Welcome to Accent

Accent brings notes, code, PDFs and drawings into one workspace. A vault is an ordinary folder of files: your files stay yours, and other apps can edit them too. The desktop app runs on Linux, with an Android companion for editing notes and reading PDFs.

What you can do

• Connect notes and sources. Follow wikilinks, tags and backlinks, embed drawings, and link a selected PDF passage to a note. The link takes you back to the passage.
• Work directly on documents. Annotate and rearrange PDF pages, edit draw.io diagrams on a native canvas, and move between LaTeX source and its PDF with SyncTeX.
• Keep development in the same window. Edit code, run Jupyter cells, review and resolve Git changes, and return to terminal sessions after closing the window.
• Work where the files live. Open a vault over SSH with search, Git and tools running on its host, or let an agent use the vault through the command line and MCP server.

Install and open a vault

Download the Flatpak bundle from the latest release, then install it with:

flatpak install --user accent-<version>-x86_64.flatpak

For a native install on a recent GNOME Linux system, use the installer:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stroblme/accent/main/install.sh | bash

Open Accent and choose Open Local… to use a folder you already have, or make a new one in the folder chooser. Accent will show its files in the sidebar and start indexing them for search and links. The files remain ordinary files in that folder.

You can also open a folder from a terminal with accent ~/Notes. See The workspace for the window, tabs and file tree, or start with your first note. For a folder on another machine, see Remote hosts.

The workspace

Each vault is a folder of files, and Accent gives it its own window. Open one with Open Local… from the menu, or use Open Remote… for a folder over SSH. The start screen lists recent vaults, so picking up where you left off is quick. See Remote hosts if your files live on another machine.

Files and tabs

The Files pane shows the vault’s folders and files. Choose New File (Ctrl+N) or New Folder (Ctrl+Shift+N) to add one. To make a note, give the file a .md ending, such as Journal/Wednesday.md. You can type / in a new file’s name, and Accent will make the folders along the way. The Notes page covers links, attachments and templates.

Click a file to open a temporary preview tab. Click another and it replaces that tab, which keeps a quick browse from filling the tab bar. Edit the file, double-click its tab, or click its eye to keep it open. You can also pin a tab from its menu. Drag a tab or a file to an edge of the document area to open a split pane. The active pane is the one you last worked in, and Ctrl+Tab walks its recently used tabs.

Hidden files appear dimmed by default, and you can hide them under Preferences → Files. Ignored folders still appear in the tree, but search skips most of their files by default. Markdown notes remain searchable even there. You can open a file from outside the vault with Open File… (Ctrl+O), though it will not have vault backlinks.

Find your way

Use the sidebar’s pane icons to switch between Files, Search, Info and Outline. Other panes appear when they apply, such as Git, remote ports or a diagram’s Properties. Press F9 to show or hide the sidebar. Press Ctrl+E to find a file by name, or Ctrl+P to run a command by name. In the same palette, start with # for tags or @ for symbols. The Keyboard shortcuts page has a small cheat sheet.

Images open fitted to the window, and you can zoom with Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-. For scans and screenshots, Accent can recolour the image to match the theme. You can adjust that in Preferences. For other document types, see PDFs, diagrams, notebooks and code.

Notes

A note is a Markdown file ending in .md. Write in the editor, and Accent saves your changes after a short pause. Headings, lists, tables, task lists, footnotes and math work in notes. For example, - [ ] Pack a notebook makes a task, while $x^2$ adds inline math.

Links and tags

Use [[Trip plan]] to link to another note, or [[Trip plan#Packing]] to link to its heading. Add a label with [[Trip plan|our plan]]. If the note does not exist yet, following the link offers to create it. Accent suggests notes as you type [[, and you can browse links back to the current note in Info.

Add #travel in the text to tag a note. You can also put tags and alternative names in front matter at the top:

---
tags: [travel, ideas]
aliases: [Summer trip]
---

Search for an alias in Go to File, or pick a tag from the Info pane. See Search for both.

Paste an image or drop one into a note to copy it into the vault and insert an embed. You can also write ![[map.png]] by hand. Set the destination under Preferences → This Vault → Attachments Folder.

