OpenNotch 0.1.5

Download: OpenNotch.dmg below (signed with the OpenNotch local certificate, not notarised — the first time, right-click → Open, or System Settings › Privacy & Security › Open Anyway). Installs on 0.1.1 or later update themselves.

What's new

• Smarter tool picking — with Apple Intelligence on, Apple's on-device model helps OpenNotch pick the right tools for oddly worded requests ("crank up the tunes", "is it going to pour later?"). Free and private; it only runs when the usual keyword matching finds nothing. Settings › AI › Tool picking (Apple, Jev via OpenRouter as a paid opt-in, or keywords only).
• Questions with buttons — when a choice is yours ("which Sam?"), the assistant asks with up to four buttons. Click, press ⌘1–⌘4, type your own answer, or say it in hands-free mode.
• What changed — when the assistant writes or edits files, the answer ends with a card of those files (lines added/removed): open them, show in Finder, drag them out or put them on the Shelf.
• Watchers — "let me know when Priya replies", "tell me when it's back in stock": it checks in the background with read-only tools and drops a notice from the notch when it happens (or when it can't keep checking).
• Many lookups in one step — the assistant can run a small sandboxed script that calls read-only tools together (weather for ten cities, the first lines of every file in a folder).
• Checks its own work — written files are read back; new calendar events and reminders are looked up after saving (and it tells you which calendar or list).
• Safer commands — shell commands no longer see secrets from the app's environment; long outputs are saved in full to private, uniquely named files.

OpenNotch 0.1.4 — one-click connectors, Puff looks & hero landings, routines, Shortcuts

Download: OpenNotch.dmg — macOS 14+, Apple silicon. Already on 0.1.1 or later? It updates itself (Settings › General › Updates). First install: open the DMG, drag to Applications, then System Settings › Privacy & Security › Open Anyway once.

What's new

Connect your tools in one click

• Settings › AI › Connectors now has a gallery with real logos — Notion, Linear, Todoist, Zapier (Gmail, Sheets, Slack & 8,000 apps), Atlassian (Jira/Confluence), Airtable, Dropbox, Granola, ClickUp, monday.com, Canva. Click Connect, sign in on the service's own page and click Allow. OpenNotch never sees your password; the sign-in stays in your Keychain and renews itself.
• Add by URL connects any web MCP server (Streamable HTTP), with sign-in when it asks for one.
• Connector tools are only sent when you mention the service — faster, cheaper answers.

Better web search, free

• Web search now uses Parallel by default — free, no key, with excerpts that usually answer the question. Only the search itself is sent, never your chats. Brave/Tavily keys and DuckDuckGo still work (Settings › AI › Web search).

Works inside your Mac

• Runs your Shortcuts — so it can act in any app that offers Shortcuts actions (Focus, Home, messages…). Every run asks first.
• "Summarise this" / "reply to this" — reads the window you're looking at (never password apps or password fields).
• Finds your files by content, kind, person and date — "the PDF Sarah sent last week".

Routines + Apple Shortcuts

• "Every time I say start work, open Linear and Slack, turn on Focus and brief me" → just say "start work". Manage them in Settings › AI › Routines.
• Add to Shortcuts turns a routine into a real Apple Shortcut, so Siri and keyboard shortcuts can start it too.

Make Puff yours

• A new first-run step, Make me yours: 10 characters (Puff, Bunny, Bear, Kitty, Dino, Ghost, Shroom, Star, Cloud, Owl), 10 extras (headphones, scarf, crown, glasses, beanie, bow, pocket, flower, antenna, sprout), Jelly or Plush, and your own colours.
• Every new chat opens with a hero entrance — superhero slam, meteor, lightning, jetpack, teleport or spin-dash. Puff greets you by the time of day, follows your pointer, types along, and you can pick it up and toss it.

Notes

• Signed with the same "OpenNotch Local Signing" certificate as before, not notarised. After updating, macOS may ask once more for Keychain access.
• Live-tested: Parallel search, MCP over HTTP, connector sign-in discovery for all 11 services, Shortcuts list, screen text, Spotlight search, Shortcut signing. Not yet tested end to end with a real account: a full connector sign-in and an imported routine Shortcut — feedback welcome.

OpenNotch 0.1.3

Download: OpenNotch.dmg · macOS 14+, Apple silicon. Already on 0.1.1 or 0.1.2? It updates itself (or menu › Check for Updates…).

What's new

• Onboarding inside the notch — Puff crash-lands out of the notch (charge-up, flip, slam, cracks, superhero pose), then walks you through: naming your assistant (Ledge, or anything you like — it's also the hands-free wake word), opening the notch, an optional desktop buddy, connecting an AI, and a first try. Back, ⌘← and the progress dots go to earlier steps. Permissions are asked only when a feature first needs them.
• Puff, revamped — arms with mitten hands, a jelly body, sparkly eyes, and a heroic face. A smaller landing greets you in every new empty chat (poke it).
• Smoother notch — it now truly grows out of and shrinks back into the notch, with curved shoulders and calmer hover timing.
• Send email, with your OK — Ledge can send from Mail.app after you approve that exact email (never covered by "allow for this chat", never from background jobs). Drafts still come first, and your edits in Mail are kept.
• Mail without an account — detected and explained, with Internet Accounts or an email connector (MCP) suggested.
• Hands-free fix — fixed a bug where it showed "Listening" but heard nothing; a watchdog now recovers a silent mic or stuck recogniser.
• Two things at once — a timer and music (or the assistant, or keep-awake) now both show in the closed notch: the extra one sits in a small pill beside it.
• Also: desktop companions are now opt-in; your assistant's name is used everywhere; "play some music" checks it really started (opens YouTube Music if your library is empty); the ⋯ menu always takes clicks; tool steps fold into one tidy row.

