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Quickstart Guide

This guide will help you get started with Glyph in just a few minutes. You’ll create your first space, write a note, and explore some of Glyph’s most useful features.
Prerequisites: Make sure you’ve installed Glyph before starting this guide.

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Getting Started

1

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
2

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
Glyph stores notes as plain markdown files. You can open any folder containing .md files.
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
3

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
The command palette is your fastest way to navigate Glyph. Press Cmd+K / Ctrl+K anytime to access all commands.
4

Write with Markdown

Glyph uses a powerful markdown editor. Try these features:

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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)

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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

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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).

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Explore Key Features

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Daily Notes

Quickly create a note for today:
1

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).
2

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"
}
Connect your notes with wikilinks: 
I'm writing about [[My Project]] and [[Ideas]].
  • Type [[ to trigger autocomplete
  • Glyph will suggest existing notes
  • Click a wikilink to navigate to that note
  • Backlinks are automatically indexed
Wikilinks work even if the target file doesn’t exist yet. Glyph will offer to create it when you click.

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Search Everything

Glyph provides fast hybrid search across all your notes:
1

Open Search

  • Press Cmd+P (macOS) or Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux)
  • Or click the search icon in the toolbar
2

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.

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AI Chat (Optional)

If you want to chat with AI models:
1

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
2

Open AI Panel

  • Click the AI icon in the sidebar
  • Or press Cmd+Shift+A (macOS) / Ctrl+Shift+A (Windows/Linux)
3

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
Use Ollama for completely local, private AI chat. No API keys or internet required.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Master these shortcuts to work faster:
ActionmacOSWindows/Linux
Command PaletteCmd+KCtrl+K
SearchCmd+PCtrl+P
Daily NoteCmd+DCtrl+D
New FileCmd+NCtrl+N
SettingsCmd+,Ctrl+,
Tasks ViewCmd+Shift+TCtrl+Shift+T
AI PanelCmd+Shift+ACtrl+Shift+A
SaveCmd+SCtrl+S
Press Cmd+/ or Ctrl+/ to see all available keyboard shortcuts.

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Understanding Your Space

When you open a space, Glyph creates a .glyph/ folder inside it: 
your-space/
├── .glyph/
│   ├── index.db          # Search index (SQLite)
│   ├── settings.json     # Space settings
│   └── ...              # Other metadata
├── 2026-03-03.md        # Your notes
├── ideas.md
└── projects/
    └── project-a.md
Don’t delete the .glyph/ folder. It contains your search index and settings. If you do delete it, Glyph will rebuild the index automatically.

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What’s Next?

Tasks & Organization

Learn how to use task lists, tags, and folders to organize your notes

AI Features

Explore AI chat modes, profiles, and context management

Customization

Customize themes, fonts, and appearance in Settings

Advanced Search

Master search syntax, filters, and the link graph

Need help?

Ask questions or report issues on GitHub