Updated for v1.1.7
Global Hotkey
Design Intent: Minimize time-to-start-note and any mental friction associated with it.
- The Global Hotkey will show Antinote even when you’re actively focused on another app.
- It requires Antinote to be running.
- Customize in settings.
- ⌥ + A Global Hotkey - Show/Hide Antinote
Note that for macOS 15.0 and macOS 15.1, global shortcuts that only have the option key as the modifier was disabled. Apple re-enabled it in macOS 15.2+. You can see the official thread here. The workaround is to modify the Global Hotkey to include Cmd or Ctrl in the modifier, or update macOS.
Link Shortening
Design Intent: Ruthlessly eliminate all unnecessary information on screen, but maintain original user input.
Antinote automatically shortens URLs so they don’t take up as much space. This shortening is only visual and the full URL exists in the notes data - when you highlight and copy a shortened URL, the full URL text is sent to the clipboard.
- Open the URL in your browser with ⌘ + Click
- Expand the shortened URL with ⌘ + Shift + Click. This will allow you to edit the URL text. Expanded links stay expanded until you manually shorten them again with ⌘ + Shift + Click
- When you copy a shortened URL, the full URL is sent to the clipboard
- URLs will only shorten after your text cursor leaves it
- Duplicate URLs will have a “[#]” appended to them
- Link shortening is disabled in "code" notes, and inside markdown code blocks.
- ⌘ + Click Open link in browser
- ⌘ + Shift + Click Expand / Shorten link
Settings
Copy
Design Intent: Only add text to the clipboard that’s useful to external apps.
- Keywords (e.g. “math”, “list”) at the top of the note is not copied to the clipboard. Note that optional titles (e.g. “math: My Optional Title”) will be included (e.g. “My Optional Title”).
- In lists, the symbols you use to check off items (eg. “/x”) are not copied to the clipboard.
- Shortened links are always expanded when copied to the clipboard.
- Click any math answer, sum, or average to copy it to the clipboard.
Settings
- ⌘ + C (Nothing selected) Copy whole note
- ⌘ + C (Cursor in code block) Copy code block
- ⌘ + C (Cursor in backticks) Copy text between backticks
Paste
Design Intent: Pasted content should never need manual adjustments.
- Formatting is stripped.
- Bullets and numbered lists are stripped.
- Leading and trailing spaces on each line are stripped.
- Markdown can be optionally stripped.
- Empty lines can be optionally stripped.
- Cmd + Shift + V will paste without text transformations.
Settings
- ⌘ + V Paste and strip
- ⌘ + Shift + V Paste as-is
Keywords
Design Intent: Focus each note to do a single, often repeated, use case. Replace the need to open over-powered apps (eg. Excel, Google Docs, Obsidian).
Intro
Keywords can be typed in the first line of any note to activate special powers in that note. For example, typing “list” at the top of the note will turn every subsequent line into a list item.
Optional title with keyword
You can add a title beside the keyword using a colon.
list: Today's Tasks
Customize keywords
- In settings you can change the keyword for any function to whatever you want (eg. “todo” or “items”)
- You can have multiple keywords activate the same function.
todo: Today's Tasks
Slash command to quickly see keywords
- Type “/“ as the first character of any line and all the main keywords will appear. While you can have many typed keywords activate the same function, you can only have one 'main' keyword, which will be pasted with the slash command.
- You can auto paste one by pressing the corresponding number.
- If there is an existing keyword, it will be replaced.
Settings
List
Design Intent: Never manage checkbox placement or orphaned checkboxes. No unnecessary mouse clicks. For small quick lists you’ll never need again.
- Type the word “list” at the top of your note to activate list features.
- You can title a list with "list: Your Title"
- Every non-empty line will automatically become a checklist item.
- Type the “check” trigger (e.g. “/x”) at the end of any line to check it.
- Note that math and conversions do not work in lists.
- You can type "//" at the beginning of a line to make it a comment. This will prevent it from being a checkbox.
- You can type "#", "##", or "###" at the beginning of a line to make it a heading. This will prevent it from being a checkbox.
Settings
Math
Design Intent: Make everyday quick calculations. Skip an overpowered spreadsheet.
- Type the word “math” at the top of your note to activate math features.
- Or type “/“ at the beginning of any new line, and then choose “math”.
- You can title a math note with: “math: Your Title”
- You can type "//" at the beginning of a line to make it a comment. This will prevent it from being calculated.
Calculations
- Adding “=“ to the end of any line will attempt a calculation.
