nocal is a calendar that works like a notebook, so your notes live right alongside your schedule. You can jot a quick standalone note, attach notes to a specific meeting, or plan your week in the weekly note — all in the same place, with no separate notes app.
Three ways notes show up
| Note | Best for | How it's tied to your calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone note | Ideas, references, ongoing lists | Not tied to anything — lives in your notes list |
| Event note | Agendas, meeting notes, follow-ups | Attached to a specific event |
| Weekly note | Planning the week, weekly to-dos | One note per week — see the weekly note |
Create a standalone note
A standalone note isn't tied to an event or a date — it's just yours to write in.
- Choose New Note (or press Cmd / Ctrl + N when you're not already typing in a note).
- A new note opens in its own tab, ready to title and write.
Standalone notes appear in your notes list, and you can file them into folders or pin them.
Take notes on an event
Every event can hold its own note — perfect for an agenda before a meeting and decisions during it.
- On your timeline, select the event you want to take notes on.
- The event opens with its details and a notes area.
- Start typing to create the note.
The note stays attached to that specific event, regardless of which connected account the event came from. When you reopen the event, the note is right there. Notes live in nocal, not in your calendar provider, so they never appear in Google Calendar or Outlook — and if you later disconnect that account, your notes are kept.
Write with markdown
Notes support markdown, so you can structure them quickly without reaching for menus:
| Format | Markdown |
|---|---|
| Heading | ## Heading |
| Bold | **bold** |
| Italic | *italic* |
| Bullet list | - item |
| Numbered list | 1. item |
| Checklist | - [ ] task |
| Link | [label](url) |
| Code | `code` |
You can also type / for an insert menu (headings, lists, tables, and more), and @ to link another note, an event, or your weekly note — the linked item appears inline as a card you can expand.
A simple meeting note might look like:
## Agenda
- Q3 roadmap
- Hiring update
## Decisions
- Ship beta by July
## Follow-ups
- [ ] Send notes to team
- [ ] Book next sync
Notes save and sync automatically
Everything you write saves on its own as you type and syncs across the devices you're signed in to, so a note you start on your laptop is waiting on your phone. See install nocal on all your devices.
Find notes later
Everything you write is searchable. Use search across notes and events to pull up what was decided weeks ago, even if you don't remember the exact date. To group related notes or keep important ones handy, see organize notes with folders and pins.
Let AI agents help with notes
If you use AI assistants, nocal's MCP server lets tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and VS Code read and write your notes — for example, drafting an agenda or summarizing follow-ups. Learn more in the MCP overview and connect agents.