Install

Open the DMG, drag OpenNotch to Applications. First launch: macOS says it can't verify the developer — open System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway (once). After updating, macOS may ask once to let OpenNotch use its saved key — click Always Allow.

OpenNotch 0.1.2

OpenNotch 0.1.2 — quiet when it matters, free AI, dictation anywhere, call notes, and Puff everywhere.

Install / update

• On 0.1.1? It updates itself (notch menu › Check for Updates…). macOS may ask once to let OpenNotch use its saved API key — click Always Allow.
• On 0.1.0 or new? Download OpenNotch.dmg below and drag it to Applications. First launch: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Open Anyway (once). From here on it updates itself.

Smarter about you

• Stays quiet while you watch a video (even in a normal browser window), present, are on a call or typing hard — and saves anything useful for your next break.
• Learns which suggestions you actually use and stops offering the ones you keep skipping.
• Puff quietly watches along during videos.

Free AI out of the box

• Uses Apple's on-device AI on first launch where available.
• Sign in with OpenRouter (free) — two clicks, no card: accounts without credit start on free models, and Ledge switches to them automatically if a paid balance runs out.

Everyday help

• Dictate anywhere: hold ⌥⇧D, talk, let go — your words are typed (and tidied) into any app. A quick tap starts longer dictation; tap again to finish.
• Meeting notes, no bot: when a Zoom, Teams, Meet or FaceTime call starts, Ledge offers to take notes — transcribed on your Mac, then a summary with decisions and action items. Needs Screen & System Audio Recording permission (asked once).
• End-of-day wrap-up around 6 pm, and a shareable "My week with Ledge" card with the time it saved you.

Lighter and livelier

• Puff beside the closed notch now costs no extra CPU; the desktop companion uses about half as much while idle.
• A little Puff walks along the top of the chat bar.

Everything can be switched off in Settings › General › Everyday help.

OpenNotch 0.1.1

OpenNotch 0.1.1 — a smarter assistant, auto-updates, a new look and a livelier Puff.

Install

1. Download OpenNotch.dmg below, open it, and drag OpenNotch to Applications.
2. First launch: builds aren't notarised by Apple yet, so open System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway (once).
3. Connect an AI in Settings › AI.

From now on OpenNotch updates itself (notch menu › Check for Updates…). If you have 0.1.0, download this one by hand once — 0.1.0 had no updater. macOS may ask once to let OpenNotch use its saved API key; click Always Allow.

Fixes

• Fixed a crash when the assistant used a tool with a number or on/off setting (for example "Plan my day").
• OpenRouter accounts with a low balance no longer get "requires more credits" on every request.
• The morning brief now really checks your calendar, mail and weather, and no longer retries every minute when it fails.

A smarter assistant

• Knows the current time ("remind me in 2 hours" works), runs independent lookups in parallel, and treats text from web pages and emails as information, never instructions.
• Allow for this chat on approvals: one click covers a program (say, git) or a project folder until you switch chats.
• Memory you approve: after a chat Ledge may suggest facts to remember — saved only if you click Save (see them in Settings › AI › Memory). It can also search your earlier chats and keeps long chats coherent with summaries.
• Optional Brave Search / Tavily keys for steadier web search; cleaner page reading; one-tap follow-up suggestions; a "Ready" ear when an answer finishes while the notch is closed; read-only tools for Apple's on-device model.

A new look and a livelier Ledge

• SF Pro Expanded titles, a colour for every module, and icons that react when you hover.
• Liveliness (Settings › General): Ledge offers to explain an error or summarise a link you copied, suggests a break after a long stretch, and catches you up when you come back. Quiet during calls, full-screen apps and at night.
• Puff now has a body: it sits beside the closed notch with little arms and feet — waves, stretches, types along with you, dances to your music, naps when you're away, and sometimes walks behind the camera.

OpenNotch 0.1

OpenNotch 0.1 — an open-source AI assistant that lives in your MacBook's notch.

Install

1. Download OpenNotch.dmg below, open it, and drag OpenNotch to Applications.
2. First launch: builds aren't notarised by Apple yet, so macOS will say it can't verify the app. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway (once).
3. Connect an AI in Settings › AI — sign in with OpenRouter, paste an OpenAI / Anthropic / Gemini / Groq key, or use Ollama, LM Studio or Apple on-device.

What's inside

• An AI agent in the notch with 40+ tools (files, shell, web, Mail drafts, Notes, calendar, reminders, contacts, weather, schedules) — thinking, plans and chat history (⌘Y)
• Approvals for anything risky (glowing notch + chime, or say yes/no hands-free). It drafts email; it never sends.
• Hands-free voice with on-device speech recognition; proactive proposals that never act on their own
• 14 notch modules: clipboard, shelf, notes, timers, calendar, music, system, screen time, image converter, AI usage, captures, find files, menu bar and the assistant
• MCP connectors · live activities · mic & camera indicator · Puff and the Bee / Ledge / Cat desktop companions
• No account, no telemetry — chats, memory and settings stay on your Mac

Requires macOS 14+ on Apple silicon. Website: https://laxman824.github.io/opennotch/