Copyright (C) 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being “A GNU Manual,” and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License.”
(a) The FSF’s Back-Cover Text is: “You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual.”
This manual, authored by Thanos Apollo, offers installation
instructions, customization options, and recommendations for
effectively using org-gnosis
.
The documentation furnished herein corresponds to stable version 0.0.4, released on 2025-02-13.
Org Gnosis (GNU-sis) is an org-mode parsing tool that organizes notes as atomic nodes in an SQLite database. Each heading with an ID is treated as an atomic note (node), storing its metadata, such as title and links, in a relational database to facilitate efficient linking and navigation.
This tool also offers special functionality for journal entries, stored in a separate directory with support for customizable templates. This can serve as an additional space for temporary notes.
Next: Taking Notes With Org Gnosis, Previous: Org Gnosis User Manual, Up: Org Gnosis User Manual
org-gnosis
package is available from the GNU ELPA archive,
which is enabled by default.
org-gnosis
package.
Example installation & configuration using use-package
(use-package org-gnosis :ensure t :init ;; Example for separated journaling & notes keymap (define-prefix-command 'my/notes-map) (define-prefix-command 'my/journal-map) :config ;; Common settings you might want to tweak to your liking (setf org-gnosis-dir "~/Notes" ;; Whe non-nil, create notes as gpg encrypted files org-gnosis-create-as-gpg nil ;; TODO files, commonly used for templates. org-gnosis-todo-files org-agenda-files ;; Used in #'org-gnosis-todos for template generation org-gnosis-bullet-point-char "+" ;; Default completing-read function org-gnosis-completing-read-func #'org-completing-read ;; Recommended if you use a vertical completion system (e.g vertico) org-gnosis-show-tags t) (defun example/org-gnosis-book-template () (let ((date (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d")) (book-title (completing-read "Example book: " '("Free Software, Free Society" "How to Take Smart Notes")))) (format "#+DATE: %s \n#+BOOK_TITLE: %s\n\n* Main Idea\n* Key Points\n* Own Thoughts" date book-title))) (add-to-list 'org-gnosis-node-templates '("Book Example" example/org-gnosis-book-template)) :bind (("C-c n" . thanos/notes-map) ("C-c n j" . thanos/journal-map) :map thanos/notes-map ("f" . org-gnosis-find) ("i" . org-gnosis-insert) ("t" . org-gnosis-find-by-tag) :map thanos/journal-map ("j" . org-gnosis-journal) ("f" . org-gnosis-journal-find) ("i" . org-gnosis-journal-insert) :map org-mode-map ("C-c C-." . org-gnosis-insert-tag) ("C-c i" . org-id-get-create)))
Next: Contributing, Previous: Installation & Configuration, Up: Org Gnosis User Manual
For Org Gnosis there are 2 types of notes,
As mentioned before, opening & searching your notes should be done using M-x org-gnosis-find as this will enable ‘org-gnosis-mode’.
If ‘org-gnosis-mode’ is not enabled, files will not be parsed and saved in the database when you run ‘save-buffer’.
Org Gnosis does not automatically sync the database. To delete a file, use ‘org-gnosis-delete-file’ or run ‘org-gnosis-db-sync’ after manual deletion.
Next: Importing Notes, Up: Taking Notes With Org Gnosis
org-gnosis
provides a zettelkasten-inspired approach to note-taking,
treating knowledge (gnosis) as valuable and not merely something to be
boxed into a single category, to be disposed after a certain period of
time or task accomplishment.
Using directories to organize your notes is not recommended, a preferred method is to create MOC files (Maps Of Contents) for specific categories/projects that you are working on.
An MOC file can be the syllabus of a class or a project road map. For
example, you might create an MOC like this for a class on
Biopolymers
:
Biopolymers
, which will be created if it does not already exist.
moc
tag.
Example:
:PROPERTIES: :ID: 15edada1-9815-4fb3-9b8f-7da08107bdb2 :END: #+title: Biopolymers Syllabus #+filetags: :moc: * Proteins - Protein Structure Levels - Protein Domains - Protein MOTIF - Difference between a motif and a domain in a protein - Protein Families * Nucleic acids - DNA - RNA - Recognition and self-assembly of macromolecules - Cytoskeleton
Note: Items with ‘-’ would be links. The headings in the above example could be links to an MOC as well.
This way your notes are atomic & can be reused in future classes/projects.
Previous: Organizing your notes, Up: Taking Notes With Org Gnosis
If you are a previous user of packages that use org-mode
and org
ids, your current note collection should be able to work with
org-gnosis
without you having to change anything.
To sync your note collection use M-x org-gnosis-db-sync
Previous: Taking Notes With Org Gnosis, Up: Org Gnosis User Manual
Previous: Sources, Up: Contributing
Code contributions are most welcome. For any major edit (more than 15 lines, or so, in aggregate per person), you need to make a copyright assignment to the Free Software Foundation. This is necessary as the FSF must at all times be in a position to enforce the GNU General Public License.
Here’s the process:
The entire process usually takes about a week and needs to be completed only once, allowing you to contribute to GNU Emacs.
Please email the following information to assign@gnu.org, and we will send you the assignment form for your past and future changes. Please use your full legal name (in ASCII characters) as the subject line of the message. REQUEST: SEND FORM FOR PAST AND FUTURE CHANGES [Additional people we should notify about the progress of the assignment.] Thanos Apollo <public@thanosapollo.org> [What is the name of the program or package you're contributing to?] Emacs [Did you copy any files or text written by someone else in these changes? Even if that material is free software, we need to know about it.] [Do you have an employer who might have a basis to claim to own your changes? Do you attend a school which might make such a claim?] [For the copyright registration, what country are you a citizen of?] [What year were you born?] [Please write your email address here.] [Please write your postal address here.] [Which files have you changed so far, and which new files have you written so far?]