- JavaScript 98.8%
- HTML 0.8%
- Dockerfile 0.2%
- Shell 0.2%
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→ Try the web demo
Sticky Notes
A sticky notes app for Linux (yes, for Linux too!) and macOS that doesn't look like it escaped from a 2006 GNOME panel.
Why this exists
For ten years I've been looking for a sticky notes app for Ubuntu that I could actually stand to look at.
Every one I tried fell into one of two camps:
- Pretty but useless. Beautiful rounded corners, lovely typography, three features — one of which is "change the color of the note."
- Useful but ugly. Tabs! Folders! Tags! Wiki-links! Markdown! Rendered in fonts last updated when Firefox had a phoenix logo.
I wanted both. I couldn't find it. So I built it in a day with Claude Design and Claude Code.
This is that app. It runs on Linux, macOS, and in the browser.
Screenshots
Your whole desk, at a glance. Pan, zoom, and drop notes wherever they feel right. Link two notes by clicking the link icon on one and then the other — connections show up as dashed arrows on the canvas.
Folders that aren't an afterthought. Colored folder badges, per-folder note counts, and a drawer that actually gets out of the way when you want it to.
Three looks — because a 2pm notes session and a 2am notes session are not the same notes session.
Paper is the default. Flat if you want something quieter. Terminal if you've made peace with what you are.
 |
 |
| Flat | Terminal |
Close up. Markdown body, link arrows, color-coded folder badges. Click the red pushpin in a note's header — pinned notes follow you into every folder, so the important stuff is always one click away.
What it does not do
- Sync to the cloud. (I may add this. I also may not.)
- Collaborate in real time. These are sticky notes.
- Send you notifications. These are sticky notes.
- Parse your notes with a large language model to surface insights. These are sticky notes.
Design principles
A short list, because the whole point of this project is that somebody should have written one:
- It should be pleasant to open. If the app is ugly, I won't use it, and then none of the features matter.
- Features should earn their place. Every toolbar button is a small betrayal of the reader's attention.
- The canvas is the interface. Not a sidebar. Not a list. The notes, where you put them.
- Escape hatches everywhere. Keyboard shortcut for the common things. Drag-and-drop for everything. Your notes are a JSON file you can read with
cat.
Install
Pre-built downloads (recommended)
Easiest path on Ubuntu — install from the Snap Store, auto-updates included:
sudo snap install sticky-notes-canvas
Or grab the latest from Releases and pick the file for your platform:
| Platform | File | How to install |
|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu / any distro with snapd | (Snap Store) | sudo snap install sticky-notes-canvas |
| Ubuntu / Debian | sticky-notes-canvas_<ver>_amd64.deb |
sudo dpkg -i sticky-notes-canvas_<ver>_amd64.deb |
| Linux (portable) | Sticky Notes-<ver>.AppImage |
chmod +x and double-click — no install needed |
| macOS — via Homebrew | (tap) | brew install --cask faridjaff/tap/sticky-notes-canvas |
| macOS — Apple Silicon (M-series) | Sticky Notes-<ver>-arm64.dmg |
mount → drag to /Applications |
| macOS — Intel | Sticky Notes-<ver>.dmg |
mount → drag to /Applications |
Note for macOS
The macOS builds are not code-signed. If your Mac refuses to open the downloaded app, build from source instead — instructions below.
Web (no install)
Hosted version: https://faridjaff.github.io/StickyNotesCanvas/. Each visitor's notes live in their own browser's localStorage — separate from any other browser, separate from the desktop app. Survives refresh; cleared if you wipe site data.
Build from source
Prerequisites
- Node.js 20+ and npm
- macOS only: Xcode Command Line Tools —
xcode-select --install - Linux only: nothing extra;
electron-builderfetchesfpm(for.debpackaging) on first build
Clone and install
git clone git@github.com:faridjaff/StickyNotesCanvas.git
cd sticky-notes-canvas
npm install
Build and install
Linux
npm run build:linux
sudo dpkg -i "dist/sticky-notes-canvas_$(node -p 'require(\"./package.json\").version')_amd64.deb"
The app appears in your Activities menu as Sticky Notes. To uninstall later: sudo apt remove sticky-notes-canvas.
macOS
npm run build:mac
cp -R "dist/mac-arm64/Sticky Notes.app" /Applications/
(Use dist/mac/Sticky Notes.app instead if you're on an Intel Mac.)
Launch from Spotlight (Cmd+Space → "Sticky Notes") or from Launchpad. To uninstall later, drag the app from /Applications to the Trash.
Self-hosted server
This fork adds a container that serves the web app with notes stored on the server, one board per user signed in through a reverse proxy (Authentik). Multi-arch images are built by .forgejo/workflows/build.yaml. See deploy/README.md.
DEFAULT_USER=me npm run serve
Where your notes live
| Path | |
|---|---|
| Linux | ~/.config/sticky-notes-canvas/notes.json |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/sticky-notes-canvas/notes.json |
| Browser | localStorage key stickies.all |
| Self-hosted server | $DATA_DIR/users/<username>/notes.json |
The JSON format is identical across all three — copy the file from one machine to another and your notes come with it.
License
MIT — © 2026 faridjaff. Designed with Claude Design and engineered with Claude Code. Built in a day. Tested over the course of a decade of quietly being annoyed.