sidenote 1.0.0

A zero-friction todo overlay for your terminal. Built for ADHD developers.

Sidenote

A lightweight, ADHD-friendly todo list that lives right next to your terminal window

Why This Exists

The ADHD Problem: You're coding in your terminal, a task pops into your head, and by the time you open Notepad/Tudo/a new tab, it's gone. That 2-second context switch is enough for ADHD brains to lose the thought entirely.

Every other tool costs you that switch - open an app, run a command, find the window. Sidenote is already there, docked to your terminal. Shift+Tab, type, Enter. Three seconds, without ever looking away from what you were doing.

Why not existing tools

Notepad/Heavy apps: Requires Alt+Tab, finding the window, clicking - thought is gone Tudo/Tuxedo/Rondo: Need to run a command, switch context, navigate UI - thought is gone PowerShell scratchpad: Need to open it, switch focus - thought is gone Other terminal UIs: Require launching a separate app or command - thought is gone

Features

This isn't about rich features but simplicity. It's about zero-friction capture. When you have ADHD, the best todo app is the one that's already open and doesn't make you think.

Feature	Description
Terminal Integration	Attaches flush to your terminal window, pixel-aligned
Smart Z-Order Sync	When you click the terminal, todo comes forward with it
Movement Following	Hides while you drag the terminal, snaps back when you stop
Check Things Off	Double-click a todo to complete it, don't just delete it
Persistent Storage	Todos saved atomically, survive reboots and crashes
Global Hotkey	Shift+Tab toggles from anywhere
Lock to Terminal	Lock button (🔓/🔒) to stick to a specific terminal
Built-in Help	? button lists every action, no need to memorise anything
Timestamps	Each todo gets a timestamp when added
Dark Theme	Minimal interface that matches terminal aesthetics
Light Footprint	Python plus two small libraries; event-driven, so it idles at ~0% CPU

Install

pip install sidenote
sidenote
sidenote init 

That's it - Shift+Tab toggles it from anywhere.

Optionally, sidenote init adds start-note / stop-note shortcuts to your PowerShell profile.

If sidenote isn't found after installing, your Python Scripts folder isn't on PATH - see Troubleshooting.

Usage

Add - type in the box, press Enter. Timestamped automatically. Check off - double-click a todo. It greys out and shows [x]. Double-click again to uncheck. Remove - select it and press Delete.

The ? button in the top-left lists every action, so there's nothing to memorise.

Hotkeys

Key	Action
Shift+Tab	Toggle overlay (works from any app)
Enter	Add todo
Double-click	Check off / uncheck
Space	Check off / uncheck the selected todo
Delete / Backspace	Remove selected todo
Ctrl+Delete	Clear all checked-off todos
Escape	Hide overlay
🔓 / 🔒	Pin to one specific terminal

Commands

Command	Description
sidenote	Start the overlay
sidenote stop	Stop it
sidenote status	Is it running? Shows version and PID
sidenote --version	Print the version (-V works too)
sidenote --help	List every command (-h works too)
sidenote upgrade	Update to the newest release
sidenote init	Add PowerShell shortcuts

sidenote stop only ever terminates its own process - your dev servers, notebooks, and training runs are never touched.

Requirements

Windows 10/11, Python 3.7+, and a terminal (PowerShell, CMD, or Windows Terminal). Pulls in two small libraries: keyboard and pywin32.

Documentation

Full documentation →

FAQ · Troubleshooting · How it works · Data format · Upgrading · Uninstalling · Development

Contributing

Happy to take PRs for bug fixes, better terminal detection, performance, or cross-platform support. Run pytest first, and add a test if you're fixing a bug. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT - do whatever you want with it.

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Built by a developer with ADHD, for developers with ADHD. If this resonates, you get it. If it looks like overkill, it's not for you and that's fine. 🧠⚡