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Front Matter#

Every FoldNotes note begins with a YAML front matter block. This metadata is managed automatically — you never see it in the editor.

Schema#

---
id: 8A3F2B1C-1234-5678-9ABC-DEF012345678
created: 2026-04-03T10:30:00Z
title: Meeting Notes
favourite: true
daily: 2026-04-03
fn-tasks: 2:A1B2C3D4-...,7:E5F6A7B8-...
fn-hash: a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8
status: draft
category: work
---

Fields#

System Fields (managed by FoldNotes)#

Field Type Description
id UUID Unique identifier. Auto-generated, never modify.
created ISO 8601 Creation timestamp
title String Display title (filename is canonical)
favourite Boolean Whether the note is marked as a favourite
daily Date Daily note date (YYYY-MM-DD). Present only on daily notes.
fn-tasks String Task paragraph UUIDs (internal, do not modify)
fn-hash String Content hash for corruption detection (internal)
fn-favourite Boolean Favourite status, persisted for cross-device sync
fn-name-locked Boolean Prevents the naming banner from suggesting renames (macOS)
fn-archived Boolean Whether the note is archived
fn-folded String Folded section state (internal)
fn-cursor String Cursor position for restore on reopen (internal)

Fields prefixed with fn- are FoldNotes-specific metadata. In compatible mode collections, these fields are stripped to keep files clean for other tools.

Custom Properties#

You can add any custom key-value pairs:

---
id: ...
created: ...
title: My Note
status: draft
category: work
priority: high
---

Custom properties are visible in the Inspector's Properties tab and can be queried via the CLI (macOS):

fn list --property "status=draft"
fn show "My Note" --properties
fn edit "My Note" --set-property "status=done"
fn edit "My Note" --remove-property "draft"

How Front Matter Works#

  1. On load: FoldNotes reads the front matter, strips it from the text, and stores it separately. The editor only shows the note body.
  2. On save: FoldNotes re-serialises the front matter (with any updates) and prepends it to the body text before writing the file.
  3. Content hash: The fn-hash field is a SHA-256 hash of the body text (first 16 hex characters). It's recomputed on every save for corruption detection and recovery.

Editing Front Matter#

The recommended way to edit front matter is through:

  • The Inspector's Properties tab (for custom properties)
  • The CLI (fn edit --set-property, fn edit --remove-property)
  • The toolbar (for favourites, title)

Directly editing the YAML in the file is possible but not recommended — FoldNotes manages the system fields automatically.