Ariv
Public Beta Open

Capture everything.
Maintain nothing.

You will not maintain your system - and the tool should be fine with that. No folders. No tags. No upkeep. Just think.

download Download for Mac macOS 12+ · Free · No account
play_circle Watch in action
Dashboard
928 notes in vault
+ New Capture
bolt Active Notes 5
Q2 roadmap planning
2026-02-05
Design system notes
check_box Tasks 12
Review pull request
Update landing page
Draft blog post
inbox Inbox 3
Quick idea for app
Book recommendation
schedule Fading 8
Meeting notes - Jan
Recipe collection
Travel planning

See it in action

A quick demo. No narration. Just the app.

play_circle Demo video coming soon

The Lifecycle of an Idea

Notes naturally flow between states based on how you use them. No sorting. No filing. No decisions.

Inbox

inbox

Quick captures and unprocessed thoughts land here first. Process them when you're ready or let them sit safely until they're needed.

Active

bolt

What you're working on right now. Recently edited notes are front and center. Once done, they automatically drift away.

Idle

history

The long-term memory. Completed tasks and old notes go idle but remain searchable and linkable forever.

Your notes follow a natural flow

Ariv matches it. No effort required.

A thought arrives
Anywhere, anytime
flash_on
One shortcut. Captured.
Decide where to file it
You're working
Deep in a project
visibility
Active notes stay in front.
Pin, star, or maintain a folder
You finish something
Move on to what's next
move_to_inbox
It fades on its own.
Archive, move, update status
You need it later
Could be weeks or months
search
Search + auto-tags find it.
Maintain folders and tag schemes

Your brain, but better

Features designed to keep you in flow, not managing files.

flash_on

Quick Capture

A global hotkey summons a floating overlay. Jot a thought, append to a note, or create new. Gone before you lose your train of thought.

today

Daily Notes

A fresh page every day with automatic date headings and task sections. Tags generate as you write. Just open today's note and start.

auto_awesome

Auto-Tagging

Tags come from your words, not your effort. Ariv reads your notes and extracts tags from content, headings, and vault-wide patterns.

psychology_alt

Ask Brain

BYOK

Chat with your knowledge base. Surface forgotten connections, find any note, and get answers from your own brain.

task_alt
New

Tasks live inside your notes

Write a checkbox in any note and Ariv picks it up. All your tasks surface on the dashboard - no separate app, no context switching. Check them off from anywhere.

Inline checkboxes Dashboard rollup Cross-note tasks
task_alt Tasks 12 open
check Review pull request
Update landing page
Draft blog post
Send weekly update
flash_on
Quick Capture

A thought arrives. Capture it. Done.

No deciding where it goes, which folder, which tag. A global hotkey summons Quick Capture as a floating overlay. Jot a thought, append to an existing note, or create a new one. It's gone before you lose your train of thought.

flash_on
Quick Capture close
Meeting notes from standup

Discussed Q2 roadmap priorities. Need to follow up with design team about the new onboarding flow...

expand_more Add to existing note
⌘ + Enter to save
flash_on Capture
link

Wikilinks

Connect ideas with [[wikilinks]]

hub

Graph View

Interactive knowledge graph

storage

Local-First

Markdown on your machine

folder_open

Your Vault

Works with Obsidian vaults

favorite

"I built Ariv because I kept failing at note-taking."

I tried them all. The complex databases, the network graphs, the rigorous systems. I spent more time organizing my notes than using them.

So I built something different. Not a better system - no system at all. You write. Tags emerge from your content. Lifecycle flows from your behavior. You never file anything. You never maintain anything. You just think.

F

Founder

Ariv

Early adopters

star star star star star

"I pointed Ariv at my messy vault and everything was just... findable. No folders, no filing, no setup. I never think about where things are anymore."

NN

N.N.

Senior Product Designer

star star star star star

"The lifecycle buckets are a game changer. I pointed Ariv at my messy Obsidian vault and within seconds I could see which notes were still active and which ones had faded. Exactly what I needed."

DT

D.T.

Software Developer

Completely Free

No trials. No tiers. No credit card. Just download and start thinking.

check
Unlimited notes & auto-tagging
check
Lifecycle tracking & weekly review
check
Wikilinks, backlinks & graph view
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100% local & Obsidian compatible

Ariv

Beta - Actively Developed

Free
$0 . No catch.
download Download Now macOS 12+ · No account needed

Frequently asked

Does Ariv work with my existing Obsidian vault? add
Yes. Point Ariv at any folder of markdown files and it reads them as-is. No migration, no import, no conversion. Your existing folder structure, tags, and wikilinks all carry over. You can even use both apps on the same vault.
What file format does Ariv use? add
Plain markdown (.md) files in a folder on your machine. Ariv never converts, wraps, or locks your files into a proprietary format. If Ariv disappeared tomorrow, every note is still right where you left it.
Is my data private? add
Completely. Ariv is local-first - your notes live on your machine, not our servers. There's no account, no cloud, and no data leaves your computer. AI features (like Ask Brain) are opt-in and use your own API key, so the data relationship is between you and your chosen AI provider.
How does auto-tagging work? add
Ariv analyzes your note content, headings, and vault-wide patterns to suggest tags automatically. It's all done locally using heuristics - no AI required, nothing leaves your machine. Tags are suggestions you can accept, edit, or ignore.
Is there a mobile app? add
Not yet. Ariv is desktop-first - Mac and Windows. Quick Capture from the menu bar handles the "thought in the moment" case without needing your phone. Mobile is on the roadmap but we're focused on getting the desktop experience right first.
Will Ariv always be free? add
The core app is free with no artificial limits. Local-first means every user costs us nothing to support - no servers, no accounts. If we ever introduce a paid tier, it would only be for infrastructure that costs real money to run (like cross-device sync), never for features that work locally.
How many notes can Ariv handle? add
Ariv has been tested with vaults of 5,000+ notes. Search, tagging, and lifecycle tracking all use SQLite with full-text search, so performance stays fast even as your vault grows.

Stop maintaining. Start thinking.

Your best ideas are waiting for a place to live.

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