Flatnotes

Flatnotes is a minimalist, self-contained web application for writing and organizing notes as local Markdown files (a “flat-file” notebook). It focuses on speed and simplicity: you edit notes in the browser, while the source of truth remains a folder of plain-text files.

Key Features

• Flat-file storage: notes are plain Markdown files on disk (easy to back up and sync externally)
• Web-based editor for creating, editing, and deleting notes
• Fast full-text search across all notes
• Tagging and tag-based filtering (tags derived from note metadata/content)
• Simple navigation UI designed for quick capture and retrieval
• Docker-first deployment (commonly run as a single container)

Use Cases

• Personal knowledge base using a local Markdown folder
• A lightweight “notes inbox” for quick capture with later organization via tags/search
• Self-hosted alternative for users who want notes to stay as files rather than in a database

Limitations and Considerations

• Primarily designed for personal/single-user workflows; advanced multi-user collaboration features are not a focus
• Feature set is intentionally minimal compared with full PKM suites (e.g., graph views, rich backlinks)

Flatnotes is a good fit when you want a fast web UI on top of a directory of Markdown notes, keeping data portable and easy to manage with existing filesystem-based tooling. Its opinionated simplicity makes it easy to deploy and maintain while still providing the essentials: editing, tags, and search.