Beta Niobium is currently in commercial Beta. All note data is protected by end-to-end encryption (E2EE).

Everything Niobium does.

This is the whole list, written plainly. If something is not here, Niobium does not do it yet — the short list of what is planned is at the end.

Contents
  1. 1. Writing
  2. 2. Your files, untouched
  3. 3. Home
  4. 4. Tasks and daily notes
  5. 5. Linking and the graph
  6. 6. Search and commands
  7. 7. Organising
  8. 8. Insights and focus
  9. 9. Notes health
  10. 10. History, trash and backups
  11. 11. Sync, if you want it
  12. 12. Appearance
  13. 13. Android
  14. 14. Privacy and your data
  15. 15. Settings
  16. Keyboard shortcuts
  17. Not built yet
  18. Under the hood

Writing

A serif writing page with slash commands, tables, callouts and maths.

A note with a table, a callout and wikilinks

Slash menu

Type / for 19 blocks: text, three heading levels, to-do, bullet and numbered lists, quote, code, table, divider, image, maths, link to note, template, and four callouts.

/

Callouts and highlights

Callouts use > [!type]: note, tip, warning, idea, important, caution, danger. ==text== highlights in yellow; green, pink and blue come from the selection toolbar.

Selection toolbar

Select text for bold, italic, strikethrough, code, link, four highlight colours, headings, lists, quote and code block. Right-click adds “Copy note as Markdown”.

Tables

Resizable, with rows and columns added above, below, left or right, whole-table delete, and per-column alignment. The toolbar is reachable from the keyboard.

Alt F10

Code blocks

Syntax highlighting with a 31-language menu and a Copy button. Fences for other languages, such as mermaid, are kept exactly as written.

Images

Paste or drag an image in; it is copied to attachments/ and linked relatively. Double-click to view it full size. PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, AVIF and BMP.

Maths

Write $…$ inline or $$…$$ as a block. Equations render with KaTeX, loaded only when first needed; double-click one to edit it.

Paste, find and replace

Pasted Markdown renders as blocks; paste plain text instead. Find and replace has match case, whole word and regex, in both views, and one Undo reverses Replace all.

Ctrl FCtrl HCtrl Shift V

Raw, split, Zen and outline

Switch to the exact Markdown, open a second editor beside the first, hide everything but the page, or jump around by headings. Typewriter scrolling and a focus highlight are optional.

Ctrl Alt MCtrl Alt SCtrl Shift FCtrl Shift O

Tabs and history

Open notes in tabs; middle-click closes one. Alt and the arrow keys, or the mouse side buttons, retrace the notes you opened.

Ctrl TabAlt ←Alt →

Note header and status bar

Click the title to rename. Add an icon or a cover and reposition it. The status bar shows saved state, words, characters, reading time (200 wpm), your daily-goal ring and the focus timer.

Export and actions

Copy for Email or Slack, export as an HTML file, print or save as PDF, copy the relative path, duplicate, reveal in the file manager. Spellcheck uses the system dictionary; nothing leaves your computer.

Your files, untouched

Only the blocks you edit are rewritten; everything else stays byte for byte.

The raw Markdown of a note

Block-by-block saving

Niobium keeps the original text of every block. On save, untouched blocks are written back verbatim, including whitespace and syntax the editor does not know.

Kept, not rendered

These are preserved exactly but not drawn: HTML blocks, comments, link definitions, Obsidian ![[embeds]], footnote references and unknown inline HTML.

Checked, atomic writes

A save compares the file’s hash first. If another program changed it, a banner offers Keep both, Use disk version, or Keep mine.

Safe to quit

Quitting, closing a tab or switching notes waits for the save to finish and refuses to go on over a failed one.

Live reload

When another program or a git checkout changes a note, Niobium reloads it from disk.

Unsafe links dropped

javascript:, data: and file: links are removed when a note is read.

Recovery screen

If the interface fails, a recovery screen offers “Copy details” and writes crash.log; a folder that cannot open can be retried. Your notes are never touched.

The one exception

Turning sync on adds a single id: line to each note’s frontmatter, once, so a rename can be told from a delete.

Home

A short greeting over widgets you arrange.

The Niobium Home screen

First run Next release

Press Start writing and Niobium makes a “Niobium Notes” folder in Documents, showing the path with a “Change…” link. Or choose I already have notes.

Widgets Next release

Capture, Tasks, Calendar, Notes, Look back, Graph, Tags and single-note cards. Files, Outline, Links, Local graph and Note details live in the side panels. Each widget sits in one place only.

Edit Home Next release

Add, remove and resize (Small, Medium, Wide), or drag a widget between Home and a panel. Every change has Undo; Reset asks first. Right-click Home for new note, Today’s note and templates.

Capture

One line, appended to today’s note. Start it with [ ] and it becomes a task.

Tasks widget

Overdue, Today, This week and No date. Ticking a task rewrites that line in its note.

Look back

“On this day” notes from earlier years, and “Worth another look”, with a shuffle button.

