{"slug": "org-mode", "name": "Org mode", "category": "notes", "category_name": "Notes and knowledge", "description": "Emacs major mode for outlining, notes, task management and literate programming in plain text.", "recommenders": 29, "commenters": 40, "warners": 3, "score": 24.847, "rising": -2.18, "first": "2025-11-01", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "Loved as a plain-text system for notes, tasks and agenda-based planning, and for writing and exporting blogs, books and documents.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 32, "neutral": 6, "compare": 2, "warn": 3}, "spark": [2, 4, 6, 5, 1, 2, 0, 4, 2, 3, 2, 1], "listed": true, "loved": ["Notes and tasks", "Plain text"], "caveat": "Emacs lock-in", "short_quote": "Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it.", "icon": true, "domain": "orgmode.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://orgmode.org/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Org mode", "Org-mode", "org-mode", "Org Mode", "Emacs Org mode", "Emacs org-mode", "Org-Mode"], "verdict": [{"text": "Loved as a plain-text system for notes, tasks and agenda-based planning", "cites": [{"id": 745066336, "item_id": 46566646, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46566646", "by": "skeledrew", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it.", "excerpt": "I discovered and started using org-mode (and, as a result, Emacs) when I migrated from Evernote in '16. Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it. Started out with headers only, and every time I wanted something more, it was always just there for the taking. Easy to use, and also crazy powerful. Can't think of anything else", "context": "", "use_case": "project, task and knowledge management", "switched_from": "Evernote", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745114784, "item_id": 46569674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46569674", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Org Mode for organizing my life in plain text for the past 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I've been using Org Mode for organizing my life in plain text for the past 10 years now. Beorg on iOS [0] makes it great. I've also started using things like org-ql [1] and org-super-agenda [2] to make me even more productive. I also have a daily log org file I use at work. It helps me keep track of what I need to do and what I've done. It makes yearly reviews easier as well! [0]: https://www.beorgapp.com/ [1]: https", "context": "", "use_case": "organizing life in plain text", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 797163553, "item_id": 49822722, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49822722", "by": "surfcao", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Org mode everyday for note-taking and time management.", "excerpt": "I use Org mode everyday for note-taking and time management. I found no app available that fit my needs of workflow, so I built this Orger app with native iOS interface to access the org files. It can capture a task, quick note, task or web page, manage your time (clock-in/out or Pomodoro timer). It can also integrate the iOS Calendar and Reminder into one place. Hope it can fit to your workflow.", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking and time management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Powerful Org-Mode at Home on iOS"}, {"id": 739110336, "item_id": 46194396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46194396", "by": "escanda", "date": "2025-12-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Plus org-mode agenda is just superior and awesome.", "excerpt": "I guess this sometime replace org-mode extensively. The idea is sound. The implementation looks good. For instance, I love org-mode export capabilities to standard formats such as pdfs and other kinds of documents. It makes it real easy to export some formulae or docs for some feature. Plus org-mode agenda is just superior and awesome.", "context": "", "use_case": "notes, export, agenda", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Programming Language"}]}, {"text": ", and for writing and exporting blogs, books and documents.", "cites": [{"id": 736306288, "item_id": 46019143, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46019143", "by": "amitav1", "date": "2025-11-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I find Org-mode a lot more expressive and natural to write than my previous blogs which were in Markdown.", "excerpt": "I use Org-mode w/ GNU Emacs for all of my blogging(shameless plug: amitav.net). I like Org-mode because it's easy enough to write, looks nice enough, can be exported in quite a few formats, and the code block handling is chef's kiss. It supports quite a few languages and has a feature I've seen in no other editor before, where you can chain together code from different code blocks, and evaluate it, inside of the docu", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging, exporting to HTML", "switched_from": "", "story": "Markdown is holding you back"}, {"id": 745129888, "item_id": 46570618, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46570618", "by": "justinhj", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love writing blog posts with org mode.", "excerpt": "I love writing blog posts with org mode. I wrote a blog post about blog posting in org mode. https://justinhj.github.io/2020/03/09/how-to-blog-with-org-mode.html I wrote some code that exports html to a Jekyll static site, but really it works with anything that expects html.", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 789407840, "item_id": 49337990, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337990", "by": "everybodyknows", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ended up with Org-mode.", "excerpt": "I set out likewise to write a highly structured book with FOSS, therefore: git, some hierarchical plain text format, and a visually rich editor. Markdown could not seem to meet the third point. For instance, progress-related comments that would be stripped from final output were essential, but Markdown's HTML-style comments are intolerably unergonomic, and editors know how to de-emphasize no other syntax. Ended up wi", "context": "writing a structured book with FOSS", "use_case": "writing structured book", "switched_from": "Markdown", "story": "How I Over-Engineered My Book"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is that it is tied to Emacs", "cites": [{"id": 753842352, "item_id": 47115147, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47115147", "by": "ordu", "date": "2026-02-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you can't write a parser for org-mode.", "excerpt": "So many good words, but they all miss the crucial point: you can't write a parser for org-mode. So elisp interpreted is needed to run the lisp code that defines it. It means that org-mode can be good while you are using it from emacs, and it sucks for anything else. I use markdown now, because you have a lot of tools to deal with markdown, while all tools for org-mode are bound to emacs. Which is perfectly fits the e", "context": "former long-time Emacs user", "use_case": "notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hello Worg, the Org-Mode Community"}, {"id": 799050530, "item_id": 49940658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49940658", "by": "thayne", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Would I say that org mode is strictly inferior to markdown? No. But I don't think it is strictly superior either.", "excerpt": "> The reason being that Orgmode is a far superior format [to markdown] I have to disagree with this. I will admit there are some things org mode does better than markdown, but there are also things it does worse. And probably the biggest is alluded to in the rest of that sentence: \"[the] only downside is that you have to be inside Emacs to fully enjoy.