All Features

Three steps from typing your first note to power-user.

Basics

The minimum to write your first note in Kavya. If you only learn this, you already have a solid local Markdown editor.

Your vault & library

Vault = folderEvery group is a directory on disk. Every sheet is a plain .md file. No database, no lock-in.

Three-panel layoutLibrary on the left, sheets in the middle, editor on the right. Zero learning curve.

Nested groupsUnlimited folder hierarchy mapped to real directories on disk.

Projects & NotesTwo top-level sections to separate structured work from loose notes. Convert between them via right-click.

Drag-and-dropReorder groups with a blue line indicator. Nest them with a green highlight.

Resizable panelsResize or hide any panel. Collapse the library, expand the editor, or go full zen.

Custom group iconsPick icons and colors for any group. Visual cues make large vaults navigable.

YAML frontmatterMetadata lives in the file itself: title, tags, dates, goals. Compatible with Obsidian and Hugo.

Writing

CodeMirror 6 editorFast, accessible Markdown editor with full syntax highlighting. Handles large documents without lag.

Bundled fontsSix variable fonts included: Inter, iA Writer Duo, Literata, Source Serif 4, JetBrains Mono, Roboto Mono. All OFL-licensed.

Markup barFormatting toolbar with bold, italic, headings, links, code, lists, and live word count.

Find & replaceCmd+F for the current sheet. Regex support. Highlight all matches.

Dark & light themesSwitch between dark and light with one click.

Daily use

When Kavya becomes your day-to-day system: capturing thoughts, finding what you wrote last week, planning what to do next, and exporting.

Capture & navigate

Quick CaptureCmd+N opens a Drafts-style overlay to dump a thought into Inbox without leaving the current sheet. Also bindable as a system-wide hotkey in Settings — capture from any app, Kavya hides itself after you save.

Daily notesCtrl+D creates or opens today’s journal entry in a Journal/YYYY/MM Month/ hierarchy.

Quick SwitcherCmd+O to fuzzy-search and jump to any sheet instantly.

Command paletteCmd+Shift+P to find and run any command.

Navigation historyCmd+[ / Cmd+] to revisit sheets. Like a browser, but for notes.

Find & organize

Full-text searchCmd+Shift+F across all sheets. Debounced input with centered match snippets.

Search operatorstag:, group:, before:, after:, is:favorite narrow results.

Tags & keywordsTag sheets with colored keywords. Filter by tag across the entire vault. Stored in YAML frontmatter.

Smart filtersBuilt-in filters: All, Last 7 Days, Trash.

Pinned favoritesTop-5 starred sheets pinned inline in the library, ordered by when starred. Click the star to unfavorite.

WikilinksType [[ to link between sheets. Fuzzy-search dropdown; recently visited sheets appear first.

BacklinksSee every sheet that links to the current one. Fast even with thousands of sheets.

Plan & schedule

Schedule Board (kanban)Organize sheets into Inbox, Today, Week, Month, Someday. Drag-and-drop between columns.

Calendar viewAssign sheets to specific dates. View them in a monthly calendar.

Smart Inbox TriageCmd+Shift+I walks you through Inbox items one by one. Convert any note into a scheduled task — column, date, time, recurrence — in a single dialog.

RemindersSet a reminder on any sheet from the right-click menu or Cmd+Alt+R. Fires an alarm-clock buzzer (~8s) plus a native macOS notification — impossible to miss.

Editor superpowers

Typography panelThe Aa button in the markup bar. Change font family, size, line height, and letter spacing. Preferences persist across sessions.

Smart typographyAuto-converts straight quotes to curly quotes (“”) or guillemets (« »), -- to em dash, ... to ellipsis.

Focus modeDims everything except the current paragraph. Paragraph-aware, matching how prose writers think.

Typewriter modeKeeps the active line centered on screen.

Zen modeHides all panels for distraction-free writing.

Outline panelShows all headings. Click to jump. Drag to reorder sections.

Multi-cursorCmd-click to add cursors anywhere, or Cmd+D to add a cursor at the next match.

List continuationEnter continues - , * , 1. (auto-increment), and > . Empty prefix exits.

Smart pastePaste HTML from the web and get clean Markdown.

Writing goalsSet word count targets per sheet. Animated progress ring tracks how close you are.

Live statisticsWords, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and estimated reading time.

TemplatesCreate sheets from reusable templates stored in your vault.

Markup overflow menuThe … button on the markup bar exposes the same long-tail actions as the top toolbar — copy link, snippets, find, timer — without crowding the main strip.

Files & export

Export to MarkdownCopy or save as .md. Strips frontmatter, keeps the content.

Export to HTMLRendered Markdown to clipboard or file. Proper headings, lists, code blocks, links.

Export to PDFFormatted export with proper typography. XSS-sanitized for safety.

Export to DOCXWord document export for editors, publishers, or anyone who needs .docx.

Real-time syncFilesystem watcher plus polling detects external changes instantly.

Trash & restoreDeleted sheets move to a trash folder. Nothing is lost until you empty the trash.

Reveal in FinderRight-click any group, sheet, or reference file to show it in Finder.

Advanced

Deep features for power users: AI reflections (BYOK), research workflows, sharing, and the long tail of tools that quietly make Kavya yours.