Templates

Put .md files directly in the vault’s Templates Folder, which is Templates/ by default. When you create a note with New File, choose a template to fill it in. Insert Template… puts any template at the caret of an open note. You can use {{title}}, {{date}}, {{time}} and {{cursor}} in the template. The first {{cursor}} sets the caret, and Tab moves through any later ones.

Give a template its own destination to use New from Template… (Ctrl+Shift+D):

---
accent-target: Daily/{{date:%Y-%m-%d}}.md
---
# {{date}}

{{cursor}}

Running this command again on the same day opens the existing note without changing it. For a different day, {{date-1}} means yesterday, and {{date+1}} means tomorrow. The accent-target line is only an instruction to Accent, so it does not appear in the new note.

Preview and export

Press Ctrl+M to show the rendered preview beside the editor, or return to the editor. The preview follows your edits and lets you follow links and tags. Use Print…, Export as PDF… or Export as HTML… from the menu when you want to share a note. The HTML export includes local images, so it works as one file. If merl-rt is installed, Accent can suggest the rest of a line as faint ghost text. Press Tab to accept it, Ctrl+Right to take one word, or Esc to dismiss it. Turn Ghost Text on or off under Preferences → Editor.

Search and info

Press Ctrl+Shift+F to search across the vault. Results include notes, code and other indexed text, plus labels in diagrams and sources in notebooks. Choose a result to open its file.

The buttons under the query let you match case (Aa), whole words (Word) or a regular expression (.*). Use All to search ignored folders too. These extra results appear after the indexed ones, and Replace All does not change them. To replace across indexed files, open the replace field and review the count on Replace All before confirming.

For a single open document, press Ctrl+F instead. Type to find, then use Enter and Shift+Enter to move between matches. Ctrl+H opens replacement in the current document. The find bar belongs to its pane, so each half of a split can have a different search.

Info and outline

The Info pane (Ctrl+Shift+B) brings related details together. References shows notes that link to the current file, and Tags lists tagged notes in the vault. Open Details there for facts such as a note’s word count or a PDF’s page count. The Outline pane (Ctrl+Shift+W) lists headings in the open note, so a long page is easier to navigate. For names of files instead of their contents, use Go to File (Ctrl+E) in the workspace.

PDFs

Open a PDF from Files to read it alongside your notes. Use Find to search its text, or open Outline for bookmarks, comments and page thumbnails. You can drag across text, even across pages, to select and copy it.

Link a passage to a note

Select the passage, then right-click and choose Copy Link to Selection. Paste the link into a note, for example [[paper.pdf#page=1&selection=0,6,0,15|a useful result]]. Accent highlights the passage in the PDF, and clicking the highlight opens the note. Following the link from the note returns to that passage. The highlight lives in the note, so sharing the PDF alone will not carry it. If you need marks in the PDF itself, choose Export Highlights from the page menu.

Draw and arrange pages

Select Drawing in the header to open the tool ring. It offers a pen, highlighter, eraser, line, rectangle, circle and an Adjust tool for moving or resizing strokes. Choose a width or colour from the tool’s options. If a stylus is connected, it draws while the mouse selects text. To draw with the mouse instead, turn on Draw with the Mouse in Preferences.

Use the thumbnails in Outline to move pages by dragging them. Their buttons insert or delete a page, and the page menu offers the same actions. You can also drop another PDF between pages to insert its pages there. Press Ctrl+Z to undo a stroke or page edit. Accent saves these edits in the PDF and updates page links in your notes when pages move.

Print, export and colours

Use Print… or Export as PDF… to share the PDF with your ink and note highlights. The original PDF stays as it was. The viewer can recolour pages to match your theme, and Invert PDF Colours changes one document’s appearance. You can turn PDF recolouring off in Preferences.

See Keyboard shortcuts for reading and drawing keys. On Android, PDF reading and links work differently.

Diagrams

Open a draw.io file (.drawio, .dio or .drawio.xml) from Files to edit it on a canvas.

Edit the drawing

The tool ring adds rectangles, ellipses, text, connectors and images. Select a shape to move or resize it, or use the Properties pane to change its appearance. Drag a connector from one shape to another to keep them connected as you move things around. Double-click a shape or label to edit its text, then click away to finish. Use Ctrl+click to select several shapes, and Ctrl+Z to undo an edit.

