ekphos 0.5.1

A lightweight, fast, terminal-based markdown research tool inspired by Obsidian
ekphos-0.5.1 is not a library.

Ekphos

Crates.io Rust License

An open source, lightweight, fast, terminal-based markdown research tool built with Rust.

Ekphos Preview

Table of Contents

Getting Started

Requirements

  • Rust 1.70+ (run rustup update to update)
  • A terminal emulator (for inline image preview: iTerm2, Kitty, WezTerm, Ghostty, or Sixel-compatible terminal)

Installation

Using Cargo (Recommended)

cargo install ekphos

Using Make

git clone https://github.com/hanebox/ekphos.git
cd ekphos
make
sudo make install

Using Docker

git clone https://github.com/hanebox/ekphos.git
cd ekphos
docker build -t ekphos-ssh .
docker compose up -d

After the container is up, SSH into the machine:

ssh ekphos@your-docker-container-ip

Update

cargo install ekphos

Uninstall

If installed with Cargo:

cargo uninstall ekphos

If installed with Make:

cd ekphos  # navigate to the cloned repo
sudo make uninstall

CLI Options

Flag Description
-h, --help Print help information
-v, --version Print version
-c, --config Print config file path
-d, --dir Print notes directory

Configuration

Config File

Configuration is stored in ~/.config/ekphos/config.toml.

# ~/.config/ekphos/config.toml
notes_dir = "~/Documents/ekphos"
welcome_shown = false
theme = "catppuccin-mocha"
show_empty_dir = true
syntax_theme = "base16-ocean.dark"

[editor]
line_wrap = true
Setting Description Default
notes_dir Directory where notes are stored ~/Documents/ekphos
welcome_shown Show welcome dialog on startup true
theme Theme name (without .toml extension) catppuccin-mocha
show_empty_dir Show folders that contain no .md files true
syntax_theme Syntax highlighting theme for code base16-ocean.dark

Editor settings:

Setting Description Default
editor.line_wrap Enable soft line wrapping in editor true

Note: This configuration format requires v0.3.0 or later.

Themes

Experimental: Themes are still highly experimental. We expect to finalize the theme standard around v0.6.0 or v0.7.0.

Themes are stored in ~/.config/ekphos/themes/ and use the Alacritty color scheme format.

Bundled Theme

  • catppuccin-mocha (default)

Using Alacritty Themes

Ekphos is fully compatible with Alacritty Themes. To use any Alacritty theme:

  1. Browse themes at https://github.com/alacritty/alacritty-theme/tree/master/themes
  2. Download a theme file to your themes directory: 
    curl -o ~/.config/ekphos/themes/dracula.toml \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alacritty/alacritty-theme/master/themes/dracula.toml
  3. Set the theme in your config: 
    theme = "dracula"

Custom Themes

Create a .toml file in the themes directory using the Alacritty color format:

# ~/.config/ekphos/themes/mytheme.toml

[colors.primary]
background = "#1e1e2e"
foreground = "#cdd6f4"

[colors.cursor]
text = "#1e1e2e"
cursor = "#f5e0dc"

[colors.selection]
text = "#1e1e2e"
background = "#f5e0dc"

[colors.normal]
black = "#45475a"
red = "#f38ba8"
green = "#a6e3a1"
yellow = "#f9e2af"
blue = "#89b4fa"
magenta = "#f5c2e7"
cyan = "#94e2d5"
white = "#bac2de"

[colors.bright]
black = "#585b70"
red = "#f38ba8"
green = "#a6e3a1"
yellow = "#f9e2af"
blue = "#89b4fa"
magenta = "#f5c2e7"
cyan = "#94e2d5"
white = "#a6adc8"

Then set in config:

theme = "mytheme"

Usage

Layout

Ekphos has three panels:

Panel Position Description
Sidebar Left Collapsible folder tree with notes
Content Center Note content with markdown rendering
Outline Right Auto-generated headings for navigation

Use Tab or Shift+Tab to switch between panels.

