Self-Reminder Widget

A productivity-focused Electron desktop widget that displays daily reminders from your markdown notes. The app automatically rotates content each day to keep important concepts and practices visible throughout your workday.

Features

• Daily Content Rotation: Automatically displays different content each day using date-based seeding
• YAML Frontmatter Support: Renders metadata (Type, Status, tags) with styled badges
• Interactive Controls:
  • Refresh button for random content selection
  • Folder selection for choosing markdown directories
• Native Styling: macOS-native appearance with blur effects and system typography
• Background Operation: Runs continuously with minimal system impact
• Auto-start Support: Can be configured to launch at system startup
• Obsidian Link Support: Renders internal [[links]] from Obsidian-style markdown

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• npm or yarn

Development Setup

1. Clone the repository: bash git clone https://github.com/your-username/self-reminder-widget.git cd self-reminder-widget

2. Install dependencies: bash npm install

3. Start the application: bash npm start

Building for Distribution

macOS

bash npm run build This creates a .dmg file in the dist/ folder.

Linux

bash npm run build This creates an .AppImage or .deb file in the dist/ folder.

Usage

First Launch

1. Launch the application
2. Click the folder button (📁) in the widget header
3. Select a folder containing your markdown files
4. The widget will display content from your selected folder

Daily Operation

• Content automatically changes each day at midnight
• Click the refresh button (↻) for a random note anytime
• The widget stays visible and updates throughout the day

Markdown File Format

Your markdown files should include YAML frontmatter for best results:

```markdown

Type: note Status: active

tags: [#productivity, #goals, #workflow]

Your Content Here

This is your productivity reminder content... ```

Auto-Start Setup

macOS

1. Build and install the app
2. Open System Settings → General → Login Items
3. Add "Self-Reminder Widget" from Applications
4. Enable launch at startup

Linux

Create a .desktop file in ~/.config/autostart/: ini [Desktop Entry] Type=Application Exec=/path/to/self-reminder-widget Name=Self-Reminder Widget Comment=Daily productivity reminders X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true

Configuration

The app stores your folder selection preferences automatically. Settings are preserved between sessions.

Development

Project Structure

• main.js - Electron main process
• renderer.js - Renderer process with markdown parsing
• index.html - Widget structure
• style.css - Native styling
• settings.js - Configuration management

Key Technologies

• Electron for cross-platform desktop app
• marked.js for markdown rendering
• js-yaml for frontmatter parsing
• Native CSS for system integration

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Electron
• Markdown parsing by marked.js
• YAML parsing by js-yaml
• Inspired by productivity workflows and daily reminder practices