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Product

Register

product

Users

mdbar begins as a personal tool for its creator and is intended to grow into a calm, dependable notes and task app for individual note-takers. People use it in short, frequent sessions from a Mac menu bar, an iPhone, or an iOS widget. They need to capture a thought, review today, check off a task, or find a note without entering a heavyweight productivity system.

Product Purpose

mdbar is a local-first notebook built around readable Markdown files, with structured task metadata only where richer behavior requires it. It keeps daily notes, general notes, reminders, recurring tasks, and carry-forward tasks synchronized through an optional Cloudflare mirror. Success means the same notebook feels immediate and trustworthy on macOS and iOS, widgets remain useful without opening the app, and users retain access to durable files they can inspect or edit with other tools.

Brand Personality

Quiet, tactile, and precise. mdbar should feel like the current menu-bar app refined to native Apple quality: minimal without being cryptic, warm without decoration, and fast enough to disappear into the user's routine.

Anti-references

  • Heavy project-management dashboards with persistent toolbars, status chrome, and card grids.
  • Notes apps that hide basic file ownership behind a proprietary database.
  • Productivity systems that require users to configure projects, tags, priorities, and workflows before capturing a thought.
  • Interfaces crowded with always-visible icon buttons or decorative glass effects.
  • Playful task animations that slow down repeated daily actions.

Design Principles

  1. Today is the center. Daily notes and today's unfinished work are always one short action away.
  2. Progressive power. Plain Markdown remains plain; lightweight directives such as #reuse add behavior without adding form-heavy UI.
  3. Local first, synced everywhere. Every edit is immediate offline, understandable on disk, and reconciled safely through revisioned cloud sync.
  4. Actions appear at the moment of intent. Keep notes visually quiet; reveal move, rename, delete, schedule, and recurrence controls contextually.
  5. Undo beats anxiety. Reversible operations and clear sync state replace unnecessary confirmation dialogs.

Accessibility & Inclusion

Meet the native iOS and macOS accessibility baseline: Dynamic Type where applicable, VoiceOver labels and meaningful reading order, minimum 44-point touch targets on iOS, sufficient contrast, reduced-motion support, keyboard access on macOS, and no meaning conveyed by color alone.