whatisgithub

What is sidenote?

bharadwaj-pendyala/sidenote — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

3JavaScriptAudience · writerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

In one sentence

A browser tool for commenting on your rendered markdown site like Google Docs, with an AI agent turning comments into git diffs.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((sidenote))
    What it does
      Comment on rendered pages
      AI resolves to git diff
      Ask without editing
    Tech stack
      Node.js
      remark plugin
      Claude or Codex
    Use cases
      Blog content review
      Docs editing
      Inline diff accept reject
    Audience
      Blog and docs authors

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Comment directly on your rendered blog or docs site and have an AI agent turn the request into a git diff.

USE CASE 2

Ask an AI agent a question about a passage without making any file changes.

USE CASE 3

Review and accept or reject AI-proposed edits inline in the browser instead of switching to a terminal.

What is it built with?

JavaScriptNode.jsremarkClaudeCodex

How does it compare?

bharadwaj-pendyala/sidenoteabhagsain/bayut-maps-ratingsabhishek-kumar09/who-is-imposter
Stars333
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed2021-04-12
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity2/52/53/5
Audiencewritergeneralgeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Requires Node.js 18+, the claude or codex CLI on your PATH, and a site that renders markdown through remark.

MIT licensed, free to use for any purpose including commercial use, as long as the copyright notice is kept.

So what is it?

sidenote lets you review your own markdown-based website the way you would review a document in Google Docs or Word, but with an AI coding agent doing the actual editing for you. Instead of switching back and forth between a browser tab showing your rendered page and a terminal window where you talk to an AI assistant, sidenote brings both into the same place. You look at your live site, select a passage of text you want changed, and leave a comment right there, and a local AI agent, either Claude or Codex, handles the rest. Once you leave a comment, it appears pinned in a sidebar next to your page. From there you have two options. You can ask a question about that passage, and the agent will answer directly in the comment thread without touching any files at all. Or you can resolve the comment into an actual change, in which case the agent edits the underlying markdown source and shows you a real git diff right there in the browser, which you can then accept or reject. If a passage's source text has changed since you left the comment, sidenote refuses to apply an outdated patch rather than risk editing the wrong thing. Importantly, sidenote describes itself as not an editor. You are only annotating your intent, and the markdown files remain the single source of truth, the AI agent is the one making changes, always as a reviewable diff rather than a silent edit. Setting it up requires Node.js 18 or newer, either the Claude or Codex command line tool installed and available on your system, and a site that renders its markdown through a tool called remark, such as a typical Next.js-powered blog. It is aimed at people who write and maintain content-heavy sites, like blog authors and documentation writers, who already use AI coding tools and want a faster way to request edits without leaving their browser.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Help me install sidenote and wire it up to my Next.js markdown blog using npx sidenote-cli init.
Prompt 2
Explain how sidenote's drift guard prevents patching a passage that has already changed.
Prompt 3
Show me the difference between using Ask versus Resolve on a sidenote comment.
Prompt 4
Walk me through configuring sidenote to use Claude for resolving comments into edits.

Frequently asked questions

What is sidenote?

A browser tool for commenting on your rendered markdown site like Google Docs, with an AI agent turning comments into git diffs.

What language is sidenote written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, Node.js, remark.

What license does sidenote use?

MIT licensed, free to use for any purpose including commercial use, as long as the copyright notice is kept.

How hard is sidenote to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is sidenote for?

Mainly writer.

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