The first release of Shelf: a native macOS library for your raw material. Images, fonts, videos, links, palettes, and dev projects in one place, and your files are never duplicated.
Highlights
- Files are referenced in place with security scoped bookmarks, never copied. The library renders from its preview cache even when the original drive is offline.
- Masonry grid, list view, collections with cover stacks, and a color palette for every collection.
- Search by name, type, tag, link domain, color name, or hex code, with on-device image labels and synonym matching. All of it offline.
- Quick Shelf: press Option-Space anywhere for a Spotlight-style panel. Copy an item or drag it straight into your work.
- Add from anywhere: browser extensions for Safari, Chrome, and Arc, a Finder right-click service, and the shelf:// URL scheme.
- Link cards show their Open Graph art; YouTube and Vimeo links show the video thumbnail and title.
- Native video playback and a full-resolution image lightbox.
- No account, no backend, no analytics. The network is used for link previews only, and it can be turned off.
Requirements
macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later.
Installing
Download the DMG, open it, and drag Shelf to Applications.
The build is not notarized yet, so the first launch takes one extra step. macOS will say it could not verify the app; choose Done (not Move to Trash), then open System Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message about Shelf, and click Open Anyway. This happens once.
Or from the Terminal: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Shelf.app