What is Baram?
Baram(바람) is a desktop markdown editor where formatting syntax disappears as you type. Move your cursor into a heading and the ## prefix reappears for editing; move away and only the styled text remains. This experience extends to bold, italic, links, images, math, and more — all while maintaining lossless markdown roundtrip fidelity.
Your notes stay plain .md text files in a folder you choose — no database, no proprietary container, no lock-in. Prose is ordinary CommonMark, and the features that go beyond it write the same conventions other markdown tools already read: [[wikilinks]], #tags, > [!NOTE] callouts, $math$, ==highlights==, and Obsidian-style task fields. Anything Baram does not recognize is carried through untouched, so a note stays readable — and editable — in any other editor.
Installation
Download
Pre-built binaries for macOS, Windows, and Linux are available on the Releases page.
| Platform | Architecture | Format |
|---|
| macOS 13+ | Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) | .dmg |
| Windows | x64 | .msi, .exe |
| Linux | x64 | .deb, .AppImage, .rpm |
macOS note: Baram is signed with an Apple Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a Gatekeeper warning. macOS still asks to confirm an app downloaded from the internet on first launch — that prompt appears for every notarized app. Access to Documents/Desktop/Downloads/iCloud is requested once and then remembered, including across updates.
Build from Source
Prerequisites:
git clone https://github.com/sayinel/baram.git
cd baram
npm install
npm run tauri build
The built application will be in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.
Features
Baram pairs a beautiful WYSIWYG editor with lossless markdown, AI-native editing, and bidirectional links — in a lightweight desktop app. Downloads are ~8MB (Windows .exe), ~13MB (Linux .deb/.rpm), and ~23MB for the universal macOS .dmg, which ships Apple Silicon and Intel in one bundle.
Editing
- Disappearing syntax — Markdown delimiters (
**, *, `, ~~, ==, ~, ^, links) show only when your cursor enters the range and vanish when you leave.
- Lossless roundtrip — MD → editor → MD preserves your document exactly, including markup Baram does not render itself. Plain text on disk, always — no database, no proprietary container, no lock-in.
- Source mode — Toggle raw markdown editing (CodeMirror 6) with
Cmd+/.
- Rich blocks — Headings, lists, tables (with cell merge), task lists, Obsidian-compatible callouts, toggles, footnotes, definition lists, and YAML frontmatter — created by typing markdown,
/ slash commands, or shortcuts.
- Math, code & diagrams — Inline/block LaTeX (KaTeX), syntax highlighting for 14+ languages (CodeMirror 6), and Mermaid diagrams — all with live preview.
- Images — Drag-and-drop, paste from clipboard, resize, and edit alt text inline.
- Symbols & emoji — Type
: and a name (:arrow, :heart, or a Korean keyword) to insert a symbol or emoji, or browse a picker from the slash menu. Optional smart punctuation turns -> into → and ... into … as you type. The character itself is saved, never a shortcode. See the guide →
- Other file types — Open HTML with a sandboxed live preview and a source-edit toggle, and images/SVG in a built-in viewer — all in place, without leaving the app. Plugins can add viewers for more types.
Knowledge & Navigation
- Wikilinks —
[[links]] with autocomplete, heading/block links, aliases, and relative/namespace paths. Links can target PDFs and other viewable files ([[paper.pdf]]), and those count as real edges in backlinks and the graph.
- Backlinks & unlinked mentions — See what links here; links auto-update on rename.
- Block references & embeds — Reference
((file#^id)) or embed {{embed ((file#^id))}} any block; embeds stay editable.
- @Mentions & tags — Inline
@[[...]] page/date chips and #nested/tags with a vault-wide index.
- Tasks — Any
- [ ] checkbox anywhere in the vault is indexed. Four states ([ ] [/] [x] [-]), due/scheduled/start dates, priority, repeat rules, and optional time tracking — written as Obsidian-compatible emoji fields you never have to type. An agenda sidebar buckets everything by Overdue / Today / This week / Later, and AI can pull action items out of a meeting note.
- Graph view & global search — Visual map of your connections, plus vault-wide full-text search with regex and replace.
- PDF reading & highlights — Read PDFs in place with find, zoom, and a page/highlight side panel. Highlight text or draw a box around a figure, then paste a reference into any note: it renders as the quoted sentence, or as the cropped region of the page, and
Cmd+click jumps back to the source. Highlights are stored beside the PDF as plain markdown and JSON — the PDF is never modified.
- Query blocks — Embed a saved search in a note as a
```query block and get a live list of matching notes or tasks, built with a visual filter/sort/display builder. Task results stay checkable in place. See the guide →
Workspaces
- Vaults & multi-context — Open multiple vaults, folders, and files at once, each with its own tree, tabs, and settings; link across vaults with
[[alias::file]]. Baram reads and writes only where you allowed it: every location is approved once, listed in Settings, and revocable.
