Notchi

Your notch, always ready.

A beautifully simple place to ask, save a note, set a reminder, or hand a task to an agent — right from your Mac's notch.

notch.website · Release Notes

Fully open source · Built in Liquid Glass · No Notchi account

Notchi is a free, open-source macOS app that turns the space at the top of your screen into a place to think and act. Type one line and it can become an AI answer, a note, a timed reminder, or a coding-agent task. There is no Notchi account and no backend that receives your data.

Install

Via Homebrew:

brew install --cask cyrus-cai/lofi-lab/notchi

Or with the one-line installer:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cyrus-cai/notchi/master/install.sh | bash

Or hand it to your coding agent — paste this into Claude Code / Codex:

Please install Notchi for macOS for me. Run this in my terminal: brew install --cask cyrus-cai/lofi-lab/notchi It is a free, open-source menu-bar app (https://github.com/cyrus-cai/notchi). After it finishes, confirm Notchi is installed in /Applications and launch it.

Notchi requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later; a hardware notch is optional. It currently ships un-notarized because I can't get through Apple's Developer enrollment. If you have a Developer account and can help, email xiikii@outlook.com.

One line. Four places it can go.

Type the thought the way it arrived — half-formed is fine. Notchi can infer whether it belongs in Ask, Notes, or Reminders; press / or Tab to choose a destination yourself, including Agent mode.

• Ask — stream an answer without leaving what you are doing.
• Note — save something worth keeping to Apple Notes, or to daily Markdown files in a folder you choose.
• Remind — turn a time-bound thought into an Apple Reminder with its due date already set.
• Agent — give a coding task and a project folder to Codex, Claude Code, Grok, or Command Code.

Copy a line anywhere on your Mac and it arrives as quoted context — ready to summarize, proofread, translate, save, or turn into a reminder. If clipboard sensing is enabled, copying a note or reminder candidate and pressing ⌘C again files it without opening the panel.

Ask with the context that matters.

Notchi searches the web, reads useful result pages, and cites the sources it used. It does exact arithmetic rather than guessing, renders Markdown and LaTeX-style math cleanly, and previews linked images and PDFs inline.

Paste one or more screenshots into Ask with ⌘V when using a vision-capable model. Each image is visibly attached, can be removed before sending, and is never silently picked up from the clipboard. You can also ask Notchi to search your local record of past questions, notes, reminders, and agent tasks, or to open a page — it hands the link to your default browser.

Ask can also change Notchi's own settings. Every change it proposes is spelled out on a confirmation card — "Dock icon will change to Hidden" — and only applied once you accept it.

Answers stay as conversations: follow up, regenerate, copy plain text or Markdown, pin a result, or pull the session into a standalone window. Recent keeps the latest work close; the searchable History window keeps the rest.

Hand it a whole task.

Notchi is also a front end for the coding agents you already use. Choose a project folder, describe the task, and it drives your locally installed Codex, Claude Code, Grok, or Command Code CLI under your own sign-in and plan. Paste screenshots or mockups into the task when they help explain the work. CLIs installed through nvm, fnm, volta, or another version manager are found and run correctly.

The task continues while the notch is closed. Its current step and elapsed time remain visible in the closed notch, and Notchi notifies you when it finishes or needs attention. Agent runs live alongside chats in Recent and History, support follow-up instructions, and can be resumed after restarting Notchi.

Your model, your connection.

Use the AI service you prefer: OpenRouter, Vercel AI Gateway, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, GLM, MiniMax, MiMo, or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint of your own. The latter works with local and self-hosted tools such as Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, and gateways; its key is optional.

You can also chat through a locally installed, signed-in Codex, Claude Code, Grok, or Command Code CLI — no API key is stored by Notchi for those connections, and Command Code alone fronts about fifty models from a dozen labs under one sign-in. Model choice is one menu, one level per provider, chat models only, with live catalogs where a provider supports them. Web search can use the configured provider path, Exa, Keenable, or AnySearch (including AnySearch's keyless anonymous tier).

Bind it to a key.

Settings → Shortcuts holds every binding in one place: the summon chord (double-tap ⌥ by default) and each panel action, all rebindable.