\" A while ago, I read a blog post about how orgmode was better tha", "context": "", "use_case": "writing and notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc"}, {"id": 745076865, "item_id": 46567304, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567304", "by": "jgoodhcg", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love org mode and used eMacs for years.", "excerpt": "I love org mode and used eMacs for years. I felt like I had to switch to neovim and thus markdown for lots of reasons. Overall neovim has been a better experience for me but I do miss org mode.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}]}, {"text": ", with few tools that handle it outside Emacs and little support for team use.", "cites": [{"id": 753842352, "item_id": 47115147, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47115147", "by": "ordu", "date": "2026-02-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you can't write a parser for org-mode.", "excerpt": "So many good words, but they all miss the crucial point: you can't write a parser for org-mode. So elisp interpreted is needed to run the lisp code that defines it. It means that org-mode can be good while you are using it from emacs, and it sucks for anything else. I use markdown now, because you have a lot of tools to deal with markdown, while all tools for org-mode are bound to emacs. Which is perfectly fits the e", "context": "former long-time Emacs user", "use_case": "notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hello Worg, the Org-Mode Community"}, {"id": 733328561, "item_id": 45833035, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45833035", "by": "positron26", "date": "2025-11-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Can I use it on a team?  Get real.", "excerpt": "Emacs took a wrong fork in its own metaphor. At length, being able to take code and libraries between production and the editor would be a game changer. While Elisp has design features that make sense, in the tradeoffs, I think it lost to every other lisp with a general purpose programming ecosystem. I have a hope for the Common Lisp based Lem. All we need is to coordinate enough signal for potential users to feel it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How I am deeply integrating Emacs"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Notes and tasks", "summary": "Commenters use it daily for notes, task tracking and time management, some for a decade or more.", "quotes": [{"id": 745114784, "item_id": 46569674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46569674", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Org Mode for organizing my life in plain text for the past 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I've been using Org Mode for organizing my life in plain text for the past 10 years now. Beorg on iOS [0] makes it great. I've also started using things like org-ql [1] and org-super-agenda [2] to make me even more productive. I also have a daily log org file I use at work. It helps me keep track of what I need to do and what I've done. It makes yearly reviews easier as well! [0]: https://www.beorgapp.com/ [1]: https", "context": "", "use_case": "organizing life in plain text", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745066336, "item_id": 46566646, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46566646", "by": "skeledrew", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it.", "excerpt": "I discovered and started using org-mode (and, as a result, Emacs) when I migrated from Evernote in '16. Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it. Started out with headers only, and every time I wanted something more, it was always just there for the taking. Easy to use, and also crazy powerful. Can't think of anything else", "context": "", "use_case": "project, task and knowledge management", "switched_from": "Evernote", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 797163553, "item_id": 49822722, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49822722", "by": "surfcao", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Org mode everyday for note-taking and time management.", "excerpt": "I use Org mode everyday for note-taking and time management. I found no app available that fit my needs of workflow, so I built this Orger app with native iOS interface to access the org files. It can capture a task, quick note, task or web page, manage your time (clock-in/out or Pomodoro timer). It can also integrate the iOS Calendar and Reminder into one place. Hope it can fit to your workflow.", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking and time management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Powerful Org-Mode at Home on iOS"}]}, {"label": "Plain text", "summary": "Commenters value that their data stays in local plain-text files without ties to third parties.", "quotes": [{"id": 739313600, "item_id": 46207100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46207100", "by": "globular-toast", "date": "2025-12-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Emacs org-mode is like this but 100x more powerful and it's just plain text and self-hosted.", "excerpt": "Emacs org-mode is like this but 100x more powerful and it's just plain text and self-hosted. But I agree with the other commenter about taking handwritten notes. I use pencil and paper and type them up into org-mode afterwards.", "context": "", "use_case": "meeting notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s"}, {"id": 752939520, "item_id": 47058720, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47058720", "by": "kkfx", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Emacs/org-mode to do the same and much more, without tying myself to specific third parties", "excerpt": "I use Emacs/org-mode to do the same and much more, without tying myself to specific third parties, but the point remains valid and largely ignored by most until recently: the heart of our information is plain text with potential binary attachments, and managing it as freely as possible, with search&narrow access and the ability to turn it into hypertext, to compute inside text etc is essential to \"unlocking\" or truly", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Use Obsidian"}, {"id": 753254528, "item_id": 47078408, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47078408", "by": "stephen_cagle", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use org-mode for pretty much everything, which has all of these features I think", "excerpt": "I think this is neat. I use org-mode for pretty much everything, which has all of these features I think, but sometimes there is nothing more motivating than a quick responsive UI to actually do something. This looks motivational. My only pushback is using sqlite. I am a big fan of just using simple (structured) text files that can be edited by hand when needed. Your computer is more than capable of doing all the joi", "context": "", "use_case": "general tracking and notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Micasa \u2013 track your house from the terminal"}]}, {"label": "Writing and export", "summary": "Commenters use it to write blogs and books and export them to HTML, PDF and other formats.", "quotes": [{"id": 736306288, "item_id": 46019143, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46019143", "by": "amitav1", "date": "2025-11-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I find Org-mode a lot more expressive and natural to write than my previous blogs which were in Markdown.", "excerpt": "I use Org-mode w/ GNU Emacs for all of my blogging(shameless plug: amitav.net). I like Org-mode because it's easy enough to write, looks nice enough, can be exported in quite a few formats, and the code block handling is chef's kiss. It supports quite a few languages and has a feature I've seen in no other editor before, where you can chain together code from different code blocks, and evaluate it, inside of the docu", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging, exporting to HTML", "switched_from": "", "story": "Markdown is holding you back"}, {"id": 