Notes widget

Cards, List or Gallery. Sort by edited date, title or word count; group by category; show only notes with a cover; search by title, folder or #tag.

Tasks and daily notes

Plain checkboxes, gathered from every note, with no database.

The Task Hub grouped by note

Task syntax

- [ ] or * [ ], a due date as @2026-12-31, due:2026-12-31 or 📅 2026-12-31, and #tags. Dates read “Due today”, “Due Fri”, “Due 3 days ago”.

Task Hub

Pending, All and Completed, filtered by tag or text, grouped by note or flat. Ticking a task rewrites only its line.

Ctrl Shift T

Daily notes

Opens or creates today’s YYYY-MM-DD note in a Daily folder you can change, using the Daily Reflection template.

Ctrl Shift D

Today

On Home it jumps to Capture. Over a note it opens Capture, Tasks and Look back without leaving the page.

Ctrl Shift H

Capture from any app

A global shortcut appends - HH:MM your text to today’s note while Niobium runs.

Ctrl Alt N

Tray menu

Open Niobium, Quick capture, New note, Today’s daily note, Quit. Closing to the tray is optional.

Linking and the graph

Wikilinks, backlinks and a map of how your notes connect.

The graph of a whole notes folder

Wikilinks

[[Note]], [[Note#Heading]] and [[Note|alias]]. Typing [[ suggests notes and can link one you have not written yet. Relative Markdown links work too.

Preview and links panel

Hover a link to read the note’s opening lines or the linked section. The panel lists “Linked from” and “Links to”.

Notes that mention this

Finds whole-word mentions of the open note’s title. One click turns the first into a link, with Undo.

Links survive renames

Rename or move a note or folder and only the links that would break are rewritten, with Undo on the toast.

The graph

All notes, or the neighbourhood of the open one, one to three links deep. Colour by folder or tag, find a note, zoom and fit. “Most connected” ranks the hubs.

Ctrl Shift G

Organising

Categories, covers, icons and 34 templates.

Categories

A category: line in frontmatter. Drag a note onto a category to file it, drag headings to reorder, collapse the ones you are not using.

Covers and icons

Give a note a cover and an icon. The picker has 43 sigils, 38 emoji, 16 expressions and 24 numerals.

Templates

Five groups, with {{date}}, {{time}} and {{title}} placeholders. Create, edit or reset them.

File tree

Pin notes, drag to move, select several to delete, duplicate, or reveal a note in the file manager.

Work (7)

  • Meeting Notes
  • 1:1 Sync Notes
  • Project Kickoff
  • Status Update
  • Decision Record
  • Team Retrospective
  • Idea Brainstorm

Study (11)

  • Lecture Notes
  • Class Discussion Notes
  • Reading Notes
  • Problem Set
  • Lab Report
  • Exam Study Plan
  • Formula & Definition Sheet
  • Vocabulary Log
  • Assignment Plan
  • Essay Outline
  • Flashcard Sheet

Planning (6)

  • Weekly Priority Planner
  • Daily Agenda
  • Project Plan
  • Goals & Targets
  • Monthly Budget
  • Trip Itinerary

Personal (5)

  • To-Do & Errands List
  • Journal Entry
  • Reading List
  • Workout Log
  • Recipe Note

Reflection (5)

  • Daily Reflection
  • Weekly Review
  • Monthly Review
  • Lessons Learned
  • Habit Tracker

Insights and focus

A year of writing, and tools to keep going.

The Insights view

Insights

Notes and words, links, tags, open tasks, writing streak, this week; a 52-week heatmap; most-used tags, most-connected and longest notes.

Daily word goal

Set 0–3,000 words. A ring in the status bar fills as you write. Deleting never subtracts; one save counts at most 1,500.

Focus timer

Sessions of 5–90 minutes, breaks of 1–30. “Open a random note” is in the palette.

Notes health

Four checks that keep a large folder tidy.

The Notes health view

Missing notes

Links that point at notes you have not written, with a “Create note” button beside each.

Duplicate titles

Notes in different folders that share a title.

Notes nothing links to

Notes with no incoming links, so you can connect them.

Empty notes

Blank notes, which you can send to Recently deleted in one click.

History, trash and backups

Three ways back from a mistake.

Version history · Project Atlas

  • 10:14 today Restore
  • 10:12 today Restore
  • 09:54 today Restore
  • 18:40 yesterday Restore

Recently deleted

  • Sprint retro.md 29 days left
  • Old roadmap.md 12 days left

Version history

A snapshot about every two minutes while you write; all kept for a day, then one a day for 30 days, up to 60 per note. Diff and restore. Stored outside your notes folder.

Recently deleted

Deleted notes wait 30 days. Restore them, delete permanently, or empty the list.

Backups

A ZIP on demand, or automatic to a folder you choose: never, daily, weekly or monthly, made at startup.

Sync, if you want it

Niobium Cloud E2EE, Google Drive, Dropbox, or WebDAV.