Collapsible Panels:

  • Press Ctrl+b to collapse/expand the sidebar (shows ≡ icon with note count when collapsed)
  • Press Ctrl+o to collapse/expand the outline (shows heading symbols ◆■▸ when collapsed)

Folder Tree

The sidebar displays a hierarchical folder tree that automatically detects subdirectories containing .md files:

  • Folders are shown with ▶ (collapsed) or ▼ (expanded) icons
  • Press Enter on a folder to toggle expand/collapse
  • Folders and notes are sorted alphabetically together
  • Folders start collapsed by default

Creating Notes

  1. Press n to create a new note
  2. Enter the note name
  3. Press Enter to confirm

Notes are stored as .md files in your configured notes directory.

Context-aware: When your cursor is on a folder or a note inside a folder, pressing n will create the new note in that folder.

Creating Folders

  1. Press N (Shift+N) to create a new folder
  2. Enter the folder name
  3. Press Enter to confirm
  4. A dialog will appear to create the first note in the folder
  5. Enter the note name and press Enter (or Esc to cancel and remove the empty folder)

Context-aware: When your cursor is on a folder, pressing N will create the new folder as a subfolder.

Renaming

  1. Select a note or folder in the sidebar
  2. Press r to rename
  3. Edit the name and press Enter to confirm (or Esc to cancel)

Deleting

  1. Select a note or folder in the sidebar
  2. Press d to delete
  3. Confirm with y or cancel with n

Warning: Deleting a folder will remove all notes inside it!

Searching Notes

  1. Press / in the sidebar to start searching
  2. Type your search query
  3. Results are highlighted in green, title shows match count
  4. Use Arrow keys or Ctrl+j/k/n/p to navigate between matches
  5. Press Enter to select and close search
  6. Press Esc to cancel search

Features:

  • Searches all notes recursively, including those in collapsed folders
  • Auto-expands folders containing matched notes
  • Border color indicates status: yellow (typing), green (matches found), red (no matches)

Editing Notes

  1. Select a note in the sidebar
  2. Press e to enter edit mode
  3. Edit using vim keybindings
  4. Press Ctrl+s to save
  5. Press Esc to exit edit mode (discards unsaved changes)

Markdown Support

Syntax Rendered As
# Heading ◆ HEADING (blue)
## Heading ■ Heading (green)
### Heading ▸ Heading (yellow)
#### Heading › Heading (mauve)
##### Heading Heading (teal)
###### Heading Heading (subtle)
- item • item
- [ ] task [ ] task (unchecked)
- [x] task [x] task (checked)
`code` Inline code (green)
```lang Syntax-highlighted code
![alt](path) Inline image
[text](url) Clickable link (cyan)
| table | Formatted table
<details> Collapsible dropdown (cyan)

Syntax Highlighting

Code blocks with a language specifier are syntax-highlighted using syntect:

