Facet is a modern Windows personal information manager built on a simple idea: capture information naturally, then organise it through flexible categories, facets and views.
For people who think in projects, people, topics, dates, priorities and connections — and want a flexible local workspace for notes, tasks, references and ideas, without forcing everything into a rigid folder tree.
Facet flips that. You type the thought; the structure can wait.
Type it and press Enter. Facet reads the date phrase (next Tuesday), files the item with a due date, and runs your rules — so the right tags get attached automatically.
The same item can appear in a calendar view, under Fred Smith's tag group, in a matrix of projects × stakeholders, and in your overdue list — all without copying or re-filing it. Each view is just a different angle on the one underlying database.
When you've finished a flurry of capture, the structure is something you build around what you've already written — not a hurdle in front of it.
One database file. Many ways to look at it.
Heading, optional due date, repeat pattern, Markdown notes, file attachments. Treat any item as a note (not a task) with one tick.
Build hierarchies like People > Fred or Projects > Pricing. One item can carry as many as you like — pick or drop them on the fly.
Flat lists, due-date buckets, category groups, matrices, calendars, value-grouped views. Each window is just a saved query.
Auto-tagging rules fire on add and edit. Named automations create items, open views, prompt for input, loop and branch — on schedule or on demand.
Hit Ctrl+Alt+N from any application — a small box appears, you type a line, it lands in the open database. Facet doesn't need focus.
tomorrow morning, a week on Friday, the first Monday in June, 23 December, 2026-06-01 — the parser handles them all. Bare weekdays always resolve forwards.
Open as many view windows as you need — calendar, matrix, category-grouped, value-bucketed — and edit anywhere. The underlying item updates everywhere it appears.
Write conditions in plain controls — match on text, dates, categories, custom values — and chain actions. The same engine powers both auto-tagging rules and full automations.
Long-form notes per item with live preview. Drag files from Explorer onto an item to attach them — your documents stay where they live; Facet just points at them.
A single db.json file you can back up, sync, version
or move. No cloud account, no telemetry, no subscription.
Notes, tasks and ideas land in one place the moment they occur to you — globally, from any application.
Use facets and views to slice the same data by project, person, topic, date or priority. No rigid folder tree.
One item can sit under many tags at once, surfacing in every view that asks for it — relationships that folders would have hidden.
Run installed or as a portable app. Your data is a single file on your own machine. No account, no cloud, no telemetry.
A tool for people who want more than notes — and less noise.
Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit. It's a native WPF desktop application. At the time of writing, there is no Linux or MacOS version, but I'm reviewing the situation!
Both. Install it the usual way, or run it as a portable application from a USB stick or any folder. The portable application is the same binary, with the same functionality, and accesses the same database file. This is useful if you move between machines or prefer not to install software at all.
In a single json file on your own machine, in a location you choose. Back it up, put it in a synced folder, or version it however you like. Facet doesn't phone home and there is no cloud component. You can have as many databases as you need.
Facet draws on the same ideas — free-form capture, tags rather than folders, multiple views over one body of data, rules that file things for you — and brings them into a modern Windows interface. There's a fuller write-up for Agenda, Ecco and Zoot users. Facet is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Lotus or IBM
Updates within the current major version are included. If Facet doesn't suit you, drop me a line within 30 days and I'll refund the purchase.
Sign up for occasional Facet news — new releases, features and the odd tip when there's something worth sharing. No spam, no filler, and you can unsubscribe any time.