The idea here was to have a highly portable way to take down any sort of text data and make it available at your fingertips at the terminal. Thus what I call "quick notes" was born. Add to that a desire to encrypt the data before saving it and you get "secure quick notes": sqnotes.

Sqnotes uses gpg to encrypt and decrypt using your gpg key pair.

Right now, this script is only designed to work on Linux as yours truly uses Ubuntu. But it is a Python script, and all the component parts have variants available on Windows. Making this script work on Windows is a future goal.

This script is aimed at Linux, but with some minor adjustments it can probably be made to work on Windows too. Be sure to look at the dependencies, including especially python3, vim and gpg.

Before running the script, ensure you have Python 3.x installed on your system.

This script requires the following dependencies:

• gpg (GNU Privacy Guard) for encryption
• vim for text editing (optional, can be replaced with another editor)
• Other Python modules as listed in requirements.txt

1. Install Python 3.x: If not already installed, download and install Python 3.x from python.org.

2. Install gpg and vim:

• On Debian-based systems (Ubuntu):

  sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gnupg vim

• On macOS using Homebrew:

  brew install gnupg vim

3. Make executable:

   • Make the script executable. (For example, on Linux use the command chmox +x sqnotes.py.)

   • Place this script somewhere in your PATH. On Linux, you might put it in /usr/local/bin.

   • Optionally, you can program a bash alias to be able to conveniently access this script without needing to explicitly call python or type the .py ending. On Linux, also if you want to drop the .py ending you can simply rename the file (not sure if Windows can handle that).

4. Set up a gpg key pair: For encryption, you will have to configure this script to use an existing gpg key pair. It will ask for the email address of your key. It will not help you set that up. Check any reference for your system on how to set up the key pair.

5. (Optional) Install git: Consult any reference on how to install git on your device. Git is useful for keeping track of your notes across several devices or among various users.

Run SQNotes with the -h command to see the help page. Note that manual pages are included in the app.