Features
The engine of VS Code,
rebuilt for notes.
NoteX Desktop takes the platform behind the world's most popular code editor and strips away the IDE, leaving a fast, extensible, keyboard-first home for your knowledge.
The engine
Why build a notes app
on a code editor?
Because the hard problems of a great notes app were already solved there. VS Code's open-source engine is the most battle-tested desktop text platform ever shipped: instant startup, an extension system with thousands of contributors, rock-solid file handling, a command palette, split views, and themes.
NoteX takes that engine and rebuilds the surface for notes: the IDE chrome is gone, a Notion-style editor is in its place, and your notes tree lives where a file explorer used to be. Power underneath, calm on top.
What the engine does for speedThe sidebar: favorites, shared workspace notes, and a private space only you see.
What the engine buys you
Ten years of editor engineering,
inherited on day one.
⚡ Instant everything
Cold start in under a second in our internal benchmarks. New note, split view, search: all reflexes, never waits.
🧩 A real extension system
Extensions install from Open VSX through a curated catalog: AI assistants, PDF tools, themes. The same mechanism that made VS Code unstoppable.
⌨️ Keyboard-first
Command palette, Ctrl+N for a note, Ctrl+F and Ctrl+H to find and replace, Ctrl+/ for the shortcut map. Your hands stay on the keys.
🗂️ Tabs and splits
Open the spec beside the meeting notes, or a PDF beside your summary. Real window management, not one page at a time.
🎨 8 themes
NoteX Dark and Light, Notion Style, Obsidian Night, Ocean Deep, Sepia Warm, Minimal, and High Contrast.
🔧 Developer views, optional
File Explorer, Search, and Source Control views exist but stay hidden until you switch them on. Writers get calm; engineers get git.
Sync, your way
Sign in for sync.
Or never sign in at all.
The desktop app is complete without an account: local notes, full editor, PDF toolbox, themes. Signing in adds multi-device sync, shared workspaces, and trash recovery, against Lisan Cloud or a server you host.
Workspaces and serversThe practical details
Frequently asked questions
Is NoteX just VS Code with a skin?
No. It is a deep fork: the custom .notex editor replaces the text editor as the main surface, the notes explorer replaces the file tree, IDE chrome is hidden by default, and note-specific systems (icons, sync, templates, Notion import) are built in. The engine underneath is what we keep, because it is excellent.
Can I use VS Code extensions?
NoteX installs extensions from Open VSX through a curated, security-first allow-list. The catalog focuses on what makes sense in a notes app: AI assistants like Claude Code and Codex, plus built-ins like the PDF toolbox. Enterprises can approve their own list.
Do I need to know anything about code editors?
No. NoteX opens into your notes and stays there. The engine's power shows up as speed and reliability, not as complexity you have to manage.
What does the developer-views toggle do?
If you want them, the classic File Explorer, Search, and Source Control views can be switched on, which makes NoteX a genuinely great home for engineers who keep notes next to repositories. They are off by default.
How do updates arrive?
Automatically, from Lisan's own update infrastructure, the same protocol VS Code uses. You keep writing; the update installs in the background.
Your notes deserve a better engine.
A Notion-style block editor on the engine behind the world's most popular code editor. Notes stay files you own, extensions add what you need, and AI plugs in natively. Free to start, on web and desktop.
Free to start · Your files, your disk · Windows desktop & web