At its core, SB is a Markdown editor that stores _pages_ (notes) as plain markdown files in a folder referred to as a _space_. Pages can be cross-linked using the `[[link to other page]]` syntax. However, once you leverage its various extensions (called _plugs_) it can feel more like a _knowledge playground_, allowing you to annotate, combine and query your accumulated knowledge in creative ways, specific to you. To get a good feel for it, [watch this video](https://youtu.be/RYdc3UF9gok).
Note that what you’re looking at is not a fully functional version, because the _back-end is read-only_. That said, it should give you some feel for what it’s like to use SB before making the commitment of running a single `npx` command (see below) to download and run it locally in its fully functioning mode.
* Click on the page name at the top, or hit `Cmd-k` (Mac) or `Ctrl-k` (Linux and Windows) to open the **page switcher**. Type the a name of a non-existing page to create it (although it won’t save in this environment).
* Click on the run button (top right) or hit `Cmd-/` (Mac) or `Ctrl-/` (Linux and Windows) to open the **command palette** (note not all commands will work in this quasi read-only mode).
* **The truth is in the markdown.** Markdown is simply text files, stored on disk. Nothing fancy. No proprietary formats or lock in. While SB uses a database for indexing and caching some data, all of that can be rebuilt from its markdown source at any time.
* **Single, distraction free mode.** SB doesn’t have a separate view and edit mode. It doesn’t have a “focus mode.” You’re always in focused edit mode, why wouldn’t you?
* **Keyboard oriented**. You can use SB fully using the keyboard, typin’ the keys.
* **Extend it your way**. SB is highly extensible with [[🔌 Plugs]], and you can customize it your liking and your workflows.
To run a release version, you need to have a recent version of [node.js installed](https://nodejs.org/en/) (16+). Silver Bullet has only been tested on MacOS and Linux thus far. It could also run on Windows, let me know if it does.
To install and run SB, create a folder for your pages (can be empty or an existing folder with `.md` files) and run the following command in your terminal:
Optionally you can use the `—port` argument to specify a HTTP port (defaults to `3000`) and you can pass a `—password` flag to require a password to access. Note this is a rather weak security mechanism, so it’s recommended to add additional layers of security on top of this if you run this on a public server somewhere (at least add TLS). Personally I run it on a tiny Linux VM on my server at home, and use a VPN (Tailscale) to access it from outside my home.
If you (hypothetically) find bugs or have feature requests, post them in [our issue tracker](https://github.com/silverbulletmd/silverbullet). Want to contribute? [Check out the code](https://github.com/silverbulletmd/silverbullet).