- Words, punctuations, and currency symbols, are stripped out.
- Valid operators include: +-*xX/÷^**()
- You can also do colloquial percentage calculations: "100 + 15% = 115" or "50% of 200 = 100".
- Advanced features include: !!!√16∛8sqrt(16)log(355)log2(355)ceil(12.256)floor(12.256)
- At the moment, we do not support conversions in a calculation (e.g. 5cm to inches * 5 =)
- We support regions where the period is used as a thousands separators and the comma is used as a decimal separator (e.g. 1.000,25).
- At the moment, we do not support regions where the space is used as a thousands separators (e.g. 1 000,25).
Settings
Currency Conversions
- Use the following format to convert currencies: 10 USD to JPY = 1,492.84 JPY
- Currency rates are updated every day.
- If you use your currency symbol without a currency code, we will assume your primary currency: $10 to JPY = 1,492.84 JPY
- If you do not put any conversion target, and we will assume you want to convert your primary currency to your secondary currency: $10 = 14.00 CAD
- We support the following currency codes: 1INCHAAVEADAAEDAFNAGIXAKTALGOALLAMDAMPANGAOAAPEAPTARARBARSATOMATSAUDAVAXAWGAXSAZMAZNBAKEBAMBATBBDBCHBDTBEFBGNBHDBIFBMDBNBBNDBOBBRLBSDBSVBSWBTCBTGBTNBTTBUSDBWPBYNBYRBZDCADCAKECDFCELOCFXCHFCHZCLPCNHCNYCOMPCOPCRCCROCRVCSPRCUCCUPCVECVXCYPCZKDAIDASHDCRDEMDFIDJFDKKDOGEDOPDOTDYDXDZDEEKEGLDEGPENJEOSERNESPETBETCETHEURFEIFIL
- We support the following primary currency symbols: $€£¥₹₽₩₺₫฿₴₦₲₵₡₭₾₱₪₸
- At the moment, we do not support conversions in a calculation (e.g. $10 USD to CAD + 5 =)
Settings
Measurement Conversions
- Use the following format to convert measurements: 10" to cm = 25.40 cm
- We support the following distance units and formats: mmetermetremetersmetrescmcentimetercentimetrecentimeterscentimetreskmkilometerkilometrekilometerskilometresininchinches"″ftfootfeet'′milemilesmiyardyardsyd
- We support the following distance units and formats: mmetermetremetersmetrescmcentimetercentimetrecentimeterscentimetreskmkilometerkilometrekilometerskilometresininchinches"″ftfootfeet'′milemilesmiyardyardsyd
- We support the following area units and formats: sqmm²sq msquare metersquare meterssq meterssq metersquare msqcmcm²sq cmsquare centimetersquare centimeterssq centimeterssq centimetersquare cmsqmmmm²sq mmsquare millimetersquare millimeterssq millimeterssq millimetersquare mmhahectarehectaressqkmkm²sq kmsquare kilometersquare kilometerssq kilometerssq kilometersquare kmsqftft²sq ftsquare footsquare feetsq feetsq footsquare ftsqinin²sq insquare inchsquare inchessq inchessq inchsquare insqydyd²sq ydsquare yardsquare yardssq yardssq yardsquare ydsqmimi²sq misquare milesquare milessq milessq milesquare miacreacresarearesdunamdunamsdonumdonumstsubo坪坪数tsubosping坪pyeong坪数pingspyongbighabighascuerdacuerdasroodroodsperchperchessectionsectionstownshiptownships
- We support the following volume units and formats: literLLslitreliterslitresmillilitermLmLsmilliliterscubicMeterm³cubic metercubic meterscubicCentimetercm³cubic centimetercubic centimeterscccubic cmcubicMillimetermm³cubic millimetercubic millimeterscubic mmgallongalgalsgallonsus gallonus gallonsquartqtqtsquartspintptptspintscupcupsfluidOuncefl ozfl ozsfluid ouncefluid ouncesfloztablespoontbsptbspstablespoonsteaspoontsptspsteaspoonscubicInchin³cubic inchcubic inchescu incubicFootft³cubic footcubic feetcu ftcubicYardyd³cubic yardcubic yardscu ydukGallonUK galimperial gallonuk gallonuk gallonsimperial gallonsukQuartUK qtimperial quartuk quartuk quartsimperial quartsukPintUK ptimperial pintuk pintuk pintsimperial pintsukCupUK cupimperial cupuk cupuk cupsimperial cupsukFluidOunceUK fl ozimperial fluid ounceuk fluid ounceuk fluid ouncesimperial fluid ouncesukTablespoonUK tbspimperial tablespoonuk tablespoonuk tablespoonsimperial tablespoonsukTeaspoonUK tspimperial teaspoonuk teaspoonuk teaspoonsimperial teaspoons
- We support the following mass units and formats: kilogramkgkgskilogramsgramggramsgsmilligrammgmilligramsmgsmicrogramµgmicrogramsugmcgmetric tonttonnetonnesmetric tonspoundlblbspoundsounceozouncesozsstoneststonestonshort tonus tonus tonstonsshort tonslong tonuk tonimperial tonimperial tonslong tons
