Templates

AS Notes Pro lets you create reusable note templates as markdown files. Insert them anywhere via the /Template slash command.

AS Notes Pro

Templates are a Pro feature. To unlock them:

  1. Obtain a licence key from asnotes.io
  2. Enter your key using one of these methods:
    • Run AS Notes: Enter Licence Key from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
    • Or open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,), search for as-notes.licenceKey, and paste your key there

When active, the status bar shows AS Notes (Pro).

Template Folder

Templates are stored in a dedicated folder within your AS Notes workspace. The default folder is templates/ and can be changed in Settings via as-notes.templateFolder.

A default Journal.md template is created automatically when you initialise a workspace. This template is used for new daily journal entries (see Daily Journal).

Creating a Template

Add any .md file to your templates folder. The filename (without extension) becomes the template name shown in the picker.

Subdirectories are supported. Templates in subfolders appear as folder/name in the picker, so you can organise templates by category:

templates/
  Journal.md
  Meeting Notes.md
  project/
    Sprint Review.md
    Retrospective.md

Inserting a Template

  1. Type / in any markdown file to open the slash command menu
  2. Select Template
  3. Pick a template from the list

The template content is inserted at the cursor position with all placeholders replaced.

See Slash Commands for the full list of available commands.

Placeholders

Templates support placeholders that are replaced with dynamic values when the template is inserted.

Placeholder Description Example output
Current date (YYYY-MM-DD) 2026-03-18
{{time}} Current time (HH:mm:ss) 14:30:45
{{datetime}} Full date and time (YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss) 2026-03-18 14:30:45
{{filename}} Current file name without extension My Page
{{title}} Alias for {{filename}} My Page
{{cursor}} Position where the cursor is placed after insertion (cursor lands here)
Custom date format Any combination of YYYY, MM, DD, HH, mm, ss tokens {{DD/MM/YYYY}} becomes 18/03/2026

Escaping Placeholders

To output a literal placeholder without replacement, prefix it with a backslash:

\

This inserts the text as-is, without substituting the current date.

Custom Date Formats

Any placeholder containing date/time tokens (YYYY, MM, DD, HH, mm, ss) is treated as a custom date format. For example:

Placeholder Output
{{DD/MM/YYYY}} 18/03/2026
{{YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm}} 2026-03-18 14:30
{{MM-DD}} 03-18

Example Template

A meeting notes template (templates/Meeting Notes.md):

# Meeting: 

**Attendees:**

-

## Agenda

{{cursor}}

## Actions

- [ ]

When inserted, is replaced with the current date and the cursor is placed at the {{cursor}} position.

Journal Template

The file Journal.md in the templates folder is used as the template for new daily journal entries created with Ctrl+Alt+J (Cmd+Alt+J on macOS). Edit it to customise future journal pages.

All placeholders listed above are supported in the journal template. See Daily Journal for more on the daily journal workflow.