What is it?

TreeTag is a personal data manager. It stores information in a hierarchy (the "Tree" part of the name). But unlike other tree-based applications, TreeTag automatically positions items in the tree based on field values (the "Tag" part of the name).

The data items are generally configured to contain several fields. Different types of fields are available, including text, numbers, dates, times and predefined choices. The output format of each field can be defined for group headings, for data item titles and for data item output.

The user configures the base portion of the tree, defining rules that will group the data items into desired categories. The same items can appear in multiple locations, with sections of the tree structure using different fields for grouping or sorting. For example, data items can be arranged by a date field in one section, by a name field sorted alphabetically in another, and by a category field in another. This allows the differently organized portions of the tree to act much like predefined searches.

A source code repository is available at GitHub.

News

April 23, 2025 - Release 0.8.1 (stable)

New Features:

• On CSV imports, auto-detect semicolon and tab delimiters.
• Support Windows-1252 character encoding for CSV imports.
• Add a back key to unselect items on the file list.
• On desktop platforms, support use of shift+click for chain selection on the file list.

Updates:

• Update the versions of several libraries used to build TreeTag.
• Update the list of dependencies on the Linux install script.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a Linux error occurring when XDG is not installed.

November 24, 2024 - Release 0.8.0 (stable)

New Features:

• Added a field configuration option that allows multiple entries for a single field. Nodes with multiple entries can show under multiple categories.
• In a group rule, the default child sort fields now exclude the fields used in upstream rules.
• Changed from a back button to separate accept & reject buttons on several views.
• Added commands to the file list view for refreshing the list and for clearing selections.

Updates:

• Tweaked the theme colors to make cards and tiles more visible.
• Made several code cleanup changes.
• Updated the movies sample to include multiple field entries.
• The Android build was updated to work with Android 15.
• Updated the versions of several libraries used to build TreeTag.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a problem with the search and replace function that could cause a loss of data.
• Fixed exporting special field types to TreeLine files.

Notes:

• Changes to support multiple field entries broke backward compatibility. This version can open files from older versions, but older versions can not open files saved in this version.

July 24, 2024 - Release 0.7.3 (stable)

New Features:

• Added a setting to hide the windows title bar on desktop platforms. This is useful for improving the appearance under Linux/Wayland.

Updates:

• Made many minor code cleanup changes.
• Updated several versions of library code used for building TreeTag.
• Updated to use the latest target API (level 34) for Android.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed problems with permissions for the copy to folder command under Android.
• Display search results properly formatted when using Markdown formatting. Matches are also properly highlighted.

November 30, 2023 - Release 0.7.2 (stable)

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed theme color visibility problems under the new Material 3 default settings.

November 26, 2023 - Release 0.7.1 (stable)

Updates:

• A file path given in the command line will be opened at startup.
• The maximum width of several views has been reduced to improve the appearance.
• The minimum size of the desktop window has been adjusted.
• A warning was added to the Linux installer if the /usr/local/bin directory used for the startup symlink is not in the PATH variable.

Bug Fixes:

• The Linux installer explicitly sets permissions for the installation directory rather than relying on the system mask settings.

August 27, 2023 - Release 0.7.0 (stable)

New Features:

• Created a new script for Linux installation. It uses the native packaging system to install dependencies, builds TreeTag and installs it. This replaces the TreeTag snap package, which is no longer supported.
• On desktop systems, a new interface can easily add local file links in Markdown text fields. Clicking on a link opens the default application for that file type. A setting controls whether new links use full or relative paths.

Updates:

• The Android version of TreeTag is now available in the Google Play store.
• Changed the file list to use a case-insensitive sort order.
• Improved the built-in help interface by splitting pages and adding navigation controls.
• Added tooltips to most of the icon buttons.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed indenting of multi-line fields when exporting indented text.
• Fixed the appearance of the application bar when using a dark theme with Markdown text fields.

May 26, 2023 - Release 0.6.0 (stable)

New Features:

• An option was added to select between light and dark visual themes.
• Added a view scale setting that is useful for high-dpi displays.
• Added a command to export the TreeTag tree to an indented text file.
• Before saving a file, TreeTag checks for external modifications from other sessions or over a network. The user has options to load or overwrite the file.

Updates:

• If a leaf node moves due to field edits, its new parent is automatically opened to make the new position visible.
• The code was updated to use the Dart version 3.0 library.

Bug Fixes:

• Switched to a forked version of a Markdown library to make select and copy commands work properly in Markdown detail output.

March 31, 2023 - Release 0.5.0 (stable)

New Features:

• Improved searching by adding options to search by phrase, keywords or regular expressions.
• Added highlighting of matched words to the search results.
• Implemented a replace function for use on search results. On regular expression searches, matched groups can be substituted back into the replacement string.
• Added an option on desktop platforms to restore the previously used window size and position at startup.

Updates:

• When a new field is configured, ask the user whether it should be automatically added as an output line.
• Trim leading and trailing spaces from new file names entered for new, copy and rename operations.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed spell checking of words in angle brackets.

February 21, 2023 - Release 0.4.0 (beta)

New Features:

• Added a spell checker that shows misspelled English words with a red underline by default. Currently, making spelling suggestions is not supported on desktop platforms.
• Added functions to import and output node data as CSV files.
• A new command merges node data from a second TreeTag file. This is useful to add data from a CSV imported file without affecting the configuration.
• A new setting automatically removes undo operations stored in TreeTag files that are older than a set number of days.

Updates:

• TreeTag is now available as a snap on Linux platforms. This should eliminate previous issues with some library dependencies.
• Placed the filename earlier in the window header text to avoid truncating it on narrow screens.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug that could revert changes in data editors when they were scrolled far out of view.
• Fixed problems using the data editor reset command with auto choice fields.
• Fixed issues with file extensions for other file types when copying or renaming files.

January 14, 2023 - Release 0.3.0 (beta)

New Features:

• Added optional display of formatted text using Markdown text tags.
• Added support for storing and retrieving files from a Kinto network server.

October 29, 2022 - Release 0.2.0 (beta)

New Features:

• Added a search function.
• Added commands to edit or delete multiple child nodes simultaneously.
• Added the ability to select and copy text from the detail view.

July 30, 2022 - Release 0.1.0 (beta)

New Features:

• Ported TreeTag to Linux and Windows desktops.
• Added a two-pane view on wide screens.
• Added sample files.

Bug Fixes:

• Many bug fixes.

May 9, 2022 - Release 0.0.3 (beta)

New Features:

• Added import and export to/from TreeLine files.

April 23, 2022 - Release 0.0.2 (beta)

Updates:

• Updated build parameters to work with older Android devices.

April 19, 2022 - Release 0.0.1 (beta)

New Features:

• Initial release.