Forevernote

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Local-first desktop note-taking app with Markdown preview, plugins, themes, and dual storage backends.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Screenshots
• Technology Stack
• Prerequisites
• Quick Start
• Scripts and Commands (All OS)
• Project Structure
• Configuration
• Documentation
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• License

Overview

Forevernote is a Java 17 + JavaFX 21 desktop application inspired by Obsidian-like workflows:

• Fast note writing/editing with Markdown preview
• Folder hierarchy + tags + favorites + recent + trash
• Command palette and quick switcher
• External plugins (plugins/) and external themes (themes/)
• Storage mode: SQLite or FileSystem vault

Features

Core

• Create, edit, save, delete, and restore notes
• Hierarchical folders and subfolders
• Tags with assignment/removal workflows
• Favorites and recent notes
• Trash with restore for notes and nested folders
• Global search and sorting

Editor & Preview

• Markdown rendering with GFM tables, autolinks, strikethrough
• Live preview and split mode
• Syntax highlighting for fenced code blocks (highlight.js)
• Obsidian-style wikilinks parsing/indexing ([[note]], [[note|alias]], ![[asset]]) for navigation and graph

UI/UX

• Light, dark, system themes + external themes
• Retro phosphor sample external theme
• Configurable sidebar/editor button presentation (text/icons/auto)
• List and grid note views
• Compact and responsive layout behavior
• Multi-note tabs in editor
• Integrated graph workspace (global/local) with zoom/pan and reindex support

Extensibility

• External plugin loading from JAR files in plugins/
• Plugin manager UI
• Plugin lifecycle support (load/enable/disable/shutdown)
• Theme catalog with external theme discovery and safe fallback

Screenshots

Main Interface

Dark Theme

Light Theme

Editor & Preview

Technology Stack

• Java 17
• JavaFX 21
• Maven 3.9+
• SQLite JDBC
• CommonMark
• Ikonli (Feather icons)
• JUnit 5 + H2 (tests)

Prerequisites

1. Java JDK 17
2. Maven 3.9+

Check installation:

java -version
mvn -version

Quick Start

1) Clone

git clone https://github.com/RGiskard7/Forevernote.git
cd Forevernote

2) Build

./scripts/build_all.sh

.\scripts\build_all.ps1

3) Run

./scripts/launch-forevernote.sh

.\scripts\launch-forevernote.bat
# or
.\scripts\launch-forevernote.ps1

Scripts and Commands (All OS)

All commands assume repository root:

/Users/edu/visual-studio-code-workspace/Forevernote

Build / Run Matrix

Purpose	Linux/macOS	Windows PowerShell	Windows CMD
Build app	./scripts/build_all.sh	.\scripts\build_all.ps1	N/A
Run app (dev runner)	./scripts/run_all.sh	.\scripts\run_all.ps1	N/A
Run app (launcher, recommended)	./scripts/launch-forevernote.sh	.\scripts\launch-forevernote.ps1	.\scripts\launch-forevernote.bat

Tests and Quality Gates

mvn -f Forevernote/pom.xml test
mvn -f Forevernote/pom.xml clean test

./scripts/smoke-phase-gate.sh
./scripts/hardening-storage-matrix.sh

.\scripts\smoke-phase-gate.ps1
.\scripts\hardening-storage-matrix.ps1

Plugins (external JARs)

./scripts/build-plugins.sh
./scripts/build-plugins.sh --clean

.\scripts\build-plugins.ps1
.\scripts\build-plugins.ps1 -Clean

Themes (external)

./scripts/build-themes.sh
./scripts/build-themes.sh --clean
./scripts/build-themes.sh --appdata

.\scripts\build-themes.ps1
.\scripts\build-themes.ps1 -Clean
.\scripts\build-themes.ps1 -AppData

Packaging

mvn -f Forevernote/pom.xml clean package -DskipTests
./scripts/package-linux.sh
./scripts/package-macos.sh

