User Commands

The plugin registers user commands that you can run from NeoVim’s command line (:ZkCommand). All commands support tab completion for flags and values.

Note Creation

`:ZkNote`

Create a new zettel. Defaults to untethered if no category is given.

" Create an untethered note (default)
:ZkNote

" Create an untethered note (explicit)
:ZkNote --category untethered

" Create a tethered note with a project
:ZkNote --category tethered --project my-project

Flags:

Flag	Values	Description
`--category`	`untethered`, `tethered`	Note category (default: untethered)
`--project`	any string	Project name (auto-detected from git if omitted)

`:ZkTemplate`

Create a note from a template. Opens a picker if no template name is given.

" Open template picker
:ZkTemplate

" Create meeting notes
:ZkTemplate meeting

" Create a feature spec for a project
:ZkTemplate feature --project my-project

Available templates: meeting, book-review, snippet, project-idea, user-story, feature, daily

Search

`:ZkSearch`

Search zettels. Opens a picker if available, otherwise prints results. Use the bang (!) variant for live search that updates as you type.

" Search for a term
:ZkSearch authentication

" Live search (updates as you type)
:ZkSearch!

" Live search with an initial query
:ZkSearch! auth

" Filter by category and project
:ZkSearch --category tethered --project my-project

" Filter by type and status
:ZkSearch --type todo --status open

" Filter by priority and due date
:ZkSearch --priority high --due-before 2026-03-01

" Filter by tag
:ZkSearch --tag security

" Combine a query with filters
:ZkSearch auth --category tethered --tag security

Flags:

Flag	Values	Description
`--category`	`untethered`, `tethered`	Filter by category
`--project`	any string	Filter by project
`--type`	`note`, `todo`, `daily-note`, `issue`	Filter by note type
`--status`	`open`, `in_progress`, `closed`	Filter by status
`--priority`	`high`, `medium`, `low`	Filter by priority
`--due-before`	`YYYY-MM-DD`	Due before date
`--due-after`	`YYYY-MM-DD`	Due after date
`--tag`	any string	Filter by tag (can repeat)

Picker keymaps (when available):

Key	Action
`<CR>`	Open note
`<C-p>`	Preview in floating window
`<C-l>`	Insert `[[id]]` link at cursor
`<C-S-l>`	Insert `[[id\|title]]` link at cursor

Graph Visualization

`:ZkGraph`

Generate an ASCII tree visualization of note relationships. Opens in a vertical split.

" Default graph (limit 10 nodes)
:ZkGraph

" Limit number of nodes
:ZkGraph --limit 20
:ZkGraph 20

" Start from a specific note
:ZkGraph --start 20260213143000-550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

" Set traversal depth
:ZkGraph --depth 3

" Combine options
:ZkGraph --start 20260213143000-550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --depth 3 --limit 50

Flags:

Flag	Values	Description
`--limit`	number	Maximum nodes to display (default: 10)
`--start`	zettel ID	Start node for the graph
`--depth`	number	Traversal depth

Daily Notes

`:ZkDaily`

Open or create a daily note. Daily notes are idempotent — running it twice on the same day opens the same file.

" Today's daily note
:ZkDaily

" Yesterday's note (for morning review)
:ZkDaily yesterday

" Specific date
:ZkDaily 2026-02-10

`:ZkDailyList`

Browse daily notes in a picker. Use the bang variant to show only this week.

" Browse all daily notes
:ZkDailyList

" This week only
:ZkDailyList!

Todos

`:ZkTodo`

Create a new todo. The title is everything that isn’t a flag.

" Simple todo
:ZkTodo Buy a notebook for handwritten zettel drafts

" With due date and priority
:ZkTodo Review meeting notes --due 2026-02-21 --priority high

" With project
:ZkTodo Fix login bug --project my-project --priority medium

Flags:

Flag	Values	Description
`--due`	`YYYY-MM-DD`	Due date
`--priority`	`high`, `medium`, `low`	Priority level
`--project`	any string	Project name

`:ZkTodoList`

Generate a markdown summary of todos and open it in a split.

" All open todos
:ZkTodoList

" Due today
:ZkTodoList today

" Due this week
:ZkTodoList week

" Project-specific list
:ZkTodoList my-project

Index & Tags

`:ZkIndex`

Index zettels for full-text search. Indexes the current directory by default.

" Index current directory
:ZkIndex

" Index specific path
:ZkIndex ~/zk_vault/

`:ZkRefreshTags`

Clear the tag cache and reload tags from the index.

:ZkRefreshTags

Quick Reference

Command	Description
`:ZkNote`	Create new zettel
`:ZkTemplate [name]`	Create from template
`:ZkSearch[!] [query]`	Search zettels (! for live search)
`:ZkGraph`	Graph visualization
`:ZkDaily [date]`	Open daily note
`:ZkDailyList[!]`	Browse daily notes (! for this week)
`:ZkTodo [title]`	Create a todo
`:ZkTodoList [filter]`	Generate todo list markdown
`:ZkIndex [path]`	Index zettels
`:ZkRefreshTags`	Refresh tag cache