Nexus Docs

System requirements

Operating system

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit

Runtime

Microsoft WebView2 (built into Windows 11; the installer sets it up on Windows 10 if missing)

Memory

4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended

Disk

A few hundred MB, plus your notes. Local search models download once on first use

Internet

Not needed for notes, graph or search after setup. Needed for the Assistant, the browser, updates and the first-time model download

[[Links]]

Wrap a note's title in double brackets to link to it.

See also [[Recipe Ideas]] for this week.

• Type [[ and a menu suggests your notes. Use ↑ ↓ then Enter or Tab.
• Titles match case-insensitively. A link to a note that doesn't exist yet appears as a dashed pill.
• Linked notes appear under Links to and Linked From below each note, and as solid lines in the Graph tab.
• Links inside code blocks and inline code are ignored.

Tags

Long days, late nights #work #house-party

• A tag starts with # and a letter, then letters, numbers, _ or - (up to 50 characters). #2024 is not a tag.
• It must come after a space or at the start of a line, and it turns into a pill when you press space.
• Tags appear in the sidebar with counts. Click one to filter, click again to clear. A tag disappears from the sidebar once no note uses it.

Mentions & the graph

If you mention another note's title in plain text (4+ characters), Nexus draws a dashed line to it in the Graph tab. No brackets needed. Notes are colored by folder, pinned notes get a gold ring, and you can drag, zoom and click any node to open it.

AI: On / Off

Each note has an AI: On / AI: Off button in its header. Notes set to AI: Off are never included in what the Assistant sends to Nexus Cloud. Finding relevant notes happens on your device; only the excerpts selected for a question from notes with AI: On are sent, along with your question. Optionally, text from your active browser tab is also sent if you enable "Aware of your active tab".

Version history & trash

• History shows earlier versions of a note. Nexus saves a snapshot at most every 30 seconds while you edit and keeps the latest 20 per note.
• Restoring a version saves your current text as a version first, so a restore can always be undone.
• Deleted notes go to Trash and stay there until you restore them or empty it.

Export

• Export PDF (in a note's header) saves one note as an A4 PDF that looks like the editor.
• Settings → Data → Export Markdown Notes saves a .zip of plain .md files, organized by folder, with images in an _attachments folder. Open it in any editor.

Backup & restore

Back up: Settings → Data → Backup Database. This saves one .nexus file containing your notes, folders, tags, images, version history, chats, and your settings (theme, bookmarks, etc.).

Restore: Settings → Data → Restore From Backup (click twice to confirm), or use Restore from Backup on the Welcome screen if you have no notes yet. Nexus checks the file first (it must be a healthy Nexus backup, not from a newer version), then restarts to finish. Older .db backups are accepted too.

Safety nets: before a restore, your current data is copied to a restore-backups folder, and before the first launch after each update it is copied to upgrade-backups. The 3 newest copies of each are kept. Your Nexus Cloud sign-in is not part of a backup. Sign in again after restoring on a new machine.

Updating

Nexus checks for updates automatically about 10 seconds after launch, then every 6 hours. When one is ready, a bar appears at the bottom with Install and Later.

1. Click Install (or go to Settings → Updates → Check For Updates).
2. Nexus saves any unsaved edits first, then downloads and installs the update quietly.
3. Nexus restarts on the new version.

Every update is digitally signed and verified before installing, and Nexus refuses anything that fails verification. Before the first launch on a new version, Nexus also copies your database to an upgrade-backups folder (the last 3 are kept). You never need to reinstall manually.