Features

NullPad is packed with advanced features designed to streamline your note-taking and technical documentation workflow. This guide provides a detailed look at how these features work and how you can customize them for your specific needs.

Section Management

Think of Sections as organized workspaces or browser tabs for different engagements, topics, or workflows.

Workflow Organization

Group related notes into isolated sections to keep your focus sharp. Each section maintains its own independent history, allowing for isolated experimentation across different tasks without affecting the rest of your workspace.

Workspace Reordering

Reorganize your workspace by clicking and holding a section, dragging it nexus first, then moving it horizontally to snap it into a new position. Double-click any section name to edit it instantly.

The Navigator

Accessible via the Nav button, this central hub provides a bird's-eye view of your entire workspace hierarchy. It allows for high-level organization and rapid data retrieval.

• Deep Search: Search through titles, content, or both using the toggle buttons in the search input.

  • Pro Tip: Custom Flags

    Since search is literal, you can create your own tagging system by adding flags like #Vuln, #Task, or @FollowUp anywhere in your note content to find them instantly later.

• Contextual Previews: When searching by content, a 2-line snippet of the matching text appears below the title to provide instant context.
• Hashtag Analytics & Counter:
  • Hashtag Counter: When searching for a hashtag (e.g. #tag), a real-time badge appears next to the search input displaying the total number of times that hashtag repeats across all notes in the workspace.
  • Analytics Panel: Click the chart icon to open the Hashtag Analytics slide-out panel, displaying interactive horizontal bar charts representing the ranking of most frequent hashtags. Clicking any hashtag in the list automatically filters your notes by that tag.
• Note Management:
  • Rename: Click a note's title to edit it directly.
  • Move: Drag and drop notes between different sections to reorganize your workflow.
  • Delete: Remove notes instantly using the trash icon.
• Section Management:
  • Rename: Click a section title to rename the entire tab.
  • Reorder: Drag section groups to change their order in the workspace.
  • Delete: Remove entire sections (and all contained notes) with a single click.

Configuration

The behavior and layout of the Navigator can be customized in Settings > Behavior.

Navigator Settings

• Navigator Grid Layout: Adjust how many columns are displayed in the Navigator view.
• Show Subsections: Toggle whether subsection titles are indexed in the list.

Workspace Navigation

The workspace is a dynamic 2D canvas that provides infinite room for your ideas.

Panning & Navigation

Hold the Left Mouse Button on any empty area of the background to "grab" and move the entire workspace. For a more fluid experience, hold Alt while dragging the Left Mouse Button to pan from anywhere, even when your cursor is positioned over a note or a button.

You can also use Alt + Mouse Wheel Scroll to zoom in and out of the canvas, making it easier to navigate large workloads. Use Alt + Left Click to reset the zoom to 1:1 and center the view at the clicked location (or center a note if clicking on one).

Alt Key Conflict (Linux/Unix users)

If your operating system uses the Alt key to move or drag windows (common in several Linux window managers), the canvas zoom feature may be interrupted. To resolve this, follow these steps:

1. Open your Window Manager Tweaks (or Desktop Environment accessibility settings).
2. Go to Accessibility.
3. Set "Key used to grab and move windows" to None.

Auto-Expansion Logic

When you drag a note or resize it towards the boundaries, NullPad dynamically creates more space to prevent you from being trapped by the initial section size. When notes are released, the section automatically shrinks to fit the notes' footprint, eliminating wasted space.

Configuration

You can fine-tune how the workspace expands and how navigation behaves in Settings > Behavior.

Navigation Settings

• Section Expansion: Define the amount of pixel space added whenever the section grows.
• Expansion Trigger: Set the "Auto Scroll Zone" distance from the viewport edges that triggers the automatic expansion behavior.
• Minimap Enabled: Toggle the visual navigator (Mini-Map) at the bottom-right corner for quick orientation.

The Mini-Map

Located at the bottom-right corner, the Mini-Map provides a scaled-down representation of your entire section. It highlights the current viewport position and the location of all notes, representing them as dots.

• Fast Navigation: Click anywhere on the Mini-Map to instantly center the canvas on that location.
• Orientation: It dynamically resizes based on the bounding box of all your notes, ensuring you never lose track of isolated information in large sections.
• Customization: If you prefer a cleaner interface, the Mini-Map can be completely disabled in Settings > Behavior.

Workspace Anchor (Smart Positioning)

Set a primary "home base" in each section to navigate large workspaces instantly.

• Interaction: A draggable target icon represents your home base. Position it anywhere to define your primary origin point.
• HUD Indicator: A floating display at the bottom-left tracks your distance from the anchor, acting as a navigation compass.
• Return Home: Press Alt + W or click the HUD button to instantly return to your anchor.
• Smart Dragging: While dragging the anchor, the Mini-Map becomes fully visible, showing a real-time preview of the area that will be framed. This allows for pixel-perfect positioning without trial and error.

Configuration

You can customize the anchor's positioning logic in Settings > Behavior.

