Markdown cheatsheet · Templates
Markdown templates
Five plain .md files for the documents people write most; they work in any markdown editor.
Staring at an empty file is the worst part of writing. Each template below is a single .md file between 25 and 50 lines, built only from syntax covered in the cheatsheet: headings, bold text, lists, checkboxes, tables, blockquotes, code blocks and images. Copy the text straight from the preview, or download the file, open it, and replace the example lines with your own.
Meeting notes
Date, attendees, agenda, decisions, action items. The decisions section is the one people skip and then regret: write down what was agreed, not just what was said. Action items are checkboxes, so you can tick them off during the week.
# Meeting notes: TOPIC **Date:** 2026-07-14 **Time:** 10:00 to 10:45 **Where:** Zoom ## Attendees - Ana (product) - Ben (engineering) - Chloe (design) ## Agenda 1. Release date for 2.1 2. Onboarding feedback 3. Open bug triage ## Notes - Beta build is stable, no crash reports since Friday. - Most onboarding drop-off happens on the second screen. - Two P1 bugs left, both assigned. ## Decisions - 2.1 ships Thursday instead of Monday. - The second onboarding screen gets cut. ## Action items - [ ] Ben: fix the export crash before Wednesday - [ ] Chloe: new onboarding mock by Tuesday - [ ] Ana: draft the release notes - [ ] Ana: book a room for Friday's retro ## Next meeting 2026-07-21, same time, same link.
Date: 2026-07-14
Time: 10:00 to 10:45
Where: Zoom
- Ana (product)
- Ben (engineering)
- Chloe (design)
- Release date for 2.1
- Onboarding feedback
- Open bug triage
- Beta build is stable, no crash reports since Friday.
- Most onboarding drop-off happens on the second screen.
- Two P1 bugs left, both assigned.
- 2.1 ships Thursday instead of Monday.
- The second onboarding screen gets cut.
- Ben: fix the export crash before Wednesday
- Chloe: new onboarding mock by Tuesday
- Ana: draft the release notes
- Ana: book a room for Friday's retro
2026-07-21, same time, same link.
Project plan
A one-sentence goal, a milestones table with owners and dates, a task list and a risks table. If the goal does not fit in one sentence, the project is not ready for a plan yet.
# Project plan: PROJECT NAME **Owner:** Ana **Start:** 2026-07-14 **Target:** 2026-09-30 ## Goal One sentence describing what done looks like. Example: customers can export their data as CSV from the settings page. ## Milestones | Milestone | Owner | Due | Status | | -------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ----------- | | Spec approved | Ana | 2026-07-25 | Done | | Prototype in testing | Ben | 2026-08-15 | In progress | | Beta with 50 users | Ben | 2026-09-05 | Not started | | Public launch | Ana | 2026-09-30 | Not started | ## Tasks - [x] Write the one-page spec - [ ] Design the settings page entry point - [ ] Build the export service - [ ] Add rate limiting - [ ] Write the help article ## Risks | Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | | ------------------------ | ---------- | ------ | --------------------------- | | Export slow on big files | Medium | High | Stream instead of buffering | | Key engineer on leave | Low | High | Document decisions as we go | ## Out of scope - PDF export (separate project) - Scheduled or recurring exports
Owner: Ana
Start: 2026-07-14
Target: 2026-09-30
One sentence describing what done looks like. Example: customers can export their data as CSV from the settings page.
| Milestone | Owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spec approved | Ana | 2026-07-25 | Done |
| Prototype in testing | Ben | 2026-08-15 | In progress |
| Beta with 50 users | Ben | 2026-09-05 | Not started |
| Public launch | Ana | 2026-09-30 | Not started |
- Write the one-page spec
- Design the settings page entry point
- Build the export service
- Add rate limiting
- Write the help article
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Export slow on big files | Medium | High | Stream instead of buffering |
| Key engineer on leave | Low | High | Document decisions as we go |
- PDF export (separate project)
- Scheduled or recurring exports
README
The standard skeleton for a code project: title, a badge line, install, usage with a fenced code block, a small options table, contributing steps and a license. Delete what you do not need; a short README that is accurate beats a long one that is not.
# Project Name
 
One paragraph: what this does, who it is for, and why it exists.
Keep it under three sentences.
## Install
```bash
npm install project-name
```
## Usage
```js
import { greet } from "project-name";
const message = greet("world");
console.log(message);
```
## Options
| Option | Default | Description |
| --------- | ------- | --------------------------- |
| `timeout` | `5000` | Request timeout in ms |
| `retries` | `3` | Attempts before giving up |
## Contributing
Pull requests welcome. Open an issue first for anything larger
than a bug fix.
