Every note. One keystroke away.

Add a thought from anywhere on your Mac. Give a note a prompt, and every new item fills itself in.

Email me when it launches Coming soon to the Mac App Store

In the capture panel, typing "@bank pay the annual fee by Fri" and pressing Return adds "Pay the annual fee", due Friday, October 30, to the Wells Fargo, Chase and Amex notes at once.

  1. 01 Capture

    Wherever you are. Whatever you're doing.

    One shortcut opens Fern Notes over the app you're in. Type a line, press Return, and you're back to work.

  2. 02 Groups

    Say it once. Every note hears it.

    Put notes in a group. Type @bank and the item lands on Wells Fargo, Chase and Amex at once, each one yours to tick.

  3. 03 Prompts

    Notes that do the legwork.

    Give any note or group an AI Prompt. Check a few samples, then every new item gets its details written onto its page.

  4. 04 Dates

    Type the date the way you'd say it.

    Dec 18th, 12/30, by Friday, tomorrow at 6pm. Fern Notes turns it into a due date and keeps your words clean.

Over an open document, pressing Control Command J opens the Fern Notes capture panel. Typing "@errands pick up dry cleaning tomorrow at 6pm" and pressing Return adds it to the Errands note, due Tuesday at 6:00 PM, and the panel closes.

The Fern Notes window showing the Bank group: Amex, Chase and Wells Fargo, each with its own items and due dates.

The Movies note has the AI Prompt "Find the release date, who's in it and the official trailer", set to look on IMDb. Adding "@movies Dune: Part Three" puts the item on the note, it shows Looking up, and then its page fills in: a short summary, the release date, who stars in it and a link to the official trailer. The release date, Dec 18, becomes its due date.

Typing "Dune: Part Three Dec 18th" saves the item "Dune: Part Three", due December 18. "12/30" becomes Dec 30, "by Friday" becomes Oct 30, and "tomorrow at 6pm" becomes Tue 6:00 PM.

The month calendar in Fern Notes, with dots on the days that have something due.

Prompts work best with your own Anthropic, OpenAI or AWS Bedrock key, which lets Fern Notes search the web for current details. Without one, Apple Intelligence runs on your Mac using only the item and its links, so it can't look up things like today's prices or new release dates.

With your Anthropic, OpenAI or Bedrock key
Searches the web
Current prices and dates
Finds trailers and links
With Apple Intelligence
Runs on your Mac, private
Uses only the item and the pages it links to
No web search
New Item pages

Every item opens into a page.

Click any item for room to plan. Write in Markdown, or let an AI Prompt fill it in for you.

  1. Headings fold. Tuck a section away and it stays tucked next time.
  2. Checkboxes tick. Each heading counts what's done, 1 of 4.
  3. Any box can have a date. It shows up in your calendar and Upcoming.
The page for the item Lisbon in November, on the Travel note: headings for Before we go, Day one and Packing, each with checkboxes, and dates of Oct 30 and Nov 6 on two of the boxes.

Made for the notes you already keep.

  • 1:1s and teams

    Keep a note per person you meet with, and group them by team. Bring it up in every 1:1 without copying it over and over.

    @priya ask how the launch retro went

    Ask how the launch retro went

    On Priya's note, ready for your next 1:1.

    @team remember to tell everyone to fill out the company survey

    PriyaRemember to tell everyone to fill out the company survey
    MarcusRemember to tell everyone to fill out the company survey
    ElenaRemember to tell everyone to fill out the company survey

    On Priya's, Marcus's and Elena's notes, each ticked on its own in that 1:1.

  • Movies and shows

    @movies Dune: Part Three

    Dune: Part Three

    Release date, cast and trailer, written onto its page

    Official Trailer · youtube.comDue Dec 18

    Needs an Anthropic, OpenAI or Bedrock key

  • Bills and accounts

    @bank pay the annual fee by Fri

    Pay the annual fee

    On Wells Fargo, Chase and Amex

    Oct 30

  • Investing watchlist

    @stocks NVDA

    NVDA

    Current price, next earnings date and next dividend, written onto its page

    Needs an Anthropic, OpenAI or Bedrock key

  • Errands

    @errands pick up dry cleaning tomorrow at 6pm

    Pick up dry cleaning

    Tue 6:00 PM

  • Gifts

    @gifts Mom: the blue scarf etsy.com/listing/…

    Mom: the blue scarf

    Indigo wool scarf · Etsy

  • Reading list

    @books Project Hail Mary

    Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir, 476 pages, and a link to the publisher

    Needs an Anthropic, OpenAI or Bedrock key

  • Home projects

    @house ask Sam about the porch quote

    Ask Sam about the porch quote

    Saved as it is. No prompt on this note, so nothing is sent anywhere.

  • Travel

    @travel renew passport by Mar 1

    Renew passport

    Mar 1, 2027

Examples use sample notes.

And the little things, done well.

Ticked by mistake? Bring it back.

Everything you've done stays in History, newest first. Bring any item back as a fresh one.

History in Fern Notes, with ticked items grouped by day and a Bring back button.

On every Mac you use.

Your notes sync through your own iCloud account.

Weekly, monthly, and a nudge when it's due.

Paste a link. Get a name.

Web addresses become tidy chips named after the page.

An item in Fern Notes with its link shown as a chip named after the web page.

Your notes are yours.

No account and no Fern Notes servers. Your notes live on your Mac and in your own iCloud. Lookups only run on notes you give a prompt.

Read the privacy policy

Questions.

When can I get it?

Fern Notes is coming soon to the Mac App Store. Email me and I'll let you know the day it's out.

Do I need an AI account?

No. Everything else in Fern Notes works without one. Prompts work best with your own Anthropic, OpenAI or AWS Bedrock key, which lets them search the web for current information. On Macs that support it, Apple Intelligence works without a key, but it can't browse, so it only uses the item and the pages it links to.

What can a note's prompt do?

It looks up details for each new item, trailers, dates, prices, links, whatever you ask for, and writes them onto the item's page. Choose AI Prompt in a note's menu: say what you want, pick a site for it to look on, check a few samples, then save. A date it finds becomes the due date unless you say not to. It runs only on notes and groups you give a prompt. With your own Anthropic, OpenAI or AWS Bedrock key it searches the web for current information. Apple Intelligence works on your Mac without a key, but it can't browse, so it only uses the item and its linked pages.

How do groups work?

Make a group, like Bank, and put notes in it. Type @bank and the line lands on every note in the group as its own item, so you tick each one off on its own. Type @chase and it goes to just that note.

Can I change the shortcut?

Yes. ⌃⌘J is where it starts. Open Settings in Fern Notes and record any shortcut you like for Quick capture.

Does it sync?

Yes, through your own iCloud account, to every Mac you're signed in on. It's the Sync with iCloud switch in Settings.

Where is my data stored?

On your Mac, and in your own iCloud if you turn on sync. There's no account and no Fern Notes server. You can export a backup file from Settings whenever you like.

Be first in line.

Email me when it launches Coming soon to the Mac App Store