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PaperCache Features

This document outlines every feature available in the PaperCache codebase, organized by category.

Editor & Formatting

  • Full Markdown Support: Renders standard Markdown syntax directly inline using a custom CodeMirror setup. Hides Markdown formatting characters when the cursor is not active on them.
  • Custom Highlighting: Select text and press Cmd+H to apply custom ==highlighting==.
  • Code Snippets: Supports triple backtick fenced code blocks with language-specific syntax highlighting, along with a built-in one-click "Copy Code" button that displays a checkmark upon success.
  • Color Format Recognition: Automatically detects hex colors (e.g., #D97757 or #fff) and renders a small inline preview color pill. Clicking on the circle in the color pill copies the hex code to your clipboard.
  • Date & Time Formats: Highlights standard date (DD-MM-YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD) and time (HH:MM or HH:MM:SS) formats into clean, distinct pills.
  • Slash Command Autosuggest: Type / to trigger an inline ghost-text autosuggest for commands like /check, /task, /ai, or /ctx. Press Tab to instantly complete the command without breaking your typing flow.
  • Interactive Checkboxes: Type /check to create an interactive checkbox widget. Clicking it changes it to /checked and visually strikes through the text on that line!
  • Tasks & Reminders: Type /task to create a task widget. Add a space followed by @ and a time (like 1d2h, tmrw, or a specific date YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM) to set a due date. Press Cmd+R to open the Tasks Page, which tracks all tasks, calculates due times, and highlights overdue tasks in red. Reminders fire native OS notifications via the Rust backend — reliable even when the app is minimized. Expired tasks are automatically removed from the list after 5 seconds to keep the UI clean.
  • Countdown Timers: Type /timer or press Cmd+T to open the Timers panel. Create countdown timers with quick presets (5min, 10min, 25min, 1hr) or custom hours/minutes/seconds. Uses a drift-corrected chained setTimeout loop for accurate display. On completion, fires both a native OS notification and an in-app toast — even if the panel is closed.
  • Customizable Theming & Fonts: Customize fonts, text colors, background colors, background images, and individual highlight colors for variables, AI, and math. Supports full dark mode (grid-dark, blueprint).

Math, Variables, and Calculations

  • Reactive Math Calculations: Type an equation followed by an = sign (e.g., 2+2=), and PaperCache auto-calculates and appends the result instantly using a custom recursive-descent evaluator with zero external dependencies.
  • Local Variables: Define variables inline using /var name = value (e.g., /var x = 10). These replace variables in text with clean pills and instantly recalculate math formulas anywhere in the note.
  • Global Variables: Define variables that persist across all notes using /globvar name = value. Any other note can reference them natively.
  • Auto-Reevaluation: If a variable is updated anywhere, the entire document instantly recalculates and updates any dependent equations, acting as a lightweight spreadsheet inside a Markdown file.

Knowledge Management & Linking

  • Note Folders: Implicitly organize notes into folders by adding a / in the title (e.g., projects/PaperCache.md). Folders are auto-detected, color-coded, and cleanly removed from disk if they become empty.
  • Internal Note Linking: Link to other notes using markdown links like [link text](/file Note.md) or simply /file Note.md. Click the link with Cmd+Click or Ctrl+Click to instantly navigate to it. URL links also open in the system browser.
  • Interactive Graph View (Cmd+G): An interactive 2D knowledge graph rendered with Three.js WebGL. Nodes are clean flat circles with always-visible labels, edges are colored by opacity. Features:
    • Folder Clustering: Notes in the same folder are gently attracted toward a shared centroid, creating subtle visual groupings.
    • Cmd+F Fuzzy Search: Press Cmd+F inside graph view to fuzzy-search note names. Navigate with arrow keys, press Enter to fly the camera directly to the matched node.
    • Multi-Format Link Detection: Automatically detects connections via standard markdown links ([Note](Note.md)), wikilinks ([[Note]]), and /file Note syntax.
    • Drag to Rearrange: Nodes can be dragged freely; positions are cached and restored across graph sessions.
    • Smooth Fade-in: The graph overlay animates in with a 250ms fade.
    • Lazy-Loaded: The Three.js bundle (~1.3 MB) loads only when the graph is first opened, keeping startup fast.
  • Global Note Search: Open an omnibar search (Cmd+P) to quickly fuzzy-search note contents and file names across the entire workspace.
  • Tagging System & Context Menu: Add inline tags using !tagname. The global search bar aggregates all unique tags as clickable filters to quickly isolate notes. Right-click any tag pill to open an inline action menu, allowing you to bulk-delete or export all notes containing that tag into a single Markdown file.
  • Auto-Renaming: Notes are auto-created with a timestamp ID. The title is intelligently inferred from the first line of the file (e.g., # Header), but can also be manually renamed by clicking the title bar.
  • Shortcuts Reference (Cmd+/ or Cmd+?): Press this anywhere in the app to open or create a Shortcuts.md note listing every keyboard shortcut and slash command.

