How GlissNotes works

Install

Pick your platform from the downloads table. Builds are not code-signed yet, so the first launch needs one extra step.

macOS

1. Open the .dmg and drag GlissNotes into Applications.
2. The first time, right-click the app, then Open, and confirm. Double-clicking shows a warning instead, because the build is unsigned.
3. Apple Silicon Macs want the aarch64 build; Intel Macs the x64 one.

Which Mac build do I need?

Apple menu → About This Mac. If the chip line says Apple M1/M2/M3/M4, take the aarch64 build; if it says Intel, take the x64 one. The download button picks for you by asking the GPU, because every Mac browser claims to be Intel in its user agent.

Windows

1. Run the -setup.exe installer, or the .msi if you deploy with group policy.
2. If SmartScreen appears, choose More info, then Run anyway.

Web and Android

Open app.glissnotes.app — nothing to install. On Android, use your browser’s Add to Home screen for an app icon and offline use.

Android and iPhone

Android has a native app you can sideload as an APK. iPhone does not yet, but the web app installs to the home screen and works offline.

Android app (APK)

1. Download GlissNotes_<version>_android.apk from the downloads table on your phone.
2. Open it. Android will ask permission to install from this source — allow it for your browser, then tap Install.
3. Needs Android 7 or newer.

Android web app instead

1. Open app.glissnotes.app.
2. Menu (three dots) → Add to Home screen.

iPhone (Safari)

1. Open app.glissnotes.app.
2. Share → Add to Home Screen.

On a phone the notes list is the home screen: tap a note to open it, and the chevron in the top left takes you back. Projects, tags, due dates and search all work; the board and the folder browser need a wider screen.

Getting started

GlissNotes opens with a welcome note and a scratchpad. Nothing is sent anywhere and no account is needed.

• New note — ⌘N / Ctrl+N, or the + above the notes list.
• Two layouts — Workspace shows the notes list and sidebar; Editor is a Notepad-style window with tabs. Switch in Settings, Layout.
• The first line becomes the title, so you rarely have to name anything.

The three views

Every note is Markdown. The control at the top right switches how you see it, and nothing is converted when you do.

Projects, tags and deadlines

Projects

Projects group notes and give them a colour. Create one with the + next to Projects in the Explorer, or from the Project row of any note. The … button on a project row — or a right-click — offers a new note, rename, a colour, and delete.

Tags

Tags cut across projects. Open a note, click Tags in its properties and type a comma-separated list. Click any tag chip to filter by it, or type #tag in the palette.

Deadlines

Set Due on a note and it joins the Due section in the Explorer. Badges are grey when far off, amber within three days, red once overdue; notes marked Done stop nagging. Upcoming shows the next seven days, Overdue everything late.

The board

Switch the list to Board and notes become cards under Draft, In progress, In review and Done. Drag a card to another column to change its status; click one to open it.

Search and the command palette

⌘K / Ctrl+K opens one box that searches note titles, contents, tags and projects, and runs every command in the app.

• ⌘F find in the current note, ⌘H find and replace — both accept regular expressions.
• ⌘P quick open by file name when a folder is open.
• ⌘G go to line in the code view.

Working with files

Beyond its own notes, GlissNotes opens files from disk. ⌘O opens a file; the folder icon in the Explorer opens a whole directory to browse, create, rename, delete and reveal files. Notes backed by a file save straight back to it and never leave your machine, even when you are signed in.

Connecting Claude (MCP)

Every desktop install doubles as an MCP server, so Claude can work in the same notes you are editing.

1. Open Settings, Claude & MCP.
2. Press Add to Claude Desktop (writes the entry into Claude Desktop’s config, keeping a backup) or Add to Claude Code (runs claude mcp add for you).
3. Restart Claude Desktop. In Claude Code, run /mcp to confirm.

Prefer to do it by hand? Copy config gives you the exact JSON:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glissnotes": {
      "command": "/Applications/GlissNotes.app/Contents/MacOS/glissnotes",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

What Claude can do once connected:

Notes Claude changes show up as soon as the app regains focus. The server runs on your computer and talks to Claude over stdio — nothing is uploaded.

Where your notes live

All notes are one JSON file, written atomically so an interrupted save cannot corrupt it.

Settings, Notes & backups shows the exact path and reveals it in Finder or Explorer.

Backups

One snapshot is written per day into a backups folder beside the notes file, and the last fourteen are kept. Pick one in Settings and press Restore; your current notes are saved as another backup first, so a restore is never destructive.

Share a note publicly

Any note can become a read-only web page, with or without an account. Right-click a note (or use Share note… in the palette) and press Create link.

• The link contains a random id, so it cannot be guessed, and the page is read-only.
• A snapshot of the note is copied to the share. Editing the note afterwards does not change what visitors see until you press Update link.
• Pick how long it lives: an hour, a day, seven or thirty days, or never expiring.
• Stop sharing deletes the share immediately and the link stops working for everyone.

Who has opened it

The share dialog lists every link you have created with a countdown, the number of views, and one line per visitor: the device they used (for example “Safari on iOS”), a partial IP address, when they first and last opened it, and how many times. Full IP addresses are never stored.

Accounts and sync

Sync is optional. Without an account everything stays on your machine.

1. Click the person icon in the activity bar, the sidebar footer, or Settings, Account.
2. Continue with Google, or have a sign-in link emailed to you.
3. Your workspace then follows you to other computers and the web app.

Sync merges per note: the most recently edited version wins and deletions propagate. Notes backed by a file on disk are never uploaded. Delete cloud copy removes the server copy and leaves this device untouched.

Privacy and cookies

This website and the web app set no cookies. There is no analytics, no tracking pixel and no advertising. Nothing about your visit is recorded.

Where your notes are stored

The web app keeps a few small keys in local storage for preferences and, if you sign in, your session. The only third-party request either site makes is to Google Fonts for the typeface.

Keyboard shortcuts

Press F1 in the app for the full list. The ones worth learning first:

Troubleshooting

macOS says the app is damaged or from an unidentified developer

The builds are not signed yet. Right-click the app and choose Open, then confirm. If it still refuses, run xattr -cr /Applications/GlissNotes.app.

Claude cannot see my notes

Restart Claude Desktop after adding the server — it only reads its config at startup. In Claude Code, check with /mcp. If the entry is missing, use Copy config and paste it in by hand.

I signed in but nothing synced

Press Sync now in the account dialog; it reports the reason if the server refuses. Notes opened from files on disk are intentionally left out of sync.

I lost something

Settings, Notes & backups, pick yesterday’s snapshot, then Restore.