TrayMD

A lightweight GTK 3 notes application for Linux system trays, supporting live editing of markdown syntax.

Features

• Live in-place markdown rendering - See formatting as you type
• System tray integration - Quick access from your window manager
• Auto-save - Notes are saved automatically (500ms after last keystroke)
• Minimal UI - Clean toolbar with new note and navigation buttons
• Lightweight - Pure C, no web technologies, fast startup
• Hyperlink support - 'ctrl left click' links to open them

Supported Markdown

Syntax	Description
# Header 1	Large bold header
## Header 2	Medium bold header
### Header 3	Small bold header
**bold**	Bold text
*italic*	Italic text
`code`	Inline code
- item	List item
> quote	Block quote
[text](url)	Link
---	Horizontal rule

Installation

Arch Linux (AUR)

• https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/traymd

Debian/Ubuntu (.deb)

Download the .deb from the GitHub Actions “Package” workflow artifacts (tag builds) and install it with:

sudo apt install ./traymd_*.deb

Fedora/RHEL (.rpm)

Download the .rpm from the GitHub Actions “Package” workflow artifacts (tag builds) and install it with:

sudo dnf install ./traymd-*.rpm

Usage

Run traymd to start the application. It will appear in your system tray.

• Left-click tray icon: Show/hide the main window
• New Note button: Create a new note
• Arrow buttons: Navigate between notes

If your desktop environment forces a context menu on left-click (common with AppIndicator-based trays), you can switch tray backends:

• traymd --tray-backend=statusicon (left-click toggles window)
• traymd --tray-backend=appindicator (menu-first behavior; middle-click toggles)

Notes are stored in ~/.local/share/traymd/notes/ as plain markdown files.

Building From Source

make
sudo make install

This installs:

• Binary to /usr/local/bin/traymd
• Desktop file to /usr/local/share/applications/traymd.desktop

Uninstallation

sudo make uninstall

Dependencies

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S gtk3 libayatana-appindicator

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev

Fedora

sudo dnf install gtk3-devel libayatana-appindicator-gtk3-devel

License

MIT License

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