I put my notes in a private Git repo instead of a cloud notebook

I like Notion for writing. I do not like where the files go.

Obsidian is closer to what I want — real files on disk — but multi-device sync is still a product you bolt on. Git already solved history, private hosting, and “this copy is the source of truth.” What I was missing was a desktop shell that treats a Git repo as the workspace, instead of wrapping another proprietary store.

So I built UNote. 0.2.0 is out.

Git-first desktop notes. Your files stay in your private Git repository. The app edits, navigates, and syncs. It does not own the data.

unote-dev / unote

Git-first lightweight desktop notes app with Markdown, Canvas & Mind Map

UNote

Git-first desktop notes. Your files stay in your private Git repository

English · 简体中文

Features

• Markdown — rich editing on top of real .md files (MDXEditor)
• Canvas — freeform drawing (Excalidraw)
• Mind maps — node-based outlines (Mind Elixir)
• Diagrams — Draw.io via diagrams.net
• Folders — nested directories, no extra metadata layer
• Trash — deleted notes move to .trash in the repo
• Git sync — edit locally first, then commit and push
• Share — read-only Cloudflare Quick Tunnel snapshot; the key stays in the URL fragment (#…)
• i18n — Chinese and English UI
• Assets — images live in .assets/ and can be referenced from notes
• Themes — light, dark, or follow the system
• Updates — in-app check against the latest GitHub Release

Install

Download the Windows NSIS installer from Releases.

macOS and Linux builds are not available yet.

Git providers

Provider

…

View on GitHub

• Installer: GitHub Releases
• Source: MIT

Honest limits up front: Windows x64 only. Sign-in is Gitee today (a Git host a lot like GitHub). GitHub / GitLab login and macOS / Linux builds are on the roadmap — not in this release.

The workspace is the repo

Open the folder. That is the notebook.

Kind	On disk
Notes	.md
Canvas	Excalidraw
Mind maps	Mind Elixir
Diagrams	Draw.io
Folders	normal directories

There is no extra ledger file. v0.2.0 dropped the old notebooks.json layer. Nested folders are just nested folders. Images live in .assets/. Deleted notes go to .trash in the same repo, so Git still sees the move.

If UNote disappeared tomorrow, you would still have a Git repository full of ordinary files.

Local first, then Git

Edits hit the filesystem first. When the network is up, UNote commits and pushes. When it is not, you keep writing.

Credentials go into the OS keyring. Notes go into your private repo. The