Accent shows a dashed box for a draw.io shape it cannot draw yet. If the diagram uses images from the web, choose Load in its banner to show them.

Pages and notes

The Outline pane lists pages and shows their thumbnails. Click a page to open it, or drag its thumbnail to change the order. Use the thumbnail buttons to add or delete pages.

To show a diagram in a note, write ![[flow.drawio]] for its first page. For a named page, use ![[flow.drawio#Page name]]. Click the embedded drawing to open the diagram.

Share the result

Print… and Export as PDF… include every page. Export as PNG… and Export as SVG… use the current page. Exports use the file’s colours, even if you have inverted the canvas to read it. See Preferences for diagram colours and the grid, or Keyboard shortcuts for canvas controls.

Code editing

Open a source file as you would a note. Accent picks syntax highlighting from the file type and indents new lines as you type. It wraps long lines by default, but Alt+Z toggles wrapping for the current tab.

Navigate code

Open the Outline pane with Ctrl+Shift+W to jump to a declaration. The outline can use Accent’s index while a language server is starting or unavailable. When a server reports foldable blocks, click a gutter chevron or use Ctrl+Shift+[ and Ctrl+Shift+].

Use Shift+Alt+Up or Shift+Alt+Down to add carets on neighbouring lines. Alt+J adds a caret at the next match, and Ctrl+Shift+L selects all matches. For a bird’s-eye view, enable Minimap in Preferences or run Toggle Minimap.

Language servers

Install a language server on the computer that holds your vault. Accent starts a supported server when you open a file. For example, it tries rust-analyzer for Rust, pyright or pylsp for Python, and texlab for LaTeX. On a remote vault, install the server on the host.

Completion appears as you type, or you can request it with Ctrl+Space. Choose a suggestion with the arrow keys, then press Tab or Return. Hover over a name for details, or use F12, Ctrl+Shift+Return, or Ctrl+click to go to its definition. The Info pane shows references, while the status bar’s diagnostic count toggles inline messages.

To choose a different server, set its command in ~/.config/accent/config.toml:

[lsp.servers]
python3 = ["pylsp"]

You can also set a server for one vault under [vaults."/path/to/vault".lsp.servers]. Without a server, you can still edit, search, and use the indexed outline.

LaTeX and SyncTeX

Accent edits .tex files, and texlab adds language features if it is installed. Build the document with SyncTeX enabled, for example latexmk -pdf -synctex=1 paper.tex. Then use Show in PDF from the .tex tab’s menu to find the line under the caret in the built PDF. To go the other way, Ctrl+click the PDF page or choose Go to Source from its menu.

Both commands need a matching local build with .synctex or .synctex.gz data. They are unavailable for remote vaults and for PDFs whose pages you have rearranged since building.

Lean

Open a .lean file in a Lean project with lake serve available. The Code pane shows goals and the expected type at the caret, while a bar in the gutter shows checking progress. Type an abbreviation such as \to, then press Tab to insert →. These abbreviations also work while the server is still starting. After rebuilding imports, run Restart File in Language Server from the command palette.

Notebooks

Open a Jupyter .ipynb file or a marimo notebook from your vault. Accent shows its code and Markdown as editable cells, with saved outputs below them. You can add, move, split, join, convert, or delete cells from their buttons and More menu. Undo and Redo cover cell changes as well as typing.

Run Jupyter cells

Install ipykernel in the Python environment used by the notebook. Accent uses the nearest .venv or venv, or python3, and starts a kernel on the first run. The notebook must be inside a vault to run.

Select a code cell and press Ctrl+Return to run it. Shift+Return runs it and selects the next cell, adding one at the end if needed. The Code pane has Run All, Interrupt Kernel, Restart Kernel, and Shut Down Kernel. Outputs and execution counts are saved with the notebook, so they are still there next time.

Code cells also use the code editor’s completion, diagnostics, hover, and Go to Definition. The Outline and search help you move between cells. Marimo notebooks can be edited here, but run through marimo itself.

Debugging Python

Install Python and debugpy on the computer holding your vault. Accent uses the nearest .venv or venv for your program, or python3 if neither exists. If your interpreter lives elsewhere, set it in ~/.config/accent/config.toml:

[debug]
python = ["env/bin/python"]

The path in this example is relative to the vault root.

