# What is Foam? Foam is a personal knowledge management system built on [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) and [GitHub](https://github.com/). It helps you organize research, create discoverable notes, and publish your knowledge. ## Key Features - **Wikilinks** - Connect thoughts with `[[double bracket]]` syntax - **Embeds** - Include content from other notes with `![[note]]` syntax - **Backlinks** - Automatically discover connections between notes - **Graph visualization** - See your knowledge network visually - **Daily notes** - Capture timestamped thoughts - **Templates** - Standardize note creation - **Tags** - Organize and filter content ## Why Choose Foam? - **Free and open source** - No subscriptions or vendor lock-in - **Own your data** - Notes stored as standard Markdown files - **VS Code integration** - Leverage powerful editing and extensions - **Git-based** - Version control and collaboration built-in Foam is like a bathtub: _What you get out of it depends on what you put into it._

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## Table of Contents - [What is Foam?](#what-is-foam) - [Key Features](#key-features) - [Why Choose Foam?](#why-choose-foam) - [Table of Contents](#table-of-contents) - [How do I use Foam?](#how-do-i-use-foam) - [What's in a Foam?](#whats-in-a-foam) - [Getting started](#getting-started) - [Features](#features) - [Contributing](#contributing) - [Thanks and attribution](#thanks-and-attribution) - [License](#license) ## How do I use Foam? Foam helps you create relationships between thoughts and information through: 1. **Atomic notes** - Write focused markdown documents on single topics 2. **Wikilinks** - Connect ideas with `[[double bracket]]` syntax 3. **Backlinks** - Discover unexpected connections between notes 4. **Graph visualization** - See your knowledge network visually Success with Foam depends on consistent note-taking and linking habits. ## What's in a Foam? Foam combines existing tools: 1. **VS Code** - Enhanced with [[recommended-extensions]] optimized for knowledge management 2. **GitHub** - Version control, backup, and collaboration 3. **Static site generators** - Publish to GitHub Pages, Netlify, or Vercel > This documentation was created using Foam. ## Getting started **Requirements:** GitHub account and Visual Studio Code 1. **Create repository** - Use the [foam-template](https://github.com/foambubble/foam-template) to generate a new repository Use this template 2. **Clone and open** - Clone locally and open the folder in VS Code 3. **Install extensions** - Click "Install all" when prompted for recommended extensions 4. **Configure** - Edit `.vscode/settings.json` for your preferences **Next steps:** - Explore the [[recipes]] for usage patterns - Check [[frequently-asked-questions]] if you need help - Report issues on [GitHub](http://github.com/foambubble/foam/issues) ## Features Foam leverages VS Code and [[recommended-extensions]] to provide: - **Wikilinks** with autocomplete and navigation - **Backlinks** panel showing connections - **Graph visualization** of your knowledge network - **Daily notes** with templates and snippets - **Tag system** for organization - **Publishing** to static sites ![Short video of Foam in use](assets/images/foam-navigation-demo.gif) Explore [[recipes]] for usage patterns and workflows. ## Contributing Foam is an evolving project and we welcome contributions: - Read our [[principles]] to understand Foam's philosophy - Follow the [[contribution-guide]] to get involved - Share feedback via [GitHub issues](https://github.com/foambubble/foam/issues) ## Thanks and attribution
Jani EvΓ€kallio
Jani EvΓ€kallio

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Joe Previte

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Riccardo

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Janne Ojanaho

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Paul Shen

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coffenbacher

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Mathieu Dutour

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Michael Hansen

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David Nadlinger

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Fernando

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Juan Gonzalez

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Louie Christie

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Sandro

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Simon Knott

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Steven

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Tim

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Saurav Khdoolia

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Ankit Tiwari

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Ayush Baweja

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TaiChi-IO

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Juan F Gonzalez

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Sanket Dasgupta

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Nicholas Stafie

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Francis Hamel

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digiguru

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CHIRAG SINGHAL

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Jonathan Carter

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Julian Elve

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Thomas Koppelaar

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Akshay

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John Lindquist

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Ashwin Ramaswami

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Claudio Canales

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vitaly-pevgonen

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Dmitry Shemetov

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hooncp

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Martin Laws

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Sean K Smith

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Kevin Neely

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Arief Rahmansyah

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Vishesh Handa

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Hitesh Kumar

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Spencer Woo

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JosΓ© Duarte

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Yenly

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hikerpig

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Sigfried Gold

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Danil Rodin

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Scott Williams

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John B Nelson

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Asif Mehedi

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Tan Li

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Shauna Gordon

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Mike Cluck

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Brandon Pugh

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Max Davitt

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Brian Anglin

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elswork

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lΓ©on h

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Nikhil Nygaard

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Mark Dixon

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Joel James

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Hashiguchi Ryo

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Michael Overmeyer

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Derrick Qin

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Omar LΓ³pez

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Robin King

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Daniel VG

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Engincan VESKE

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Paul de Raaij

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Scott Bronson

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Rafael Riedel

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Pearcekieser

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Owen Young

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Prashanth Subrahmanyam

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Jonas SPRENGER

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Paul

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Ikko Ashimine

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memeplex

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AndreiD049

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Yan

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Jim Tittsler

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Malcolm Mielle

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Veesar

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bentongxyz

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Brian DeVries

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Clifford Fajardo

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Chris Usick

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Joe DeCock

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Drew Tyler

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Lauviah0622

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Josh Dover

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Phil Helm

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Larry Li

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Joe Taber

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Woosuk Park

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Daniel Murphy

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Dominic D

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luca

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Lloyd Jackman

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sn3akiwhizper

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jonathan berger

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Daniel Wang

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Liu YongLiang

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Scott Akerman

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Jim Graham

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Zhizhen He

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Tony Cheneau

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Nicholas Latham

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Tomochika Hara

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Daniel Carosone

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Miguel Angel Bruni Montero

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Kevin Walsh

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Xinglan Liu

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Thomas Hegghammer

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Piotr MrzygΕ‚osz

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Mark Schaver

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Nathan Layman

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Emmanuel Ferdman

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Tenormis

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David Jones

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S. Jacob Powell

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Davi Figueiredo

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CT Hall

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meestahp
meestahp

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Foam was inspired by [Roam Research](https://roamresearch.com/) and [Zettelkasten methodology](https://zettelkasten.de/posts/overview). Foam builds on [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/), [GitHub](https://github.com/), and our [[recommended-extensions]]. ## License Foam is licensed under the [MIT license](LICENSE.txt). [recommended-extensions]: user/getting-started/recommended-extensions.md 'Recommended Extensions' [recipes]: user/recipes/recipes.md 'Recipes' [frequently-asked-questions]: user/frequently-asked-questions.md 'Frequently Asked Questions' [principles]: principles.md 'Principles' [contribution-guide]: dev/contribution-guide.md 'Contribution Guide'