AI Chat & reflections (BYOK)

Four providersClaude (Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5), OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-4o Mini, o3-mini), Google Gemini (2.0 Flash, 2.0 Pro), and Claude Code CLI.

Streaming responsesReal-time token streaming via SSE for all API providers.

Document-awareThe AI sees your current sheet and can suggest edits, insert text, or rewrite sections.

Tool useClaude API can directly edit your document: insert, replace, or rewrite sections.

Chat tabsMultiple named sessions. Switch, rename, delete. Each tab keeps its own model and history.

Insert & SaveInsert AI responses directly into the editor, or save them as a new sheet.

Claude Code CLIUses your Claude Code subscription with full filesystem access. No API key needed.

Persistent CLI sessionClaude Code runs as a persistent background process. Conversation persists across messages.

Live document editingThe CLI edits your active sheet on disk. Changes reload in the editor automatically.

MCP server accessThe CLI inherits all your user-configured tools including MCP servers.

API key managementThe key dialog opens the first time you use an AI feature. Keys persist across sessions.

Sheet summaryOne-click AI summary of the current sheet.

Tag suggestionsAI suggests @-prefixed tags for the current sheet. Opt-in.

Daily ReviewNarrative AI summary of everything you wrote today.

Activity ReportPick any date range and get a narrative summary with metrics, sparkline charts, and progressive disclosure.

Reflect, present & review

Presentation ModeH1/H2 headings turn into slides. Present from any sheet without leaving the app.

Activity TimelineChronological “what did I do” view of recent edits across the vault.

Activity heatmapGitHub-style heatmap of writing activity by day, surfacing your cadence at a glance.

Split viewEdit two sheets side by side, or view a Markdown preview next to your source.

Split sheetCmd+Shift+D splits a sheet into two at the cursor position.

Merge sheetsSelect multiple sheets, right-click to combine. Originals go to trash (restorable).

Sentence navigationCtrl+. / Ctrl+, jump between sentences. Abbreviation-aware.

Attachments & notesAttach files and annotations to any sheet. Images display inline.

Research & reference files

PDF viewerRead PDFs without leaving the app. Drop them into any group.

EPUB readerBuilt-in EPUB reader with page navigation. Read books alongside your notes.

Image viewerView images inline. Drop screenshots, diagrams, or photos into any group.

Separate from notesReference files never appear in the sheet list. Your writing space stays clean.

File managementRight-click for Delete, Move to, Open Externally, or Reveal in Finder.

Smart drag-and-dropFiles import into the selected group. Duplicate detection alerts before creating copies.

Share your plan

Send to Apple NotesExport a kanban column as a native Apple Notes checklist. Syncs via iCloud.

Send to iCloudHTML file with clickable checkboxes in iCloud Drive/Kavya/.

Copy as textPlain-text checklist to clipboard. Paste anywhere.

Copy as cardRich HTML card to clipboard. Paste in Apple Notes for a formatted overview.

Copy as imagePNG card to clipboard. Share a snapshot of your plan.

Save as imageSave the column as a PNG file. Choose where to put it.

Spanish interfaceSettings → Appearance → Language. Switches the UI to Spanish (Español).

Group header dragDrag group headers to move entire groups between columns at once.

Power tools

Deep linksEvery sheet has a kavya://sheet/<id> URL. Press Cmd+L to copy it.

Incremental scanVault rescan uses file mtime cache. Only re-parses changed files.

Duplicate detectionFiles duplicated on disk get unique IDs automatically. No collisions.

Ulysses importImport your entire Ulysses library without losing structure.

Reset UI preferencesSettings → Advanced → Reset clears panel widths, last–opened view, locale, and other interface state with one click. Your notes, vault path, and AI keys are kept.

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Keyboard shortcuts

Every action from the keyboard. No mouse required.

Shortcut	Action
`Cmd+N`	Quick Capture (new note in Inbox)
`Cmd+T`	New task (tagged inbox) in current folder
`Ctrl+D`	Daily note
`Cmd+O`	Quick Switcher
`Cmd+Shift+P`	Command palette
`Cmd+Shift+I`	Smart Inbox Triage
`Cmd+F`	Find & replace (current sheet)
`Cmd+Shift+F`	Search all sheets
`Cmd+Shift+H`	Global find & replace
`Cmd+L`	Copy deep link
`Cmd+E`	Export sheet
`Cmd+Shift+D`	Split sheet at cursor
`Cmd+B`	Bold
`Cmd+I`	Italic
`Cmd+K`	Insert link
`Cmd+Shift+K`	Inline code
`Cmd+D`	Multi-cursor: select next match
`Cmd-click`	Add cursor at click
`Cmd+1`	Toggle library
`Cmd+2`	Toggle sheets panel
`Cmd+3`	Editor only
`Cmd+Shift+B`	Schedule Board
`Cmd+[`	Navigate back
`Cmd+]`	Navigate forward
`Cmd+Up/Down`	Previous / next sheet
`Ctrl+.`	Next sentence
`Ctrl+,`	Previous sentence
`Cmd+/`	Keyboard shortcut cheatsheet
`Escape`	Return to sheet list