Anchor Settings

• Session Anchor: Toggle the visibility of the anchor element and the navigation HUD.
• Anchor Mode: Choose between two specialized behaviors:
  • Smart Framing (Default): Automatically detects and frames the group of notes nearest to the anchor, aligning them to the top-left of the viewport.
  • Classic Center: Reverts to a standard fixed alignment where the viewport is centered precisely on the anchor's position.

Workspace Synchronization

The application enables real-time synchronization between multiple open windows. Using event storage, changes made in one window are instantly reflected across all other active NullPad sessions for the same user.

Nexus & Chronos (Multi-Pane Workspace)

The Nexus system transforms NullPad from a standard 2D canvas into a powerful multi-pane documentation engine. It allows you to view your chronological history alongside multiple long-form free-text pages in a resizable, side-by-side layout.

Opening the Workspace

Click the Nexus icon in the main toolbar to toggle the split-pane view. By default, it opens the Chronos — a centralized, bird's-eye view of your entire engagement's timeline.

Chronos

The Chronos is a high-level chronological aggregator. It scans every note in your current section and extracts all Chronology Blocks, presenting them in a unified, searchable timeline.

• Unified Timeline: See exactly when every piece of information was added or updated across all notes in the section.
• Search by Date: Use the search box to filter the timeline by day, month, year, or even a specific time (e.g., typing Today, 01/05/2026 06:15, 01/05 or /05/).
• Toggle Sorting: Switch between Most Recent First (default) and Oldest First using the sort button in the header.
• Interactive Snippets: Click any item in the Chronos to expand it and see the full original content.
• Click-to-Copy: Hover over any entry and click the clipboard icon to instantly copy the precise ISO timestamp for your reports.

Free-Text Pages

Beyond standard canvas notes, Nexus allows you to maintain independent, long-form pages. These pages are ideal for structured reports, findings summaries, or detailed technical procedures.

• Markdown Support: Nexus free-text pages support a subset of Markdown for technical structure:
  • # Heading 1, ## Heading 2, ### Heading 3 for titles.
  • ``` (Triple Backticks) for immediate Code Blocks.
• Code Blocks: Specialized containers for technical data, code snippets, or logs.
  • Auto-Conversion: Typing three backticks (```) instantly transforms the line into a code block.
  • Selection Wraps: Select any text and use the "Code Block" button in the toolbar to wrap it in a block container.
• Formatting Toolbar: A compact formatting toolbar appears when editing a free-text page. It supports converting lines to H1, H2, H3 headers, and includes a Normal Text button to quickly clear header formatting and revert blocks back to standard paragraphs.
• Full Editing: Enjoy the same powerful list-making, checkbox, and toggle block capabilities as standard notes, but in a focused, document-like interface.
• Chronology Integration: Track the evolution of your documentation directly within free-text pages. You can use the Manual Mode (Alt + T) to create timestamped blocks and audit trails exactly like in standard notes.
• Global Page Search: A real-time search input under the PAGES section in the Nexus sidebar filters both folders and documents in real time.
  • Dynamic Scopes: Searches against folder names, document titles, and purified text content of documents.
  • Context Awareness: Folders containing matching documents are automatically kept visible and temporarily expanded during searches.
  • Blade-Style Expansion: When the sidebar is collapsed, the search bar is represented by a compact icon button. Clicking it expands the sidebar and focus-selects the search input instantly.

Multi-Pane Orchestration

The true power of Nexus lies in its flexible layout engine, allowing you to build the exact dashboard you need for your engagement.

• Side-by-Side Editing: Open multiple pages simultaneously. You can have the Chronos on the left for reference while drafting your report on the right.
• Drag-and-Drop Organization:
  • Open from Navigator: Drag any document from the Navigator and drop it into the Nexus zone.
  • Positioning: Drop a page on the left or right edge of an existing pane to split the view. A blue indicator will show you exactly where the new pane will snap.
• Independent Resizing: Hover between panes to find the resizer handle. Each pane can be independently adjusted to maximize your screen real estate.
• Persistent Layout: NullPad automatically remembers which pages you had open, the sidebar collapse state (NEXUS_IS_SIDEBAR_COLLAPSED), and the Nexus panel width. Changes dynamically trigger a settings auto-save and synchronize with cloud configuration.
• PDF Export: Export your free-text pages as professional PDF documents.
  • Printer Friendly: The export uses a specialized white-themed layout for printing efficiency while preserving the dark aesthetic for code blocks.
  • Zero-Server: PDF generation is performed entirely in your browser to maintain your privacy.
  • Interaction: Click the PDF icon in the header of any Nexus document to trigger the export.

Navigation Tip

The Chronos will always remain open as your "home base" if it is the only pane active. To close it, you must have at least one other free-text page open. You can also quickly toggle the entire Nexus sidebar using the Alt + V shortcut.