745129888, "item_id": 46570618, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46570618", "by": "justinhj", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love writing blog posts with org mode.", "excerpt": "I love writing blog posts with org mode. I wrote a blog post about blog posting in org mode. https://justinhj.github.io/2020/03/09/how-to-blog-with-org-mode.html I wrote some code that exports html to a Jekyll static site, but really it works with anything that expects html.", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 739110336, "item_id": 46194396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46194396", "by": "escanda", "date": "2025-12-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Plus org-mode agenda is just superior and awesome.", "excerpt": "I guess this sometime replace org-mode extensively. The idea is sound. The implementation looks good. For instance, I love org-mode export capabilities to standard formats such as pdfs and other kinds of documents. It makes it real easy to export some formulae or docs for some feature. Plus org-mode agenda is just superior and awesome.", "context": "", "use_case": "notes, export, agenda", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Programming Language"}]}, {"label": "Zettelkasten notes", "summary": "Several commenters keep Zettelkasten-style atomic notes in Org files.", "quotes": [{"id": 777496513, "item_id": 48593532, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48593532", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "All my notes are in Org (Zettelkasten style).", "excerpt": "> \"Is anyone still using emacs?\" Nothing else is capable of handling the variety of text-related things I want from my text editor. - I consume HN and Reddit in Emacs. Allows me for example to quickly search through all the links shared in a thread. - I read Jira and Slack in Emacs - in org-mode. It is far better for finding relevant things, extract them for my notes, etc. - All my writing done in Emacs. Because I ha", "context": "long-time Emacs user", "use_case": "notes and spaced repetition", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 774329264, "item_id": 48395579, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48395579", "by": "arikrahman", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Tiago Forte's method of organizing as needed within a loose org mode confederation of atomic notes.", "excerpt": "The main thing I use as a fallback is to keep thoughts connected in a Zettelkasten. This interacts well with AI assisted information gathering, while firing synapses whenever a connection can be made. I use Tiago Forte's method of organizing as needed within a loose org mode confederation of atomic notes.", "context": "", "use_case": "Zettelkasten note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Failing grades soar with AI usage, dwindling math skills in Berkeley CS classes"}, {"id": 747910832, "item_id": 46744427, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46744427", "by": "logicprog", "date": "2026-01-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use an org mode Zettelkasten (currently migrating to https://iwe.md for reasons) every day", "excerpt": "Oh I didn't realize Niklas Luhmann as the Zettelkasten guy! I use an org mode Zettelkasten (currently migrating to https://iwe.md for reasons) every day for my thoughts and ideas!", "context": "", "use_case": "Zettelkasten notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Design Thinking Books You Must Read"}]}, {"label": "Flexibility", "summary": "Commenters describe it as easy to start with yet powerful and flexible as needs grow.", "quotes": [{"id": 745066336, "item_id": 46566646, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46566646", "by": "skeledrew", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it.", "excerpt": "I discovered and started using org-mode (and, as a result, Emacs) when I migrated from Evernote in '16. Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it. Started out with headers only, and every time I wanted something more, it was always just there for the taking. Easy to use, and also crazy powerful. Can't think of anything else", "context": "", "use_case": "project, task and knowledge management", "switched_from": "Evernote", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 781730689, "item_id": 48858168, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48858168", "by": "mimo84", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Started because I wanted to try out org mode and stayed for the extreme flexibility it offers.", "excerpt": "I have been using emacs for the past couple of years. Started because I wanted to try out org mode and stayed for the extreme flexibility it offers.", "context": "", "use_case": "notes and organization", "switched_from": "", "story": "In Emacs, Everything Looks Like a Service"}, {"id": 791477024, "item_id": 49467314, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49467314", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Org-mode and use it for many things", "excerpt": "I love Org-mode and use it for many things - the outline format is great, even for some unexpected cases - Jira tickets, Slack, Reddit and HN threads, etc. But of course, hard to escape Markdown these days, so I burned some tokens to implement this https://github.com/agzam/prisma.el", "context": "", "use_case": "outlines, tickets, threads", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31: An unofficial guide to Markdown-ts-mode"}]}, {"label": "Code blocks", "summary": "Its code block handling and org-babel are praised for literate programming and evaluating code in documents.", "quotes": [{"id": 736306288, "item_id": 46019143, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46019143", "by": "amitav1", "date": "2025-11-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I find Org-mode a lot more expressive and natural to write than my previous blogs which were in Markdown.", "excerpt": "I use Org-mode w/ GNU Emacs for all of my blogging(shameless plug: amitav.net). I like Org-mode because it's easy enough to write, looks nice enough, can be exported in quite a few formats, and the code block handling is chef's kiss. It supports quite a few languages and has a feature I've seen in no other editor before, where you can chain together code from different code blocks, and evaluate it, inside of the docu", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging, exporting to HTML", "switched_from": "", "story": "Markdown is holding you back"}, {"id": 738941136, "item_id": 46183821, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183821", "by": "Jtsummers", "date": "2025-12-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "org-mode and org-babel are what I use", "excerpt": "Perhaps the most prominent example of literate programming missed by the author: https://www.pbrt.org/ Physically Based Rendering by Pharr, Jakob, and Humphreys. Responding directly to a couple things the author wrote: > When programming, it\u2019s not uncommon to write a function that\u2019s \u201cgood enough for now\u201d, and revise it later. This is impossible to adequately do in literate programming. It's not impossible in literate", "context": "", "use_case": "literate programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "What is \u201cliterate programming\u201d? (2024)"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Emacs lock-in", "summary": "Commenters say Org is fully usable only inside Emacs, and its tooling elsewhere is limited.", "quotes": [{"id": 753842352, "item_id": 47115147, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47115147", "by": "ordu", "date": "2026-02-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you can't write a parser for org-mode.", "excerpt": "So many good words, but they all miss the crucial point: you can't write a parser for org-mode. So elisp interpreted is needed to run the lisp code that defines it. It means that org-mode can be good while you are using it from emacs, and it sucks for anything else. I use markdown now, because you have a lot of tools to deal with markdown, while all tools for org-mode are bound to emacs. Which is perfectly fits the e", "context": "former long-time Emacs user", "use_case": "notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hello Worg, the Org-Mode Community"}, {"id": 799050530, "item_id": 49940658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49940658", "by": "thayne", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Would I say that org mode is strictly inferior to markdown? No. But I don't think it is strictly superior either.", "excerpt": "> The reason being that Orgmode is a far superior format [to markdown] I have to disagree with this. I will admit there are some things org mode does better than markdown, but there are also things it does worse. And probably the biggest is alluded to in the rest of that sentence: \"[the] only downside is that you have to be inside Emacs to fully enjoy.