JotBar

A lightweight, distraction-free note-taking app for macOS that lives in your menu bar. Built with SwiftUI and SwiftData.

Features

• ⚡ Lightning Fast - Open notes in under 1 second with ⌘⇧N global shortcut
• 🎯 Zero Distractions - Clean, minimal interface focused on your words
• 💾 Auto-Save - Never lose your work with automatic saving (500ms debounce)
• 📌 Pin Notes - Keep important notes at the top for quick access
• 🔍 Real-Time Search - Find notes instantly as you type
• 🔒 Privacy First - All data stored locally on your Mac, no cloud sync
• 📱 Menu Bar Integration - Always accessible, never in the way
• ⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts - Full keyboard support for power users

Screenshots

Requirements

• macOS 15.6 or later
• Xcode 15.0 or later (for building from source)

Installation

Download Pre-built App

Download the latest release from the Releases page.

1. Download JotBar.app.zip
2. Unzip the file
3. Drag JotBar.app to your Applications folder
4. Launch JotBar from Applications

Note: On first launch, you may need to right-click the app and select "Open" to bypass macOS security restrictions.

Build from Source

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/go7hic/JotBar.git
   cd JotBar

2. Open JotBar.xcodeproj in Xcode

3. Select the JotBar scheme and your Mac as the destination

4. Build and run (⌘R)

Usage

Keyboard Shortcuts

• ⌘⇧N - Toggle note window (global shortcut, requires accessibility permission)
• ⌘N - Create new note
• ⌘Q - Quit application

Basic Operations

• Create Note: Click the pencil icon (⌘N) or start typing in the empty editor
• Pin Note: Right-click a note and select "Pin", or swipe left and tap pin
• Delete Note: Right-click a note and select "Delete", or swipe left and tap delete
• Search: Type in the search bar to filter notes in real-time
• Share: Click the share icon to share note content via system share sheet

First Launch

On first launch, the app will:

1. Request accessibility permission (for global shortcut ⌘⇧N)
2. Create a menu bar icon
3. Open the note window below the menu bar

Architecture

Tech Stack

• SwiftUI - Modern declarative UI framework
• SwiftData - Local data persistence
• AppKit - macOS native features (menu bar, windows, sharing)
• Combine - Reactive programming for debounced saves

Project Structure

JotBar/
├── JotBar/
│   ├── JotBarApp.swift          # App entry point and window management
│   ├── MainPopoverContent.swift  # Main UI and note management
│   ├── Note.swift               # Data model
│   ├── HotKeyManager.swift      # Global keyboard shortcut handling
│   └── Assets.xcassets/         # App icons and assets
└── JotBar.xcodeproj/

Key Components

• WindowManager: Manages window positioning, persistence, and toggling
• HotKeyManager: Handles global keyboard shortcut registration
• Note Model: SwiftData model for note storage
• MainPopoverContent: Main UI with split view (note list + editor)

Development

Building

# Open in Xcode
open JotBar.xcodeproj

# Or build from command line
xcodebuild -project JotBar.xcodeproj -scheme JotBar -configuration Release

Code Signing

For distribution, configure code signing in Xcode:

1. Select the JotBar target
2. Go to "Signing & Capabilities"
3. Select your development team
4. Enable "Automatically manage signing"

Data Storage

Notes are stored locally using SwiftData in:

~/Library/Containers/com.dyy.JotBar/Data/Library/Application Support/

Privacy

JotBar stores all data locally on your Mac. No cloud sync, no data collection, no tracking. Your notes are yours alone.

• All notes stored in local SQLite database
• No network connections
• No analytics or telemetry
• No external services

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Guidelines

1. Follow Swift style conventions
2. Keep the codebase simple and maintainable
3. Test on macOS 15.6+
4. Ensure accessibility features work correctly

Known Issues

• Global shortcut requires accessibility permission (macOS security requirement)
• Window position may need adjustment on multi-monitor setups

Roadmap

• Markdown support
• Tag/category organization
• Export functionality (TXT/CSV)
• Dark mode improvements
• Customizable keyboard shortcuts

License

Non-Commercial License - see LICENSE file for details.

Note: This software is licensed for personal, non-commercial use only. Commercial use requires explicit written permission from the copyright holder.

Note: This app is designed for macOS only. There are no plans for iOS or other platform support.