- We support the following temperature units and formats: celsius°CCcentigradedegrees Celsiusdegrees CkelvinKkelvinsdegrees Kfahrenheit°FFdegrees Fahrenheitdegrees F
- At the moment, we do not support conversions in a calculation (e.g. 10 ft to m + 5 =)
Variables
number of guests : 9
number of guests + 1 = 10.00
number of guests + 1 = 10.00
table width : 58 cm to in = 22 13/16"
table width = 22.81
table width = 22.81
cost in CAD : 50 USD to CAD
cost in CAD CAD to USD = 50.00 USD
cost in CAD CAD to USD = 50.00 USD
Sum
- Type the word “sum” at the top of your note to activate. Antinote will try to find all the individual numbers in your note.
- All non numbers, punctuations and symbols are stripped out.
- At the moment, fractions are not supported and will lead to incorrect answers (eg. 1 1/4 eggs)
- You can type "//" at the beginning of a line to make it a comment. This will prevent it from being summed.
Average
- Type the word “avg” at the top of your note to activate. Antinote will try to find the average of all the numbers in your note.
- All non numbers, punctuations and symbols are stripped out.
- At the moment, fractions are not supported and will lead to incorrect answers (eg. 1 1/4 eggs)
- You can type "//" at the beginning of a line to make it a comment. This will prevent it from being averaged.
Count
- Type the word “count” at the top of your note to activate.
- You can type "//" at the beginning of a line to make it a comment. This will prevent it from being counted.
- Item: Every non-empty line, not including the first line, is counted.
- Reading Ease: I learned while making Antinote that everyone uses a slightly different formula to estimate syllable count, and thus Grade Level and Reading Ease scores will vary depending on what app you use.
Code
Design Intent: Note intended to be an IDE, the code keyword is meant for temporarily holding code snippets for review or limited editing.
- Type the word "code" at the top of your note to activate.
- Add a language after a colon, (e.g. "code: py") to enable syntax highlighting.
- If you don't add a language, Antinote will use the default language from Settings > Misc.
- Choose your syntax highlighting theme in Settings > Misc.
- With nothing selected, if your cursor is inside a code block, ⌘C will copy the code block contents.
- Inside "code" notes, the following is disabled: indent stripping, all hyperlink features.
Search
Design Intent: If necessary, offer a way to locate an old note. Also use this area for basic note management.
Antinote is meant for temporary notes, so storing, organizing, and searching features will continue to be barebones.
- When nothing is in search, all notes will be shown.
- When a search term is entered, Antinote will only show notes that contain that search term.
- ⌘ + F Search notes
- ↑ / ↓ Navigate search results
- Enter Promote selected result to front of notes
- Esc Close search
Find and Replace
Design Intent: For quick text block replacements.
- Search and replace text in the current note.
- Click the "Aa" icon to make case sensitive searches.
- Contains: Search for text that contains the search term.
- Matches Word: Search for the whole word.
- Starts with: Search for lines that start with the search term.
- Ends with: Search for lines that end with the search term.
- Regex: Search for text that matches a regular expression.
- When Find and Replace is opened, all links are expanded.
- ⌘ + Shift + F Open Find and Replace
- Enter (while in search field) Go to next match
- Shift + Enter (while in search field) Go to previous match
- Tab (while in search field) Open replace
- Enter (while in replace field) Replace
- Shift + Enter (while in replace field) Replace all
- Esc (while in search or replace field) Close Find and Replace
Screenshot to Text
Design Intent: Instantly work with complexly formatted text in images.
- Drag (or paste) an image into Antinote to convert it to plain text.
- Leverages macOS's native Apple Vision and does not use any server / internet connection.
- Only supports JPG, JPEG, PNG, and static GIF files.