\" A while ago, I read a blog post about how orgmode was better tha", "context": "", "use_case": "writing and notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc"}, {"id": 745076865, "item_id": 46567304, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567304", "by": "jgoodhcg", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love org mode and used eMacs for years.", "excerpt": "I love org mode and used eMacs for years. I felt like I had to switch to neovim and thus markdown for lots of reasons. Overall neovim has been a better experience for me but I do miss org mode.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}]}, {"label": "Team use", "summary": "Commenters note it lacks collaborative features for use on a team.", "quotes": [{"id": 733328561, "item_id": 45833035, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45833035", "by": "positron26", "date": "2025-11-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Can I use it on a team?  Get real.", "excerpt": "Emacs took a wrong fork in its own metaphor. At length, being able to take code and libraries between production and the editor would be a game changer. While Elisp has design features that make sense, in the tradeoffs, I think it lost to every other lisp with a general purpose programming ecosystem. I have a hope for the Common Lisp based Lem. All we need is to coordinate enough signal for potential users to feel it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How I am deeply integrating Emacs"}, {"id": 739233968, "item_id": 46202123, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46202123", "by": "dotancohen", "date": "2025-12-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Almost as good as Emacs Org mode. I use Org mode with Evil, to get VIM keybindings.", "excerpt": "This looks great. Almost as good as Emacs Org mode. I use Org mode with Evil, to get VIM keybindings. This way I can quickly navigate and edit the document, not just append to the end of it. And of course, Emacs is completely local. I suppose there is supposed to be a collaborative element that Emacs won't provide. In my experience people in meetings already have workflows and are seldom interested in using the tool ", "context": "", "use_case": "meeting notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s"}]}, {"label": "Learning curve", "summary": "Commenters say its options and keybindings are hard to remember, and that ease of use depends on Emacs and Lisp familiarity.", "quotes": [{"id": 799060928, "item_id": 49941308, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49941308", "by": "misterdj1", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use org-mode (mainly for vocabulary-building in English and other languages)", "excerpt": "I use org-mode (mainly for vocabulary-building in English and other languages), but I steer clear of its complicated html-compiling functions, as I have a hard time remembering all the different options and keybindings. I also prefer Elixir to Gleam, but I still think this is a pretty neat setup!", "context": "", "use_case": "vocabulary building", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc"}, {"id": 799015490, "item_id": 49938468, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49938468", "by": "Telemakhos", "date": "2026-10-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "make emacs and org-mode as easy for him as WordPress is for you", "excerpt": "Someone who spends his day in emacs writing code and org-mode for work will have the muscle-memory and lisp knowledge to make emacs and org-mode as easy for him as WordPress is for you. I've been subscribed to a mailing list for many years, of which perhaps half I actively participated in the mailing list. Almost the entire time I used alpine, a terminal mail client, hosted on a remote server, getting its mail from a", "context": "", "use_case": "writing blog posts", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc"}]}, {"label": "HTML export", "summary": "One commenter says its HTML export made it impossible to get good diffs, though this may have been fixed since.", "quotes": [{"id": 790541488, "item_id": 49408843, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49408843", "by": "geokon", "date": "2026-08-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Orgmode also does this on HTML export. Makes it impossible to get good diffs", "excerpt": "Orgmode also does this on HTML export. Makes it impossible to get good diffs Granted they started doing this several years ago and as a result I moved to asciidoc, so it might have made a fix by now..", "context": "", "use_case": "HTML export", "switched_from": "", "story": "What's in a PowerPoint File?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "cyrialize", "context": "Emacs user for 10+ years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "date": "2026-10-28"}, {"by": "everybodyknows", "context": "writing a structured book with FOSS", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337990", "date": "2026-08-17"}, {"by": "iLemming", "context": "long-time Emacs user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48593532", "date": "2026-06-18"}, {"by": "minikomi", "context": "Emacs user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47939206", "date": "2026-04-28"}, {"by": "internet_points", "context": "Emacs user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47931829", "date": "2026-04-28"}, {"by": "kworks", "context": "hobbyist lifter in their 50s", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47325362", "date": "2026-03-10"}, {"by": "gverrilla", "context": "doesn't know elisp or Emacs keybindings", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47121046", "date": "2026-02-23"}, {"by": "adityaathalye", "context": "Org mode user for a decade+", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46563686", "date": "2026-01-09"}, {"by": "I_complete_me", "context": "not a developer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45785863", "date": "2025-11-01"}], "tags": ["for Emacs users", "for Zettelkasten", "for blogging", "for GTD", "for literate programming"], "use_cases": ["meeting notes", "daily log, habits, agenda", "notes and tasks", "vocabulary building", "writing and notes", "writing blog posts"], "compared": [{"slug": "emacs", "name": "Emacs", "co": 20, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "obsidian", "name": "Obsidian", "co": 5, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "magit", "name": "Magit", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "neovim", "name": "Neovim", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "beorg", "name": "Beorg", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "asciidoc", "name": "AsciiDoc", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46564116", "title": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text", "mentions": 8}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49932340", "title": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49464543", "title": "Emacs 31: An unofficial guide to