- Journal & Zettelkasten — A diary-focused daily-notes space (calendar, photos, streaks, templates) and an atomic-notes space (
[[id]] links, fleeting→permanent promotion, MOCs).
- Capture into hub notes — Quick Capture is a full WYSIWYG window, and its tags are addresses:
#Inspiration appends what you wrote to the top of that note's ## Captures section, stamped with a date and a referenceable block ID. Tag nothing and it falls back to the inbox. One keystroke from anywhere, filed the moment you write it. See the guide →
- Version history — Automatic file snapshots with timeline, diff, and selective restore — independent of Git.
- Git integration — Stage, commit, diff, branch, stash, and push/pull from the sidebar.
Sharing & Customization
- Export — HTML, PDF, and — via Pandoc — Word, LaTeX, EPUB, and RST, plus Notion-compatible markdown.
- Themes — 8 built-in editor themes (plus 6 journal themes) and a full color editor. A theme can carry both a light and a dark palette and follow your system appearance, be imported and exported as JSON, or be exported as an installable package. Export Look as Theme packages the look you have set up — your theme's colors, every appearance dial not at its default, and optionally the bars you hid — and Import Theme installs such a package from a file; a theme installed from a file is marked as such, and Baram asks before a registry theme with the same id replaces it. Browse Themes can show a registry theme's palette before you install it. HTML and PDF exports can carry your active theme's colors.
- Appearance dials — Adjust the accent color, how far the sidebars and bars stand apart from the document, interface density and corner rounding, and how the document is set: body and code fonts, font size and line height, line width (in characters or pixels), padding, letter and paragraph spacing, Korean word-keeping line breaks, and how emphasis is drawn. Each dial marks a value that came from your theme or from you, and one you changed reverts on its own.
- Fonts — Pretendard and JetBrains Mono ship with the app, so documents look the same on every platform. Pick body and code typefaces separately from a searchable browser that previews each one. A choice is labelled as shipped with Baram, installed, supplied by your theme, or missing; a generic family such as
serif, or a font Baram cannot check because this machine's font list is not available, carries no label; HTML and PDF exports carry your choice — PDF always embeds the bundled faces, and HTML can on request.
- Plugins — Install plugins from a built-in marketplace that marks each one as Baram's own or a community publisher's, browse each one's README in a detail tab, and toggle any plugin — built-ins included — on or off. Plugins run sandboxed, isolated from the editor, and every privileged action is checked against the capabilities you approved in the install dialog. A plugin Baram publishes can instead ask for full trust — that comes with a warning and a separate confirmation, and a community plugin that asks for it cannot be installed. If an update to a community plugin comes from a different GitHub account, Baram asks again before installing it. Installs are staged and atomic. A signed withdrawal list stops a harmful plugin from running, warns about a vulnerable one, and keeps a withdrawn version from being installed or offered as an update. A plugin can ask you to pick from a list or type a short answer, but only while a command you started from it runs. Plugin authors can load a sandboxed plugin straight from a folder by turning on developer mode, and submit one to the community registry with a pull request.
📖 See the User Guide for detailed usage of every feature.
AI Integration
Baram has built-in AI writing assistance powered by Claude, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Google Gemini, and Ollama (local).
Setup
- Open Settings with
Cmd+,
- Go to the AI tab
- Select your AI provider (Claude, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Gemini, or Ollama)
- Enter your API key (per-provider — each provider has its own key field; Ollama requires no key)
- Choose your preferred model (models are loaded dynamically from the provider)
Inline AI Editing (Cmd+J)
Press Cmd+J to open the inline AI prompt anywhere in your document:
- Type your instruction (e.g., "make this more concise", "translate to Korean")
- The AI processes your request with real-time streaming
- Review the suggestion with character-level diff highlighting
- Accept or Reject the changes
Contextual AI Actions (✨ Sparkles)
AI actions appear contextually throughout the editor via the ✨ button:
- Floating Toolbar — Select text and click ✨ for actions like Improve, Shorten, Expand, Translate, Tone Change, Explain
- Block Handle — Hover near the left gutter, click ⋮, then ✨ for block-level AI actions
- NodeView Buttons — Hover over code blocks, math blocks, tables, images, callouts, and Mermaid diagrams for specialized AI actions
Actions are content-aware — code blocks show "Add Comments", "Optimize", "Find Bugs"; math blocks show "Show Steps", "Fix LaTeX"; tables show "Analyze Data", "Fill Cells", etc.
