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Features

Canvas

Infinite Canvas

Pan and zoom freely across an infinite workspace. Semantic zooming adjusts detail level:

  • Zoomed in: Full content, edit handles, detailed view
  • Zoomed out: Titles only, collapsed cards for performance

Bubble Mode

Toggle bubble mode to display nodes as simple circles:

  • Shows relative node sizes at a glance
  • Improves performance with large graphs (1000+ nodes)
  • Useful for high-level structure visualization

Magnifier

Enable the magnifier for detailed inspection while zoomed out:

  • Hover over areas to see magnified view
  • Useful when navigating large canvases

Node Types

Type Description
Note General purpose markdown notes
Citation Academic references with DOI support
Tag Organizational nodes for categorization
File Linked external files
Character Entity node for people/characters
Location Entity node for places
Term Entity node for definitions/concepts
Item Entity node for objects/artifacts

Frames

Group related nodes visually. Frames act as containers that can be moved together with all contained nodes.

Selection & Multi-Select

  • Click to select single node
  • Shift+Click to add to selection
  • Lasso selection for multiple nodes
  • Bulk operations on selection

Fullscreen Editor

Open any node in a fullscreen split-view editor for focused writing:

  • Trigger: Cmd+Click (Mac) or Ctrl+Click (Windows/Linux) on any node
  • Split view: Markdown editor on left, live preview on right
  • Auto-save: Changes save automatically with 500ms debounce
  • Keyboard shortcuts:
  • Escape - Save and close
  • Cmd/Ctrl+S - Save immediately
  • Features:
  • Title editing in header
  • Wikilink autocomplete (type [[ to trigger)
  • Mermaid diagram preview
  • "Zoom to Node" button to locate node on canvas

Connections

Edge Types

Type Color Use Case
Related Gray General association
Cites Blue Academic citation
Supports Green Supporting evidence
Contradicts Orange Opposing viewpoint
Blocks Red Dependency or blocker

Edge Routing

Multiple routing styles for visual clarity:

  • Orthogonal - 90-degree angles, clean diagrams
  • Curved - Bezier curves, organic flow
  • Straight - Direct lines
  • Hyperbolic - Smooth curves avoiding nodes

Neighbor Highlighting

When selecting a node, connected neighbors are highlighted for context.

Neighborhood View

Focus on a specific node and its connections: - Toggle neighborhood mode to hide unrelated nodes - Adjust depth (1-5 hops) to control how far connections extend - Useful for exploring dense graphs

Storylines

Create linear narratives through your knowledge graph:

  • Order nodes into a sequence
  • Navigate through storyline in reader mode
  • Export storylines as documents
  • Color-code storyline edges

Math with Typst

Native Typst integration for fast mathematical typesetting:

  • Sub-second rendering - No LaTeX compile times
  • Modern syntax - Cleaner than LaTeX
  • Inline and block - Both supported

Examples

Inline math: $x^2 + y^2 = z^2$

Block math: 

$$
integral_0^infinity e^(-x^2) dif x = sqrt(pi)/2
$$

See Typst Math Reference for complete syntax.

Obsidian Integration

Vault Import

Import existing Obsidian vaults:

  • Markdown content preserved
  • Wiki-links [[link]] converted to edges
  • Folder structure respected
  • Automatic force-directed layout

Bi-directional Sync

Changes sync between Nodus and your vault folder:

  • Edit in Nodus → updates Obsidian vault
  • Edit in Obsidian → updates Nodus canvas
  • File watcher detects external changes

Workspace Separation

Each imported vault becomes a separate workspace, keeping projects organized.

Citation Management

Zotero Integration

Connect to your local Zotero database:

  • Browse and import collections
  • DOI extraction and linking
  • Create citation nodes with metadata

Semantic Scholar Integration

Fetch citations for papers with DOIs:

  • Right-click citation nodes and select "Fetch Citations"
  • Automatically creates nodes for referenced papers
  • Builds citation network on your canvas

BibTeX Import

Import .bib files directly to create citation nodes with:

  • Author, title, year
  • DOI links
  • Journal/conference info

LLM Integration

Connect AI assistants for research help:

Supported Providers

Provider Type Notes
Ollama Local Privacy-first, no data leaves device
OpenAI Cloud GPT-4, GPT-3.5
Anthropic Cloud Claude models
OpenAI-compatible Cloud Any compatible API

Agent Features

  • Research assistance
  • Content summarization
  • Smart node connections
  • Task automation

Layout Algorithms

Automatic arrangement of nodes:

Algorithm Best For
Force-directed General graphs, organic layout
Grid Structured content
Hierarchical Trees and DAGs
Radial Relationship diagrams (select center node first)

Export Options

Typst Export

Export canvas as Typst document for further editing.

PDF Generation

Generate PDFs directly using Typst compilation.

Markdown Export

Export nodes as standard Markdown files.

Data Storage

Local-First Architecture

All data stored on your device:

  • SQLite - Metadata, positions, connections
  • Markdown files - Content (Obsidian-compatible)
  • No cloud required - Works fully offline

Privacy

  • No telemetry
  • No data collection
  • Your data stays yours

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action macOS Windows/Linux
New node N N
Delete Backspace Delete
Select all Cmd+A Ctrl+A
Undo Cmd+Z Ctrl+Z
Redo Cmd+Shift+Z Ctrl+Shift+Z
Zoom in Cmd+= Ctrl+=
Zoom out Cmd+- Ctrl+-
Fit view Cmd+0 Ctrl+0
Fullscreen edit Cmd+Click Ctrl+Click
Search Cmd+F Ctrl+F
Settings Cmd+, Ctrl+,

See Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts for full list.

Themes

Theme Description
Light Clean, bright interface
Dark Easy on the eyes
Pitch Black OLED-optimized, true black background
Cyber Neon cyan/magenta aesthetic

Node colors can be customized individually.