Markdown-ts-mode", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48584135", "title": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47112925", "title": "Hello Worg, the Org-Mode Community", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46198430", "title": "Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s", "mentions": 2}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2, "warn": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 4}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 6}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 5, "warn": 1}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 4, "compare": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 3, "warn": 1, "neutral": 2}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 3, "compare": 1, "recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804385504, "item_id": 50274094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Org-mode just works best for me.", "excerpt": "About 10+ years ago I found a guide on Helm [0] and a guide on Org-mode [1] when I was just getting into Emacs. This helped me move on from using Spacemacs to making my own configuration. I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult), but I've stuck with Org-mode since then. I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc), but Org-mode just works best for ", "context": "Emacs user for 10+ years", "use_case": "daily log, habits, agenda", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 800499841, "item_id": 50031240, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50031240", "by": "xz18r", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've used Emacs and org-mode for about half a decade now and I find it inescapable.", "excerpt": "I've used Emacs and org-mode for about half a decade now and I find it inescapable. I hate that I love it, and love that I hate it. Things like Neorg (which looks unmaintained) gave me hope to find another plaintext ecosystem that handles tasks and notes very well, but I haven't found the perfect solution.", "context": "", "use_case": "notes and tasks", "switched_from": "", "story": "I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again"}, {"id": 799060928, "item_id": 49941308, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49941308", "by": "misterdj1", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use org-mode (mainly for vocabulary-building in English and other languages)", "excerpt": "I use org-mode (mainly for vocabulary-building in English and other languages), but I steer clear of its complicated html-compiling functions, as I have a hard time remembering all the different options and keybindings. I also prefer Elixir to Gleam, but I still think this is a pretty neat setup!", "context": "", "use_case": "vocabulary building", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc"}, {"id": 799050530, "item_id": 49940658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49940658", "by": "thayne", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Would I say that org mode is strictly inferior to markdown? No. But I don't think it is strictly superior either.", "excerpt": "> The reason being that Orgmode is a far superior format [to markdown] I have to disagree with this. I will admit there are some things org mode does better than markdown, but there are also things it does worse. And probably the biggest is alluded to in the rest of that sentence: \"[the] only downside is that you have to be inside Emacs to fully enjoy.\" A while ago, I read a blog post about how orgmode was better tha", "context": "", "use_case": "writing and notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc"}, {"id": 799015490, "item_id": 49938468, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49938468", "by": "Telemakhos", "date": "2026-10-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "make emacs and org-mode as easy for him as WordPress is for you", "excerpt": "Someone who spends his day in emacs writing code and org-mode for work will have the muscle-memory and lisp knowledge to make emacs and org-mode as easy for him as WordPress is for you. I've been subscribed to a mailing list for many years, of which perhaps half I actively participated in the mailing list. Almost the entire time I used alpine, a terminal mail client, hosted on a remote server, getting its mail from a", "context": "", "use_case": "writing blog posts", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blogging with Gleam, Org-Mode and Pandoc"}, {"id": 797163553, "item_id": 49822722, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49822722", "by": "surfcao", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Org mode everyday for note-taking and time management.", "excerpt": "I use Org mode everyday for note-taking and time management. I found no app available that fit my needs of workflow, so I built this Orger app with native iOS interface to access the org files. It can capture a task, quick note, task or web page, manage your time (clock-in/out or Pomodoro timer). It can also integrate the iOS Calendar and Reminder into one place. Hope it can fit to your workflow.", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking and time management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Powerful Org-Mode at Home on iOS"}, {"id": 792550210, "item_id": 49534388, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49534388", "by": "holgerschurig", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Organizer with Org-Mode.", "excerpt": "Fine, I do this since several decades. I use an editor-construction kit named \"Emacs\" to build my own Editor, and IDE, and git porcelain, and organizer, and wiki. And many things more. IDE with e.g. LSP integration, rustix and many other programmer-related modes and enhancements like tree-sitter. Git porcelain with magit. Organizer with Org-Mode. Wiki with denote.", "context": "", "use_case": "organizer", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fine, I'll build my own text editor"}, {"id": 791595553, "item_id": 49474722, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474722", "by": "kodoman", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I sort of fell out love with org mode", "excerpt": "The idea was minor a minor mode not to modify markdown mode it's self. You have a point on export from org mode to md or html or whatever but my issue with these has been that MD never rendered the way I wanted it to (simply as possible) and I probably did not try hard enough to play around with the rendering parameters. The thing I have found more and more is separate from the actual rendering format is wanting org ", "context": "", "use_case": "notes and structured text", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31: An unofficial guide to Markdown-ts-mode"}, {"id": 791593601, "item_id": 49474600, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474600", "by": "ggm", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Emacs org mode a lot", "excerpt": "Yes. I also believe this motivation but a counter argument was put to me by Mike Lesk in the mid 80s. Bell did serious experiments on library query systems and the casual helpful, verbose ones were only useful for a brief period in any library index users lifetime, they moved to the terse, harder to learn, efficient one as soon as they could. So, it's a universal feature of Emacs all things glue in like this but the ", "context": "", "use_case": "notes and tables", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31: An unofficial guide to Markdown-ts-mode"}, {"id": 791477024, "item_id": 49467314, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49467314", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Org-mode and use it for many things", "excerpt": "I love Org-mode and use it for many things - the outline format is great, even for some unexpected cases - Jira tickets, Slack, Reddit and HN threads, etc. But of course, hard to escape Markdown these days, so I burned some tokens to implement this https://github.com/agzam/prisma.el", "context": "", "use_case": "outlines, tickets, threads", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31: An unofficial guide to Markdown-ts-mode"}, {"id": 790541488, "item_id": 49408843, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49408843", "by": "geokon", "date": "2026-08-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Orgmode also does this on HTML export. Makes it impossible to get good diffs", "excerpt": "Orgmode also does this on HTML export. Makes it impossible to get good diffs Granted they started doing this several years ago and as a result I moved to asciidoc, so it might have made a fix by now..", "context": "", "use_case": "HTML export", "switched_from": "", "story": "What's in a PowerPoint File?"