.\scripts\package-windows.ps1

Packaging scripts now prepare both external plugins and external themes automatically before calling jpackage:

• package-macos.sh -> runs build-plugins.sh + build-themes.sh
• package-linux.sh -> runs build-plugins.sh + build-themes.sh
• package-windows.ps1 -> runs build-plugins.ps1 + build-themes.ps1

Maven Development Run

mvn -f Forevernote/pom.xml clean compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.example.forevernote.Launcher"

Project Structure

Forevernote/
├── Forevernote/
│   ├── pom.xml
│   ├── src/main/java/com/example/forevernote/
│   │   ├── config/
│   │   ├── data/
│   │   ├── event/
│   │   ├── exceptions/
│   │   ├── plugin/
│   │   ├── service/
│   │   ├── sync/
│   │   ├── ui/
│   │   └── util/
│   ├── src/main/resources/com/example/forevernote/
│   │   ├── i18n/
│   │   ├── plugin/
│   │   ├── ui/css/
│   │   ├── ui/preview/
│   │   └── ui/view/
│   ├── src/test/
│   └── themes/                     # runtime-installed external themes
├── plugins/                        # external plugin jars
├── plugins-source/                 # sample plugin source workspace
├── themes/                         # source external themes
├── scripts/
├── doc/
├── AGENTS.md
├── changelog.md
├── README.md
└── README.es.md

Configuration

Storage

• SQLite database (default) or FileSystem vault mode
• Runtime folders are created automatically as needed:
  • Forevernote/data/
  • Forevernote/logs/

Themes

External theme format:

themes/<theme-id>/theme.properties
themes/<theme-id>/theme.css

Plugins

• Place plugin JAR files in plugins/
• Open plugin manager from Tools menu for enable/disable operations

Do I Need to Move Plugins/Themes Manually?

Short answer: usually no.

• Development run (run_all.* / launch-forevernote.*):

  • build-plugins.* places JARs into Forevernote/plugins/
  • build-themes.* places themes into Forevernote/themes/
  • App resolves both locations directly, no manual move required.

• Packaged installers (package-*):

  • Scripts already build plugins/themes automatically.
  • If your JDK supports jpackage --app-content, plugins/themes are bundled.
  • If not (common with JDK 17), app still works but users should place files in AppData:
    • Windows: %APPDATA%\Forevernote\plugins and %APPDATA%\Forevernote\themes
    • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Forevernote/plugins and ~/Library/Application Support/Forevernote/themes
    • Linux: ~/.config/Forevernote/plugins and ~/.config/Forevernote/themes

Documentation

• doc/BUILD.md
• doc/ARCHITECTURE.md
• doc/PLUGINS.md
• doc/LAUNCH_APP.md
• doc/PACKAGING.md
• doc/EVENT_BUS_CONTRACT.md
• doc/DEFINITION_OF_DONE.md
• doc/PROJECT_STATUS.md
• doc/PROJECT_ANALYSIS.md
• AGENTS.md

Troubleshooting

JavaFX Runtime Errors

If you get JavaFX runtime/module-path issues, use launcher scripts (launch-forevernote.*) instead of running JAR directly.

Maven/Java Missing

Ensure both are available in PATH:

java -version
mvn -version

JavaFX Parent-POM Warnings

Warnings such as Failed to build parent project for org.openjfx:javafx-* are known and non-blocking.

Markdown Preview Notes

• Emoji rendering depends on the platform font stack and JavaFX WebView behavior. Some emoji glyphs may not render consistently across OSes.
• For local embeds (![[file.ext]]), ensure files exist in the selected vault/path and use supported image formats (e.g. png, jpg, jpeg, gif, svg, webp where available on your platform/runtime).

Contributing

• Keep changes focused and incremental.
• Run tests before opening PR.
• Preserve SQLite/FileSystem and plugin compatibility.
• Update documentation when behavior changes.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.