AutoPaste
Design Intent: Eliminate repetitive ⌘+Tab / ⌘+V.
- Type
paste
and then press enter to start AutoPaste mode. - In AutoPaste, any text copied to the clipboard will be automatically pasted into the document as plain text.
- By default each item is separated by a new line. You can change this by adding a delimiter like
paste(, )
orpaste( | )
. - Press Esc or type "paste" again to turn it off. You can also click the blinking AutoPaste icon.
Timer
Design Intent: Set a subtle but informative timer the moment you realize you need one.
- Type "timer" at the beginning of a note to see the tutorial
- Unlike Keywords, Timer commands can activated at the beginning of any new line.
- "timer" - Starts a stopwatch
- "timer 3.5" / "timer 3:30" - Starts a countdown timer for 3.5 minutes
- Title a countdown timer with "timer 5: Do laundry"
- "timer 5 1" - Starts a pomodoro timer with 5 minutes of work and 1 minute of rest
- "timer pomo" - Starts a standard pomodoro of 25 mins / 5 mins
- "timer p" - Pause / Resume timer
- "timer r" - Restart current timer
- "timer s" / "timer 0" - Stop timer
- You can also click the timer to pause, or double-click it to stop.
- Esc (while timer is running) Stop timer
Settings
Simple Markdown
Design Intent: Anitnote is not a markdown editor. Use these to create basic emphasis and divisions.
- #, ##, ### - Create a heading
- **bold**, *italic*, ~~strikethrough~~, __underline__
- // - Comment out a line (comments will remove the line from checklists and calculations)
- ⌘ + / Toggle comment for current / selected line(s)
URL Schemes
Design Intent: Antinote supports a few URL schemes to help you control Antinote from other apps.
- Make sure to percent-encode the value of your parameters.
- Open Antinoteantinote://
- Create a new noteantinote://x-callback-url/createNote?content=My%20Note
- Append to current noteantinote://x-callback-url/appendToCurrent?content=My%20Note
- Overwrite current noteantinote://x-callback-url/overwriteCurrent?content=My%20Note
- Promote and open a noteantinote://x-callback-url/promoteAndOpen?noteId=123The noteId can be found in the SQLite DB or by using the search endpoint.
- Toggle pinned statusantinote://x-callback-url/togglePin
- Trigger global hotkeyantinote://x-callback-url/hotkey
- Search notesantinote://x-callback-url/search?searchTerm=My%20Search%20Term&x-success=your-callback-urlWill send the following in the callback as serialized JSON:[ "id": UUID, "content": String, "lastModified": String ]
- Reload DB (Advanced) - for when your script is altering the SQLite DB directly and want those changes to reflect in Antinote.antinote://x-callback-url/reloadDB
Color Themes
Design Intent: Offer beautiful themes inspired by my childhood.
- Choose a theme in Settings > Visuals.
- Choose a theme for light mode and dark mode by clicking on the Sun and Moon icons.
Settings
Theme Maker
- Create your own theme with the Theme Maker.
- Once you have your custom theme JSON file, go to Settings > Visuals to open your theme folder, and place your JSON file in the folder. Finally, in Settings > Visuals, click "Reload Custom Themes".
- Browse and download community themes here: Community Themes.
Paper Types
Design Intent: Bring some of the charm from the world of Japanese and Korean stationary.
- Choose a theme in Settings > Visuals.
- Note that line spacing for lists when using lined paper differ than when using blank paper.
Settings
Text Size
- Choose a text size in Settings > Visuals.
- ⌘ + Increase text size
- ⌘ - Decrease text size
Settings
(BETA) Translucent Mode (macOS 15+ only)
- This mode will turn Antinote's background translucent using macOS's native materials.
- You can adjust the opacity of the theme's background on top of the translucence.
- Note that translucence settings are directly related to the system's light/dark mode - so using light themes on dark mode (and vice versa) will look pretty bad in translucent mode.
Settings
App Management
Design Intent: Slot seamlessly into optimized workflows. Don’t take up more space than needed.
Pin Antinote to top
- This will pin the Antinote window above other windows.
- Currently does not support full screen mode.
- ⌘ + P Pin/Unpin Antinote to Top
Close and open window
- Close the window using ⌘ + W
- Hide/Show using ⌘ + O, toggling the Global hotkey (⌥ + A), or clicking the button in the status menu. If you use multiple spaces, Antinote will appear on the currently active space.