}, {"id": 789407840, "item_id": 49337990, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337990", "by": "everybodyknows", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ended up with Org-mode.", "excerpt": "I set out likewise to write a highly structured book with FOSS, therefore: git, some hierarchical plain text format, and a visually rich editor. Markdown could not seem to meet the third point. For instance, progress-related comments that would be stripped from final output were essential, but Markdown's HTML-style comments are intolerably unergonomic, and editors know how to de-emphasize no other syntax. Ended up wi", "context": "writing a structured book with FOSS", "use_case": "writing structured book", "switched_from": "Markdown", "story": "How I Over-Engineered My Book"}, {"id": 787619122, "item_id": 49226195, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49226195", "by": "dannymi", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "org mode is awesome.", "excerpt": "It really depends on what your character is. I like to start from the basics and build up. I would start from a completely vanilla emacs (on package emacs-pgtk--that is the graphical version), then enable Options > Cut/Paste with C-x/C-c/C-v CUA mode, then Options > Save Options. I like and use Emacs, but it is showing its age. The defaults are all bad--but the possible end result you CAN configure is pretty modern [", "context": "", "use_case": "notes and literate documents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: If you had to relearn Emacs today, how would you?"}, {"id": 784652114, "item_id": 49040757, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49040757", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-07-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "That's plausible and isn't too hard to imagine. The value of Emacs is not the concrete implementation of it - let's be honest, GNU Emacs is not void of enormously annoying warts. The value of Emacs is the nice foundational Lisp layer - something Lem does provide. One side of me wants to remain skeptical - knowing how much stuff there exists in Org-mode and Magit - piles and piles of different workflows thousands of u", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Is a Lispboard"}, {"id": 781730689, "item_id": 48858168, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48858168", "by": "mimo84", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Started because I wanted to try out org mode and stayed for the extreme flexibility it offers.", "excerpt": "I have been using emacs for the past couple of years. Started because I wanted to try out org mode and stayed for the extreme flexibility it offers.", "context": "", "use_case": "notes and organization", "switched_from": "", "story": "In Emacs, Everything Looks Like a Service"}, {"id": 777496513, "item_id": 48593532, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48593532", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "All my notes are in Org (Zettelkasten style).", "excerpt": "> \"Is anyone still using emacs?\" Nothing else is capable of handling the variety of text-related things I want from my text editor. - I consume HN and Reddit in Emacs. Allows me for example to quickly search through all the links shared in a thread. - I read Jira and Slack in Emacs - in org-mode. It is far better for finding relevant things, extract them for my notes, etc. - All my writing done in Emacs. Because I ha", "context": "long-time Emacs user", "use_case": "notes and spaced repetition", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 777399841, "item_id": 48587490, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48587490", "by": "SoftTalker", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That, org-mode, and magit is about all I use for coding and text editing.", "excerpt": "I'm glad to see that people are working on emacs, as I use it constantly. That said, I personally don't see myself really using any of the stuff highlighted in this article. I've never really been in to advanced auto-complete or tree-sitter type of functionality. Some tasteful syntax highlighting and indentation support is fine but that's about as far as I go. That, org-mode, and magit is about all I use for coding a", "context": "", "use_case": "notes and text", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 776729521, "item_id": 48545595, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48545595", "by": "opto", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "compare", "quote": "why would I use typst over org-mode or $your_fave_markdown + pandoc?", "excerpt": "As a non-developer who really only uses computers to write and produce documents, why would I use typst over org-mode or $your_fave_markdown + pandoc?", "context": "non-developer who writes and produces documents", "use_case": "writing documents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Typst 0.15.0"}, {"id": 775324561, "item_id": 48457785, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48457785", "by": "aquariusDue", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "that's where something like org-mode and Emacs inch ahead because it's FOSS", "excerpt": "Hi! Not the OP but I've used Obsidian since before 2020 till about 2022 when I switched to org-mode and Emacs. I like the new Obsidian features like the CLI a lot but I still feel Obsidian inherently is incredibly similar to org-mode and Emacs (guess that's why I was drawn to both) in the sense that both work with local data and file formats that usually can be opened in any text editor but both of them bolt so much ", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking", "switched_from": "Obsidian", "story": "Italy's Bending Spoons, Owner of AOL and Vimeo, Files for Nasdaq IPO"}, {"id": 774329264, "item_id": 48395579, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48395579", "by": "arikrahman", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Tiago Forte's method of organizing as needed within a loose org mode confederation of atomic notes.", "excerpt": "The main thing I use as a fallback is to keep thoughts connected in a Zettelkasten. This interacts well with AI assisted information gathering, while firing synapses whenever a connection can be made. I use Tiago Forte's method of organizing as needed within a loose org mode confederation of atomic notes.", "context": "", "use_case": "Zettelkasten note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Failing grades soar with AI usage, dwindling math skills in Berkeley CS classes"}, {"id": 767027297, "item_id": 47939206, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47939206", "by": "minikomi", "date": "2026-04-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use gptel and org mode when I was to be really hands on driving the development.", "excerpt": "Asolutely. It doesn't have to be an either-or. I use gptel and org mode when I was to be really hands on driving the development. It's a very different mode of interacting with models, and the way newer models are trained to play nice with harnesses makes them very obedient. https://poyo.co/note/20260202T150723/", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "driving development with LLMs", "switched_from": "", "story": "I have officially retired from Emacs"}, {"id": 766909265, "item_id": 47931829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47931829", "by": "internet_points", "date": "2026-04-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "gnus, org, wgrep/wdired, occur, consult all work together to improve each other.", "excerpt": "ooh so many to choose from ... but what makes them great is actually the integration between them, made possible by everything being a text buffer. gnus, org, wgrep/wdired, occur, consult all work together to improve each other.