Start and stop

Open a Python file and press Ctrl+F5 to start debugging it. Accent saves your open changes first, then opens the program in a terminal tab. Click the editor gutter to add or remove a breakpoint, or press Ctrl+F9 on its line. Breakpoints return when you reopen the vault.

The Code pane shows the call stack, variables, watches, and breakpoints when the program pauses. Pick a stack frame to inspect it, or add an expression in Watch to see its value at each stop. Hover over a variable in the editor to see its value.

Use F5 to continue, F6 to pause, and F10, F11, or Shift+F11 to step over, into, or out. Press Shift+F5 to stop or Ctrl+Shift+F5 to restart. The same controls are in the Code pane and the command palette.

Open Debug Console from the Code pane to see adapter messages and evaluate Python expressions. Expressions run in the selected stack frame while the program is paused. Your program’s own input and output stay in its terminal tab.

On a remote vault, install debugpy on the host so the program runs there. The Flatpak cannot debug a local vault yet, though remote debugging works.

Git

When a vault contains a Git repository, the Git pane appears in the sidebar. If it contains more than one, choose the repository at the top of the pane. Accent uses Git on the computer holding the vault, including a remote host.

Review and commit changes

The pane separates merge conflicts, staged changes and other changes. Click a file to inspect its diff. Use Stage or Unstage on a file, folder or section, then enter a message and choose Commit. If nothing is staged, Commit includes changed tracked files but leaves new files out. Stage a new file first if it belongs in the commit.

Discard restores tracked changes or removes new files, so Accent asks before doing it. The Files pane also marks changed files.

Sync and branches

Choose Sync to pull and then push the current branch. If the branch has no upstream, the button offers Publish instead. Use Sync All beside the repository picker to sync every repository in the vault.

Click the branch name to switch branches, create one or merge another local branch into it. Git checks whether switching is safe and tells you if it refuses.

History and conflicts

The lower part of the pane shows commit history. Click a commit to see its files, then click a file to compare its versions. Choose Load More to see older commits.

If a merge stops on a conflict, open the file under Merge Conflicts. The merge view shows your current version, the result and the incoming version side by side. Take either side or both for each block, or edit the result directly. Then choose Mark Resolved to save and stage it, and commit when all conflicts are resolved. The banner in the Git pane lets you abort a merge or rebase.

See Keyboard shortcuts for Git and merge actions.

Terminals

Press Ctrl+J to open a terminal tab at the vault root. Without a vault, it opens in your home folder. Terminals can share the same splits and tab controls as your documents.

Closing a terminal tab with Ctrl+W ends its shell. Closing the window leaves the shell running, and reopening the vault restores its tab and screen. Use Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V to copy and paste in a terminal. Most other Ctrl keys go to the shell, so commands such as Ctrl+C work as expected.

In a remote vault, New Terminal opens on the host. Choose New Local Terminal for a shell on your computer, or New Remote Terminal… to connect to another host. If a remote connection drops, press a key in its terminal tab to reconnect and recover the screen.

Remote hosts

You need SSH access to a Linux host running on x86-64 or AArch64. Accent uses your system SSH settings, including hosts in ~/.ssh/config, and uploads its helper when you connect. The Flatpak can connect to a host with the same processor architecture as its own build.

Open a vault

Choose Open Remote… on the start screen or in the menu. Enter the SSH host and the vault’s path on that host, then choose Connect. The host field accepts an SSH config alias, and ~ in the path means your home folder there. You can also open a vault with accent ssh://user@host/path/to/vault.

Your files stay on the host, where search, Git, language servers, and notebook kernels run. New Terminal opens a shell there too; see Terminals for local and other remote shells. Deleting a file from a remote vault is permanent, so Accent asks before doing it.

Forward a port

Open the Ports pane to make a service on either computer reachable from the other. For example, set Local to 8080 and Remote to 8000, then choose Add. Now localhost:8080 reaches port 8000 on the host. Click the arrow between the fields to reverse the direction, or use Stop Forwarding on a row to remove it. Accent restores active forwards after a reconnect.

Reconnect

If an established connection drops, Accent retries and shows the next attempt in a banner. Choose Reconnect Now if you want to retry sooner or need to enter a passphrase. If the first connection fails, choose Reconnect after fixing the problem.

