Your thoughts,connected.
A native Mac knowledge manager for notes, ideas and everything in between.
Write in Markdown. Link your thoughts. See the connections.
Your notes stay in a folder you control.
macOS 14+. Free. No subscription. No account required.
Thinking shouldn’t require a system.
I wanted somewhere to put the things I learn, the things I’m working on, and the things I haven’t figured out yet.
Most knowledge apps turn that into a project. Databases. Accounts. Sync. Plugins. Settings.
So I built something simpler. Skein is a native Mac app that puts your notes in a folder you control and gets out of the way.
Tomasz
Brighton, 2026
Your files
Ordinary .md files in a folder you choose. Open them anywhere.
Runs offline
No sync. No login. Nothing leaves your Mac.
Plain Markdown
Wikilinks, tags, YAML frontmatter. No proprietary format.
No subscription
Free. No paywalled tier. No cloud plan.
The local graph
See what’s around an idea.
A note is never really just one note. Skein shows the things connected to what you’re reading — what leads to it, what it leads to, what’s beside it, and what’s related.
The local graph isn’t a giant map of everything you’ve ever written. It’s the neighbourhood around the idea you’re thinking about now.
Parents
Notes that lead here.
Children
Ideas this note points towards.
Siblings
Other notes in the same place.
Related
Notes connected through tags and links.
Zones are inferred from your folders and your links. Nothing to label by hand.
Connections
Links that actually lead somewhere.
Write [[a wikilink]] and keep going. Skein handles the rest.
Backlinks show you who points to the current note. Outgoing links show where you’re going. Unlinked mentions help surface ideas you haven’t connected yet.
No manual database maintenance. No relationship editor. Just write.
Backlinks
See every note that points here, with its surrounding context.
Outgoing links
See where this note leads.
Tags
See the tags on this note and how they're used across your vault.
Outline
Jump straight to any heading.
Your files
Your notes. Your folder. Your knowledge.
Skein doesn’t own your notes. They’re ordinary Markdown files in a folder you choose.
Open them elsewhere. Back them up yourself. Put them in version control. Move them to another Mac.
Skein’s index is derived from your files. Delete it and Skein can build it again. Your knowledge doesn’t depend on the app.
A folder in Finder
~/Notes
Skein reads it
index derived
Still just Markdown
note.md
Plain files
Nothing hidden
- No proprietary note format.
- No database holding the original content.
- No cloud account required to read your own notes.
Finding things
Remember writing it. Find it anyway.
You shouldn’t have to remember which folder you put something in.
Search the vault and Skein ranks the results by relevance, giving titles and headings the weight they deserve. Or press ⌘O and jump straight to a note.
Quick switcher
⌘OJump between notes without leaving the keyboard.
Full-text search
⌘⇧FSearch the whole vault and see the matching context.
Command palette
⌘PEvery important action, one shortcut away.
What makes Skein different
The graph is for thinking.
Not a tangled map of every file. Skein puts the current note at the centre and gives its relationships a place you can understand.
The index isn't your knowledge.
The index can disappear and come back. Your Markdown files are what matter.
The interface stays out of the way.
No plugin marketplace. No dashboard to configure. No endless settings before you can start writing. Just your notes.
It feels like a Mac app.
Native SwiftUI and AppKit. Native keyboard shortcuts. Native light and dark appearance. Fast launch. Works offline.
Everything you need.
Write naturally
Markdown editing without making you stare at Markdown syntax. Wikilinks, tags, headings, lists, code, callouts and frontmatter.
Organise without organising
Folders give your notes structure. Links give them meaning. Skein doesn't ask you to build a system before you can use it.
Understand a note
Backlinks. Outgoing links. Tags. Properties. Outline. Everything around the note is one click away.
Work the way you work
Tabs. Split views. Reading mode. Quick switcher. Command palette. Keyboard-first when you want it. Quiet when you don't.
Light or dark. Your call.
Skein follows your system appearance, or you can choose. Either way, your notes stay readable.
Built for the way ideas grow.
Plain Markdown
Your notes remain ordinary .md files.
Wikilinks
Connect one thought to another with [[links]].
Local graph
See the neighbourhood around the note you're reading.
Backlinks
Discover what already points to an idea.
Full-text search
Find anything in your vault.
Quick switcher
Jump between notes with ⌘O.
Command palette
Keep the whole app at your fingertips with ⌘P.
Properties
Typed YAML frontmatter without making it feel like a database.
Tags
Organise ideas without forcing them into folders.
Daily notes
A place to capture what's happening today.
Split view
Read one note while working on another.
Reading mode
When you just want to read.
Light & dark
Looks right in either appearance.
Native Mac
SwiftUI + AppKit. No browser runtime.
Free. By design.
Skein isn’t a subscription product. There isn’t a cheaper version hiding behind a paywall. There isn’t a cloud plan you need to keep your notes working.
The app is free. Your notes are yours.
Free, but not free to build.
If Skein earns a place in how you think, you can chip in towards the time. Entirely optional, and it doesn’t unlock anything.
Click to explore.
Every screen below is the real app.
Made for people who think in notes.
Skein is for the people who have a folder full of Markdown files, a thousand half-formed ideas, and no desire to turn their life into a productivity system.
“The graph finally feels useful instead of impressive.”
“I can see how my notes connect without having to maintain another system.”
“It feels like a Mac app, not a website pretending to be one.”
Illustrative quotes. These will be replaced with verified user reviews once Skein has them.
Your notes are already yours.
Skein just helps you see them differently.
Free. Native. Local. Plain Markdown.
Get Skein - FreemacOS 14+.
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Skein
A personal knowledge manager for your Markdown files.
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