Nexus Objectives

The Objectives system allows you to define, track, and link project goals directly within your current section. Like notes and timelines, objectives are section-scoped, meaning each tab maintains its own independent set of goals and associated note links. This provides a bridge between high-level task management and the raw information in your notes without cluttering other engagement phases.

• Goal Tracking & Ordering: Create objectives with deadlines. Use the built-in date stepper to quickly adjust timelines, click the Sort by Deadline button to organize active goals, or reorder goals manually via Drag and Drop when no filters or deadline sorting are active. Drag objectives to the In Progress section at the top to track your current focus separate from active goals, where active flag filters organize matching goals first without hiding non-matching ones. The sorting preference is saved per-section and remains active permanently until toggled off.
• Quick Objective: You can create a new objective directly from any note's header. This automatically links the note to the new goal, allowing you to turn ideas into actionable tasks instantly.
• One-to-Many Linking:
  • One Objective, Multiple Notes: A single objective can be supported by several notes within the same section.
  • One Note, One Objective: To maintain logical clarity, each note can only be linked to one primary objective at a time. Linking a note to a new objective will automatically remove it from the previous one.
• Visual Status: Each objective features a progress checkbox. Completed goals are visually dimmed to keep your focus on active objectives.
• Note Linking (Targeting Mode):
  • Click the Target icon on an objective to enter Targeting Mode.
  • Smart Navigation: The workspace will automatically zoom out (60%) and center on your Anchor, providing a perfect overview to locate relevant notes.
  • Interactive Linking: Simply click any note on the canvas to link or unlink it from the active objective.
  • Quick Exit: Press Esc or click the target icon again to exit Targeting Mode.
• Two-Way Interaction:
  • From Nexus to Canvas: Each objective lists its linked notes. Click "Go to note" to instantly center the canvas on that specific note.
  • From Canvas to Nexus: Notes linked to objectives show a special indicator in the bottom-right corner when hovered or active. Click it to open the Nexus and highlight the corresponding objective.
• Sidebar Editing: Expand any linked note in the sidebar to edit its Title or Content in real-time. Changes are instantly synchronized with the canvas note.
• Integrated Flag Management: Click the flag icon next to the sort button in the Objectives header to toggle the flag configuration panel. You can create, edit, color, import, or export section-scoped category flags, automatically synchronizing changes with the Flow Visualization board.
• Dynamic Minimap: When the Nexus is open, the Mini-Map automatically slides to the left to remain visible. If you expand the Nexus to cover most of the screen, the Mini-Map will gracefully hide to preserve space.

Nexus Flow Visualization

The Flow Visualization system provides an interactive, visual flowchart of your milestones and objectives. This helps you track progress, define dependencies, and visualize chronological patterns across your engagement phases.

Activating Flow Mode & Layout Integration

To enter the Flow view, click the Flow button inside the Nexus side pane header. You can customize how the Flow board integrates with your workspace by using the mode selector in the header:

• Canvas Mode: Toggles the central workspace, replacing the 2D notes canvas with the interactive Flow Visualization board.
• Nexus Mode (Embedded): Embeds the Flow Visualization directly inside the Nexus editor sidebar pane, keeping the 2D notes canvas completely visible and editable on the main screen.

Your preference is saved to your local workspace settings and persisted across sessions.

Organization Modes

• Achievement Path: A chronological path showing milestones sequentially based on the order in which they were completed.
• Lifecycle Trace: Traces the entire duration of milestones and objectives from their start date to their completion date, highlighting overlaps and parallel tracks.
• Swimlanes: Groups milestones into dedicated swimlanes based on their assigned parent category flags.

Chronological vs. Manual Ordering

By default, milestones in the Flow view are organized chronologically, respecting the dates set on their corresponding cards. However, you can drag and drop cards to manually adjust their sequential order. When you manually reposition cards, the custom layout order takes precedence. Users should be aware that this can result in dates appearing out of chronological order on the visualization path.

Workspace Interactions

• Card & Swimlane Drag-and-Drop:
  • Reordering Swimlanes: Drag and drop category headers or swimlanes to reorder the layout sequence.
  • Reordering Cards: Drag and drop milestone cards to manually adjust their sequential order.
  • Cross-Category Assignment: In Swimlanes mode, dragging a card from one swimlane and dropping it into another dynamically updates the card's flags to match the new parent category or subcategory, streamlining task classification.
• Intelligent Flag Grouping: Milestones tagged with multiple flags are intelligently grouped into the parent flag representing the latest phase in the sequence (e.g. prioritizing "Initial Access" over "Recon").
• Milestone Insertion: Insert new manual milestones inline by clicking the '+' button on the connection paths between cards. When a card is the last or only card in a sequence, a '+' button automatically appears in front of it (following a short dashed line) to allow convenient continuation of the path.
• Dynamic Category Color Propagation: In the Swimlanes mode, connection lines, milestone tags (obj or ms), and insertion buttons (+) dynamically inherit the color code of their parent category, facilitating visual segmentation.

