The Ichi philosophy
A calmer way to work with your words.
The thinking behind Ichi, a calm, local-first Markdown reader and editor for Windows.
These principles guide what belongs in Ichi, and what does not.
Reading is not a secondary mode
Most tools treat rendered text as a preview of the real work. Ichi treats reading as a first-class view. Read mode gives the typeset document the whole canvas, and a single keystroke moves you to editing and back. The document you are shaping is the document you actually read.
Your files should remain ordinary files
Ichi opens the folders you already have and saves plain Markdown back to them. There is no import step, no proprietary library and no lock-in. If you stop using Ichi tomorrow, your work is exactly where you left it, in a format any other tool can open.
One focused workspace beats a wall of panels
A screen full of sidebars, minimaps and status widgets is not the same as capable software. Ichi keeps a project tree, your document and a focused formatting bar, and little else competing for attention. The deeper controls stay a keystroke away instead of filling the screen.
Context should stay visible without becoming clutter
You should always know where you are without a dashboard telling you. The project stays a keystroke away, quick movement is one command, and brief in-context messages surface saves and conflicts. Ichi keeps context close, then gets out of the way.
Calm software is not simplistic software
Restraint is not the same as being underpowered. Ichi supports the Markdown that real projects depend on: front matter, tables, task lists, fenced code, local images and carefully sanitised structural HTML. Calm is a design goal, not a missing feature list.
Privacy can come from architecture, not promises
A dependable way to protect your work is not to collect it in the first place. The Ichi desktop app has no account, analytics or telemetry, and your documents, settings and version history stay on your device. That protection comes from how Ichi is built, not from a promise layered on afterwards.
Markdown matters because it outlives the tool
Formats decide how long work survives. By staying with plain Markdown, Ichi makes sure your writing is not hostage to any single application, including this one. Tools should come and go around your files, not the other way around.
Subtraction is a product decision
Saying no is the harder half of building software. Every panel not added and every setting not required is a choice made on your behalf, so the interface stays quiet and the defaults stay useful. Ichi ships opinions, then keeps them out of your way.
Software should respect the work, not compete with it
The point was never the editor. It was the reading and the writing. Ichi tries to be a good room for that work: quiet, well lit and easy to leave. Take a breath. Start typing.