Hakushi Notes | White Paper Notes

Update on June 27, 2026: Hakushi AI Added & Article Title Updated: "Hakushi Notes: To Go All-In on AI, I Decided to Build My Own Note-Taking App (Updated)"

New Hakushi AI Button on the Left – Enter AI-Assisted Features. Here's the Feature List

Users who haven't filled in an API key will have web search disabled, and the AI mode is limited to 39 uses per day. After filling in the LLM API Key and Tavily API Key, AI usage is unlimited.

1. Read, create sections and articles. You can ask Hakushi AI to read the current sections and create new articles. When asking AI questions, it will prioritize finding answers from your knowledge base.

   

   

2. Web Search: Supports web search when the Tavily API Key is filled in. Priority: Existing Notes ≈ Internet Data > Model Self-Generation. (When web search is enabled, it automatically decides whether to search locally or on the web. If disabled, it only searches locally.) During web search, it shows in real-time which pages the AI is browsing:

   

   The output displays the tool call chain:

   

3. Update Existing Notes: Supports AI-assisted note updates, automatically updating notes.

   

   User-friendly design: When using AI to assist in updating or adding notes, a card is displayed. Click to jump to the note page.

   

4. New Print Button in the Top Right: One-click generation of elegant Markdown layout (supports standardized display of mathematical formulas). One-click print button:

   

5. One-Click Citation: Click the paperclip button to instantly cite the currently open note, making it easy to feed to AI:

   

The Backstory

I realized that most note-taking apps have one thing missing—paper.

Why do we need digital notes?

Because human thinking is linear, almost single-threaded; the human brain isn't a perfect memory device—it's more like a cache. You can't compose an entire note in your head and then transcribe it. But writing everything from your mind onto paper in order inevitably leads to errors and imperfections. Digital notes solve this most immediate problem: they can be edited without leaving any trace of correction.

However, digital notes might not be the ultimate medium for "notes."

Some might ask: Isn't it more convenient to have notes on a computer or phone for easy searching?—Yes, that's true. But I think they should be classified as "data carriers," not "notes." Imagine your perfect notes exist simultaneously in a physical journal and on your phone. When you need to study them in depth at the library, you'd prefer the object of your study to be in a notebook—it's easier to annotate and easier to remember the content.

So, notes on paper are the real notes.

Printing: The Most Overlooked Core Feature

The most easily overlooked feature in most note-taking apps on the market is printing.

Either they require you to export to HTML or PDF in a client, then open another software to print, like Notion; or they are apps that can print but don't prioritize design, resulting in layouts that are far from readable. Worse still, some don't offer printing or export to other formats at all, to maintain the dominance of their own ecosystem. We're left to copy, open Word, paste, and reformat—wasting a huge amount of time, with inconsistent results every time.

Hakushi Notes—on this app, you can solve all the above problems.

Design: Pure Paper

The design philosophy of Hakushi Notes stems from a simple yet profound observation: Note-taking software should be like paper—present but unobtrusive.

When we open a note-taking app, we see buttons, menus, sidebars, toolbars—we see "software." But when we open a notebook, we see blank pages, possibilities, thoughts waiting to be filled. What Hakushi Notes aims to do is erase the traces of "software," leaving only the purity of "paper."

Writing Without a Toolbar

Hakushi Notes has no toolbar. No formatting buttons, no font selection, no color palette. All you see is your text and how it will appear.

This means:

• Focus on content itself: You won't be interrupted by thoughts like "what font size should this heading be?"
• True WYSIWYG: The layout you see on screen is exactly what will be printed.
• Return to the essence of writing: Writing is writing, not layout design.

Writing in the AI Era

In the AI era, we have a new writing partner. Hakushi Notes perfectly adapts to this new workflow:

1. Generate a draft with AI: Tell AI your ideas and let it organize them into a clear Markdown structure.
2. Refine in Hakushi Notes: Paste the Markdown and focus on polishing the content.
3. One-click print: Get print-quality paper notes.

This workflow solves two major pain points of traditional writing:

• Difficulty starting from scratch: AI helps you take the first step.
• The barrier between digital and paper: Hakushi Notes makes the transition seamless.

Design Born for A4 Paper

Every design decision in Hakushi Notes revolves around one core question: How to deliver the perfect reading experience on A4 paper?