Command line and MCP

Use accent /path/to/vault to open a vault, or add a note path to open it too. accent --terminal /path/to/folder opens a terminal there. For a remote vault, use an address such as accent ssh://user@host/path/to/vault. Run accent --help for the other launch forms.

accent-cli can query a vault without opening a window. For example, accent-cli search --vault /home/me/Notes "meeting notes" prints matching lines. Use accent-cli backlinks --vault /home/me/Notes Project.md to find notes linking to Project.md. The tags and stats commands show a vault’s tags and index summary.

Connect an agent

Set your agent’s MCP server command to accent-cli with these arguments:

mcp --vault /home/me/Notes --read-only

This starts a local stdio server, and it works while the Accent window is closed. Read-only mode lets the agent search and inspect files without editing them. Omit --read-only if you want to allow its note-writing tools. For a remote vault, run the MCP server on the host beside the files.

The MCP tools include search, backlinks, tags, code exploration, and diagram rendering. Diagram rendering also needs the Accent app and a graphical display where the server runs.

Preferences

Open Preferences from the main menu or with Ctrl+,. Changes take effect in every open window.

Appearance

Choose System, Light, Dark or Solarized under Theme. Solarized follows the system’s light and dark setting. Focus Mode decides how much of the window fades while you write. Choose None to keep everything visible, Medium to fade the bars and sidebar, or High to fade text away from the caret and other panes too. Moving the pointer or pressing Esc brings the controls back. You can also change how images, PDFs and diagrams are recoloured to match the theme.

Editor and files

Document Font changes the reading and writing font. Column Width sets how wide the text can grow, and Full-Width Preview gives wide tables more room. The editor also offers Spell Checking, Word Suggestions, Ghost Text, Line Numbers and a Minimap. See Notes for ghost text and preview use.

Under Files, Show Hidden Files controls names beginning with a dot. Colour Changed Files tints files changed in Git and their folders in the Files pane.

This Vault

Set Templates Folder for the templates used by notes. New Files Folder is where New File starts when no folder is selected in the tree. Attachments Folder is where pasted and dropped images go. Leave it empty to store images beside the note, use ./images for a subfolder beside it, or use Images for a folder at the vault root.

Keyboard shortcuts

You can do almost everything from the keyboard. Press Ctrl+P to search commands by name, including commands without a shortcut. For the full list, choose Keyboard Shortcuts from the main menu or press Ctrl+?.

Shortcuts for a PDF, diagram, notebook, terminal or debug session depend on what is in front. The in-app shortcut list shows those keys too.

Change a shortcut

Open Run a Command… and click the keys beside a command to assign a new shortcut. Press Backspace there to leave it unbound, or choose Restore Default to bring its original keys back. Accent warns you if another command already uses the keys. An unbound command stays in the palette, so you can always find it again.

Android app

Install the APK from the Accent releases, or use Obtainium to follow them. The Android app works with a folder of files on your device, like a desktop vault. Choose that folder on first launch and allow file access when asked. If you keep a vault on several devices, sync its folder with a separate app such as Syncthing.

Find your way around

Tap Browse to open Search, Files, Tags, Backlinks and Command. Swipe between them or tap their chips. Search finds text in the vault, while Files finds names and folders. Tap a tag in a note to see its notes in Browse. Backlinks shows which notes link to the document you are reading. Command includes New Note, Find and Print… when they apply.

Read and write

A note opens as a rendered page. Tap Edit to work on its Markdown, then Done to read it again. Tap a link to follow it, or tap an image to open it on its own screen. You can pinch to zoom an image and use Invert if its colours are hard to read.

Read PDFs

A PDF’s bar offers Find, Contents for bookmarks and Invert for its colours. Pinch to zoom, then drag to pan a zoomed page. Long-press a word to select it, and move the handles to extend the selection. Choose Copy link to paste a passage link into a note; that link makes a highlight in the PDF. Tap a highlight to open its note, then press Back to return to the page. Use Print… in Command to print a note or PDF, or choose Save as PDF in Android’s print screen.

PDF drawing and page editing are currently available in the desktop app. The desktop app also edits draw.io diagrams and provides Git tools.