Synapse

Markdown Guide ​

Synapse supports standard Markdown syntax along with powerful extensions for knowledge management, including wiki links, embeds, and hashtags.

Basic Syntax ​

Headings ​

Use # symbols to create headings:

markdown
# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Text Formatting ​

markdown
**Bold text**
*Italic text*
***Bold and italic***
~~Strikethrough~~
`Inline code`

Lists ​

Unordered lists:

markdown
- Item one
- Item two
- Item three
  - Nested item
  - Another nested item

Ordered lists:

markdown
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
   1. Nested ordered item
   2. Another nested item

Standard Markdown links:

markdown
[Link text](https://example.com)
[Link with title](https://example.com "Hover text")
[Relative link](./other-note.md)

Images ​

markdown
![Alt text](image.png)
![Alt text with title](image.png "Hover description")

Images are rendered inline in the editor.

Blockquotes ​

markdown
> This is a blockquote
> It can span multiple lines
>
> > And can be nested

Code Blocks ​

Inline code with backticks:

markdown
Use `function()` to call the method

Fenced code blocks:

markdown
```javascript
function greet(name) {
  return `Hello, ${name}!`;
}
```

```python
def greet(name):
    return f"Hello, {name}!"
```

Horizontal Rules ​

markdown
---

***

___

Tables ​

markdown
| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Cell 1   | Cell 2   | Cell 3   |
| Cell 4   | Cell 5   | Cell 6   |

Task Lists ​

markdown
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task
- [ ] Another task

Synapse Extensions ​

Slash Commands ​

Type a slash command at the start of a line or after a space — it expands automatically as you finish typing, no confirmation needed.

CommandInserts
/timeCurrent time like 2:34 pm
/dateCurrent date like 2026-03-14
/todo- [ ]
/note> **Note:**

Paste HTML as Markdown ​

Copy content from any website, document, or rich-text source and paste it directly into Synapse. The HTML is automatically converted to clean Markdown — headings, lists, links, bold/italic, code blocks, and blockquotes all come through correctly.

Content pasted inside a fenced code block is always kept as-is, so code samples are never mangled.

Wiki links are the foundation of connected notes in Synapse. They create bidirectional links between notes.

Basic syntax:

markdown
[[Note Title]]

With custom display text:

markdown
[[Note Title|Click here to read more]]

Link to a specific section:

markdown
[[Note Title#Section Heading]]

How wiki links work:

  • Case-insensitive: [[My Note]] matches my note.md, MY NOTE.md, etc.
  • Automatic backlinks: Synapse tracks which notes link to the current note
  • Click to navigate: Click a wiki link to open that note
  • Link selected text quickly: Highlight text and press CMD + K, then pick a note to insert [[Note Title|highlighted text]]
  • Cmd+click: Open in a new tab
  • Unresolved links: Links to non-existent notes appear as "ghost" links and are tracked

Finding backlinks: Open the Related pane in the sidebar to see:

  • Outbound links (notes you link to from the current note)
  • Inbound links (notes that link to the current note)
  • Unresolved links (links to notes that don't exist yet)

Embeddable Notes ​

Embed the content of one note directly into another:

markdown
![[Note Title]]

Embeds are rendered inline in the editor, showing the full content of the referenced note.

Use cases:

  • Include a common header/footer across multiple notes
  • Embed reference material without duplicating content
  • Create composite documents from reusable components

Important notes:

  • Embeds are not recursive - nested embeds are automatically converted to regular wiki links
  • The embedded content is rendered as read-only text
  • Changes to the embedded note automatically update in all notes that embed it

Hashtags ​

Tag your notes for organization and filtering:

markdown
#work #project-a #meeting-notes #todo

Tag rules:

  • Must start with #
  • Must contain at least one letter (not just numbers)
  • Can include letters, numbers, hyphens (-), underscores (_), and dots (.)
  • Are normalized to lowercase (#Work becomes work)

Viewing and using tags:

  • Inline: Tags appear colorized in the editor and are clickable — click any inline tag to open a filtered view of that tag
  • Tags Pane: Open the Tags pane in the sidebar to see all tags used across your vault, with count of notes per tag
  • Click a tag in the Tags pane to see all notes with that tag

Examples:

markdown
# Valid tags:
#work
#project-2024
#meeting_notes
#v2.1
#00feature

# Invalid (treated as plain text):
#123          (numbers only)
#             (just the symbol)

Tags in URLs are ignored:

Synapse automatically ignores hashtags that appear inside URLs:

markdown
This link https://example.com/page#section contains a URL fragment, not a tag.
But this #is-a-real-tag.

Templates ​

Templates allow you to create notes with dynamic content using variables.

