Prism

A keyboard-driven markdown vault reader

Built with Tauri 2 + React + Rust

---

Prism is a fast, minimal desktop app for reading and navigating markdown vaults. It stays out of the way as an always-on-top sidebar with vim-style keybindings, fuzzy search, wiki-style linking, and a Lua plugin system.

It reads your existing Obsidian, Logseq, or plain-markdown vault. It doesn't write to it unless you ask.

Install

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases.

Platform	Format	Install
macOS	.dmg	Open and drag to Applications
Windows	.msi	Run the installer
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)	.deb	sudo dpkg -i Prism_*.deb
Linux (other)	.AppImage	chmod +x Prism_*.AppImage && ./Prism_*.AppImage

Linux (Wayland + Nvidia): Set WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1 if you see rendering issues.

Build from Source

Requires Rust (stable) and Node.js (v18+).

git clone https://github.com/nullslate/prism.git
cd prism
npm install
npm run tauri build

Development mode with hot reload:

npm run tauri dev

Features

Feature	Description
Fuzzy search	File names, paths, and content ranked by score (Ctrl+F)
Wiki links	[[note]], [[path/note]], [[note|display text]], [[note#heading]] with autocomplete
Tags	Extracted from frontmatter and inline #tags, filterable (Ctrl+T)
Quick capture	Append timestamped bullets to your inbox (Ctrl+.)
Vault search	Full-text search with line-number context (Ctrl+S)
Link graph	Text-based interactive graph explorer (Ctrl+G)
Daily notes	Create/open today's note from the command palette
Templates	Create notes from templates with {{date}}, {{title}} variable expansion
File browser	Full-screen keyboard-driven file tree with j/k nav, expand/collapse folders
Vim keybindings	j/k scroll, gg/G top/bottom, / search, n open editor
Todos	Toggle, create, and wrap todos with vim-style shortcuts in editor
Transclusion	Hover [[wiki links]] to preview the target note inline
Editor handoff	Press n to open in your $EDITOR, auto-reload on return
Plugins	Lua scripting + React UI extensions
Themes	14 built-in themes (dark + light) with live preview picker + custom TOML themes
Global hotkey	Toggle window from any app (Ctrl+Space, configurable)
Command palette	Ctrl+K for everything

Configuration

Config lives at ~/.config/prism/config.toml (created on first launch):

vault = "~/obsidian"editor = "nvim"terminal = "alacritty"theme = "catppuccin-mocha"inbox = "inbox.md"hotkey = "ctrl+space"
[window]
width = 420height = 700position = "top-right"always_on_top = true

Open your config from within Prism: Ctrl+K > "Open Config".

Shortcuts

All keyboard shortcuts are configurable. Override defaults in config:

[shortcuts.global]
find-file = "ctrl+p"
[shortcuts.render]
quit = "ctrl+q"

Per-vault overrides via .prism.toml in your vault root. Set a value to "" to disable.

Themes

Custom themes: ~/.config/prism/themes/{name}.toml

[colors]
bg = "#1a1b26"fg = "#c0caf5"accent = "#7aa2f7"border = "#3b4261"sidebar_bg = "#16161e"heading = "#bb9af7"code_bg = "#1a1b26"selection = "#283457"syntax_keyword = "#9d7cd8"syntax_string = "#9ece6a"syntax_comment = "#565f89"syntax_function = "#7aa2f7"syntax_number = "#ff9e64"syntax_operator = "#89ddff"syntax_type = "#2ac3de"syntax_variable = "#c0caf5"

Then set theme = "{name}" in config.

Keybindings

Global (always active)

Key	Action
Ctrl+F	Fuzzy file finder
Ctrl+K	Command palette
Ctrl+B	Toggle sidebar
Ctrl+N	New file
Ctrl+T	Filter by tag
Ctrl+.	Quick capture
Ctrl+G	Link graph
Ctrl+S	Search vault
Ctrl+Shift+T	Theme picker
Ctrl+Space	Toggle window (global)
Escape	Close overlay

Render mode (reading)

Key	Action
j / k	Scroll down / up
Ctrl+D / Ctrl+U	Half-page down / up
gg	Scroll to top
G	Scroll to bottom
n	Open editor
/	Search in file
dd	Trash file (press twice)
1-9	Open favorite
q	Quit

File browser (sidebar)

Key	Action
j / k	Move cursor down / up
o / Enter	Open file or toggle folder
h	Collapse folder or jump to parent
l	Expand folder
Space	Toggle folder
g / G	Jump to top / bottom
dd	Trash file (press twice)
R	Rename file
q / Escape	Close browser

Editor mode (CodeMirror + Vim)

Key	Action
:w	Save
:q	Exit editor
:wq	Save and exit
Space y	Yank selection
Space yy	Yank line
Space tt	Toggle todo checkbox
Space tn	Insert new todo
Space ta	Wrap line as todo
[[	Wiki link autocomplete

Plugins

Prism supports Lua scripts and React UI extensions.

[[plugins]]
name = "word-count"path = "~/.config/prism/plugins/word-count"
[[plugins]]
name = "daily-summary"git = "https://github.com/someone/prism-daily-summary"
[plugins.opts]
template = "## {{date}}"

Plugins can register commands, add status bar items, listen to events (file:pre-render, file:opened, etc.), transform content before rendering, and add sidebar panels.

Each plugin has a plugin.toml manifest and an init.lua entry point. See test-plugins/hello-world/ for a working example.

Plugin authors can use @prism/plugin-sdk for themed React components.

Project Structure

prism/
├── src-tauri/ # Rust backend
│ └── src/
│ ├── lib.rs # App entry, plugin init, global hotkey
│ ├── config.rs # TOML config
│ ├── watcher.rs # File system watcher
│ ├── theme.rs # Theme loading
│ ├── commands/ # Tauri IPC commands
│ └── plugins/ # Plugin manager, Lua runtime, event bus
├── src/ # React frontend
│ ├── routes/ # Main view
│ ├── components/ # UI components
│ ├── hooks/ # State and shortcuts
│ └── lib/ # Tauri bindings, types, plugin loader
├── packages/
│ └── plugin-sdk/ # @prism/plugin-sdk
└── test-plugins/ # Example plugins

License

MIT