1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch: `git checkout -b my-fix`
3. Commit your changes and push
4. Open a pull request
## License
MIT. See LICENSE for details.build license
One paragraph: what this does, who it is for, and why it exists. Keep it under three sentences.
npm install project-name
import { greet } from "project-name";
const message = greet("world");
console.log(message);
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
timeout |
5000 |
Request timeout in ms |
retries |
3 |
Attempts before giving up |
Pull requests welcome. Open an issue first for anything larger than a bug fix.
- Fork the repository
- Create a branch:
git checkout -b my-fix - Commit your changes and push
- Open a pull request
MIT. See LICENSE for details.
Daily journal
One focus for the day, a timestamped log, a few lines of gratitude and a checklist for tomorrow. The log works best filled in as you go, not reconstructed at six in the evening.
# Daily journal **Date:** 2026-07-14 ## Focus The one thing that matters today: finish the draft of chapter 3. ## Log - 08:30 Reviewed yesterday's notes over coffee - 09:00 Deep work: chapter 3 outline done - 12:00 Lunch walk, no phone - 13:00 Calls and email - 15:00 Second writing block, slower than the first - 17:30 Wrapped up, inbox to zero ## Notes Anything worth keeping: ideas, links, things that surprised you. > Writing it down now beats trying to remember it later. ## Gratitude 1. Quiet morning before anyone was awake 2. Ben caught the bug before it shipped 3. Rain stopped right at lunch ## Tomorrow - [ ] Send the chapter draft for review - [ ] Book the dentist - [ ] Prepare slides for Thursday
Date: 2026-07-14
The one thing that matters today: finish the draft of chapter 3.
- 08:30 Reviewed yesterday's notes over coffee
- 09:00 Deep work: chapter 3 outline done
- 12:00 Lunch walk, no phone
- 13:00 Calls and email
- 15:00 Second writing block, slower than the first
- 17:30 Wrapped up, inbox to zero
Anything worth keeping: ideas, links, things that surprised you.
Writing it down now beats trying to remember it later.
- Quiet morning before anyone was awake
- Ben caught the bug before it shipped
- Rain stopped right at lunch
- Send the chapter draft for review
- Book the dentist
- Prepare slides for Thursday
Weekly review
Wins, misses, a metrics table with target against actual, lessons, and next week's priorities as checkboxes. Ten minutes on Friday afternoon; the metrics table only earns its place if you pick numbers you can actually collect.
# Weekly review **Week:** 2026-07-06 to 2026-07-12 ## Wins - Shipped the export feature two days early - Cleared the support backlog for the first time this quarter - Ran three mornings in a row ## Misses - The blog post slipped again - Two meetings ran long and ended without decisions ## Metrics | Metric | Target | Actual | Trend | | --------------- | ------ | ------ | ----- | | Deep work hours | 15 | 12 | Down | | Inbox zero days | 5 | 3 | Flat | | Workouts | 3 | 3 | Up | ## Lessons - A decision needs an owner before the meeting ends. - Writing goes better first thing; stop scheduling it after lunch. ## Next week priorities - [ ] Publish the blog post, Monday, before anything else - [ ] Interview the two design candidates - [ ] Close the Q3 plan ## Parked Things to revisit later, not next week: pricing page rewrite, conference talk proposal.
Week: 2026-07-06 to 2026-07-12
- Shipped the export feature two days early
- Cleared the support backlog for the first time this quarter
- Ran three mornings in a row
- The blog post slipped again
- Two meetings ran long and ended without decisions
| Metric | Target | Actual | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deep work hours | 15 | 12 | Down |
| Inbox zero days | 5 | 3 | Flat |
| Workouts | 3 | 3 | Up |
- A decision needs an owner before the meeting ends.
- Writing goes better first thing; stop scheduling it after lunch.
- Publish the blog post, Monday, before anything else
- Interview the two design candidates
- Close the Q3 plan
Things to revisit later, not next week: pricing page rewrite, conference talk proposal.
Tip: keep the templates in one folder and open that folder in maxdown. Cmd+P finds any of them by name, and the same palette searches the full text of every note you made from them.
Everything in these files is plain GitHub Flavored Markdown, covered piece by piece in the cheatsheet. Headings, lists and blockquotes are core CommonMark and render everywhere; checkboxes and tables are GFM extensions, supported by GitHub, GitLab and Obsidian among others. They also open beautifully in maxdown, which renders the tables and checkboxes in place as you type; it is free and needs no account.
Two templates that get their own guide
Two of these needed more than a preview and a download link, so they have a page each: the README template, with the section order that decides whether anyone reads it, and the resume, where getting a clean PDF out at the end matters as much as the file.