Zot — Fast, minimal note-taking CLI

A CLI-first note-taking tool for macOS, built in Zig. No Electron, no browser tabs, no context switching — just capture ideas and get reminded, all from the terminal.

Uses macOS system SQLite for zero-dependency storage, fires native macOS notifications via osascript for reminders, and exports a C ABI shared library (libzot.dylib) for Swift app integration.

GitHub

Screenshots

TUI note list

TUI add new note

TUI edit note

Features

TUI mode — Full interactive terminal UI with keyboard-driven navigation, forms, search, and project filtering
CLI mode — Add, list, search, update, delete, and mark notes done from the command line
Reminders — Set due dates with recurring schedules (every hour, every day)
macOS notifications — Native notification delivery via osascript with optional launchd background scheduler
Export / Import — Full JSON export and import for backup and migration
Swift / C ABI — Shared library (libzot.dylib) for embedding in native macOS apps
SQLite storage — Single-file database at ~/.zot_notes.db, no external dependencies

Quick Start

zot -n "buy groceries"                          # add a note
zot -n "deploy v2" -p myapp -d tomorrow         # with project + due date
zot -n "standup" -d "2026-05-01 09:00" --every hour  # recurring reminder
zot list                                        # see all notes
zot done 3                                      # mark complete
zot notify --install                            # enable macOS notifications
zot tui                                         # launch interactive TUI

Due Date Formats

Format	Example	Description
`YYYY-MM-DD`	`2026-05-01`	ISO date
`MM/DD/YYYY`	`05/01/2026`	US date
`YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM`	`2026-05-01 14:00`	Date with time (09:00–17:00)
`today`		Today’s date
`tomorrow`		Tomorrow’s date
`eow`		End of week (Friday)
`eom`		End of month (last working day)

TUI Keybindings

Key	Action
`j` / `↓`	Move selection down
`k` / `↑`	Move selection up
`Space`	Toggle done / undone
`n`	Open Add New Note form
`e`	Open Edit Note form
`x`	Delete selected note
`s`	Search notes
`p`	Filter by project
`c` / `Esc`	Clear active filter / search
`q`	Quit

Architecture

┌─────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐
│   CLI        │────▶│   db.zig     │────▶│   SQLite    │
│  main.zig    │     │  (storage)   │     │  ~/.zot_    │
│  notify.zig  │     └──────────────┘     │  notes.db   │
└─────────────┘            ▲              └─────────────┘
                           │
┌─────────────┐            │
│  lib.zig    │────────────┘
│  (C ABI)    │
│  libzot.dylib
└─────────────┘
       ▲
       │
┌─────────────┐
│  Swift App  │
└─────────────┘

Design

Zig over Rust/Go — Zero-overhead C interop without a runtime. The C ABI library is a natural byproduct.
SQLite over flat files — ACID transactions, indexed queries, single-file database.
osascript over UserNotifications — No app bundle, entitlements, or code signing required.
launchd over cron — Native macOS process management surviving reboots.

Try It

git clone https://github.com/NaveenGurram/zot.git
cd zot
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
sudo cp zig-out/bin/zot /usr/local/bin/

Naveen Gurram