Artificial Intelligence

  • Inline AI Assistant: Type /ai <prompt> and press enter to summon AI straight into your editor. Prompts are evaluated and automatically replaced with AI responses directly inline.
  • Note Context Injection: Type /ctx <prompt> instead to automatically package the entire text of the current note along with your prompt, allowing the AI to read your document before answering.
  • Configurable Models & Custom Endpoints: Easily switch out your API Key, System Prompt, API Base URL, and specific AI Model in the settings panel.
  • Free Top-Tier Defaults: PaperCache comes fully pre-configured to point to OpenRouter's free tier, using powerful models like nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b:free out of the box!
  • Secure API Storage: API keys are securely encrypted at rest using your operating system's native keychain (via the Rust keyring crate).

Desktop System Integration

  • Stealth / Background Mode: Click away or lose focus, and the app instantly hides itself (macOS) or after a brief debounce (Windows/Linux — prevents accidental hide when dragging the title bar). On macOS, it runs as an "accessory" and hides its dock icon completely, acting like a true floating utility.
  • Intelligent Multi-Monitor Support: When summoning the app via its global hotkey, it detects the active screen your mouse is currently on and brings the window instantly to that specific screen's workspace.
  • System Tray Icon: A minimal system tray icon for toggling visibility or quitting the app cleanly, adapting to the user's OS theme (light/dark).
  • Global Hotkeys: All shortcuts are fully customizable via Settings → Keybinds (Cmd+Shift+S). The keybinds modal lets you remap every action with live recording. A dedicated Keybinds Settings Panel provides a sleek modal with glassmorphic cards to view and remap all 11 application shortcuts. Defaults include:
    • Cmd+Shift+N (configurable): Spawn a new note from anywhere. If the app is already open, creates the note without hiding.
    • Cmd+Shift+C (configurable): Toggle PaperCache visibility from anywhere on your OS.
  • State Memory: Memorizes precise window coordinates, dimensions, and zoom levels across launches to persist workspace state.
  • Fluid Settings: Opening the Settings menu dynamically inherits the exact dimensions and on-screen coordinates of your current notepad for a native, seamless transition.
  • Launch on Startup: Optional setting to boot silently in the background when your computer starts. The toggle stays synchronized with the actual OS login item state (visible in System Settings on macOS).
  • Exporting Options: Export individual notes straight to a local .md file on your filesystem via the main menu or search list.
  • Smart Onboarding: First-time users automatically open to a Welcome.md note with a complete feature overview. On version upgrades, PaperCache opens a "New Features" summary note and cleanly deletes older version notes behind the scenes.
  • Contextual Auto-Updates: PaperCache checks for updates silently on startup. When checking, the Settings button shows "Checking…" feedback. When an update is downloaded, a persistent toast notification appears with a "Restart Now" button — no unexpected restarts.
  • About & Bug Reports: Settings includes a dedicated About section showing the app logo, current version, a "Check for Updates" button, a Ko-fi support link, and a "Submit a Bug Report" button that opens a GitHub issue form.
  • Safe Tutorials: Auto-generates fully functional Markdown tutorials in a commands/ folder upon first launch. Prevents accidental deletion of these core tutorial files.
  • Node Positions Persist: After closing the graph view, node positions are cached and restored on next open, preserving manual arrangement.