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "Emacs workflow", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What's your favorite Emacs package?"}, {"id": 757205793, "item_id": 47325362, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47325362", "by": "kworks", "date": "2026-03-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The tools I use are a scale, loseit, and org-mode.", "excerpt": "I initially came to the same conclusion. Though I lifted in accord with decent training principles regarding reps and sets, I didn't track for years. As I entered middle age, I started keeping a training log (just one big org file in emacs), mostly out of curiousity. As I entered my 50s, I experienced what Haruki Murakami references in \"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running\" --- Fat is easy to gain and hard to ", "context": "hobbyist lifter in their 50s", "use_case": "training log", "switched_from": "", "story": "I put my whole life into a single database"}, {"id": 753936736, "item_id": 47121046, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47121046", "by": "gverrilla", "date": "2026-02-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have vibe-coded a note/task management system using it that's by far the best one I've ever used.", "excerpt": "I don't know elisp, emacs keybindings, org-mode details, etc. But I have vibe-coded a note/task management system using it that's by far the best one I've ever used. It's very similar to Dynalist (but much more flexible). It has changed my life, honestly. Even though I use emacs/org pretty much adversarily, it works almost flawlessly. Also looks pretty good imo [0]. I can capture notes/tasks to my inbox: by selecting", "context": "doesn't know elisp or Emacs keybindings", "use_case": "note and task management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hello Worg, the Org-Mode Community"}, {"id": 753842352, "item_id": 47115147, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47115147", "by": "ordu", "date": "2026-02-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you can't write a parser for org-mode.", "excerpt": "So many good words, but they all miss the crucial point: you can't write a parser for org-mode. So elisp interpreted is needed to run the lisp code that defines it. It means that org-mode can be good while you are using it from emacs, and it sucks for anything else. I use markdown now, because you have a lot of tools to deal with markdown, while all tools for org-mode are bound to emacs. Which is perfectly fits the e", "context": "former long-time Emacs user", "use_case": "notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hello Worg, the Org-Mode Community"}, {"id": 753254528, "item_id": 47078408, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47078408", "by": "stephen_cagle", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use org-mode for pretty much everything, which has all of these features I think", "excerpt": "I think this is neat. I use org-mode for pretty much everything, which has all of these features I think, but sometimes there is nothing more motivating than a quick responsive UI to actually do something. This looks motivational. My only pushback is using sqlite. I am a big fan of just using simple (structured) text files that can be edited by hand when needed. Your computer is more than capable of doing all the joi", "context": "", "use_case": "general tracking and notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Micasa \u2013 track your house from the terminal"}, {"id": 752939520, "item_id": 47058720, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47058720", "by": "kkfx", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Emacs/org-mode to do the same and much more, without tying myself to specific third parties", "excerpt": "I use Emacs/org-mode to do the same and much more, without tying myself to specific third parties, but the point remains valid and largely ignored by most until recently: the heart of our information is plain text with potential binary attachments, and managing it as freely as possible, with search&narrow access and the ability to turn it into hypertext, to compute inside text etc is essential to \"unlocking\" or truly", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Use Obsidian"}, {"id": 752647344, "item_id": 47040459, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47040459", "by": "secstate", "date": "2026-02-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used org aggressively to track tasks and as a Roam alternative", "excerpt": "This is awesome. I knew about orgnice and orgzly ... this is different, so light weight, so easy to find things. I used org aggressively to track tasks and as a Roam alternative and this fits my use cases wonderfully. I'm adding some nice-to-have features and will open up a PR with some of them very shortly!", "context": "", "use_case": "task tracking and notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Simple org-mode web adapter"}, {"id": 750084384, "item_id": 46880274, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46880274", "by": "GregDavidson", "date": "2026-02-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "GTD in https://orgmode.org/", "excerpt": "GTD in https://orgmode.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "GTD task and note management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Do you also \"hoard\" notes/links but struggle to turn them into actions?"}, {"id": 747910832, "item_id": 46744427, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46744427", "by": "logicprog", "date": "2026-01-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use an org mode Zettelkasten (currently migrating to https://iwe.md for reasons) every day", "excerpt": "Oh I didn't realize Niklas Luhmann as the Zettelkasten guy! I use an org mode Zettelkasten (currently migrating to https://iwe.md for reasons) every day for my thoughts and ideas!", "context": "", "use_case": "Zettelkasten notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Design Thinking Books You Must Read"}, {"id": 745186464, "item_id": 46574154, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46574154", "by": "adityaathalye", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use LaTeX when orgmode is insufficient. And I can use LaTeX from within orgmode too.", "excerpt": "Sure... I use LaTeX when orgmode is insufficient. And I can use LaTeX from within orgmode too. Utility is Contextual. \u201cWhen you are hungry, eat; when you are thirsty, drink; when you are tired, sleep.