Ghost Text (AI Autocomplete)
AI-powered autocomplete suggestions appear as you type:
- Tab — Accept the full suggestion
- Cmd+Right — Accept only the first word
- Escape — Dismiss the suggestion
Enable or disable Ghost Text in Settings > AI.
AI Chat Panel (Cmd+Shift+A)
A dedicated chat panel for conversing with AI about your documents:
- @references — Mention context:
@selection, @current (current file), @file (any file), @clipboard
- Apply to Editor — Insert AI responses directly into the editor as WYSIWYG content
- Streaming responses with markdown rendering
- Conversation history per session
Smart Templates (/ai-template)
Type /ai-template in the slash menu to generate document content from AI-powered templates:
- Choose from template categories (e.g., Meeting Notes, Project Plan, Technical Spec)
- Or write a custom description for any template
- Generated content is inserted as fully rendered WYSIWYG blocks
Slash AI Commands
Type / to open the slash menu. AI-powered commands include:
| Command | Description |
|---|
/ai-write | Write or continue from current context |
/ai-brainstorm | Brainstorm ideas from current context |
/ai-summarize | Summarize selected text |
/ai-expand | Expand and elaborate on selected text |
/ai-fix-grammar | Fix grammar and spelling |
/ai-translate | Translate to another language |
/ai-explain | Explain selected text in simple terms |
/ai-template | Generate content from AI templates |
/extract-tasks | Pull action items out of the selection |
Custom AI Commands
Create your own slash commands in Settings > AI > Custom Commands. Use variable substitution ({selection}, {document}, {clipboard}) to build reusable AI workflows.
Keyboard Shortcuts
On Windows/Linux, replace Cmd with Ctrl. Every shortcut is remappable in Settings > Keybindings.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Bold / Italic / Inline Code | Cmd+B / Cmd+I / Cmd+E |
| Heading 1–6 | Cmd+1 – Cmd+6 |
| Code Block / Math Block | Cmd+Alt+C / Cmd+Shift+M |
| Table | Cmd+T |
| Source Mode | Cmd+/ |
| Command Palette | Cmd+P |
| Global Search | Cmd+Shift+F |
| Find / Replace | Cmd+F / Cmd+H |
| AI Inline Edit / AI Chat | Cmd+J / Cmd+Shift+A |
| Toggle Sidebar | Cmd+Shift+L |
| Settings | Cmd+, |
📖 See the full Keyboard Shortcuts reference for every binding.
User Interface
3-Column Layout
- Context Tab Bar — Switch between open vaults, folders, and files
- Left Sidebar — Files, Search, Outline, Backlinks, Bookmarks, Graph View, Source Control, Calendar, Tags, Tasks, Zettel, Skills Gallery, and Plugins (
Cmd+Shift+L to toggle). Reorder or hide any of them in Settings > Layout.
- Editor — Main editing area with WYSIWYG or Source mode
- Right Sidebar — AI Chat, Memories, Photo Gallery, or Version History
- Focus — The Focus perspective (
Cmd+Alt+5) hides both sidebars, the activity bar, the status bar, and the tab bar. Those three bars can also be hidden one at a time without turning off what they do.
Toolbar & Menus
- Floating Toolbar — Appears on text selection with formatting buttons
- Block Handle — Drag handle on the left side of each block for reordering
- Slash Commands — Type
/ at the start of a line for quick block insertion
- Command Palette —
Cmd+P or Cmd+Shift+P for searching and running any command
- Quick Switcher —
Cmd+K for quickly opening files and jumping to headings
- Context Menu — Right-click for context-aware options (copy, paste, block type, pin tab, etc.)
Tabs
- Multiple tabs — Open several files at once
- Tab Pin — Right-click a tab to pin it (pinned tabs show as icons, can't be accidentally closed)
- Tab Switcher —
Ctrl+Tab opens MRU (Most Recently Used) tab switcher
- Undo history preserved — Switching tabs preserves your undo/redo history per tab
Help Menu
The Help menu opens documentation in your browser — there is no in-app panel:
- User Guide — Feature overview and usage instructions
- Keyboard Shortcuts — Complete shortcut reference
- FAQ — Frequently asked questions
- Baram Homepage — The project's website
- Report Issue... — File a bug or feature request on GitHub
Status Bar
Shows word count, line count, cursor position, and current Git branch at the bottom of the editor.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Baram is built with Tauri, React, and Rust.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to set up your development environment, run the test suite, and submit changes.
Community
Support
Baram is free and open source — no paywall, no ads, no telemetry — and it always will be. If it earns a place in your workflow, you can chip in to fund its development:
Entirely optional, always appreciated: there is no paywall and never will be.
License
Baram is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.
Third-party open-source components and their licenses are listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md.