Flow Analytics

The Flow Analytics engine provides chronological and categorical breakdown analysis of your milestones and objectives. You can launch it by clicking the Analytics icon in the Flow header.

• Phase Breakdown: Displays a visual breakdown of active milestones per lifecycle phase and category flags, tracking how tasks are distributed across your workflow.
• Statistical Overview: Summarizes completed objectives, active milestones, and category counts to measure project progression in real-time.

Document Integration (/flow Command)

You can embed your dynamic Flow visualizations directly into Nexus free-text documents to enrich your reports:

• Insertion: Type /flow in any Nexus free-text page to open the inline picker and select the flow to embed. You can choose from 8 layout configurations directly in the popup, including Achievement Path, Lifecycle Trace, or one of the 6 permutations of Categorized Swimlanes.
• In-Place Editing: Select an embedded flow snapshot to display a configuration gear button in its resizer toolbar. Clicking this button opens the layout mode selector to let you change layout configurations in place.
• Alignment & Sizing: Once inserted, select the flow snapshot to resize it dynamically using handles, or align it (Left, Center, Right) using the floating image toolbar.
• Undo / Redo Support: All operations on embedded flows (insertion, resizing, alignment, drag-to-reorder, and deletion) are fully integrated into the browser's native history stack, allowing seamless Undo (Ctrl + Z) and Redo (Ctrl + Y) operations.

Topology Canvas

The Topology Canvas is an interactive, visual diagramming engine designed to map network infrastructures, data flows, threat models, or execution paths. It is fully integrated with your workspace notes and sections.

Diagram Lifecycle & List View

The Topology Canvas supports maintaining multiple diagrams per workspace:

• Diagram List: When you open the Topology workspace, you are greeted with a list of all your created diagrams, allowing you to create new ones or open existing ones.
• Automatic State Reset: Closing the Topology pane (by clicking X) or switching to another Nexus tab resets the active diagram state. When you re-open the Topology pane, it starts fresh at the list view rather than forcing you back into the last active diagram.
• Data Persistence: Diagram configurations and states are automatically saved to your workspace storage.

Node Management & Customization

Nodes are the building blocks of your topology diagrams.

• Node Creation: Press Alt + Q inside the topology workspace to instantly spawn a new node.
• Predefined Shapes: Choose between three structural shapes to represent different assets or concepts:
  • Card (Rectangle): Ideal for hosts, servers, or general notes.
  • Circle: Great for routers, gateways, or key events.
  • Octagon: Perfect for decision points, firewalls, or endpoints.
• Representing Notes: Double-click any node to link it directly to a workspace note.
  • Linked nodes display a dedicated note icon indicating their relationship.
  • Double-clicking a linked note (or double-clicking a note representation on an expanded node) instantly opens and centers the corresponding note in the canvas. If the Topology Canvas is in Overlay Mode, it automatically closes to show the note. If it is in Embedded Mode (inside Nexus), the sidebar remains open.
• Labels & Tags: Tag nodes with multiple custom-colored labels to indicate severity, status, or asset class. Labels are displayed dynamically inside the node or via an elegant tooltip.

Notes Sidebar (Drag-and-Drop Creation)

An interactive side drawer lists all the available notes in your current section, allowing for seamless note-to-node mapping.

• Filter by Section: Use the section pill buttons at the top of the sidebar to filter the list and show notes belonging to other workspace sections.
• Drag-to-Create: Drag any note from the sidebar and drop it directly onto the topology canvas to instantly create a node pre-linked to that note.
• Multi-Select Dragging: Click multiple notes in the sidebar list to select them (highlighted with a colored border). Dragging any of the selected notes drags all of them together. Upon dropping them onto the canvas, they are created as individual nodes automatically arranged in a horizontal line with a 220px spacing.
• Interactive Mapping: You can also select a note to link from a dropdown when configuring any standard node on the canvas.
• Real-Time Synchronization: Any changes made to note titles (whether typed manually or generated programmatically via the auto-title engine) are propagated instantly to the sidebar note list and all corresponding nodes in the active topology diagram.

Connections (Directional Edges)

Link nodes together to illustrate communication paths or data flow.

• Drawing Connections: Hover over a node to reveal connection handles on all four sides. Click and drag from any handle to another node to establish a directional line.
• Curved Routing & Detours: Lines are drawn as smooth Bezier curves. If a line would cross under or over a node, the routing engine automatically calculates a detour, curving the path around the node to preserve diagram readability.
• Directional Indicators: Edges show direction using built-in arrowheads to represent the flow of information.
• Edge Label Unification: Redundant edge labels (sharing the same label and starting/ending at the same handle) can be unified into a single visual label by hovering over the line and clicking "Unify". The unified label automatically synchronizes any title edits across all member connections, and hovering over it reveals a "Separate" button to undo the grouping.
• Shared Segment Label Positioning: Unified labels are automatically positioned on the shared straight-line segment (exactly 16px from the T-junction where the lines merge). The label is mathematically centered on the line's axis, keeping it clear of arrowheads or node handles.
• Link Nodes in Series: Select two or more nodes on the canvas and press Alt + S (or use the button in the floating selection toolbar) to connect them in series. The system automatically sorts the selected nodes based on their positions (from left-to-right for horizontal layouts, and from top-to-bottom for vertically aligned nodes within a 20px threshold) and links them sequentially.

