Daily Notes
Daily Notes give you a dedicated space for each day — a place to plan, journal, capture thoughts, and track tasks as the day unfolds. Open today’s note with a single shortcut. If it doesn’t exist yet, Ariv creates it for you.
Opening your daily note
Section titled “Opening your daily note”| Platform | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| macOS | Cmd+D |
| Windows | Ctrl+D |
Press the shortcut and Ariv will:
- Look for today’s daily note in your daily notes folder.
- If it exists, open it immediately.
- If it doesn’t exist, create it from your template and open it.
There is no friction. You never have to manually create, name, or file a daily note.
Configuration
Section titled “Configuration”All daily note settings are available in Settings. Here are the key options:
Folder
Section titled “Folder”By default, daily notes are stored in a folder called Daily Notes - Ariv at the root of your vault. You can change this with the files.dailyNotesFolder setting.
Date format
Section titled “Date format”The date format controls how your daily note files are named. Choose the format that feels natural to you:
| Format | Example |
|---|---|
YYYY-MM-DD | 2026-02-12 |
DD-MM-YYYY | 12-02-2026 |
MM-DD-YYYY | 02-12-2026 |
YYYYMMDD | 20260212 |
YYYY-MM-DD ddd | 2026-02-12 Thu |
The default is YYYY-MM-DD, which sorts chronologically in any file explorer. Configure this with the files.dailyNoteDateFormat setting.
Template
Section titled “Template”When Ariv creates a new daily note, it fills it with your daily note template. The default template includes three sections:
## Tasks
- [ ]
## Notes
## ReflectionsCustomize this with the files.dailyNoteTemplate setting. Write any Markdown you like — Ariv will use it as the starting point for every new daily note.
Template variables
Section titled “Template variables”You can use the {{date}} placeholder anywhere in your template. Ariv replaces it with the current date (formatted according to your chosen date format) when the note is created.
For example:
# {{date}}
## Morning plan
## Tasks
- [ ]
## End of dayAuto-open on startup
Section titled “Auto-open on startup”If you want Ariv to open your daily note every time you launch the app, enable the files.dailyNoteOpenOnStartup setting. This is great for building a daily journaling habit — open Ariv and you’re already in today’s note.
How to use daily notes
Section titled “How to use daily notes”Daily notes are flexible by design. Here are a few ways people use them:
Morning routine
Section titled “Morning routine”Start each day by opening your daily note and writing down your top priorities. Use the Tasks section to set clear intentions for the day.
Meeting capture
Section titled “Meeting capture”During meetings, jot notes directly into today’s daily note. You can move them to dedicated project notes later, or leave them in place — Ariv’s search and Ask Brain will find them either way.
End-of-day reflection
Section titled “End-of-day reflection”At the end of the day, revisit your daily note. Check off completed tasks, add reflections, and note anything that should carry over to tomorrow.
Running log
Section titled “Running log”Some people use daily notes as a running log throughout the day — timestamped entries capturing thoughts, decisions, and observations as they happen.
Related: Quick Capture — For capturing thoughts when you don’t want to open a daily note | Templates — Create templates for other recurring note types