DEV Community

Cover image for I built a Markdown note-taking app for students and creators — and I’d love your feedback
Veauville Raphaël (Smaug#6739)
Veauville Raphaël (Smaug#6739)

Posted on

I built a Markdown note-taking app for students and creators — and I’d love your feedback

#webdev #programming #tooling #javascript

Hi👋

Over the past few years, I’ve been working on a personal side project that turned into something I now use every day: Alexandrie — a note-taking app built with students, developers, and content creators in mind.

I’m publishing this not as a product pitch, but as an open invitation to explore, test, break, and maybe even contribute to the app — especially if you're interested in performance-focused web apps, offline-first design, and clean UI/UX.

✨ What is Alexandrie?

Alexandrie is a web-based Markdown note-taking app designed to be:

  • ✍️ Minimal and elegant — because tools should get out of your way
  • ⚡ Lightweight and fast — built for speed, even with hundreds of documents
  • 🌐 Offline-friendly — your notes stay available even without a connection
  • 🛠️ Custom productivity features — snippets, keyboard shortcuts, instant formatting

Alexandrie app

It’s designed first and foremost for students (like myself when I started it), but also fits the needs of developers and creators who want a frictionless writing and organization tool.

🧠 The Philosophy Behind It
I’ve tried tools like Notion, Obsidian, and many others. While they’re great, I often found them too heavy, too slow, or visually cluttered for daily academic or technical writing. And plain Markdown editors often lack structure and comfort.

I wanted a tool that:

  • Is visually pleasant (especially for long writing sessions)
  • Respects performance and runs well even on modest devices
  • Works offline by default (ideal in classrooms, on trains, in bad Wi-Fi)
  • Handles hundreds of notes without slowing down
  • Supports shortcuts, snippets, and fast navigation

🧰 Tech Stack
Alexandrie is built with:

  • Frontend: Vue.js + Nuxt 3 (SSR, PWA-ready)
  • Backend: Go, REST API, simple auth system
  • Storage: MinIO for file/media uploads (e.g. images in notes)
  • Database: MySQL, with raw SQL queries separated from business logic
  • Offline mode: Service Workers for seamless note access

🧪 Things I’m still improving

  • Better search and filtering
  • Better UI and UX with animations etc
  • Full PWA installation support
  • User settings & themes

💡 Want to contribute ?

If you’re interested in open source, Alexandrie is a great playground for:

Vue/Nuxt 3 devs who like clean UIs and components

Go backend developers who care about simplicity and performance

People who love improving documentation or writing tutorials

UX enthusiasts with ideas on improving offline-first apps

You can also just drop feedback, file bugs, or suggest features — I read everything!

🔗 GitHub: https://github.com/Smaug6739/Alexandrie

Some app features images

Top comments (0)