• Font selection: We've carefully chosen fonts suitable for extended reading, balancing screen display and print quality.
• Line spacing and margins: Not arbitrary values, but a golden ratio for A4 paper found through repeated testing.
• Pagination logic: Smart pagination ensures every page is complete and beautiful, without orphans or widows.
• Color management: Dark mode on screen automatically converts to a light background suitable for paper when printing, protecting your eyes and saving ink.

  

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⚙️ Features: Less is More

Pure Markdown

Hakushi Notes only supports Markdown. This isn't a limitation; it's a liberation.

Markdown is a pure writing language that lets you focus on content, not formatting. In Hakushi Notes, every character you write is rendered precisely, no more, no less.

# This is a heading
## This is a subheading

This is body text. **Bold** and *italic* are perfectly rendered.

- List item one
- List item two

> This is a blockquote.

[This is a link](https://example.com)

Link Sharing, Real-Time Sync

Sharing in Hakushi Notes isn't about exporting files; it's about sharing a link.

• Share a link: Generate a link to your note and share it with others.
• Real-time updates: When you edit the note, the link content updates immediately.
• No syncing needed: No "syncing..." wait; changes take effect instantly.
• Cross-platform consistency: The experience is identical whether you open the link on a phone, tablet, or computer.

This means:

• Your notes are always the latest version.
• You never have to worry, "Did I send the old version?"
• Collaboration becomes simple: share a link with a colleague, and they always see the latest content.

Print Optimization, One-Click Booklet

The print function in Hakushi Notes is a core feature, not an add-on.

• Perfect A4 layout: Designed specifically for A4 paper, delivering magazine-quality results when printed.
• Headers and footers: Automatically add page numbers, titles, dates, and other metadata.
• Table of contents generation: Automatically generate a table of contents page based on headings.
• Batch printing: Select multiple notes, merge them into a single PDF, or print them as a booklet directly.

💭 Philosophy: Paper as an Extension of Thought

Why "Paper"?

In the digital age, we have so many "smart" things: smartphones, smartwatches, smart speakers. But "paper" is the oldest and simplest information carrier. Hakushi Notes chooses to return to this simplicity because:

• Paper doesn't interrupt you: No notifications, no push alerts, no reminders like "You haven't recorded anything today."
• Paper is quiet: It simply waits for you to write.
• Paper is lasting: A sheet of paper can last for decades, while an app might stop updating next year.

The Power of Simplicity

Hakushi Notes' simplicity isn't a lack of features; it's a design choice.

• No toolbar: Because the best tool is your mind, not buttons.
• Only Markdown: Because the purest writing doesn't need complex formatting.

This simplicity brings:

• Faster startup: Open it and you're in your notes, no loading screens.
• Smaller footprint: It's web-based. You only need a browser to do everything.

Note-Taking Philosophy in the AI Era

In an era where AI can write articles, summarize, and even compose poetry, what is the meaning of note-taking?

Hakushi Notes' answer is: Notes are the traces of thought, not the accumulation of information.

AI can generate content for you, but it can't replace your thinking process. Hakushi Notes provides a pure space for you to:

• Start with AI: Let AI help you organize your thoughts and generate a draft.
• Refine manually: In a clean environment, focus on polishing the content.
• Solidify on paper: Finally, print it out as a physical testament to your thinking.

This workflow combines the efficiency of AI with the depth of human thought, the convenience of digital with the permanence of physical.

🌌 Conclusion: Let Your Thoughts Leave a Trace

Hakushi Notes is not a feature-packed note-taking app.
It is a space designed for thinking, a tool optimized for printing, and a writing companion prepared for the AI era.

It doesn't try to do everything. It focuses on doing one thing well: elegantly moving your thoughts from screen to paper.

So, if you've ever felt that:

• Existing note-taking apps are too complex and distract from thinking itself;
• Printed notes always look ugly and are embarrassing to share;
• You want a pure space to focus on content, not formatting;
• You believe paper still has irreplaceable value in the digital age.

Then perhaps you should give Hakushi Notes a try.

Because your thoughts deserve to be taken seriously.
They deserve to start from a blank page.
They deserve to end up on a real sheet of paper.

Start Your Hakushi Journey (Currently in beta; data may be lost before the official release) →

In the noise, guard a quiet space.
In the digital, keep a paper copy.
In thought, leave a trace on paper.