```rust
fn main() {
    let message = "Hello, Ekphos!";
    println!("{}", message);
}
```

Supported languages: Rust, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, C, C++, Java, Ruby, PHP, Shell, SQL, HTML, CSS, JSON, YAML, Markdown, and many more.

Code blocks without a language specifier render in a uniform green color.

Available syntax themes:

Theme Description
base16-ocean.dark Dark ocean theme (default)
base16-ocean.light Light ocean theme
base16-eighties.dark Dark 80s retro theme
base16-mocha.dark Dark mocha theme
InspiredGitHub GitHub-inspired light theme
Solarized (dark) Solarized dark theme
Solarized (light) Solarized light theme

Set in config:

# ~/.config/ekphos/config.toml
syntax_theme = "base16-mocha.dark"

Images

Adding Images

Use standard markdown image syntax:

![alt text](path/to/image.png)
![screenshot](~/pictures/screenshot.png)
![diagram](./diagrams/flow.png)
![remote](https://example.com/image.png)

Both local files and remote URLs (http/https) are supported.

Supported formats: PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, BMP

Viewing Images

  1. Navigate to the image line in content view
  2. Click on the image or press Enter/o to open in system viewer

Terminal Image Support

For inline image preview, use a compatible terminal:

  • iTerm2 (macOS)
  • Kitty
  • WezTerm
  • Ghostty
  • Sixel-enabled terminals

Links

Markdown links are rendered with underlined cyan text:

[Ekphos Website](https://ekphos.xyz)
[GitHub](https://github.com)

Opening links:

  • Click on a link to open in your default browser
  • Or navigate to the line and press Space
  • Hover over a link to see the "Open ↗" hint

Multiple links on same line:

  • Use ] to select next link, [ to select previous
  • Selected link is highlighted with yellow background
  • Space opens the currently selected link

Collapsible Details

Use HTML <details> tags for collapsible/expandable sections:

<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>

Hidden content goes here.
This can include multiple lines.

</details>

Usage:

  • Click on the details line to toggle open/close
  • Or navigate with keyboard and press Space
  • When collapsed, shows ▶ indicator
  • When expanded, shows ▼ indicator with content below

Use cases: FAQs, spoilers, optional information, long code examples.

Using the Outline

The outline panel shows all headings in your note:

  1. Press Tab to focus the outline
  2. Use j/k to navigate headings
  3. Press Enter to jump to that heading

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global

Key Action
j/k Navigate up/down
Tab Switch focus (Sidebar → Content → Outline)
Shift+Tab Switch focus (reverse)
Enter/o Open image / Jump to heading
? Show help dialog
q Quit
Ctrl+b Toggle sidebar collapse
Ctrl+o Toggle outline collapse

Sidebar

Key Action
n Create new note
N Create new folder
Enter Toggle folder / Open note
r Rename note/folder
d Delete note/folder
e Edit note
/ Search notes

Content View

Key Action
j/k Navigate lines
Shift+J/K Toggle floating cursor mode
Space Toggle task / details dropdown / Open link
]/[ Next/previous link (multi-link lines)
Enter/o Open image in system viewer
Click Open link or image

Floating Cursor Mode: When enabled (yellow border, [FLOAT] indicator), the cursor moves freely within the visible area. The view only scrolls when the cursor reaches the top or bottom edge. Toggle with Shift+J or Shift+K.

Edit Mode

Normal Mode

Key Action
i Insert before cursor
a Insert after cursor
A Insert at end of line
I Insert at start of line
o New line below
O New line above
v Visual mode
h/l Move cursor left/right
j/k Move cursor up/down
w/b Move by word
0/$ Line start/end
g/G Top/bottom of file
x Delete character
dd Delete line
dw Delete word forward
db Delete word backward
y Yank (copy) selection
p Paste
u Undo
Ctrl+r Redo
Ctrl+s Save and exit
Esc Exit (discard changes)

Delete Commands Flow

Delete commands (dd, dw, db) use a confirmation flow with visual feedback:

  1. Press d - Title shows NORMAL d- with yellow border
    • Available: d (line), w (word forward), b (word backward)
  2. Press target key - Text is highlighted, title shows NORMAL [DEL] with red border
    • Press d to confirm deletion
    • Press Esc to cancel
    • Any other key cancels and performs its action

Visual Mode

Press v in normal mode to enter visual mode for text selection.

Key Action
h/j/k/l Extend selection
w/b Extend by word
y Yank selection
d/x Delete selection
Esc Cancel

Mouse Selection

In edit mode, use the mouse for quick text selection:

Action Result
Click Position cursor
Drag Select text (enters visual mode)
Right-click Context menu (Copy / Cut / Paste)
Drag to edge Auto-scroll while selecting

Auto-scroll: When dragging near the top or bottom edge of the editor, the view automatically scrolls to allow selecting text beyond the visible area.

Contributing

Ekphos is open source and contributions are welcome.

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/hanebox/ekphos.git
cd ekphos
make run

Branch Strategy

Branch Purpose
main Development branch
release Stable release branch

Workflow

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch from main
  3. Make your changes
  4. Submit a PR to the main branch

Disclaimer

This project is in an early development stage. There may be frequent unexpected breaking changes throughout the pre-release, but things should remain usable throughout this stage.

Socials

We don't have socials yet, but things are open for discussion. Feel free to create a discussion in this repo.

License

MIT