If two computers change one note, you get both

Project Atlas.md
Project Atlas (conflict from DESKTOP-2, 2026-10-09).md

Cloud, Drive, Dropbox, WebDAV

Niobium Cloud with end-to-end encryption, Google Drive, Dropbox, WebDAV, or a local folder. Sync now, or on schedule.

Conflicts keep both

If two computers change a note you get a second file, and a message naming both. Renames travel and links are repaired.

Appearance

Ten themes, six metals, 53 fonts.

The Appearance settings

Ten themes

Onyx, Titanium, Verde, Niobium Velvet and Walnut are dark; Vellum, Cashmere, Niobium Blush, Whale White and Travertine are light. Follow your system, or lock Light or Dark.

Accent and emoji

Use the theme’s accent, one of six metals — Brass, Vermilion, Oxblood, Cognac, Verdigris, Ink — or any colour. Emoji can be monochrome or full colour.

Fonts

53 families ship inside the app, in Sans-serif, Serif, Monospace, Handwriting and Display groups. Notes and interface have separate pickers; the defaults are Newsreader and Hanken Grotesk.

Type and spacing

Editor size from 13 to 22 px, block spacing, and an autosave delay from 200 to 2,000 ms.

Icons and contrast

Tabler outline icons and a sigil set. Contrast is checked against WCAG AA by script, and reduced motion is respected.

Android

The same notes on a phone. Available via direct APK download.

Phone layout

Home, Notes, Today and Search tabs, a new-note button, bottom sheets instead of dialogs, long-press menus, a back button that unwinds in order, and 44 px touch targets.

Keyboard bar

Simple: bold, italic, checklist, bullets, heading, undo. Power adds redo, quote, code, link to a note, indent and outdent — and the outline, Markdown source, graph and insights.

Settings pages

Appearance, Writing, Sync, Vault and backup, About. Text sizes Small, Medium, Large and Larger.

Niobium on Android
Niobium on Android
Niobium on Android

Privacy and your data

Files in a folder you choose. End-to-end encrypted sync, zero trackers.

Niobium Notes/
├─ Daily/2026-10-09.md
├─ Projects/Project Atlas.md
├─ attachments/diagram.png
├─ .lifenotes/    vault id, sync bookkeeping
└─ .trash/        Recently deleted, 30 days

Settings

Where each choice lives.

General and vault

Open on Home, Today’s note, a blank note, a chosen note, or your last session; the + button; close to tray; the capture shortcut; writing goal, focus and break; backups. Vault: back up, move, close, or delete behind a confirmation.

Panels and layout

Lists every widget and where it lives, and resets the layout.

Preferences window

Open settings as a tab, a floating window or in the split pane.

Keyboard shortcuts

Niobium is designed for complete keyboard operation. All 23 application shortcuts are remappable in Settings.

Keyboard shortcuts settings in Niobium
23 shortcuts

Application shortcuts (remappable)

Key Action
Ctrl NNew note
Ctrl Shift NNew folder
Ctrl Shift DDaily note
Ctrl FFind / search in note
Ctrl HFind and replace
Ctrl PQuick switcher
Ctrl KCommand palette
Ctrl ,Settings
Ctrl SSave now
Ctrl WClose note
Ctrl \Toggle sidebar
Ctrl Shift FZen mode
Ctrl Shift TTask Hub
Ctrl Shift ODocument outline
Ctrl Alt SSplit view
Ctrl Alt MRaw Markdown view
Ctrl Shift HToday view
Ctrl Alt NGlobal quick capture
Ctrl TabCycle open tabs
Ctrl Shift GKnowledge graph
Alt ←Navigate back
Alt →Navigate forward
Ctrl / or F1Open keyboard shortcuts cheatsheet

Editor keys (fixed)

Key Action
Ctrl BBold
Ctrl IItalic
Ctrl Shift SStrikethrough
Ctrl EInline code
Ctrl Alt 1–6Headings 1 to 6
Ctrl Alt 0Normal paragraph text
Ctrl Shift 8Bullet list
Ctrl Shift 7Numbered list
Ctrl Shift 9Task list
Ctrl Shift BBlockquote
Ctrl Alt CCode block
Shift EnterSoft line break
Tab / Shift TabIndent / outdent list item
Ctrl Z / Ctrl YUndo / redo
Alt F10Focus table toolbar
Alt + ClickSelect wikilink without opening note

Not built yet

What Niobium does not do today.

  • S3, SFTP, and additional remote storage options.
  • A sync status indicator and a list for reviewing conflicts.
  • A code-signed Windows installer, and automatic updates.
  • Linux packages (.deb and .AppImage).

Under the hood

Tauri 2 (Rust), React 19 and TipTap.

Writes
Atomic and hash-checked, so a change on disk is never silently overwritten.
Markdown
Untouched blocks are re-emitted verbatim; every Markdown bug gets a round-trip test.
Contrast
WCAG AA, checked by script across every theme.
Licence
Proprietary. Bundled fonts and libraries keep their own licences.