Skip to content
⚗️ Crucible

Plaintext First

Crucible is built on a simple principle: your notes are just files. Markdown files in folders on your computer. No database required, no cloud dependency, no proprietary format.

Why Plaintext

Section titled “Why Plaintext”

Portability

Section titled “Portability”

Your notes work everywhere:

  • Any text editor (VS Code, Vim, Obsidian, Notepad)
  • Any operating system
  • Any device
  • Any decade - markdown will outlive any app

Ownership

Section titled “Ownership”

Your files live on your machine:

  • No company holds your data hostage
  • No subscription to access your notes
  • No internet required to write and read
  • You control backups and sync

Simplicity

Section titled “Simplicity”

Files are simple:

  • No migration when tools change
  • No export/import workflows
  • Version control with Git
  • Scriptable with standard tools

What Crucible Adds

Section titled “What Crucible Adds”

Crucible enhances your files without changing them:

Your FilesCrucible Cache
Source of truthDerived data
Portable markdownLocal database
Always accessibleRebuilt anytime

The database (SQLite by default) is a cache. Delete it and Crucible rebuilds it from your files. Your notes are never modified unless you ask.

The Markdown Contract

Section titled “The Markdown Contract”

Crucible commits to:

  1. Never require proprietary format - Standard markdown works
  2. Never lock you in - All features work with plain files
  3. Never modify without consent - Your files, your control
  4. Always be rebuildable - Cache from source, not source from cache
Section titled “Wikilinks and Extensions”

Crucible uses [[wikilinks]] - a widely-supported markdown extension. These work in Obsidian, Logseq, Foam, and many other tools.

Other extensions (frontmatter, block references) are also standard across the PKM ecosystem.

See Also

Section titled “See Also”