A daily note template in Markdown

Checked November 2026 against Coffee's own Daily note template and Today's Note command in the app. Task lists follow the GFM spec.

A daily note is one Markdown file per day, named by its date, holding that day's tasks and whatever you need to write down. Here's a template to copy. It works in any editor, because it's only text.

---
date: 2026-11-08
tags: [daily]
---

# 8 November 2026

## Today

- [ ] Send the invoice to Acme
- [ ] Call the dentist
- [ ] Draft the project brief

## Notes

- Rui says the launch moves to 24 November.

## Spent

- Lunch: €12
- Train: €4
- Coffee: €3
Total

Change the date, clear out the example lines, and you're ready. The rest of this page explains each part, how to name the files, and what Coffee does with a note like this.

The parts, and why

Front matter. The block between the --- lines is front matter. A year-first date, 2026-11-08, means the same thing in every country and sorts properly. A daily tag lets you pick these notes out from the rest, in an editor that reads tags. If nothing you use reads it, leave the block out.

The heading. Whatever reads best to you. Some people repeat the date, some add the weekday.

Today. A task list, one thing per line, starting - [ ] . When it's done, the box gets an x: - [x] . Keep it short. Three to five things you'll really do is a better list than fifteen you won't.

Notes. Everything else: what someone told you, an idea, a link. A daily note is a good first place for things that don't have a home yet. Move the ones that matter into their own notes later.

Spent. Optional, and only useful if your editor can add up, as below. In any other editor it's just a list.

Naming the files by date

Two patterns are common:

• 2026-11-08.md. Year, month, day. Sorted by name, a folder of these is in date order, and the name means the same thing anywhere. This is the one to use if other tools or scripts will read the folder.
• 8 November 2026.md. Easier to read in a list, but sorted by name it isn't in date order, since 1 December comes before 8 November.

Put daily notes in a folder of their own, such as Daily, so they don't crowd your other notes. If a year's worth gets long, a folder per year keeps it manageable.

Whichever you choose, keep to it. Links between notes, searches and scripts all depend on names being predictable.

Carrying tasks over

Plain files don't move unfinished tasks to the next day for you. The simplest habit is to start each day by looking at yesterday's list and copying across what's still open. To see every open task across all your notes, run this in Terminal from your notes folder:

grep -rn --include='*.md' -- '- \[ \]' .

Each line shows the file and the task. If the same task keeps turning up, it probably needs breaking down or dropping.

Daily notes in Coffee

Coffee has a Daily note template and a command to go with it. The first time you choose a library, Coffee creates a Templates folder inside it, with Daily note among five starter templates. This is the template as it ships:

# {{title}}

{{weekday}}, {{date}}

## Today

- [ ] {{cursor}}

## Notes

Choose File > Today's Note, or press ⌘T. If today's note exists, Coffee opens it. If not, it makes one from the Daily note template and puts the cursor on the first task. {{title}} and {{date}} become today's date written the long way, in your Mac's language and region, such as 8 November 2026, and {{weekday}} becomes the day, such as Sunday. The note's file is named with the same date.

A few details worth knowing:

• Today's Note looks through your whole library for a note named with today's date, so you can move daily notes into a Daily folder and ⌘T still finds today's. A new one is made at the top of the library.
• It goes by the long date. If you rename your daily notes to 2026-11-08, Today's Note won't recognise them and will make a new note. If you prefer year-first names, make the note from the Daily note template with ⇧⌘N, then change its heading to 2026-11-08. Coffee renames the file to match the heading.
• The order of the folder is up to you. In Coffee each folder can be sorted by date modified, title or date created, so a Daily folder sorted by date created stays in order whatever the names look like.
• You can change the template. Click "Edit templates…" at the bottom of the template list (⇧⌘N) to see the Templates folder in Finder, then edit Daily note like any other file. Add the front matter from the top of this page if you want it. Coffee reads tags from front matter and keeps every other line as you wrote it.
• From outside Coffee. A coffee://today link opens today's note, so you can use it from Shortcuts, Raycast or a bookmark.

In the page view, click a task's box, or press ⌘Return on its line, and the file gets a standard - [x].

Sums in a daily note

Coffee works out lines written in plain words and shows the answer beside the line. The answer is never written into the file, so the note stays exactly what you typed. In the Spent list at the top of this page, Total shows €19.

Some other lines that suit a daily note:

A list ends at a blank line or a heading, and Total only adds up the list directly above it, so your Spent list doesn't pick up numbers from your tasks. A line that starts with // is left alone, if you want to keep a sum as a comment. There's more in a calculator inside your notes, and a whole week of hours in a plain-text timesheet.

Open the same note in another editor and you see the lines without answers. PDF and HTML exports and Print carry the answers, and a Markdown export doesn't. If you'd rather not have any of this, there's a Calculations switch in Settings.

Coffee runs on a Mac with macOS 15 or later. It has 14 days free without a card, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates.

Questions

What should a daily note include?

The date, a short list of tasks for the day, and space for notes. Add anything you track every day, such as time worked or money spent, but keep the template short enough that you'll fill it in.

How should I name daily note files?

Year first, as in 2026-11-08.md, if you want the folder to sort in date order and other tools to read the names. A long date such as 8 November 2026.md reads better but doesn't sort by date when sorted by name.

Does Coffee have a daily note template?

Yes. Coffee creates a Templates folder in your library with a Daily note template. Press ⌘T, or choose File > Today's Note, to open today's note or make it from the template.

Can I add up numbers in a daily note?

In Coffee, yes. Write a list such as Lunch: €12 and Train: €4, then Total underneath, and the answer appears beside it. It isn't written into the file, so other editors show only what you typed.

How do I find unfinished tasks across all my daily notes?

Search for - [ ]. In Terminal, grep -rn --include='*.md' -- '- \[ \]' . from your notes folder lists each open task with the file it's in.