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Notaly – A note app where you don't organize, you query

Notaly – A note app where you don't organize, you query

by vajafafa·Feb 12, 2026·2 points·0 comments

AI Analysis

●●SolidShip ItNiche Gem

Obsidian/Notion alternative: skip hierarchies, just mark lines as data and query later.

Strengths
  • Query-first mental model sidesteps the over-organize/not-organize paradox most note apps suffer from
  • Live, synced queries mean marking a line as TODO instantly pulls it into a live results view across all notes
  • Local-first, Markdown-based foundation means data portability and offline-first design
Weaknesses
  • Still in beta with macOS-only release; Windows 'coming soon' signals incomplete platform coverage and uncertain shipping timeline
  • Query UX design language is unproven—unclear if non-technical users will intuitively understand attribute marking vs. traditional hierarchies
Category
Target Audience

Knowledge workers, researchers, students who struggle with upfront note organization

Similar To

Obsidian · Roam Research · Logseq

Post Description

Hi HN,

I built a desktop note app called Notaly.

Most note apps assume you should organize everything upfront — folders, tags, backlinks, hierarchies. In practice, I found myself either over-organizing or not organizing at all.

Notaly is built around a different idea: write freely, mark lines as data, and query them later.

You don’t decide where notes belong. You decide what a line means.

For example: - I write meeting notes, study notes, random thoughts — anywhere. - When a line represents something actionable, I mark it as a TODO. - Queries automatically collect those TODOs across all pages into one live view.

There’s no dedicated “task page” or manual linking. Queries always reflect the current state of your notes.

Key ideas: - No upfront structure - Local-first desktop app - Markdown-based - Queries over folders or tags

It’s still early, and I’m actively refining the query model and UX. I’d love feedback on whether this mental model makes sense and where it breaks.

Short demo video on the landing page: https://notaly.dev

Thanks for reading.

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