SilverBullet

SilverBullet is an extensible, open source personal knowledge platform. At its core it’s a clean markdown-based writing/note taking application that stores your pages (notes) as plain markdown files in a folder referred to as a space. Pages can be cross-linked using the [[link to other page]] syntax. This makes it a simple tool for Personal Knowledge Management. However, once you leverage its various extensions (called plugs) it can feel more like a knowledge platform, allowing you to annotate, combine and query your accumulated knowledge in creative ways specific to you.

For more in-depth information, an interactive demo, and links to more background, check out the SilverBullet website (published from this repo’s website/ folder).

Or checkout these two videos:

Features

  • Free and open source. SilverBullet is MIT licensed.
  • The truth is in the markdown. SilverBullet doesn’t use proprietary file formats. It keeps its data as plain markdown files on disk. While SB uses a database for indexing and caching some indexes, all of that can be rebuilt from its markdown source at any time. If SB would ever go away, you can still read your pages with any text editor.
  • One single, distraction free mode. SB doesn’t have a separate view and edit mode. It doesn’t have a “focus mode.” You’re always in focused edit mode, why wouldn’t you?
  • Keyboard oriented. You can use SB fully using the keyboard, typin’ the keys.
  • Extend it your way. SB is highly extensible with plugs, and you can customize it to your liking and your workflows.

Installing SilverBullet

Check out the official website

Troubleshooting

If you upgraded to the new Deno-based SilverBullet from an old version, you may have to use the silverbullet fix <pages-path> command to flush out your old database and plugs. Plugs will likely need to be updated.

Developing SilverBullet

Open in Gitpod

SilverBullet is written in TypeScript and built on top of the excellent CodeMirror 6 editor component. Additional UI is built using Preact. ESBuild is used to build both the front-end and back-end bundles. The server backend runs as a HTTP server on Deno using and is written using Oak.

To prepare the initial web and plug build run:

deno task build

To symlink silverbullet to your locally checked-out version, run:

deno task install

You can then run the server in “watch mode” (automatically restarting when you change source files) with:

deno task watch-server <PATH-TO-YOUR-SPACE>

After this initial build, it’s convenient to run three commands in parallel (in separate terminals):

deno task watch-web
deno task watch-server <PATH-TO-YOUR-SPACE>
deno task watch-plugs

To typecheck the entire codebase (recommended before submitting PR):

deno task check

To run unit tests:

deno task test

Feedback

If you (hypothetically) find bugs or have feature requests, post them in our issue tracker. Would you like to contribute? Check out the code, and the issue tracker as well for ideas on what to work on.