- ⌘ + W Close window
- ⌘ + O Hide/Show while Antinote is focused
- ⌥ + A Hide/Show anytime - Global Hotkey
Dock + Menu Bar
- You can show Antinote in Dock mode, Pseudo Menu mode, both, or neither.
- If it shows neither in the status menu or dock, it will only be accessible via the Global Shortcut, or a launcher (eg. Spotlight, Alfred, Raycast).
- Using the app in [neither] mode will also prevent the system menu from showing up. Though all system menu options are accessible via the app UI.
- Antinote will show over full-screen apps in Pseudo Menu mode and Traditional Menu mode.
- At the moment, going full screen when using [neither] mode will lead to a bug where you can't un-fullscreen the window.
- In settings, you can set Antinote to auto-close whenever it is not in focus and not pinned. This is helpful when using it in pseudo-menu mode on top of full screen apps.
Settings
(BETA) Traditional Menu Bar with Dropdown Note + fullscreen support
- This mode will put Antinote in the traditional menu bar with a note that drops down from the icon.
- This dropdown will appear fullscreen notes.
Settings
Raycast / Alfred
- Antinote is available in the Raycast store and as an Alfred workflow.
- In both, you can create notes (with or without content), search notes, and pin/unpin Antinote
- Huge props to @pan_kacper for creating these.
Download Methods
Direct
- Access the latest and previous versions of Antinote from the Captain's Log.
- Note that your license, notes, and preferences will all retain even if you overwrite an existing version of Antinote with a new one.
Homebrew
- Antinote is available on Homebrew via:
brew install --cask antinote
.
SetApp
- Antinote will be a part of the SetApp subscription bundle from May 2025.
Notes Management
Design Intent: Encourage notes to be temporary and ephemeral. Minimize the cognitive load of choosing what to keep or delete.
Notes Storage
- Notes are stored locally in a SQLite databases locate at: ~/Library/Containers/Antinote/Data/Documents/notes.sqlite3
- They are never sent to a server.
- They can be exported individually or in bulk for import into another app.
Settings
Expiring Notes
- Notes that have not been modified for some time will auto-delete.
Settings
Auto-Backup
- Antinote will create backups of your entire note database every 3 hours, and keep the most recent 12 (change both in Settings > Notes).
- In Settings > Notes, there is a button to open the folder containing the backups and your current notes (notes.sqlite3).
- Notes and backups are stored locally in a SQLite databases locate at: ~/Library/Containers/Antinote/Data/Documents/notes.sqlite3
- To restore a backup: Quit Antinote, rename a backup file to "notes.sqlite3", and restart Antinote.
Settings
Export
Design Intent: Make it as easy as possible to collaborate with other note apps to encourage permanent note-taking elsewhere. Antinote should be a companion to them, not competition.
Quick export
- One-click export or send to your dedicated notes app.
- Defaults to exporting as txt.
- ⌘ + S Quick export
Settings
Export to Plain Text
- Allows you to save the note as a .txt file.
Settings
Export to Markdown
- Allows you to save the note as a .md file.
Settings
Send to Obsidian
- Uses URL Schemes to create a note in Obisidan.
- You can specify which vault you want the note in.
Settings
Send to Bear
- Uses URL Schemes to create a note in Bear.
Settings
Send to Apple Notes
- Uses Apple Shortcuts to launch Notes and add the content. Shortcuts should automatically close afterwards.
- You can download the premade Antinote Shortcut in settings, or here.
Settings
Custom Export via URL Scheme
- Allows you to export to any app that supports URL Schemes.
- Use {CONTENT}, {TITLE}, {DATE} in the URL to insert the current note's content, title, and date.
- Note that schemes where the content is in a url path instead of a query parameter will replace "&" with "+" and "%" with " percent".
- Append to existing Obsidian note:obsidian://new?vault=Main&name=AppendingNoteTitle&append=true&silent=true&content={CONTENT}
- Notebooks:notebooks://addnote/{CONTENT}&title={TITLE}
- Any Apple Shortcutshortcuts://run-shortcut?name=sendToChatGPT&input=text&text={CONTENT}shortcuts://run-shortcut?name=createEvent&input=text&text={CONTENT}&date={TITLE}
Export all notes
- Will export all notes as a .zip of .txts
Updates
- On second launch, Antinote will ask you if you want to auto-check for updates.
- You can manually check for updates in the settings.
- Found a bug or want a feature? Join our Discord.
Settings
Usage Activity
- As of 1.1.7, Antinote no longer tracks any usage activity.