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id: quickstart title: Quickstart Guide sidebar_label: Quickstart sidebar_position: 1 description: Install Noteleaf and learn the essentials in minutes. #

Quickstart Guide #

This guide will walk you through installing Noteleaf and getting productive with tasks, notes, and media tracking in under 15 minutes.

Installation #

Requirements #

• Go 1.24 or higher
• Git (for cloning the repository)

Build and Install #

Clone the repository and build the binary:

git clone https://github.com/stormlightlabs/noteleaf
cd noteleaf
go build -o ./tmp/noteleaf ./cmd

Optionally, install to your GOPATH:

go install

Initialize Noteleaf #

Set up the database and configuration:

noteleaf setup

This creates:

• Database at ~/.local/share/noteleaf/noteleaf.db (Linux) or ~/Library/Application Support/noteleaf/noteleaf.db (macOS)
• Configuration file at ~/.config/noteleaf/config.toml (Linux) or ~/Library/Application Support/noteleaf/config.toml (macOS)

Optional: Add Sample Data #

Explore with pre-populated examples:

noteleaf setup seed

Task Management #

Create Your First Task #

noteleaf task add "Write project proposal"

Add a Task with Priority and Project #

noteleaf task add "Review pull requests" --priority high --project work

List Tasks #

Interactive mode with arrow key navigation:

noteleaf task list

Static output for scripting:

noteleaf task list --static

Mark a Task as Done #

noteleaf task done 1

Track Time #

Start tracking:

noteleaf task start 1

Stop tracking:

noteleaf task stop 1

View timesheet:

noteleaf task timesheet

Note Taking #

Create a Note #

Quick note from command line:

noteleaf note create "Meeting Notes" "Discussed Q4 roadmap and priorities"

Create with your editor:

noteleaf note create --interactive

Create from a file:

noteleaf note create --file notes.md

List and Read Notes #

List all notes (interactive):

noteleaf note list

Read a specific note:

noteleaf note read 1

Edit a Note #

Opens in your $EDITOR:

noteleaf note edit 1

Media Tracking #

Books #

Search and add from Open Library:

noteleaf media book add "Project Hail Mary"

List your reading queue:

noteleaf media book list

Update reading progress:

noteleaf media book progress 1 45

Mark as finished:

noteleaf media book finished 1

Movies #

Add a movie:

noteleaf media movie add "The Matrix"

Mark as watched:

noteleaf media movie watched 1

TV Shows #

Add a show:

noteleaf media tv add "Breaking Bad"

Update status:

noteleaf media tv watching 1

Articles #

Save an Article #

Parse and save from URL:

noteleaf article add https://example.com/interesting-post

List Articles #

noteleaf article list

Filter by author:

noteleaf article list --author "Jane Smith"

Read an Article #

View in terminal:

noteleaf article view 1

Configuration #

View Current Configuration #

noteleaf config show

Set Configuration Values #

noteleaf config set editor vim
noteleaf config set default_priority medium

Check Status #

View application status and paths:

noteleaf status

Getting Help #

View help for any command:

noteleaf --help
noteleaf task --help
noteleaf task add --help

Next Steps #

Now that you have the basics down:

• Explore advanced task filtering and queries
• Create custom projects and contexts for organizing tasks
• Link notes to tasks and media items
• Set up recurring tasks and dependencies
• Configure the application to match your workflow

For detailed documentation on each command, see the CLI reference in the manual section.