Node Grouping (Clusters)

Organize complex networks by grouping nodes into defined zones.

• Cluster Creation: Select two or more nodes (using Ctrl + Click or box-selection) and press Alt + E to group them into a cluster.
• Visual Boundaries: Clusters are represented by colored, labeled bounding boxes that automatically resize to contain all their member nodes.
• In-Place Title Editing: Double-click a cluster's header to edit its name directly using in-place text input. Press Enter or click outside to save the new title, or press Escape to cancel and revert changes.
• Linking Notes to Clusters: You can link one or more workspace notes directly to a cluster (rather than to individual nodes). Linked notes are displayed as distinct glassmorphic badges inside the cluster body and can be removed instantly using their quick-unlink button.
• Color & Style Propagation: Nodes positioned inside the boundaries of a cluster automatically inherit the cluster's accent colors (background, borders, shadows, and hover transitions) to maintain a cohesive visual identity.
• Cross-Cluster Connections: Nodes grouped inside different clusters can be connected directly to map complex cross-zone communications.

Smart Layouts (Tidy Up)

Keep your diagrams clean and structured without manual micro-management.

• Tidy Up: Press Alt + W to trigger the layout algorithm. It automatically detects node chains and aligns them horizontally or vertically with consistent spacing.
• Node Pinning (Locking):
  • To prevent a node from being automatically rearranged by the Tidy Up engine, click the Pushpin icon in its corner.
  • Visual Indicator: Pinned nodes display a filled green (or cluster-colored) pin icon.
  • Layout Anchors: Pinned nodes remain locked in their manual coordinates during Tidy Up, serving as fixed alignment anchors that the remaining free nodes align to.

Smart Guides & Magnetic Snapping

To improve alignment precision when designing diagrams, the topology canvas implements a smart alignment engine:

• Magnetic Snapping: When dragging any node or cluster, it automatically snaps to the borders or centerlines of neighboring elements (both nodes and clusters) within a 6px threshold, dynamically adjusted for the current zoom scale.
• Dynamic Smart Guides: SVG alignment guides are rendered on the canvas showing which edges or centers are currently aligned.
• Floating Distance Badges: Elegant floating labels display the exact pixel distance between aligned components. These badges float above the canvas selection outlines to remain completely readable at any zoom level.

Interaction & Selection

• Multi-Select: Hold Ctrl and click individual nodes, or hold Ctrl and drag a selection box over the background to select multiple nodes.
• Harmonic Multi-Selection Drag: Dragging any element within a multi-selection moves all selected nodes and clusters concurrently as a single cohesive unit, maintaining their relative offsets. Sub-clusters and their contained nodes are automatically moved together, preserving the canvas selection state throughout the motion.
• Floating Selection Toolbar: When two or more nodes are selected, a floating actions toolbar appears at the top center of the selection. It provides quick buttons to Create Cluster (Alt+E) or Link Nodes in Series (Alt+S).
• Canvas Navigation: Pan and zoom inside the topology view using the same smooth navigation controls as the main NullPad workspace.

Layout Integration Modes

Similar to the Flow system, the Topology Canvas supports two layout integration modes:

• Overlay Mode: Replaces the central 2D notes canvas workspace with the interactive Topology Canvas.
• Embedded Mode: Embeds the Topology Canvas workspace directly inside the Nexus editor sidebar tab, allowing you to diagram alongside your canvas notes.

Topology Analytics

The Topology Analytics engine provides deep structural insights and metrics about your network topology and communication paths. You can launch it by clicking the Analytics icon in the Topology sidebar.

• Scope Selection: Analyze a single active diagram or select multiple diagrams concurrently to calculate aggregate statistics (total diagrams, nodes, edges, clusters).
• Include Hashtags: Toggle the option to "Include hashtags from linked notes". When enabled, the analytics engine automatically parses both the title and the HTML content of all notes linked to nodes/clusters, extracts hashtags (e.g. #firewall, #vulnerability), and aggregates them alongside node labels.

Analytical Charts & Metrics

• Label Frequency Chart: Renders a dynamic, clean SVG horizontal bar chart visualizing the top 8 most frequent node labels and hashtags in the selected scope.
• Cluster Correlation: Generates distributions representing label occurrences per defined cluster, displaying absolute occurrences and percentages to visualize asset/threat densities within security zones.
• Label Co-occurrence Selector: An interactive query card showing nodes that share multiple selected labels/hashtags. It displays match counts and allows you to highlight the matching nodes directly on the canvas.
• Connection Path Correlation: Computes and displays the top 5 most common directional path patterns (e.g., Source Label ➔ [Edge Label] ➔ Target Label) and allows highlighting these paths on the active diagram.

