The editor & reading mode
Altretta writes and previews in the same place: a live-preview Markdown editor that formats your text as you type, backed by a full reading mode for a clean, distraction-free read. There is no edit/preview toggle to flip and no save button to press.
Live preview
Type Markdown and see the result immediately. A # heading renders as a heading, **bold** turns bold, a [[wikilink]] becomes a clickable link — all while your cursor stays in place and the raw syntax reappears on the line you're editing. You get formatted output and full control over the source at the same time.
Because formatting is live, most of your work happens in a single continuous flow: write, link, format, keep going.
Type / anywhere to open the slash menu and insert a heading, callout, table, query, or AI prompt — no need to remember the exact Markdown.
Reading mode
When you want to read rather than write, switch a note into reading mode for a clean, fully rendered view — no editing affordances, no source syntax, just the finished document. It's ideal for reviewing a long note, presenting one, or reading through a chain of linked notes.
Toggle back to the editor at any time; the note is the same .md file underneath either way.
Tabs & panes
Altretta is built for working across many notes at once.
- Tabs — open notes in tabs and switch between them, just like a browser. Following a wikilink can open its target in a new tab so you never lose your place.
- Split panes — split the view into multiple panes side by side (or stacked) to see two notes at once — draft in one, reference in another, or keep an outline beside the text.
- Drag to arrange — move a tab into another pane, or split off a new pane, to build the layout that fits the task.
Pop-out windows
Need a note on a second monitor or permanently in view? Pop a note out into its own separate window. The pop-out is a fully live editor — edits sync back to the same file in real time — so you can keep a reference, a task list, or your daily note open alongside the main window.
Once you find a layout that works — the tabs, split panes, and pop-outs for a given project — save it as a workspace and switch back to it in one step. See Tabs, panes & workspaces for the full picture of arranging and restoring your working layout.
The Outline panel
The Outline panel lists the current note's headings as a navigable table of contents. Click any heading to jump straight to it — the fastest way to move around a long note. Because it's built from your # headings, a well-structured note gives you a well-structured outline for free.
Autosave — no save button
There is no save button. Altretta writes to the note's plain .md file on disk a moment after you stop typing. That means:
- Your notes are effectively always current on disk, readable by any other tool.
- Nothing lives in a proprietary database you can't get out of.
- Changes are captured in your vault's signed history and its version history, so you can go back and see exactly what changed.
Autosave adds to your past rather than overwriting it: an autosaved edit records a new version alongside the previous one. Version history is capped at 50 versions per note, and on the Free plan you can browse the last 7 days of them — see Time-travel.
Next steps
- Learn the writing syntax in Markdown syntax.
- Connect ideas with Links & embeds.