s1dashu/quiet-md

What it is

quiet.md is a native note-taking application for macOS and Windows, built with Rust and GPUI without a WebView or Electron runtime. Notes are stored as plain XML files in a local folder, and the app reads and writes Feishu DocxXML, so content copied from Feishu/Lark can keep its structure.

The editor covers headings, lists, to-dos, quotes, highlighted code blocks, LaTeX formulas, tables with merged cells, callouts, columns, images, attachments and covers. Organization features include a document tree, pinning, favorites, full-text search and a trash bin. Import supports Markdown and Feishu DocxXML; export supports Markdown and PDF, and printing is available directly.

The README reports frame-processing P95 under 6 ms for typing, deleting and scrolling in a 1,000,000-character, 549-chapter document on an Apple M5 Pro / 48 GiB machine running macOS 26.5 in a Release build. The test method and reproduction scripts are in docs/PERFORMANCE.md; these are author-reported measurements for that machine and document, not a general benchmark.

Get started

1. Choose the package for your platform: macOS (Apple Silicon) requires macOS 13 or later; Windows (x64) requires Windows 10 2004 or later.
2. Download the macOS build or the Windows installer, or use the download buttons on the official site. All releases and SHA-256 checksums are listed on GitHub Releases.
3. On macOS, unzip and drag quiet.md.app into Applications. On Windows, run the installer; it installs into the current user directory by default and uninstalling does not delete notes. If SmartScreen appears on first launch, choose "More info → Run anyway".
4. On first launch, the empty library receives a "getting started" guide; existing notes are not overwritten.

Intel Macs have no installer yet and must build from source.

Where notes live

The default library is ~/Documents/Quiet.md on macOS, or Quiet.md under Documents on Windows. Each note is an XML file in docs/, with images and attachments in assets/. Saves are atomic: the app writes a temporary file and renames it, so a crash should not leave a half-written note. Because the library is an ordinary folder, it can be managed with Git, iCloud, Nutstore or other sync tools. Directory structure and format details are in docs/FORMAT.md.

Constraints

• The project is in Beta and changing quickly; bugs and missing features are expected.
• Only macOS on Apple Silicon and Windows x64 have prebuilt packages. Intel Mac users need a source build.
• The app is local-first with no account and no cloud by default; syncing is left to external tools, so conflict behavior depends on the tool used.
• The code is MIT-licensed, but the 67 Nucleo icons under assets/icons/ have a separate commercial license and may not be extracted and redistributed. The name "quiet.md" and the app icon are also outside the MIT grant, so forks must replace them; see THIRD_PARTY.md.

HotRepo's take

On the HotRepo new-project list for 2026-11-04, quiet.md recorded 188 stars and 22 forks, with 76 stars gained in the measured window from 13:45 to 14:45 UTC. The single snapshot only supports that day's figure, not a trend. The project's distinguishing claims are the native GPUI rendering path, the local XML library that users can sync themselves, and Feishu DocxXML compatibility; the performance numbers are self-reported and tied to the stated hardware and test document.