Does this note express a single, complete idea? Would you understand it with no outside context in 5 years?
Linked notes
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You've processed all your fleeting notes. Your ZettleKasten is up to date and stronger than before.
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Look at each fleeting note and decide its fate: Discard if it's no longer relevant · Keep if it's still useful · Elaborate to develop it now · Promote to a permanent note
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Note type
Fleeting
Literature
Permanent
Structure (MOC)
Size = number of connections
Double-click to open
What type of note is this?
Pick the type based on the ZettleKasten method — one idea per note
Fleeting
A quick capture on the fly. To process during your review session.
Literature
Extracted from books, articles, podcasts, or other sources.
Permanent
Your own idea, elaborated in your own language. The core of the system.
Structure
Map of Content — organizes and links topics or groups of notes.
Promover a permanente
This fleeting note will become a permanent note. Refine the title and elaborate the idea in your own words.
Method manual
Everything you need to write good notes from day one.
The rule that governs everything
One note = one idea. If you feel like adding a subheading, that's the sign you need to create a new note.
✍️
Always in your own words
Never copy and paste. Rephrasing forces you to understand. Copying only moves information around.
🔗
Connect, don't file away
Don't organize into folders. Link related notes to each other. Knowledge lives in the connections.
The 4 note types
Fleeting
Quick capture on the fly
Temporary. Process during weekly review.
Literature
While reading / listening to sources
What the source SAYS + a reference.
Permanent
When you have something to say
What YOU think. Self-contained. Linked.
Structure (MOC)
With 5+ notes on a topic
Organizes notes into a narrative thread. Emerges on its own.
Which type do I use?
A quick capture with no time to elaborate?
🪶 Fleeting
Recording what someone else says?
📖 Literature
Expressing what YOU think?
💡 Permanent
Have 5+ notes on one topic?
🗺️ Structure
Connections — critical rules
Links flow from past to present. A new note links to older notes. Never the other way around.
←
"linked to" (gold) vs "linked from" (teal)
"linked to" = you created this link from here. "linked from" = that note points here. Both are visible under Connections.
🗺️
Exception: MOCs can link any era
Structure notes organize existing notes — they can point to newer notes if needed.
↩
Parent note = the direct origin of the idea
Which note did this idea come from? If you can point to just one, that's the parent. It must always be older.
Tags — the golden rule
Don't ask "what is this note about?" ask "when will I want to find this note?" — that answer is your tag.
❌
Avoid content tags
#memory #psychology #business — describe WHAT it's about. With 200 notes, they don't filter anything useful.
✅
Use usage-context tags
#review #for-article #counterintuitive #apply-at-work — describe WHEN you'll want it. Max 1–3 per note.
Structure notes (MOC)
A MOC isn't a folder. It's a note with its own text that links other notes together with a narrative thread. The original notes are never deleted — the MOC is the map, the notes are the territory.
①
Narrative introduction
2–3 sentences explaining why these notes belong together and what question ties them.
②
Links with context
Not just the title — a line explaining that note's angle within the topic.
③
Optional groupings
If there are many notes, organize them into subtopics within the same MOC.
The weekly flow
1
During the week — capture without thinking
Create Fleeting notes for anything that catches your attention. Don't elaborate them. Just capture.
2
Once a week — review session
Open Review fleeting. For each one: Discard · Keep · Elaborate · Promote to permanent.
3
Once there's critical mass — create a MOC
With 5+ notes on a topic, the app will automatically suggest creating a MOC with recommended titles.
Node indicators
📈
Active node
More connections than average. This idea is starting to get referenced.
⭐
Important node
More than double the average. A fertile idea that spawns more ideas.
✦
Core node
More than triple the average. The heart of your ZettleKasten.
Insights from your ZettleKasten
A real analysis of your notes — no guesswork, just hard data about what you've written.
Analyzing your notes…
Keyboard shortcuts
All shortcuts use Ctrl on Windows/Linux and ⌘ Cmd on Mac.
Global navigation
New note
Ctrl+N
Global search
Ctrl+K
Note grid view
Ctrl+1
Knowledge graph view
Ctrl+2
Start fleeting notes review
Ctrl+R
Open backup and restore
Ctrl+Shift+B
Show keyboard shortcuts
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Close modal / Go back
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Note editor
Save note
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Ctrl+I
Toggle preview (Editor → Split → Preview)
Ctrl+P
Back to the grid
Escape
Knowledge graph
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Pan the graph
Click + Drag
Move a node
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Open note from the graph
Double-click node
Fleeting notes review
Discard note
D
Keep note
C
Elaborate note
E
Promote to permanent
P
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Editor formatting
Heading H2Place the cursor on the line to format
H2 button
Bulleted listPlace the cursor on the line to format
List button
Code blockSelect text first
Code button
QuotePlace the cursor on the line to format
Quote button
Backup and restore
Protect your ZettleKasten. Export your notes to a JSON file and restore them whenever you need to.
Export backup
Download all your notes, connections, and tags as a .json file.
Restore backup
Import a previously exported .json file. Replaces your current data.
Portability — no lock-in
Your notes are never trapped here. Export them as standard Markdown — compatible with Obsidian, LogSeq, and pretty much any other note-taking app — or bring in notes you already have elsewhere.
Export to Markdown
One .md file per note, with connections as [[wikilinks]]. Ready to open in Obsidian or any compatible app.
Import from Markdown
Bring in .md notes (loose or in a .zip) from Obsidian or any other system. They're added to what you already have.
Migrate to IndexedDB
Move your data from LocalStorage (5 MB) to IndexedDB (hundreds of MB). Recommended as your collection grows.
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Tour 1 / 8
Welcome to your ZettleKasten
Step text
🧠
Install ZettleKasten
Add the app to your home screen to use it without internet.
Time to create a MOC?
I detected a group of related notes that could benefit from a Map of Content.
Don't show again for this group
Ready to create a Permanent note?
I found related notes that haven't been developed into an idea of your own yet.
Don't show again for this group
Local storage almost full
LocalStorage is at -% capacity. If it fills up, new notes won't be saved.
Migrate to IndexedDB
IndexedDB can store hundreds of MB — practically unlimited for text notes. The migration copies all your current data and clears the LocalStorage copy.