A Markdown notebook for Mac. Your notes stay plain files in a folder you pick, and the ones that matter can be sealed.
Skerrybrew install --cask dcadolph/tap/skerry
Skerry is early and changes often. Keep your own backups.
All Notes 42
Starred
Tasks
Archived
Recently Deleted
Journal
Projects
Private
#garden 6
#reading 11
Journal / A quiet place to think.md
Good ideas need somewhere to land. Somewhere simple, familiar, and *entirely yours*.
Pick up the thread from [[Ferry timetable research]] before the weekend.
Everything here starts as a plain Markdown file.
An illustration of the window layout. Screenshots are on the way.
The editor highlights Markdown as you type and hides the syntax away from the cursor, so prose reads clean while the markers stay editable.
Write [[note name]] to link a note. Following a link to a note that does
not exist yet creates it, and a backlinks bar lists every note that points here.
Lists continue on Return, task boxes strike through when done, and table columns line up on their own.
Full-text search on a local index, and a command palette that jumps to any note by fuzzy title.
A library is any folder you pick. Notes are .md files, folders
are folders, and pasted images land in assets/ with relative links. Edit a
file in another editor and Skerry picks it up within about a second.
Delete the app and your unsealed notes are still there, readable in any text editor. Sealed notes stay ciphertext until Skerry or another reader of the documented format opens them with your key.
Import from Bear, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Evernote exports, or plain Markdown. Inline tags become real tags.
Sync through WebDAV, S3, or any folder, sealed before upload. iCloud Drive, Syncthing, or a NAS share work too.
Set a passphrase once, then seal any note from its menu. The file stays where it was, and everything inside it becomes ciphertext.
--- title: Private thoughts tags: [journal] --- # Private thoughts Things I am not ready to say out loud.
A normal Markdown file, readable in any text editor.
--- id: 7A0E38D2-4CBB-4E30-9A57-2A9F3D1B6C11 encrypted: true encv: 2 --- q3Jb9Ul0aZ2f8rT1nKx4cWv7Hs0dLmEo P5yGtR2uVb8jQw6Nz1AeYk3Fi9ScXhDp
Title, tags, dates, and body are encrypted. The file name gives nothing away.
AES-256-GCM under a random master key, wrapped by a key stretched from your passphrase with Argon2id. A tampered note fails to open instead of opening wrong.
The passphrase lives in the Keychain and is released only after you authenticate. A one-time recovery code is a second way in.
The code is Apache 2.0, the format is in FORMAT.md, and the threat model says what Skerry protects and what it cannot.
Capture without opening the app, and let the rest of your Mac reach your notes.
Type a thought into the menu bar and save it as a note without bringing the app forward.
Create Note, Append to Note, and Search Notes as actions for your automations.
On Macs with Apple Intelligence, summarize a note and get tag suggestions. Nothing leaves the Mac.
Markdown, plain text, HTML, Rich Text, or PDF.
Browse earlier versions of a note and restore any of them.
Browsable or encrypted backups, and a Trash that keeps deleted notes for thirty days.
For people who want to know exactly what happens to their notes.
Sealed notes stay out of the search index, and backups and sync objects are encrypted before upload under opaque names.
Per-note locks, auto-lock timers, a privacy cover in the app switcher, and copied text that leaves the clipboard after a minute.
Changing your passphrase re-wraps the master key, so no note has to be re-encrypted. ChaCha20-Poly1305 is available as a choice.
The Argon2id implementation is gated on the RFC 9106 test vectors, and the cryptographic core ships with its tests.
An optional decoy passphrase opens a separate, innocent library. Another option erases this device's vault key after repeated wrong guesses.
Obsidian and Bear are excellent, and for most people either one is the right choice. Skerry covers a narrower need: Markdown notes that are encrypted on disk by software you can read.
Plugins, themes, mobile apps, polish, sync services, and years of community work. Skerry has none of that depth, and it is early.
People who want each note sealed, titles and tags included, with open code and a documented format, on storage they control.
There is no iPhone or iPad app yet, no plugin system, and the app changes often. Keep your own backups.
Skerry imports Obsidian and Bear notes, and unsealed notes stay plain Markdown you can take anywhere.
Version 0.24.1, free under the Apache 2.0 license with no paid tier. Signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple. Requires macOS 14 or later.
brew install --cask dcadolph/tap/skerry
To build it yourself you need Xcode and XcodeGen. The steps are in the README. The iPhone and iPad app is not available yet.