Markdown plus metadata
Plain Markdown keeps notes readable. Clear metadata keeps notes structured enough to link, search, sort, review, and share with tools.
Architecture
Open files and API
Inoteus should be useful because it understands your files, not because it hides them.
Markdown plus YAML front matter -> canonical note truth SQLite or search projection -> rebuildable derived state API and clients -> controlled access surface
Rebuildable state
Search indexes, SQLite projections, backlinks, previews, and summaries can make notes useful, but they should not become hidden truth.
One API
The browser UI, CLI tools, AI tools, and future native apps should meet the same explicit API contract.
Explicit workspace auth
Local does not mean lawless. The V01 design includes explicit workspace token authentication because notes may contain private, sensitive, proprietary, or relationship-specific memory.
Evidence over claims
A notes system should be able to prove its basic promises: files round-trip, links survive, indexes rebuild, auth is explicit, and clients use the same contract.
The practical shape
File-backed notes. Local service. Minimal browser proof surface. API for tools and AI clients. Derived state that can be rebuilt. Future sync and publishing seams.