Quickstart Guide

Launch Glyph

Open Glyph for the first time. You’ll see the welcome screen with an animated interface.

The welcome screen shows three key concepts:

• Open folder - Choose your local space folder
• Browse files - Open notes from your folders
• Find fast - Use search and tags to navigate

Create or Open a Space

A space is a folder on your computer where Glyph stores your notes.

Choose one of these options:

• Create New Space - Creates a new folder for your notes
• Open Existing Folder - Use an existing folder with markdown files
• Continue Last Space - Return to your most recent workspace

When you open a space, Glyph:

1. Scans for markdown files
2. Builds a search index in .glyph/index.db
3. Watches for file changes automatically

Create Your First Note

Once your space is open, create a new note:

Using the File Tree:

• Right-click in the file tree sidebar
• Select “New File”
• Name your file (e.g., welcome.md)

Using the Command Palette:

• Press Cmd+K (macOS) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)
• Type “new file”
• Press Enter

Write with Markdown

Glyph uses a powerful markdown editor. Try these features:

Basic Formatting

# Heading 1
## Heading 2

**Bold text** and *italic text*

- Bullet list
- Another item

1. Numbered list
2. Second item

[Link text](https://example.com)

Slash Commands

Type / in the editor to open the slash command menu:

• /h1, /h2, /h3 - Insert headings
• /code - Code block
• /task - Task list
• /bullet - Bullet list

Task Lists

Create tasks with checkbox syntax:

- [ ] Incomplete task
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Another task to do

All tasks are indexed and appear in the Tasks view (Cmd+Shift+T).

Open Today's Note

• Press Cmd+D (macOS) or Ctrl+D (Windows/Linux)
• Or use Command Palette → “Open daily note”

Glyph creates a new note named with today’s date (e.g., 2026-03-03.md).

Configure Daily Notes Folder (Optional)

By default, daily notes are created in your space root. To organize them:

1. Open Settings (Cmd+, or Ctrl+,)
2. Go to Daily Notes tab
3. Click Browse to select a folder within your space
4. All future daily notes will be created there

// Daily note naming format (from src/lib/dailyNotes.ts:6)
function formatDate(date: Date): string {
  const year = date.getFullYear();
  const month = String(date.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, "0");
  const day = String(date.getDate()).padStart(2, "0");
  return `${year}-${month}-${day}`; // e.g., "2026-03-03"
}

Open Search

• Press Cmd+P (macOS) or Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux)
• Or click the search icon in the toolbar

Search Your Notes

Search supports:

• Full-text search - Find any content
• Tag search - Use #tag syntax
• Title search - Match note names
• Fuzzy matching - Works with typos

The search index is built using SQLite and updates automatically when files change.

Configure AI Provider

1. Open Settings (Cmd+, or Ctrl+,)
2. Go to AI tab
3. Choose your provider:
   • OpenAI - Requires API key
   • Anthropic - Claude models
   • Gemini - Google AI
   • Ollama - Local models (free, no API key needed)
4. Enter your API key (or configure Ollama endpoint)
5. Select a model

Open AI Panel

• Click the AI icon in the sidebar
• Or press Cmd+Shift+A (macOS) / Ctrl+Shift+A (Windows/Linux)

Start Chatting

Type your message and press Enter. You can:

• Ask questions about your notes
• Attach files as context using @filename
• Save AI responses as new notes
• View chat history