Document Integration & Inline Charts

You can embed your interactive Topology charts directly into Nexus free-text pages to enhance your reporting:

• Copying Embeds: Click the Copy Embed button on any frequency or correlation chart in the Analytics panel. This copies an embed code like [topology-chart:<scope>:<type>] (where type is label-freq or cluster-dist) to your clipboard.
• Rendering & Interaction: Paste this tag into any Nexus free-text document. NullPad dynamically resolves and renders it as an interactive, styled chart. You can align these inline charts (Left, Center, Right) or resize them using standard layout handles.

Flag Management & Collision Prevention

A unified and robust flag management system is shared across both the Nexus Objectives and Flow modules (available in the main Flow settings pane, sidebar panel, and floating setting panel):

• Unique Name Generation: When adding a new flag, the system automatically assigns a unique placeholder name (e.g., New Flag, New Flag 2, etc.) to prevent immediate naming collisions.
• Case-Insensitive Duplicate Prevention: Renaming any flag performs a strict, case-insensitive check against all existing flags in the section. If a duplicate name is entered or if the field is left empty, the change is rejected, the input is reverted, and an error notification is shown to the user.
• Auto-Deduplication during Import: When importing flags from JSON, the import pipeline parses and sanitizes the labels, and automatically appends incremental counters to any duplicate names detected in the file to guarantee a conflict-free set of flags.

Note Interaction & Layout

Full control over how your documentation is organized visually on the canvas.

Multi-Select & Dragging

Use Ctrl + Click or simply hold Ctrl and drag your mouse over to select and move multiple notes at once. The primary note acts as an anchor for alignment guides and snapping, making it easy to reposition entire clusters of information while maintaining their relative layout.

To quickly move a single note without having to click specifically on the header, hold Alt and drag with the Right Mouse Button from any part of the note (including the text content). This overrides standard text editing to prioritize movement.

Note Clusters (Visual Grouping)

In addition to dynamic subsections, you can manually group notes together into Clusters to organize complex data visually on the canvas.

• Cluster Creation: Select two or more notes (using Ctrl + Click or box-selection) and press Alt + C to group them into a cluster.
• Visual Boundaries: Clusters create a distinct, dashed boundary around your notes with an editable title.
• Smart Reflow: Creating a cluster automatically pushes unselected overlapping notes out of the way, ensuring a clean grouping without manual repositioning.
• Cluster Movement: Dragging a cluster automatically moves all its member notes together as a single unit, maintaining their relative positions.

Collapse & Flow Logic

Click the arrow in the note header to toggle its height. Notes directly below will be automatically pulled up or pushed down to maintain the layout.

NullPad implements a specialized layout engine known as Unity of Organization. This system ensures that your notes behave as a cohesive group rather than isolated elements. It understands the spatial relationship between your notes and applies movement recursively.

The Cluster Chain Reaction

Unlike standard layout engines that only look at direct collisions, the Unity of Organization triggers a recursive cluster reaction:

1. The Anchor Note: The note you are directly toggling acts as the Anchor. It only triggers movement for notes directly within its vertical path. Any notes spatially to the side of the Anchor (like the Lateral Note in the diagram) remain Isolated.
2. Recursive Propagation: Once a note is triggered into movement (like Secondary Note 1), it becomes part of a Moving Cluster.
3. Omnidirectional Flow: For every note in a Moving Cluster, the Unity of Organization applies to all surrounding notes (below, left, or right) that fall within its proximity range.
4. Group Integrity: This ensures that entire structures—even those with complex horizontal and vertical arrangements—stay together as a single logical unit. Notice how the entire cluster of notes moves together because they are nexus or horizontally linked to the moving chain.

Visualizing Unity of Organization

The diagram below illustrates how a Note Collapse in the Anchor Note triggers a cascading pull throughout the cluster. Notice how the Lateral Note remains isolated due to being outside the Anchor's vertical path, while the entire cluster of green notes moves upward as a single unit to fill the space.

Configuration

The logical distance that defines which notes belong to a Unity of Organization can be adjusted in Settings > Behavior.

Note Interaction Settings

• Toggle Proximity: Adjust the range at which notes are considered "linked." Increasing this value makes the layout engine more sensitive, grouping notes that are further apart into the same organizational unit.
• Collapse Auto-Flow (Org): Enable or disable the automatic movement of surrounding notes when collapsing/expanding. Disabling this allows for purely local note resizing without affecting the rest of the workspace.

Auto-fitting

If you drop a note into a tight spot, NullPad will attempt to resize it to fit the gap. This triggers only if the note content is short (≤ 80 characters) and the available area is at least 40% of the original size, ensuring that high-density data like IPs or IDs can be neatly tucked into the layout without manual adjustment.

Focus Note

If a note is partially off-screen, click it to bring it into full view. This is essential for quickly centering your focus on specific data points during high-pressure engagements.

Configuration

The focus behavior can be adjusted in Settings > Behavior.

