ActiveDiaryTonight, 8:00 pm
What was the best part of today — and did you notice it while it was happening?
ActiveDiary is a Mac diary that asks first. Once a day, at a time you pick, it opens a small window with one good question about your day, listens to the answer, asks a follow-up or two, and keeps the conversation as your diary.
How an evening goes
It opens on its own
At the time you chose, even if you forgot. No app to remember to open, no blank page.
It asks about your actual day
Something specific: the plan you mentioned last week, the rainy weekend, the dentist appointment on your calendar.
You answer, it follows up
A question or two more, the way a curious friend would. Say you're done whenever you like.
Rate the day, if you want
Five faces, from rough to great. Over time, the pattern is worth seeing.
It's saved, tagged, and remembered
Your entry, the whole conversation, and anything worth remembering for next time.
ActiveDiaryYou said you'd finally call your sister this week. Did you get to it?
YouYes! We talked for an hour. She's moving back to Portland.
ActiveDiaryAn hour — that sounds like more than logistics. How do you feel about having her closer?
Choose who's asking
The same diary can ask in a different voice. Here's one question, four ways.
You said you'd finally call your sister this week. Did you get to it?
Or type any name — a favorite author, a coach, your grandmother — and it will do its best.
What it keeps track of, so you don't have to
What matters to you
It picks up the people, work, and interests you mention, and asks about them now and then — lightly, never as an interrogation.
What's off-limits
Tell it once that a topic is closed, and it never brings it up again.
Your plans
Mention a plan and it checks in later. With your permission, plans become reminders in Apple's Reminders app, and ticking one off there counts.
The day around you
Your local weather and your upcoming calendar events, so questions fit the day you're actually having. Say you're heading somewhere, and it knows the forecast there.
The week, on Sundays
A short summary of your week appears in the window on Sunday.
The long view
Once a day, on request, a deep read of your whole diary: how your mood moves, what lifts it, what keeps coming back.
Where your words go
Stays on your Mac
- Your diary entries and conversations
- What it has learned about you, and the topics you've closed
- Your mood ratings and analyses
Leaves your Mac
- Conversation text, sent to Anthropic's Claude to write each question, tag entries, and write summaries
- Your city, and any place you mention traveling to, sent to Open-Meteo for weather — never diary text
- Reminders you allow, synced by Apple through your own iCloud
No account, no sign-up. A good rule of thumb: don't tell it anything you wouldn't type into a Claude chat yourself. ActiveDiary is a journaling companion, not therapy or a mental health service.
Questions
What does it cost?
Nothing during early access, with no account and no API key of your own. If that changes, it will be said plainly here and in the app first.
Which Macs does it run on?
Any Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia or later, Apple Silicon or Intel. It's signed and notarized, so it opens like any app you download. It needs an internet connection while you write.
Can I change when it asks, or skip a day?
Pick any time in Settings. If you're busy, close the window; it will ask again tomorrow.
How do I get my diary out?
View it any time in your browser, or export the whole thing as a plain Markdown file from the ActiveDiary menu.
How do I remove it?
Settings has an Uninstall button. You choose whether your diary is deleted too or kept.
Something broke, or I have an idea.
Use Send Feedback in the app, or this short form. No sign-in needed, and only the developer reads it.