SootNotes

Sootnotes is a minimal, out-of-your-way note-taking aid. It can take screenshots and video screen captures, and will produce a markdown file containing your notes and links to any screenshots or videos you take.

Sootnotes is intended for use by penetration testers, technical writers, educators, and anyone else who needs a quick way to document multi-step processes.

Platforms

SootNotes is an electron + reactjs app and should be able to run on any platform supported by electron.

• Windows: Yes
  • Windows binaries can be found at https://homosexual.coffee/sootnotes/builds
  • Follow build instructions below to create a setup binary.
• Linux: Partial (tested on Kali)
  • yarn dist:linux to create .AppImage executable
  • resulting file needs chmod +x and to be run with --no-sandbox option
  • no install script or package yet
• MacOS: Untested

To build executable

1. Install nodejs (v12)
2. Install git (latest version)
3. Run git clone https://github.com/ivyfae/sootnotes.git
4. Run npm install
   • If yarn was not installed by npm, run npm install yarn.
5. Run yarn dist (or yarn dist:<your platform> ['win', 'mac', 'linux'] (or 'mac-zip' if you would rather build a zip than a dmg))
6. The resulting install package can be found in dist/
   • The install package is not code-signed, so you may need to tell your OS to trust SootNotes.
   • On Linux, chmod +x and run the .AppImage with --no-sandbox option

How to use SootNotes

SootNotes was designed to build a Markdown file by appending each entry to the end of the file as you go. Editing, formatting, and cleanup are tasks that can be distracting and interrupt your rhythm or flow, so it is assumed that those things will be done in a text editor when you've completed the process you're documenting.

SootNotes does not include a markdown viewer, so you'll need to find a markdown viewer or browser extension that works for you.

1. Select an Output Directory using File > Select Output Directory * This is where notes.md and the videos/ and images/ directories will be created. * This setting will be stored between sessions.
2. Select a Capture Source using the "Select Capture Source" button. * Screen sources will capture everything visible on that screen/monitor (including SootNotes, if it is visible to you). * Window sources will capture just the selected application window, excluding any other windows (such as SootNotes) that may be in front of it.
3. Build your document * Add a note by typing into the box. Submit it by clicking Add Note or using CTRL+ENTER keyboard shortcut. The text box will be cleared. * Add a screenshot by clicking the Add Screenshot button. The screenshot will be saved to images/ and a markdown image tag will be appended to the end of notes.md. * Add a recording by clicking the Add Recording button. The button's recording icon will blink and change to "Stop Recording" to indicate that a recording is in progress. Click Stop Recording to save the video to videos/ and append a <video> tag to notes.md

That's it!

Other available options:

• File
  • Show Output Directory opens your selected output directory in your operating system's file browser (explorer, finder, xdg-open)
• Options
  • Always on Top toggles whether SootNotes should stay visible, even when another window has focus.
  • Manually Name Captures toggles whether to use auto-generated file names for screenshots and videos, or to pop up a save dialog and allow you to name the files yourself.

Development

Note: SootNotes' main branch is called development

1. Install nodejs (v12)
2. Install git (latest version)
3. Run git clone https://github.com/ivyfae/sootnotes.git
4. Run npm install

• If yarn was not installed by npm, run npm install yarn and try again.

5. Run yarn start to launch the electron app and automatically rebuild and reload web content on save

• If you need to relaunch electron after closing it, you can use yarn start:electron instead