Focus Settings

• Focus Scroll Offset: Customize the vertical safety margin used when centering a note that has been focused.

Alignment & Spacing

While dragging, vertical and horizontal lines appear to help align the note with others. Notes will "snap" to positions that maintain consistent spacing.

Configuration

Global spacing between notes is managed in Settings > Behavior.

Spacing Settings

• Note Margin: Define the global external margin for all notes to ensure consistent breathing room between your content blocks.

::: important Organization Link Integrity To ensure that the Unity of Organization logic works correctly, the Note Margin is logically restricted and cannot exceed the Toggle Proximity value. This prevents the visual gap from becoming larger than the distance the layout engine uses to identify connected notes. :::

Logical Segmentation (Subsections)

Subsections allow you to create structured logical boundaries within your workspace, perfect for separating different phases of a penetration test, organizing infrastructure components, or grouping related data blocks visually without needing multiple sections.

Dynamic Generation

Subsections are not created manually from a menu. Instead, they are "discovered" by the application based on your note layout:

• The Corridor: When you position notes near each other, NullPad detects a "corridor" of free space. A preview line will appear, suggesting a logical division.
• The Boundary: The length and position of a subsection are determined by the "boundaries" of surrounding notes or other existing subsections. Proximity logic ensures that lines snap perfectly to the edges of your content.
• Intersection: You can overlap vertical and horizontal lines. The system intelligently handles intersections, allowing you to create grids or complex organizational matrixes.

Configuration

The Subsection system is highly customizable and can be adjusted or disabled in Settings > Behavior.

Subsection Settings

• Suggestions Enabled: Toggle the entire dynamic discovery system. When disabled, existing subsections remain, but no new corridors will be detected.
• Horizontal/Vertical Lines: Choose which axes should trigger auto-discovery. Perfect for users who only want to cross-section their workspace in one direction.
• Min Suggestion Length: Adjust the sensitivity of the discovery algorithm. Higher values prevent shorter lines from appearing, reducing visual noise in high-density areas.

Interaction & Manipulation

Once created, subsections become permanent parts of your workspace unless deleted:

• Drag & Position: Click and hold the drag handle (the circle grid icon) to move the line. It will snap to other corridors as you move it.
• Resizing: Use the handles at both ends of the line to adjust its length manually.
• Expansion Arrows: Click the arrows at either end to automatically grow the line to the next available boundary (the edge of a note or another subsection).
• Multi-Selection & Group Dragging: Hold Ctrl and click subsections and notes to group-select them, or hold Ctrl and drag a selection box over the empty canvas background to select multiple notes at once. Once selected, dragging any element in the group will move all selected notes and subsections concurrently in any direction. Snapping is automatically bypassed during group drags to prevent layout stuttering. Pressing Delete will remove all selected notes and subsections from the canvas and data model.

Navigator Integration

To facilitate navigation in massive 2D workspaces, subsections with custom titles are indexed in the Navigator.

• Jump to Subsection: Click on a subsection in the Navigator to instantly center your view on it.
• Auto-Discovery Toggle: If your workspace becomes too dense, you can choose to hide subsections from the Navigator list via Settings > Behavior > Show Subsections.

Style & Preferences

You can customize the visual signature of every subsection via its context menu:

• Styles: Choose between Solid or Dashed lines.
• Title Placement: Position the title Over the line (acting as a mask), to the Side, or hide it completely.
• Title Orientation: Rotate the title to be Horizontal or Vertical to match your layout's aesthetic.
• Global Persistence: Unlike note content, style preferences for subsections (colors, thickness, opacity) are stored as Global Behavior Settings. This means your preferred styling is persisted immediately across sessions via the settings auto-save system.

Selection Privacy

Subsection titles are fully editable. To ensure you can quickly copy or edit data, the drag controls are automatically hidden when your mouse is over the title, prioritizing text selection and content modification.

Automatic Title Generation

NullPad can automatically generate titles for your notes based on the first lines of content, ensuring your workspace stays organized without interrupting your flow.

Logic & Prioritization

The app monitors your typing and automatically extracts the most relevant words based on these prioritization rules:

• First Line: If the first line is short and clear, it is prioritized as the primary source.
• Tech Keywords: Specialized terms (e.g., CVE, API, IP, SQLi) act as anchors and are more likely to appear in the title.
• Capitalization: Words starting with Uppercase letters are given higher priority by the algorithm.
• Common Words: "Stop words" (like the, a, of, in) are ignored to keep titles concise.

Performance Tip

Knowing that capitalized words are prioritized, you can intentionally capitalize specific terms you want to see in the title to optimize your workflow.

Configuration

The title generation algorithm can be fully customized or disabled in Settings > Behavior.

Title Generation Settings

• Enabled/Disabled: Toggle the entire automatic generation system on or off.
• Word Limit: Set the maximum number of words allowed in the generated title.
• Generation Delay: Control how frequently the algorithm runs while you are typing to prevent excessive processing.