Template Variables ​

Use these variables in your templates:

VariableOutputExample
{{year}}4-digit year2026
{{month}}2-digit month03
{{day}}2-digit day12
{{hour}}12-hour format hour09
{{minute}}2-digit minute45
{{ampm}}AM or PMAM
{{cursor}}Cursor position(removed after placement)

Example Templates ​

Daily Note Template:

markdown
# {{year}}-{{month}}-{{day}} Daily Note

## Morning
{{cursor}}

## Afternoon

## Evening

## Notes

Meeting Template:

markdown
# Meeting: {{year}}-{{month}}-{{day}}

**Time:** {{hour}}:{{minute}} {{ampm}}

**Attendees:** 

**Agenda:**
- 

**Notes:**
{{cursor}}

**Action Items:**
- [ ]

Project Template:

markdown
# {{year}}-{{month}}-{{day}} - New Project

## Overview
{{cursor}}

## Goals

## Tasks
- [ ] Setup
- [ ] Research
- [ ] Implementation

## Resources

Using Templates ​

  1. Place template files in your configured templates folder (default: templates/)
  2. Create a new note with ⌘N or ⌘T
  3. If templates exist, the Command Palette will show available templates
  4. Select a template to create a new note with the template content

Daily Notes ​

Enable Daily Notes in Settings to automatically create a dated note each day:

  1. Go to Settings > Workflows > Daily Notes
  2. Enable "Daily Notes"
  3. Set the folder (default: daily/)
  4. Choose a template (optional)

When you open your vault, today's note is automatically created if it doesn't exist.

Best Practices ​

File Organization ​

Organize your vault in a way that makes sense to you:

Vault/
├── 00-Inbox/              # Capture new notes here
├── 01-Projects/           # Active projects
├── 02-Areas/              # Ongoing responsibilities
├── 03-Resources/          # Reference material
├── 04-Archive/            # Completed/obsolete notes
├── daily/                 # Daily notes (auto-created)
├── templates/             # Note templates
└── assets/                # Images and attachments

Linking Strategy ​

  1. Use descriptive titles - Notes are identified by their filenames
  2. Link liberally - Connect related concepts with wiki links
  3. Create stub notes - Link to notes that don't exist yet, then fill them in
  4. Use the graph view - Visualize connections to find orphaned notes

Tagging Strategy ​

  1. Use broad categories - #work, #personal, #learning
  2. Add specific tags - #project-name, #meeting, #book-notes
  3. Status tags - #todo, #in-progress, #done
  4. Don't over-tag - 2-4 tags per note is usually sufficient

Writing Tips ​

  1. Atomic notes - One concept per note makes linking more powerful
  2. Note titles as sentences - "How to configure Git sync" vs "Git Config"
  3. Start with context - Briefly explain what the note is about
  4. Use headers - Structure long notes with clear headings

Tips & Tricks ​

Keyboard Shortcuts for Editing ​

While editing:

  • ⌘S - Save current note
  • ⌘F - Find in note
  • ⌘G - Find next
  • ⇧⌘G - Find previous
  • /command - Slash commands expand inline at line start or after a space
  • Use ⌘P or ⌘K for Quick Open to jump to any note
  • ⌘[ and ⌘] navigate back/forward through your history
  • ⌃Tab cycles through MRU (most recently used) tabs
  • Click any wiki link to navigate, Cmd+click to open in new tab

Graph View Tips ​

  • Global Graph (⇧⌘G) shows your entire vault
  • Local Graph (sidebar pane) shows 1-hop connections
  • Drag nodes to rearrange
  • Zoom with buttons or trackpad
  • Click a node to open that note
  • Ghost nodes (dashed) are unresolved wiki links

Terminal Integration ​

  • Open the Terminal pane in the sidebar
  • Configure an "On-boot command" in Settings to run when terminal loads
  • Use the terminal alongside your notes for command-line workflows

Troubleshooting ​

  • Check that the target file exists (case-insensitive matching)
  • Ensure the file has a .md extension
  • Verify the file is in your vault folder (not outside)

Images not showing? ​

  • Use relative paths: ./assets/image.png
  • Supported formats: PNG, JPG, GIF
  • Images must be in your vault or accessible via URL

Tags not appearing? ​

  • Tags must contain at least one letter
  • Check that tags aren't inside URLs
  • Tags are normalized to lowercase

Template variables not substituting? ​

  • Use double curly braces:
  • Available variables: year, month, day, hour, minute, ampm, cursor
  • Ensure templates are in the configured templates folder

Advanced Features ​

Git Sync ​

If your vault is a Git repository:

  1. Auto-save - Automatically stage changes
  2. Auto-push - Push to remote repository
  3. Conflict handling - Visual indicators for merge conflicts

Configure in Settings > Sync.

Gist Publishing ​

Publish notes to GitHub Gists:

  1. Add your GitHub PAT in Settings > Sync > GitHub PAT
  2. Right-click any note and select "Publish to Gist"
  3. Choose public or private gist

Split Panes ​

Work with multiple editor panes:

  • ⌘D - Split vertically
  • ⇧⌘D - Split horizontally
  • ⌘⌥←→↑↓ - Switch between panes
  • Each pane has independent tabs and history

Customizable Sidebar ​

Drag and drop to customize your workspace:

  1. Drag pane headers to reorder within a sidebar
  2. Drag between left and right sidebars
  3. Collapse panes you don't need
  4. Add/remove panes from the "Add Pane" menu

Learn more: