--- title: "A Markdown meeting notes template you can copy" author: Pedro Thomaz source: https://coffeetext.app/blog/markdown-meeting-notes-template --- # A Markdown meeting notes template you can copy > Checked November 2026 against Coffee's own templates in the app. Task lists follow the [GFM spec](https://github.github.com/gfm/). Here's a meeting notes template in plain Markdown. Copy it into a new file, fill in the gaps during the meeting, and you have notes that any editor can open. It has five parts: a little data at the top, who was there, what was discussed, what was decided, and who does what next. ``` --- date: 2026-11-08 project: Website relaunch tags: [meetings] --- # Website relaunch: weekly check-in ## Who - Ana (chair) - Rui - Sam ## Agenda 1. Launch date 2. Copy for the home page ## Discussed - Launch date. Testing needs another week. - Home page copy. Second draft is in the shared folder. ## Decisions - Launch moves to 24 November. - Rui owns the final copy. ## Next steps - [ ] Rui: final home page copy, by Friday - [ ] Sam: book the testers - [ ] Ana: tell the client about the new date ``` Swap the names and topics for your own and delete any section you never use. A template only helps if it's quicker to fill in than a blank page. ## Why each part is there **Front matter.** The block between the two `---` lines is [front matter](https://coffeetext.app/blog/what-is-front-matter): data about the note rather than part of it. Write the date as `2026-11-08`, year first, so it sorts properly and every tool reads it the same way. Keep it short. If you never filter or search by a field, it doesn't need to be there. **The title.** Name the meeting, not the date. "Website relaunch: weekly check-in" tells you what it was in a list of files. The date is already in the front matter, and you can put it in the file name too, as below. **Who.** A list of names, one per line. Mark the chair, or whoever wasn't there but needs to know, if that matters to you. **Agenda.** A numbered list, written before the meeting if there was one. Leave it out for quick calls. **Discussed.** Short points, not a transcript. Write what someone reading this in three months would need: the topic, and where things stand. **Decisions.** This is the section people come back for, so keep it apart from the discussion. One line per decision, written as a statement: "Launch moves to 24 November", not "We talked about maybe moving the launch". **Next steps.** A task list. Each line starts with `- [ ] `, then the person, then the task and the date. Writing the name first means you can scan the list for your own tasks. When one is done, it becomes `- [x] `. Task lists are part of [GitHub Flavored Markdown](https://github.github.com/gfm/), so GitHub draws them as checkboxes, and so do many editors. There's more on them in [footnotes, task lists and other extended Markdown](https://coffeetext.app/blog/extended-markdown-footnotes-task-lists). ## Naming the files Pick one pattern and keep to it. Two that work: - `2026-11-08 Website relaunch.md`, date first, so a folder of meetings sorts by date on its own. - `Website relaunch 2026-11-08.md`, meeting first, so all the notes for one meeting sit together when sorted by name. A folder per project, or one called Meetings, keeps them out of the way of everything else. ## Tips that make the notes useful later - **Write decisions as they happen.** At the end of a meeting, nobody quite remembers what was agreed. - **Read the decisions and next steps aloud before people leave.** It's the quickest way to catch a misunderstanding. - **One meeting, one note.** For a weekly meeting, a new note each week is easier to find and link to than one long file. - **Link to the previous one.** In an editor with wiki links, `[[2026-11-01 Website relaunch]]` at the top takes you back a week. - **Find every open task.** In Terminal, in your notes folder, this lists each unticked task with the file it's in: ``` grep -rn --include='*.md' -- '- \[ \]' . ``` ## How templates work in Coffee Coffee comes with this kind of template already. The first time you choose a library, it creates a folder called Templates inside it with five starter templates: Daily note, Meeting notes, Project brief, Proposal and Long article. Each is an ordinary Markdown file, so you can change them, delete them, or add your own. To use one, choose File > New from Template, or press ⇧⌘N, and pick it from the list. You can also type `/` at the start of a line and choose Template. Coffee makes a new note from it and puts the cursor where the template says. This is Coffee's own Meeting notes template, as it is in the Templates folder: ``` # {{title}} {{date}}, {{time}} ## Who - {{cursor}} ## Discussed ## Decisions ## Next steps - [ ] ``` The words in double braces are filled in when you make a note: | Placeholder | Becomes | |---|---| | `{{title}}` | The new note's name, which starts as Untitled | | `{{date}}` | Today's date, written the long way in your Mac's language and region, such as 8 November 2026 | | `{{time}}` | The time now, in your Mac's format | | `{{weekday}}` | The day of the week, such as Sunday | | `{{cursor}}` | Where the cursor goes, so you can start typing straight away | Type over the Untitled heading with the meeting's name and the file is renamed to match. To change a template, or add the one at the top of this page, click "Edit templates…" at the bottom of the template list. That shows the Templates folder in Finder, and any `.md` file you put there appears in the list, by name. If you delete one of the starters, it stays deleted. The Templates folder is kept out of your notes, so templates don't turn up as notes in your library. A few things to know if you add front matter to a template: - Coffee hides the front matter in the page view, so a note opens on its heading. Press ⌘/ to see and edit the block. - Of the front matter, Coffee reads only `tags`. Every other line is kept exactly as written. - Lines in the front matter other than tags aren't searched. If you want to find meetings by who was there, keep the names in the Who list, where search sees them. - `{{date}}` gives the long form, such as 8 November 2026. For a year-first date in front matter, type it yourself. In Coffee, you can click a task's box in the page view, or press ⌘Return on its line, and the file gets a standard `- [x]`. If a meeting covers costs, you can write them as a list such as `- Venue: €900` and `- Catering: €450`, with `Total` underneath, and the answer appears beside it without being written into your file. Coffee runs on a Mac with macOS 15 or later, and has 14 days free without a card, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. The notes are plain files, so anyone you share them with can open them in their own editor. ## Questions ### What should meeting notes include? The date, who was there, what was discussed, what was decided, and the next steps with a name against each one. Decisions and next steps are the parts people come back for, so give each its own section. ### How do I make a checkbox in Markdown? Start a line with `- [ ] ` for an open task and `- [x] ` for a finished one. This is GitHub Flavored Markdown, and editors that support it draw a checkbox. ### Should I use front matter in meeting notes? Only if something reads it. A date and tags in front matter help if you filter notes or publish them. For notes only you read, a date under the title does the same job. ### Does Coffee have a meeting notes template? Yes. Coffee creates a Templates folder in your library with a Meeting notes template among five starters. Choose File > New from Template, or press ⇧⌘N. ### Can I make my own templates in Coffee? Yes. Put any `.md` file in the Templates folder in your library and it appears in the list. Use `{{title}}`, `{{date}}`, `{{time}}`, `{{weekday}}` and `{{cursor}}` for the parts to fill in. --- Written by Pedro Thomaz, who makes Coffee, a Markdown editor for the Mac on macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days with no card or account, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. More at https://coffeetext.app/llms-full.txt