Obsidian for hierarchical thinkers: an open-source note-taking and context management app built around a functional hierarchical graph.
It keeps your knowledge in plain local Markdown files, but adds a structural layer for those of us who have a north star, a highest-held belief, an apex. Each note can sit inside a clear parent-child hierarchy through simple frontmatter, while normal [[wiki links]] remain contextual cross-references. The graph shows both: solid hierarchy edges for structure, & semi transparent links for context.
The graph is not just cute, It is the main interface: pasting text creates notes directly in the graph, delete them with backspace, drag notes around to organize them, and double-click drag to create relationships between ideas. Apex Notes is built for shaping context spatially, so your knowledge system feels editable, navigable, and alive.
My main use case: adding a apex notes folder to the root of my coding projects so i can easily call on and manage skills/repetitive prompts.
But I also use it for personal notetaking.
Whatever happens to this project, your files are just stored as markdown on your device (I sync mine with github), so they'll always stay portable, readable, and compatible with other .md based note-taking apps.
Apex Notes is a local-first Tauri desktop app with native folder access, direct Markdown read/write, a minimal draggable graph view, frontmatter-based hierarchy, contextual wiki-link edges, and a bundled writing-agent skill so AI agents can create, place, and connect notes according to the same schema.
The project is open source, and the goal is community-led development toward the ultimate note-taking and context management app: a tool that helps us and our agents understand more, remember better, navigate context faster, and become more effective together.
