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Architecture

Your memory starts on your Mac.

Your personal memory shouldn't need a server simply to remember what you saved. Shelf is local-first in the plain sense: your library lives on your Mac, and the understanding of it is built there too.

No account, no sync server, and one clearly labelled optional feature that can reach an external AI provider.

Download ShelfSee how it works

01 · Where data lives

On the machine you saved it on.

LibraryStored locally on your Mac.
IndexBuilt and kept locally.
AccountNone. Nothing to sign into.
Sync serverNone. Shelf is a single-Mac app.

02 · What runs locally

What local-first means here.

  • OCRreads text out of images on device
  • Transcriptionaudio and video processed on device, where supported
  • Summaries and topicsgenerated locally
  • Semantic searchindexed and queried locally
  • Connectionsreasoned about locally

03 · What can leave

The exceptions, stated plainly.

Two things touch the network, and both are obvious in use.

Fetching a link
Saving a web page fetches that page and its preview, because that is what saving a link means.
Image variations
Optional, off by default, and only with your own key. Leave it off and nothing goes out.

04 · Ownership

Export and backups are part of the deal.

ExportMarkdown, JSON, or the original files, unchanged.
BackupsPassword-protected archives, encrypted with AES-GCM.
DeletionDelete items, or remove the library, on your own machine.
Lock-inNone. Your things stay in formats you can read elsewhere.

05 · Why it matters

A memory you can't inspect isn't yours.

A second memory holds the unfinished, half-formed and personal parts of your work. That is exactly the material that should not be sitting on someone else's server by default.

Keep your memory local.

Download Shelf. Nothing to sign up for, nothing uploaded to start.

Download Shelf

Free. macOS 14 and later, Apple Silicon and Intel. No account.

Keep reading

Shelf V3 is out now

Shelf V3 is the current build. Shelf does not use automatic updates, so download the latest build here and install it over your current version.

This is intentional. Shelf is built around a local-first, privacy-focused philosophy. An automatic updater requires additional background processes, network connections, update infrastructure, and another system with permission to modify the app. We prefer to keep Shelf’s network footprint and background activity as small as possible.

Manual updates keep the process explicit: Shelf only checks the internet when a feature actually needs it, and you decide when a new version is downloaded and installed.

Download the latest version →Version 3.0 · macOS 14+