A productivity layer that lives permanently in the Mac notch — shelf, smart clipboard, quick notes, drop zone, and screenshots. No windows, no login, no telemetry.
Finally, a useful place for all those little things.
yes, that screenshot has a home now.
DESIGNED WITH CARE. AND A LITTLE CAFFEINE.
✳Lives in your notch✳No account needed✳Local-first100% CORTEX LABS ENERGY ↗
01 / MORE THAN A PRETTY ICON
Big little superpowers.
6 ways to make your day easier. Yes, we got a little carried away.
06GOOD IDEAS IN ONE PRODUCT
ϟSUPERPOWER / 01
Lives in the notch
An always-on layer pinned over the notch — no Dock icon, no window. Collapsed it's a static layer at 0 fps and ~zero GPU; Aurora and Liquid Glass only exist while you interact.
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⌘SUPERPOWER / 02
Shelf area
Park files, text, and links on a shelf that's one gesture away — a staging spot for whatever you're moving between apps.
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✳SUPERPOWER / 03
Smart clipboard
A searchable history of everything you've copied, so the thing you grabbed five minutes ago is still one keystroke away.
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And a few more tricks.
Go on. Open one.
04
Quick notes & drop zone
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Jot a note without breaking flow, and drag files into a drop zone that holds them until you're ready to file them.
05
Screenshots hub
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Capture, collect, and drag out screenshots from one place in the notch instead of hunting across your desktop.
06
Local-first, always
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Everything runs on your Mac with no account and no telemetry — your shelf, clipboard, notes and screenshots never leave it.
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The whole story, for the curious.
A closer look at what makes Cortex Shelf tick.
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Cortex Shelf turns the notch into a productivity surface that's always there and never in the way. Park files and snippets on the Shelf, recall everything you copied from a smart clipboard, jot quick notes, drop files into a staging zone, and capture screenshots — all without a window or a login. A companion face reacts to what you do, and when more than one thing is live — music, a focus session, a call, today's next event — a switcher lets you move between them without opening the panel. It's local-first by design (no account, no telemetry) and obsessively lightweight: collapsed 99% of the time, the notch is a static layer that burns zero GPU, and the Aurora + Liquid Glass interface only renders while you're interacting.
02 / LET’S MAKE THIS OFFICIAL
Are we your type?
A few practical details. No awkward first-date questions.
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THE COMPATIBILITY CHECK
A little space. A lot of potential.
For macOS. Made to feel right at home.
SMALL LAB BIG CARE
Runs on
macOS 14 or later · best on macOS 26
Price
Free
Needs
A Mac with a notch (looks great without one too)
Updates
Built-in auto-update (Sparkle)
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YOUR NEXT FAVORITE TOOL IS RIGHT HERE.
Make a little room for less chaos.
Your files, notes, and copied things. Finally in the same neighborhood.
Cortex Shelfv0.3.20
