Create notes from reusable templates with dynamic placeholder replacement.
Templates allow you to quickly create notes with predefined structures and content. Perfect for recurring note types like meeting notes, daily journals, project plans, and more.
Templates are stored in the data/_templates/ folder as markdown files. You will need to create such folder if it doesn't exist:
data/
└── _templates/
├── meeting-notes.md
├── daily-journal.md
└── project-plan.md
Click the "New" button (or + on any folder) and select "New from Template":
- Choose a template from the dropdown
- Enter a name for your new note
- Click "Create Note"
The template will be copied with all placeholders replaced automatically!
Templates support dynamic placeholders that are replaced when you create a note:
| Placeholder | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
{{date}} |
Current date | 2025-11-26 |
{{time}} |
Current time | 14:30:45 |
{{datetime}} |
Current date and time | 2025-11-26 14:30:45 |
{{timestamp}} |
Unix timestamp | 1732632645 |
{{year}} |
Current year | 2025 |
{{month}} |
Current month | 11 |
{{day}} |
Current day | 26 |
{{title}} |
Note name (without .md) | Weekly Meeting |
{{folder}} |
Parent folder name | Projects |
Need a different format than the defaults above? Any of the three
date/time placeholders — {{date}}, {{time}}, {{datetime}} — accepts
an optional :FORMAT suffix to override its default format. FORMAT is
any Python strftime() format string,
so anything strftime can do, your template can do.
One rule to remember: pick the prefix whose default already covers the components you want to format. Use
{{date:…}}for date-only formats,{{time:…}}for time-only formats, and{{datetime:…}}when you need both.
| Template | Result | Use case |
|---|---|---|
{{date:%Y%m%d}} |
20251126 |
Date stamp for filenames |
{{time:%H%M%S}} |
143045 |
Time stamp for filenames |
{{datetime:%Y%m%d%H%M%S}} |
20251126143045 |
Sortable, filename-safe full stamp |
{{datetime:%Y%m%dT%H%M%S}} |
20251126T143045 |
ISO-8601 basic, no separators |
{{datetime:%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S}} |
2025-11-26T14:30:45 |
ISO-8601 extended |
{{date:%d/%m/%Y}} |
26/11/2025 |
European-style date |
{{date:%m/%d/%Y}} |
11/26/2025 |
US-style date |
{{date:%A}} |
Wednesday |
Full weekday name |
{{date:%a}} |
Wed |
Short weekday name |
{{date:%B}} |
November |
Full month name |
{{date:%V}} |
48 |
ISO week number |
{{date:%j}} |
330 |
Day of year (1–366) |
Invalid format strings (typos) are left in the output unchanged so the mistake is visible rather than silently swallowed.
---
tags: [meeting]
date: {{date}}
---
# Meeting Notes - {{title}}
**Date:** {{datetime}}
**Participants:**
-
## Agenda
-
## Discussion
## Action Items
- [ ]
## Next Steps
When you create a note called "Team Sync" from this template, it becomes:
---
tags: [meeting]
date: 2025-11-26
---
# Meeting Notes - Team Sync
**Date:** 2025-11-26 14:30:45
**Participants:**
-
## Agenda
-
## Discussion
## Action Items
- [ ]
## Next Steps
We provide three example templates in documentation/templates/ that you can copy to your data/_templates/ folder:
- meeting-notes.md - Structured meeting notes with agenda, discussion, and action items
- daily-journal.md - Daily journal with morning goals and evening reflection
- project-plan.md - Project planning template with objectives, timeline, and status tracking
Option 1: Copy Manually
cp documentation/templates/*.md data/_templates/Option 2: Create Your Own
- Create a
.mdfile indata/_templates/ - Add content and placeholders
- Save and it's ready to use!
- ✅ Templates can include YAML frontmatter for tags and metadata
- ✅ Use descriptive template names (they appear in the dropdown)
- ✅ Templates work in any folder - the context is preserved
- ✅ You can edit templates anytime - changes apply to new notes only
- ✅ Combine templates with tags for powerful organization
See also:
- Tags Documentation - Learn about organizing with tags
- Features Overview - All application features