blob: minimal note manager

blob is a minimalistic and efficient inline terminal note manager that stays out of your way. It is programmed in C and keeps the interface small, fast, and terminal-native.

Features

• inline interactive note selector
• markdown note creation
• live note search
• rename, trash, restore, and hard delete flows
• interactive trash bin viewer (t) — browse, restore, or purge trashed notes
• command palette for core actions and installed plugins
• favorites / starred notes (*) — float favourite notes to the top
• config file (~/.local/share/blob/config) — persistent editor, theme, and sort settings
• built-in themes — dark, light, dracula, solarized presets with a plugin switcher
• relative timestamps and pagination
• safer plugin installs with API, mode, and permission metadata
• multi-level undo (u) and redo (Ctrl+Z) — undo up to 10 previous trash/rename actions
• configurable sorting — sort = mtime|title|size with Ctrl+T cycling and reverse support
• trash auto-purge (purge_days) — trashed notes older than N days are cleaned up on startup
• blob doctor — run blob doctor (or :doctor) for a self-check of dirs, config, and plugins
• session restore — re-selects the last opened note on launch
• quick view (v) — read a note inline without opening your editor
• vim-style navigation — g/G top/bottom, PgUp/PgDn page, Ctrl+U/Ctrl+D half-page
• customizability

Customizing blob

blob reads ~/.local/share/blob/config on startup. The config file uses a simple key = value format:

editor = nvim
theme = dracula
sort = mtime

Setting	Description
editor	Overrides $EDITOR (default: vim on macOS/Linux, notepad on Windows)
theme	Color preset: default, dark, light, dracula, solarized
sort	Sort order: mtime (newest first), title (alphabetical), size
sort_reverse	true/false — reverse the sort direction (favorites still float to top)
purge_days	Auto-delete trashed notes older than this many days (0 disables)
key_view	Keybind for quick view mode (default: v)

You can also set the editor via the EDITOR environment variable — the config file takes precedence.

Installation

blob can be installed via yay, brew, winget, github releases, or can be compiled from scratch.

To install it using Homebrew (macOS / Linux), use the following commands.

brew tap aaravmaloo/tap
brew install blob

and you will be good to go!

To install it using yay (arch linux), use the following command. yay -S blob-bin and you will be good to go!

To install it using winget run the following command. winget install aaravmaloo.blob and you will be good to go!

To compile from scratch, use the following steps. clone:

git clone https://github.com/aaravmaloo/blob

change dir:

cd blob

compile:

make

Or for an optimized release build:

make release

Note: On Windows, you may need to use mingw32-make instead of make depending on your environment.

Keybindings

Key	Action
↑/↓	Navigate notes
Enter	Open note
n	Create note
r	Rename note
d	Move note to trash
D	Permanently delete note
t	Open trash bin (restore or permanently delete trashed notes)
y	Copy note path
*	Star / unstar note (floats to top)
/	Search notes
:	Open command palette
p	Open plugins manager
v	Quick view note (read inline, e to edit)
g / G	Jump to first / last note
PgUp / PgDn	Scroll a full page
Ctrl+U / Ctrl+D	Scroll half a page
Ctrl+T	Cycle sort order (mtime → title → size)
Ctrl+Z	Redo
Ctrl+R	Show reminders
Esc	Clear search
q	Quit

Plugins

blob supports optional, compiled plugins to extend its features (like encryption or sync) without bloating the core. Press p inside the interface to manage plugins. For every step/access blob does, it requires your permission for maximum safety.

Plugins declare an API version, run mode, and permissions in their README manifest. blob warns about legacy plugins, keybind conflicts, and plugins that require a newer API.

Built-in plugins

Plugin	Key	What it does
lock	—	Encrypt/decrypt notes with a password
stats	s	Show character, word, and line counts
archive	a	Move notes to an archive folder
git-sync	g	Commit and push notes to a git repo
pin	i	Pin/unpin notes (floated to top with prefix)
fuzzy-search	f	Fuzzy search across note titles and content
tags	z	Read, add, and clear tags metadata
word-count	w	Words, chars, lines, sentences, reading time
open-dir	o	Open the note's folder in your file explorer
export	e	Export to HTML, PDF, or DOCX via pandoc
remind	m	Set a timed system notification for a note
themes	c	Select and apply a built-in color theme

If you are a developer and want to create your own plugin, see PLUGIN_DEVELOPMENT.md.

Storage

blob stores notes in:

Linux:

~/.local/share/blob/notes

macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/blob/notes

Windows:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\blob\notes

Diagnostics

If something isn't working, run the built-in self-check:

blob doctor

It verifies your data dir, notes dir, config file, favorites, plugin keybind overrides, plugin compilation state, plugin system, and session file. Missing dirs or un-compiled plugins are reported with [!!] and the command exits non-zero. You can also run it from inside the TUI with the :doctor command palette entry.

Philosophy

blob is designed to be:

• minimal
• keyboard-driven
• fast
• dependency-free
• an inline selector, not a fullscreen TUI