\u201d - Wise UNIX Master Foo ---- http://catb.org/esr/writings/unix-koans/shell-tools.html Master Foo and the Shell Tools A Unix novice came to Master Foo and said: \u201cI am confused. Is it not the Unix way that every program s", "context": "", "use_case": "writing and markup", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745129888, "item_id": 46570618, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46570618", "by": "justinhj", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love writing blog posts with org mode.", "excerpt": "I love writing blog posts with org mode. I wrote a blog post about blog posting in org mode. https://justinhj.github.io/2020/03/09/how-to-blog-with-org-mode.html I wrote some code that exports html to a Jekyll static site, but really it works with anything that expects html.", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745114784, "item_id": 46569674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46569674", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Org Mode for organizing my life in plain text for the past 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I've been using Org Mode for organizing my life in plain text for the past 10 years now. Beorg on iOS [0] makes it great. I've also started using things like org-ql [1] and org-super-agenda [2] to make me even more productive. I also have a daily log org file I use at work. It helps me keep track of what I need to do and what I've done. It makes yearly reviews easier as well! [0]: https://www.beorgapp.com/ [1]: https", "context": "", "use_case": "organizing life in plain text", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745105248, "item_id": 46569078, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46569078", "by": "adityaathalye", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This has been a killer feature for me", "excerpt": "Opposite day! I moved from markdown (hugo) to org plaintext built and rendered using a hand-rolled pandoc + bash site maker. No Emacs needed. ~350 lines of Bash, and it hot-builds, and it hot-reloads :) https://github.com/adityaathalye/shite (README has GIF demos, and explains the design of the code) Also, I use literal HTML exports in my org files, like this: #+begin_export html <form class=\"footer cluster\" action=\"", "context": "", "use_case": "writing site content with HTML export blocks", "switched_from": "Hugo", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745090112, "item_id": 46568132, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568132", "by": "adityaathalye", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some people do want things to look just so, and for them, few tools come close to Emacs orgmode.", "excerpt": "> Perhaps Org Mode reskinned to look more like Markdown. or, reskinned to look visually whatever one wants... https://sophiebos.io/posts/beautifying-emacs-org-mode/ https://zzamboni.org/post/beautifying-org-mode-in-emacs/ I mention this, because I am not particular about which character symbolises what as long as it is consistent and documented. However, some people do want things to look just so, and for them, few t", "context": "", "use_case": "structured plain-text writing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745088848, "item_id": 46568053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568053", "by": "adityaathalye", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've used the following, in addition to the \"escape character\" method", "excerpt": "Yeah escaping can be annoying. I've used the following, in addition to the \"escape character\" method (which is officially documented as the other commenter noted): For in-line escaping, I use tilde-blocks ~ ~ ... as in ~~ . This type-sets in monospace (code format) in exports, which usually* is what one wants anyway, viz. to demarcate the symbol as being symbolised. For non-code text blocks, \"Literal Example\" https:/", "context": "", "use_case": "writing with escaped syntax", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745076865, "item_id": 46567304, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567304", "by": "jgoodhcg", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love org mode and used eMacs for years.", "excerpt": "I love org mode and used eMacs for years. I felt like I had to switch to neovim and thus markdown for lots of reasons. Overall neovim has been a better experience for me but I do miss org mode.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745066336, "item_id": 46566646, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46566646", "by": "skeledrew", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it.", "excerpt": "I discovered and started using org-mode (and, as a result, Emacs) when I migrated from Evernote in '16. Today I use it for all my project, task and knowledge management needs, with some files going over 15MB in size. And I'm still loving it. Started out with headers only, and every time I wanted something more, it was always just there for the taking. Easy to use, and also crazy powerful. Can't think of anything else", "context": "", "use_case": "project, task and knowledge management", "switched_from": "Evernote", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 745018976, "item_id": 46563686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46563686", "by": "adityaathalye", "date": "2026-01-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Also an orgmode user who uses it for all things longform", "excerpt": "Same team! Also an orgmode user who uses it for all things longform... A decade+ and counting. Only recently do I see need to start adopting TODOs because work and life tasks are threatening to go beyond the capacity of my normie calendar and paper lists coping mechanisms. Orgmode text is fairly well supported now, across a plethora of non-Emacs apps and editors. I've enumerated several in my post [0]. Quoting onesel", "context": "Org mode user for a decade+", "use_case": "longform writing", "switched_from": "", "story": "How Markdown Took over the World"}, {"id": 739313600, "item_id": 46207100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46207100", "by": "globular-toast", "date": "2025-12-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Emacs org-mode is like this but 100x more powerful and it's just plain text and self-hosted.", "excerpt": "Emacs org-mode is like this but 100x more powerful and it's just plain text and self-hosted. But I agree with the other commenter about taking handwritten notes. I use pencil and paper and type them up into org-mode afterwards.", "context": "", "use_case": "meeting notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s"}, {"id": 739110336, "item_id": 46194396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46194396", "by": "escanda", "date": "2025-12-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Plus org-mode agenda is just superior and awesome.", "excerpt": "I guess this sometime replace org-mode extensively. The idea is sound. The implementation looks good. For instance, I love org-mode export capabilities to standard formats such as pdfs and other kinds of documents. It makes it real easy to export some formulae or docs for some feature. Plus org-mode agenda is just superior and awesome.", "context": "", "use_case": "notes, export, agenda", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Programming Language"}, {"id": 736306288, "item_id": 46019143, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46019143", "by": "amitav1", "date": "2025-11-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I find Org-mode a lot more expressive and natural to write than my previous blogs which were in Markdown.", "excerpt": "I use Org-mode w/ GNU Emacs for all of my blogging(shameless plug: amitav.net). I like Org-mode because it's easy enough to write, looks nice enough, can be exported in quite a few formats, and the code block handling is chef's kiss. It supports quite a few languages and has a feature I've seen in no other editor before, where you can chain together code from different code blocks, and evaluate it, inside of the docu", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging, exporting to HTML", "switched_from": "", "story": "Markdown is holding you back"}, {"id": 733328561, "item_id": 45833035, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45833035", "by": "positron26", "date": "2025-11-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Can I use it on a team?  Get real.", "excerpt": "Emacs took a wrong fork in its own metaphor. At length, being able to take code and libraries between production and the editor would be a game changer. While Elisp has design features that make sense, in the tradeoffs, I think it lost to every other lisp with a general purpose programming ecosystem. I have a hope for the Common Lisp based Lem. All we need is to coordinate enough signal for potential users to feel it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How I am deeply integrating Emacs"}]}