Amber Notes

The notes app your AI can actually use. Apple Notes-style notes for iPhone and Mac that ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code and Codex can read and edit.

Download for Mac  ·  iPhone coming soon  ·  ambernotes.app

What it does

• AI edits you can see and undo. Whatever an assistant writes is tinted and labeled with its name, and one tap undoes it.
• Version history. Every change keeps the previous version, with who made it: you on iPhone, you on Mac, or which AI.
• Apple Notes import on the Mac, and Evernote (.enex), Google Keep (Takeout) and Markdown or text imports on the Mac and iPhone, bring your notes over.
• Sync between iPhone and Mac in about half a second.
• Connect ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code or Codex. You approve each connection in the app and choose read-only or read-and-edit.

Features in detail

• Apple Notes layout and behaviour. Folders, a note list grouped by date, pinning, search, multi-select, Recently Deleted. When in doubt, it does what Notes does.
• Markdown underneath, formatted on screen. Headings, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, code, quotes, links. The markdown syntax stays out of sight.
• Lists like Notes. Checklists (ticked items slide to the bottom), bulleted (*), dashed (-) and numbered lists. Return continues a list, Tab nests it.
• Tables you edit cell by cell, including typed columns (number, date, yes/no).
• Sub-notes. Link a note inside another, like a folder inside a page.
• Files and images inside a note: paste, drag in, or attach. PDFs open in Quick Look.
• Live sync. Typing on one device shows up on the others in about half a second. Edits made on two devices at once are never silently lost.
• Share a note as a web page with a private link, and stop sharing at any time.
• AI access over MCP. Connect ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code or Codex. You approve every connection inside the app and pick read-only or read-and-edit. Every change an assistant makes keeps the previous version.
• Apple Notes import on the Mac, and a menu bar item for quick capture.
• Evernote import. Each exported notebook (.enex) becomes a folder, with checklists, tables, images, PDFs, dates and tags kept. Importing the same export again skips what's already here.
• Google Keep import. From a Google Takeout download: text and checklists, labels as folders or tags, pins, dates and images. Archived notes come only if you ask, into an Archive folder.
• Markdown or text import. A folder or .zip from Obsidian, Notion, Bear, Joplin, Logseq, Simplenote or Standard Notes: subfolders become folders, linked images and files come along, front-matter dates and tags are kept, and wiki links become plain titles.
• Private by default. Sign in with Apple or email. No ads, no analytics, no tracking. Delete your account from Settings.

How it's built

The Xcode project is generated from project.yml with XcodeGen. Folder and target names still say "Pane", the app's working name.

Build from source

You need macOS 26 with Xcode 26, Homebrew, and Docker (for the local Supabase stack). A fresh clone runs entirely on your machine.

brew install xcodegen supabase/tap/supabase deno pnpm

git clone https://github.com/emilwagman/amber-notes.git
cd amber-notes
supabase start            # local Postgres, Auth, Storage and Functions on ports 56420–56429
xcodegen generate
open Pane.xcodeproj       # run the "Pane" scheme on "My Mac" or an iPhone simulator

The app talks to the local stack through Config/Backend.xcconfig, which carries Supabase's standard local-only development key. To point your builds at a real project, create Config/Backend.local.xcconfig (gitignored) with your own PANE_SUPABASE_URL, PANE_SUPABASE_KEY and PANE_SHARE_URL.

Running on a physical device needs your own Apple team. Change DEVELOPMENT_TEAM in project.yml, and the bundle ids if you like.

Tests

scripts/qa-test.sh                                   # Mac unit and interaction tests
deno test --allow-all supabase/functions/mcp/notes.test.ts
scripts/mcp-e2e.sh                                   # MCP end-to-end, against the local stack
scripts/share-e2e.sh                                 # share links end-to-end, against the local stack
(cd web && pnpm install && pnpm test && pnpm build)  # share site

The interaction tests drive the real editor in an offscreen window, so they never move your mouse or take focus.

Run your own backend

Everything the app needs runs on one Supabase project:

1. Create a project at supabase.com and put a personal access token in .env as SUPABASE_ACCESS_TOKEN=sbp_….
2. Run scripts/deploy-backend.sh <project-ref>. It links the project, applies the migrations, deploys the functions, pushes the auth settings, and writes Config/Backend.local.xcconfig.
3. For share links, deploy web/ to any Next.js host and set PANE_SHARE_URL to it.

Connect an AI

In the app, open Settings → Connect an AI and follow the steps for your client. ChatGPT and Claude get a plain server address, https://mcp.ambernotes.app, and ask Amber Notes for permission through OAuth: a page on ambernotes.app opens, where you answer in the app or sign in and answer on the web. Claude Code and Codex get a command with a revocable token. Connections are listed in Settings, where you can disconnect each one.

Privacy and security

• Your notes are readable only by your account: row-level security applies to the app, the AI server and direct API calls alike.
• AI tokens are stored as hashes and can be read-only.
• Shared pages are public to anyone with the link. The app warns before creating one, and a page stops working the moment you stop sharing.
• Privacy policy · Security policy

License

MIT. Made by Emil Wagman at Incredible.