An idea notebook for one person. Obsidian-shaped — markdown in, markdown out — with one difference: the atom isn't a paragraph, it's a block. A block can be text, ink, a photo, a voice memo, or a file.
It's a desktop app — Tauri v2, React 19, TypeScript, local-first, single user.
Two single files, both built by CI:
| Platform | File | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 | Sketchback-0.1.0-portable-x64.exe |
WebView2 (on Windows 11, and effectively all of Windows 10) |
| Linux x86_64 | Sketchback_0.1.0_amd64.AppImage |
glibc 2.34+, FUSE2 (or --appimage-extract-and-run) |
Grab the one for your machine from GitHub Releases.
Windows: there's no installer — just run the .exe. Your notes live in
%APPDATA%\com.sketchback.app\. It's unsigned, so Windows will show a
SmartScreen warning; pick "More info" → "Run anyway".
Linux: chmod +x the AppImage and run it. If FUSE2 isn't available, use
--appimage-extract-and-run. Your notes live in
~/.config/com.sketchback.app/.
When you open the app you'll see an empty vault. Click the + in the sidebar
to make your first idea — it opens with somewhere to type right away.
- Create, rename, delete and reopen ideas — they survive a restart
- One editor per block, with markdown going in and coming out
- Every markdown element is a command in the palette on
Ctrl+K - Day / night / system themes, plus your own accent colour
- Export an idea as a folder of linked
.mdfiles, ready for Obsidian
Sketches, photos, voice notes, boards, links, tags, search and sync aren't there yet.
There's a demo page at https://liqwidcell-dot.github.io/sketchback/.