[](https://0dependencies.dev)
In progress. Manage a directory tree containing plain-text notes (with [some
line drawings](http://akkartik.name/lines.html)). Notes/files connect to each
other using [symmetric cross-links](https://merveilles.town/@akkartik/108766067153506592)
which are saved outside the plain-text in a corresponding .json file.
Some features:
- Multiple views into an independent repo of plain text notes (with [some line
drawings](http://akkartik.name/lines.html)).
- Notes can have arbitrary named relationships (links) to each other,
resulting in a graph.
- The primary visual metaphor is an infinite 2D surface of fixed-width,
non-overlapping, notes that can be operated on with an extensible set of
commands.
- Commands usually (but not always) create new columns of notes. Each column
is an independent visualization of a subset of notes.
- Find on surface.
- Search all notes on disk in reverse-chronological order.
- Notes can contain hyperlinks in [[wikiwords]] to other notes. Hyperlinks
can't contain spaces. Clicking on a hyperlink opens the target in a new
column.
- A few other things. Explore the command menu and palette along the top.
Some videos to help visualize these bullets (albeit with outdated UI):
* https://archive.org/details/akkartik-pensieve-2022-07-27 (4.5 minutes)
* https://merveilles.town/@akkartik/108766067153506592 (30 seconds)
* https://archive.org/details/akkartik-pensieve-2022-08-29 (3 minutes)
pensieve.love is a compatible fork of [lines.love](http://akkartik.name/lines.html),
an editor for plain text where you can also seamlessly insert line drawings.
Designed above all to be easy to modify and give you early warning if your
modifications break something.
## Getting started
Install [LÖVE](https://love2d.org). It's just a 5MB download, open-source and
extremely well-behaved.
The first time you run pensieve.love, do so from a terminal and pass in the
directory where you want to store your notes.
(The repo contains a 'data.sample/' directory for trying out with.)
From here on out, restarting pensieve.love will open the same directory.
Run again from a terminal if you ever want to switch to a new directory.
## Keyboard shortcuts
While editing text:
* `ctrl+f` to find patterns within a file
* `ctrl+c` to copy, `ctrl+x` to cut, `ctrl+v` to paste
* `ctrl+z` to undo, `ctrl+y` to redo
* `ctrl+=` to zoom in, `ctrl+-` to zoom out, `ctrl+0` to reset zoom
* `alt+right`/`alt+left` to jump to the next/previous word, respectively
* mouse drag or `shift` + movement to select text, `ctrl+a` to select all
* `ctrl+w` to modify the sources
For shortcuts while editing drawings, consult the online help. Either:
* hover on a drawing and hit `ctrl+h`, or
* click on a drawing to start a stroke and then press and hold `h` to see your
options at any point during a stroke.
pensieve.love has been exclusively tested so far with a US keyboard layout. If
you use a different layout, please let me know if things worked, or if you
found anything amiss: http://akkartik.name/contact
## Known issues
* No support yet for Unicode graphemes spanning multiple codepoints.
* No support yet for right-to-left languages.
* Searching is slow. There's no index yet. Searching happens in the same
thread as UI updates, so UI may go unresponsive with really large notes. I
haven't observed this in practice.
* The text cursor will always stay on the screen. This can have some strange
implications:
* A long series of drawings will get silently skipped when you hit
page-down, until a line of text can be showed on screen.
* If there's no line of text at the top of the file, you may not be able
to scroll back up to the top with page-up.
So far this app isn't really designed for drawing-heavy files. For now I'm
targeting mostly-text files with a few drawings mixed in.
* No clipping yet for drawings. In particular, circles/squares/rectangles and
point labels can overflow a drawing.
* If you ever see a crash when clicking on the mouse, it might be because a
mouse press and release need to happen in separate frames. Try pressing and
releasing more slowly and let me know if that helps or not. This is klunky,
sorry.
* Touchpads can drag the mouse pointer using a light touch or a heavy click.
On Linux, drags using the light touch get interrupted when a key is pressed.
You'll have to press down to drag.
* Can't scroll while selecting text with mouse.
* No scrollbars yet. That stuff is hard.
## Mirrors and Forks
This repo is a fork of [lines.love](http://akkartik.name/lines.html), an
editor for plain text where you can also seamlessly insert line drawings.
Updates to it can be downloaded from:
* https://git.sr.ht/~akkartik/pensieve.love
* https://tildegit.org/akkartik/pensieve.love
* https://git.merveilles.town/akkartik/pensieve.love
* https://nest.pijul.com/akkartik/pensieve.love (using the Pijul version control system)
Further forks are encouraged. If you show me your fork, I'll link to it here.
## Associated tools
* https://git.sr.ht/~akkartik/capture.love provides a blank-slate UI into the
same notes directory as pensieve.love.
* https://codeberg.org/akkartik/lines2md exports lines.love files to Markdown
and (non-editable) SVG.
* https://git.sr.ht/~akkartik/lines2html.love exports lines.love files to html
and inline SVG.
* https://codeberg.org/eril/lines2html.love provides the option to export
just the drawings to a directory. Also provides a CLI, which should be more
natural for many people.
## Feedback
[Most appreciated.](http://akkartik.name/contact) Messages, PRs, patches,
forks, it's all good.
In particular, pensieve.love has been exclusively tested so far with a US
keyboard layout. If you use a different layout, please let me know if things
worked, or if you found anything amiss.