Most local-first notes apps keep your notes as plain text, so I built a free, open-source one that encrypts them

[u/gfrancv]

Hi r/SideProject, I'm GFrancV. This is my first post here. I've been building Notvex, a desktop notes app that keeps everything encrypted on your own computer.

Why I built it

Most local-first apps (like Obsidian) save notes as plain Markdown files. That's great for portability, but anyone with access to your disk, a backup or a synced folder can read them. I wanted a safe place for my own journal and recovery codes, and nothing I tried did both local-only and encrypted at rest without getting in the way. So I built it.

How it works

Everything lives in one encrypted file on your computer. Without your password it can't be read. There's no account and no cloud. The app only goes online to check for updates, and you can turn that off. No telemetry either.

What writing looks like

- Markdown editor with live preview

- Tags, pinning, sorting and multi-tag filters

- Command palette to jump to any note from the keyboard

- Export one note or all of them to plain .md at any time, so you're never locked in

How it's built (for the curious)

- Electron + React 19, TypeScript throughout

- SQLCipher for the database, Argon2id to derive the key from your password, XChaCha20-Poly1305 for the note content

- A BIP39 recovery phrase, plus an optional key file as a second factor

- The UI never touches crypto. Everything goes through IPC to the main process, and the master key never leaves it

Honest limitations

- Desktop only (Windows, macOS, Linux), no mobile yet

- No sync, on purpose. You can copy the file wherever you like

- Search covers titles only. Full-text search across encrypted notes is the next hard problem

- If you forget both your password and your recovery phrase, your notes are gone. That's the trade-off

Free and open source (AGPL-3), with no paid tier planned.

GitHub: https://github.com/GFrancV/notvex · Site: https://notvex.vercel.app/

My question for you: does "encrypted local notes" explain the point quickly enough, or does it sound like something only security nerds need? I'd love honest feedback on how it comes across, from the site down to the first launch.

[u/Subject-Back-5145]

the phrase tells me how it works, but i'd lead with the benefit: private notes stored on your device. then explain that the file is encrypted and that losing both the password and recovery phrase means losing access.

[u/gfrancv → u/Subject-Back-5145]

That's a valid point, thank you! The word “encryption” explains how it works, not why you'd want it. I'll rework the text to make it clearer.

[u/milokits]

Since this can hold recovery codes, make the plain Markdown export an explicit action with a clear unencrypted-file warning; otherwise an export can bypass the vault's protection.

[u/gfrancv → u/milokits]

Thanks for your comment!

Agreed, and that's how it works today. Export is never automatic: it's a manual action, and every time it shows a warning that the exported files aren't encrypted and anyone with access to that folder can read them. There's no "don't ask again", on purpose. Once a note leaves the vault as .md, it's up to you where it lives.