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Get started with Fable

Fable is a fast, local-first knowledge base for linked Markdown notes, fully compatible with Obsidian vaults. This page gets you from download to writing in a few minutes.

How these docs are organized

The sidebar covers everything from your first vault to graph, canvas and CSS customization. A few pages marked Soon describe features still on the roadmap and are not published yet.

1. Install

Download for Windows, or run the web app.

2. Open a vault

Point Fable at a folder, new or existing.

3. Get oriented

Ribbon, sidebars, palette, and switcher.

Install Fable

Fable ships for Windows as a guided installer or a portable zip, with a browser web app on the way. It is free, needs no account, and works fully offline.

  • Head to the downloads page and choose the installer or portable build.
  • The installer sets up Start menu shortcuts. The portable zip runs from any folder, including a USB drive.
  • Prefer no install? The web app opens a demo vault, or a local folder where your browser supports it.

Open your vault

A vault is just a folder of Markdown files. Fable never moves your notes into a database. It reads and writes the same plain files you already have.

  • Existing Obsidian vault: choose the folder you already use. Wikilinks, backlinks, tags, properties, callouts, and .canvas files all work, and your .obsidian config is respected.
  • New vault: pick an empty folder and start writing. Fable creates only what it needs.
Create your first link

In any note, type [[ and start typing a note name. Fable autocompletes existing notes and creates a new one if there is no match.

Find your way around

The window has a familiar shape: a ribbon on the far left, collapsible side panels, tabs across the top, and the editor in the middle.

  • Command palette: press Ctrl P to run any action by name.
  • Quick switcher: press Ctrl O to jump to a note by fuzzy search.
  • Search: full-text search with operators lives in the left sidebar.
  • Graph: open the graph view to see how your notes connect.

Where to go next

The guides in the sidebar go deep on every part of Fable. Good next stops, depending on what you want to do first: