zk – Ultra-minimal CLI Zettelkasten

zk is a single-file, zero-dependency CLI that keeps a plain-text Zettelkasten fast and portable on Linux and Windows. Notes live in a flat folder, carry timestamp IDs plus kebab-case slugs, and stay linkable through Markdown or wiki-style links. Backlinks, graphs, and tag/alias helpers are baked in—no database or background daemon required.

At a glance

• Single file, zero dependencies; runs on Linux and Windows.
• Flat folder of .md/.txt notes; no DB or hidden state (only .bak backups on edits).
• Timestamp IDs (YYYY_MMDD_HHMM) + kebab-case slugs; metadata stored in plain headers.
• Fast backlinks/graph via precompiled regex and in-process caching.
• Optional Vim integration for smart link following and insertion.
• Templates, tags, aliases, and Markdown/wiki link styles.

Contents

Quick start

# Install: put ./zk in your PATH and make it executable
chmod +x zk
export ZK_DIR=~/Zettel            # required
export EDITOR=vim                 # optional (defaults: vim on Linux, notepad on Windows)

zk new "First note"
zk jot "Idea: inverse outline of Chapter 2 [[2025_0910_2124]]"
zk find outline
zk link outline                   # -> [Outline](./2025_0910_2124_outline.md)
zk backlinks 2025_0910_2124

Environment

• ZK_DIR (required) — absolute path to the notes folder.
• EDITOR (optional) — editor command; defaults to vim/notepad.
• ZK_EXT (optional) — .md (default) or .txt.
• ZK_TIMEZONE (optional) — UTC (default) or LOCAL for ID/timestamps.
• ZK_TEMPLATE_DIR (optional) — folder with *.md templates for zk new -t NAME.

Data model

• ID: YYYY_MMDD_HHMM (UTC or local).
• Filename: ID_slug.md (slug is kebab-case of title).
• Header block (plain text, first lines):

  id: <ID>
  title: <string>
  created: <ISO8601>
  updated: <ISO8601>
  aliases: <;-separated list, optional>
  tags: <;-separated list, optional>
  

• Body: Markdown or plain text. Links: [[ID]] or [[ID Title]].
• Tags/Aliases: semicolon-separated; case-insensitive.

Core commands

• zk id — print a fresh ID.
• zk new [TITLE…] [-t TEMPLATE] [--no-open] — create a note, print ID, optionally open.
• zk jot "TEXT…" — quick-capture a one-liner note.
• zk open ID|alias|slug-fragment — fuzzy-resolve and open.
• zk path QUERY — print ./ID_slug.md (for editors/scripts).
• zk link [--style md|wiki] QUERY — format [Title](./ID_slug.md) or [[ID Title]].
• zk ls [--sort created|updated|title] [--rev] [--limit N] [--grep PATTERN] — list notes.
• zk find QUERY — search headers (id, title, aliases, tags).
• zk grep REGEX [--body] — regex search headers; --body scans full text.
• zk tag ID "t1; t2; …" — append tag(s).
• zk taglist — list tags with counts.
• zk rename-tag OLD NEW — batch-rename a tag.
• zk links ID — list outgoing links.
• zk backlinks ID — list notes linking to the ID.
• zk follow ID [N] [--open] — follow the Nth outgoing link (optionally open).
• zk rename ID "New Title" — update title, slug, and inbound links.
• zk alias ID "Alt Name" — append an alias.
• zk audit [--orphans] [--dead] [--dups] — detect orphans, dead links, or duplicates.
• zk graph --center ID [--depth N] — ASCII graph of connections.
• zk doctor — validate environment and print stats.

Vim integration

Smart link handling without plugins:

• gx on [Title](./ID_slug.md) or [[ID Title]] opens in a new Vim tab; URLs/images open via xdg-open/gio.
• <leader>[[ inserts a Markdown link after prompting for a title/ID; Visual mode wraps selection.
• <leader>zl uses fzf if installed for picking targets.
• Minimal setup (~/.vim/autoload/zklink.vim + Markdown ftplugin):

let g:zk_dir = expand('~/Zettel')
let g:zk_link_style = 'md'   " or 'wiki'

Templates

• Place files in $ZK_TEMPLATE_DIR/*.md and refer by name: zk new -t research.
• Placeholders: {ID}, {TITLE}, {CREATED}, {UPDATED}.

Examples

export ZK_DIR=~/Zettel_Jamie

# Create and tag a note
zk new "Rapid note-taking process"
zk tag 2025_1009_1952 "workflow; zettelkasten"

# Generate Markdown or wiki links
zk link rapid
zk link --style wiki rapid

# Traverse and clean-up
zk backlinks 2025_1009_1952
zk audit --dead
zk graph --center 2025_1009_1952 --depth 2

# Quick Vim flow
# - gx follows Markdown/wiki links in a new tab
# - <leader>[[ inserts a link; <leader>zl uses fzf if available

Performance and testing

• Flat folder of .md/.txt; no DB.
• Lazy scans plus in-process caching for directory listing and headers.
• Backlinks/link extraction use precompiled regex fast paths.
• All writes are atomic (temp + replace); .bak is created on edits/renames.
• Run the smoke/perf suite with python tests/run_tests.py (creates a temp repo, exercises creation/open/search/links/backlinks/rename/audit/graph, and generates 10k stub notes to time ls/find/backlinks).

Learn more

• Source: zk on GitHub
• Vim helper scripts live in ~/.vim/autoload/zklink.vim + Markdown ftplugin.

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