Text Formatting & Blocks

NullPad supports powerful markdown-inspired formatting for technical clarity.

Visual Customization

Apply one of four predefined colors to individual notes (Shortcuts: Ctrl + 1 to 4) or use a custom color-picker color (Ctrl + '). This allows for color-coding engagements based on severity or topic.

Interactive Blocks

NullPad recognizes several markdown patterns instantly:

• Lists: Type * for bullets or 1. for numbered lists.
• Checkboxes: Type < to create interactive to-do items.
• Toggle Blocks: Type > to make content collapsible.
• Horizontal Lines: Type --- followed by Enter to create a titled separator.

Toolbar Conversions

Select any text and use the toolbar buttons to format entire blocks line-by-line, converting raw text into lists or checklists instantly.

Advanced Technical Tools

Technical tools built by and for security researchers.

Environment Variables

Set global key/value pairs (e.g., TARGET_IP=192.168.1.1) via the Vars icon. Use these variables in your templates to maintain consistent documentation and facilitate rapid command templating.

Variable Injection

When hovering over code blocks, a floating icon will appear. Clicking it copies content with all matching environment variables automatically evaluated and injected.

Easy Copy Mod

Toggle with Alt + C or the toolbar icon. Once enabled, selecting blocks turns them into fully clickable elements that instantly copy their content to your clipboard, perfect for moving data quickly between NullPad and your terminal.

Storage & Persistence

Your data is handled with a privacy-first, local-first approach.

Session Persistence

NullPad continuously saves your session (notes, sections, settings, variables) to browser local storage as you type, ensuring no data loss even without an internet connection.

Backup & Portable Data

Backup your entire workspace to a portable .npad binary package. This format supports embedded images and technical assets. Encrypting exports is strongly recommended for safe transport of sensitive technical engagement data.

Cloud Synchronization

Optional zero-knowledge synchronization allows you to access your notes across devices without compromising security.

Synchronization Details

The cloud synchronization security architecture is managed via your Settings and Sync controls.

Sync Security & Architecture

• Zero-Knowledge: Data is compressed and encrypted (AES-GCM 256-bit) locally in your browser before transmission. We never see your keys or your content.
• Collaboration: Share read-only access by nickname. Because sharing utilizes exact nicknames indexed anonymously, user enumeration is completely prevented.
• Safe State Pushing: If you open a synchronized document but have not yet decrypted it locally, you can still perform a Push of your local un-synced notes. The system allows you to overwrite the locked cloud document (acting as a password reset) without decrypting. This protects your local progress from being accidentally lost during a decrypt action and avoids the need to spawn duplicate workspace documents to save offline work.
• Desynchronize: Review shared docs and "sever" the link to keep a private offline copy instantly, allowing you to inherit a workable version of the shared data.

Chronology & Timestamps

NullPad allows you to track the evolution of your notes over time, providing a clear audit trail of when specific information was added or modified. This system is available in both Canvas Notes and Nexus Free-Text Pages, ensuring a unified history across your entire workspace.

Temporal Blocks

When enabled, notes are visually divided into temporal blocks. Each block is identified by a dashed border and an interactive timestamp (citation) that appears in the top-right corner of the line.

• Block Identity: Every block tracks its creation and last modification time.
• Sub-blocks: If you return to an old block to make edits after the initial 60-second window, NullPad tracks these as sub-blocks. Hovering over a citation (e.g., [1], [2]) in the text will update the temporal display to show that specific edit's timestamp.

Block Consolidation (Absorption)

To keep the history clean, NullPad uses a sliding window of 60 seconds to decide whether new content should start a new block or be "absorbed" into the current one:

• Absorption: If you type or edit within 60 seconds of the block's last activity, the change is merged into the current block.
• New Block: If you wait longer than 60 seconds, the next interaction will naturally trigger a new chronological segment.

Operation Modes

You can customize how blocks are generated in Settings > Behavior:

• Manual Mode (Default): Use the Alt + T shortcut or the clock icon in the toolbar to manually consolidate the current text into a fixed block. This is the primary method for adding timestamps in Nexus Free-Text Pages.
• Automatic Mode: Available for Canvas Notes, NullPad monitors your typing flow. After a period of inactivity (customizable), it automatically consolidates the current content and prepares a new block for your next input.

History Panel

Click on any timestamp indicator in a note to open the Lateral History Panel.

• Audit Trail: View a complete list of every modification block.
• Sub-block Details: See the exact time for every sub-step within a block.
• Copy Timestamp: Use the copy icon next to any entry to quickly get the precise ISO timestamp for your reports.

Configuration

Fine-tune the chronology engine in Settings > Behavior:

Chronology Settings

• Assignment Mode: Switch between Manual or Automatic block generation.
• Auto-Stamping Delay: In Automatic mode, set how many seconds of inactivity should trigger a block consolidation.
• Min Change Threshold: Define the minimum number of characters required to trigger a new entry, preventing visual noise from small corrections.