of the switch for new links. You can still change it for an individual note before publishing.

Notifications

Use Comment email notifications to choose whether Octarine emails you when readers comment or reply on your shared notes. Turning notifications off does not disable comments or affect replies sent to other thread participants.

Appearance

Choose separate light and dark reader themes and a font for your public notes. The preview in Settings shows how the combination will look.

Identity and appearance are shared across your publishing account, so changes apply to your published-note reader rather than to one local workspace.

Manage Published Notes

Open the Shared Dashboard to see public links from your sharing account, including publications whose local note is no longer open in the app.

For each publication, you can:

• Open its public page.
• Copy its link.
• See its updated and expiration dates.
• Unpublish it.

Expired links remain in this list until you unpublish them. Use the refresh button to fetch the latest list from the sharing service.

The Unpublish all action disables every listed public link and removes their hosted attachments. It does not delete or edit the Markdown files in your workspaces.

Where Sharing Details Live

Your publishing account is the source of truth for whether a link is active and for its title, summary, expiration, property visibility, and password-protection state. Octarine keeps only the link identifier with the local note so it can request those details from the sharing service.

Sharing fields are therefore no longer available as View filters or columns. Use the Shared Dashboard to browse the account-wide list, including expired publications and links whose local note is no longer open.

When you duplicate a shared note, Octarine removes the sharing metadata from the duplicate. The original note keeps its public link, and the duplicate starts as an unpublished local note.

Stop Sharing

To unpublish the note you are viewing:

1. Click the globe icon in the breadcrumb.
2. Click Stop sharing.

You can also use Unpublish Note in the Command Bar or unpublish a note from the Shared Dashboard.

Unpublishing makes the public link stop working and removes the note from your publication list. Images uploaded with that publication are scheduled for deletion. The local note and its local attachments are not changed.

Deleting a local Markdown file is not a substitute for unpublishing its hosted copy. If the source file is gone, use the Shared Dashboard to remove the public link.

Limits And API Access

Sharing from the app is intended for personal note publishing, not as a backup service or general-purpose file host. Keep the original Markdown and attachments in your normal workspace backup.

For size, storage, traffic, and fair-use guidance, see Limits & Fair Use. To publish from a terminal, API client, or local agent instead of the desktop UI, see via API.

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