🌊 Merlion

Obsidian-inspired terminal note-taking app
merlion.dev

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What is it?

Merlion is a TUI, Markdown-based note-taking application, inspired by Obsidian but built for command-line workflows

• Uses $EDITOR (nvim, nano, ...) to edit notes
• Uses Markdown Format
• Compatible with Obsidian vaults (any .md files)

Merlion works fully offline by default, no account needed, all files are on your computer in a SqliteDB or directly as .md files.

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Installation

Option 1: Download Pre-built Binaries (Recommended)

Download the latest release for your platform from GitHub Releases:

macOS:

• ARM (M1/M2/M3): merlion-darwin-arm64.tar.gz
• Intel (x86): merlion-darwin-amd64.tar.gz

Linux:

• ARM: merlion-linux-arm64.tar.gz
• x86: merlion-linux-amd64.tar.gz

Windows:

• ARM: merlion-windows-arm64.zip
• x86: merlion-windows-amd64.zip

After downloading, extract and move the binary to your PATH:

# macOS/Linux example
tar -xzf merlion-*.tar.gz
sudo mv merlion /usr/local/bin/

Option 2: Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

Install from source using the Homebrew formula:

# In the root of the repo
brew install --build-from-source merlion.rb

Option 3: Build from Source

Requirements: Go 1.21 or higher

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/latentdream/merlion.git
cd merlion

# Build using just
just build

# Or build directly with go
go build -o merlion ./cmd/merlion

# Move to your PATH
sudo mv merlion /usr/local/bin/

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Features

• Keyboard (only) navigation
• Local-first note storage
• Optional cloud storage to sync notes across devices
  • Lightweight web UI (this will be removed in favor of a sync feature)
• Built-in themes: Gruvbox and NeoTokyo
  • Feel free to submit a PR to add more themes.
  • Or to ask for a new theme to be added
  • Toggle themes with ctrl+t
• Naviguate between note base on note title
• Markdown support
• Use your $EDITOR as note editor

Keymap

Key(s)	Action	Description
↑ or k	Up	Move selection up
↓ or j	Down	Move selection down
← or h	Left	Go back to list view
→ or l	Right	View selected note
delete	Delete	Delete selected item
tab	Next Tab	Switch to next tab
shift+tab	Previous Tab	Switch to previous tab
pgup or ctrl+u	Page Up	Scroll up one page
pgdn or ctrl+d	Page Down	Scroll down one page
enter	Select	Confirm selection
e	Edit	Edit the current note
m	Manage	Manage note information
esc	Clear Filter/Back	Clear current filter or go back
q or ctrl+c	Quit	Exit the application
ctrl+t	Toggle Theme	Switch between light/dark theme
i	Toggle Info	Show/hide note information panel
ctrl+p	Toggle Info Position	Change note info panel position
ctrl+f	Toggle Compact View	Toggle compact view (large screens only)
c	Create	Create a new note
( or )	Toggle Vault	Toggle between Vault

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Getting Started

Once installed (see Installation section above), run:

merlion

Or with compact mode for smaller terminals:

merlion --compact

Tmux Integration

Add the following to your .tmux.conf to launch Merlion in a popup window:

bind C-m display-popup \
  -d "#{pane_current_path}" \
  -w 90% \
  -h 90% \
  -E "merlion --compact"

Then launch it with <tmux-leader> + m.

Cloud Storage

Merlion supports cloud storage, you can create an account at note.Merlion.dev to get your notes across devices.

• This is still a WIP and subject to change / removal in favor of a sync feature

• The notes are not encrypted on the server (yet), it's still a work in progress

  • DON'T use this for sensitive data

• To have online note for sharing note across computer, you can create an account at note.Merlion.dev

  • Your notes will then be local, or online, switch between the two workplace with ( or )
  • Sync capability between online & offline note will soon be added

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This software is provided "as is", the code ain't perfect, the app ain't perfect and I'm having fun