Prompt shortcuts go further. Write an instruction once — translate this to English, tighten this paragraph — bind it to a chord, and it runs on whatever text is selected in whatever app you are in. Notchi never has to be on screen.

Made to disappear until you need it.

Hover the notch, use the optional menu-bar icon, or summon it with the chord. Hover sensitivity has Low, Balanced, and Instant levels, so the panel opens as eagerly as you want it to. Tear the composer or any conversation out into its own window, then drag it back to the notch when you are done.

Notchi is drawn in macOS Liquid Glass — same blur, edge light, and spring — so it feels like part of the system rather than an overlay. It works on external displays and on Macs without a physical notch by drawing a virtual one; it can hide that island while an external display is full-screen.

Settings cover language (English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, and Spanish), launch at login, appearance, shortcuts, proxies, model connections, and the destination for notes. General also shows the live macOS permission state for Notes automation, Reminders, and notifications, with a direct way to grant missing access.

Privacy

Notchi has no account, analytics, or server that stores your prompts, notes, reminders, clipboard, or history. It routes local actions on your Mac.

For AI features, the prompt — plus only the text or images you intentionally attach as context — goes directly from your Mac to the provider or CLI you selected. Web-search requests go to the search service you configured. API keys stay in local Notchi preferences; local history and attached-image copies stay on your Mac until you delete them.

Requirements

Ask needs a connected AI provider or a signed-in Codex, Claude Code, Grok, or Command Code CLI. Agent mode needs the corresponding CLI installed, signed in, and a project folder you authorize it to work in. Apple Notes, Reminders, and notifications ask for their respective macOS permissions only when you use those features.

Questions

What is Notchi?

Notchi is a macOS app that lets you type into the notch. It routes what you write to AI, Apple Notes or Markdown files, Apple Reminders, or a coding agent without requiring a separate app window.

Does Notchi work on a Mac without a notch?

Yes. On Macs without a notch and on external displays, Notchi draws a virtual notch at the top of the display and behaves the same way.

Do I need an account or an API key?

Notchi itself has no account. For hosted AI, connect a provider with its API key or supported sign-in flow. Alternatively, use Codex, Claude Code, Grok, or Command Code through a locally installed CLI that is already signed in. Notes and reminders do not need a provider connection.

Can I use local models?

Yes. Add any OpenAI-compatible endpoint in Settings; this is intended for Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, self-hosted gateways, and providers Notchi does not list. A key is optional for custom endpoints.

Can I ask about screenshots or images?

Yes, with a vision-capable Ask model. Paste images directly with ⌘V; attach multiple images, remove any one before sending, or send an image without typed text. Notchi never attaches an image merely because it happens to be on your clipboard.

Can Notchi run Codex, Claude Code, Grok, or Command Code?

Yes. Agent mode runs the official CLI you already installed and signed in to, inside the project folder you choose. It can keep working after the notch is closed, accepts follow-up instructions, and exposes a one-tap resume path after a Notchi restart.

Can a shortcut run a prompt on text in another app?

Yes. Settings → Shortcuts lets you bind a chord to an instruction you write. Pressing it runs that instruction on the current selection in whatever app has focus.

Where does my data go?

Notchi does not operate a user-data backend. AI prompts and deliberately added context go to the provider or CLI you selected; web-search requests go to the configured search service. Notes, reminders, local history, clipboard contents, and local files otherwise remain on your Mac.

Why does Notchi ask for system permissions?

Apple requires permission for Notes automation, Reminders, and notifications. Settings → General shows each status and can open the relevant macOS prompt or System Settings page. Choose Markdown notes to save notes in a folder without Apple Notes automation.

Is Notchi free?

Yes. Notchi is free and open source, with no subscription. Any costs from an AI provider, search service, or coding-agent plan are between you and that service.

How do I uninstall Notchi?

Run brew uninstall --cask cyrus-cai/lofi-lab/notchi, or drag Notchi out of /Applications.

Developers

Open NotchGlass.xcodeproj (Xcode 16+), or run ./scripts/reinstall.sh for the build → reinstall → relaunch loop. The model seam is AIService.swift; the on-device Ask/Note router is IntentEngine.swift.

License

Notchi is released under the MIT License.