User guide

Mahfouz is a cross-platform Markdown PKM (personal knowledge management) app. Your notes are plain Markdown files in a folder that is also a git repository — the repo is the source of truth; Mahfouz’s local database is just a rebuildable index on top of it.

Mahfouz needs git. If it can’t find a usable git when it starts, it offers to install its own copy, or shows how to install git yourself. See Git & sync.

This guide is the long-form manual. To open it from the app, click the ? button near the bottom of the left rail (on desktop, also Help → User Guide). Menu → Help → Keyboard Shortcuts (Cmd/Ctrl+/) opens a quick-reference shortcut cheat sheet inside the app.

Using Mahfouz in a browser? See Mahfouz on the web.

• Vaults

  Create, open and switch between vaults: the folders your notes live in.

• Mahfouz on the web

  Use Mahfouz in a browser with a local folder or a GitHub repository.

• Notes, links & search

  Organize notes in a tree, link them, tag them and find them again.

• The editor

  Write in the editor, use the formatting toolbar, the table of contents and fields.

• Markdown & media

  The Markdown syntax Mahfouz understands, and how images and attachments are stored.

• Attributes & the right sidebar

  Note pills, the right sidebar and per-note attributes.

• History & trash

  Every change is a commit: browse history, restore notes, and choose what gets committed.

• Presenting notes as slides

  Present a note as a slide deck and style it with slides templates.

• Git & sync

  How Mahfouz uses git, syncing with a remote, and Git LFS for large media.

• Signing in to GitHub

  Connect your GitHub account to create repositories and invite collaborators.

• Plugins & registries

  Install plugins such as Mermaid, draw.io and Slidev, and add plugin registries.

• Tabs, settings & notifications

  Tabs, the status bar, settings, notifications and sending feedback.

• Keyboard shortcuts

  Every keyboard shortcut, and how to change them.