Scratchd Desktop
Notes that stay plain files
Only for Mac
$4.99
Also Included In
Mac
Every note is a plain file in a folder you choose, so it outlives the app. No account, works offline. New: the Stack, for the thought that needs somewhere to go.
Scratchd is a notes app for people whose notes are half prose and half config.
You paste a JSON payload into a note and it renders as a browsable tree instead of a wall of grey text. You open a .proto schema and field types become links you can jump through. You keep a scratchpad of half-formed ideas in the same place you keep the YAML you're debugging, because in practice they're the same thinking session.
FILES, NOT A DATABASE
Every note is a plain file. Markdown, plain text, JSON, YAML, .proto, textproto and more, in a folder you choose, in your own iCloud Drive by default. Not rows in a store only this app can read.
That means you can grep them. Point your editor at them. Put the folder in a git repo. Diff them with something else. Scratchd reads the folder on every launch and reconciles from disk, so changes made outside the app are picked up rather than clobbered. The file is the source of truth. The app is the thing that's derived.
There's no account and no sign-up.
FORMATS THAT GET REAL TREATMENT
- Markdown with live preview, Mermaid diagrams, images and syntax highlighting
- JSON and YAML as collapsible trees, with theming
- Protocol Buffers: .proto schemas with a viewer and go-to-definition, plus textproto
- API-request notes. Compose a request, run it, keep the response next to your notes
- Sticky boards, a freeform canvas, and drawings
TABS
Notes you open sit in a strip above the editor, so moving between a few files does not mean going back to the list each time. Drag to reorder, Command-click to open a note in its own tab, and the tabs you had open come back when you reopen the app.
COMPARE TWO FILES
Put two files side by side, apply changes hunk by hunk, and save, without leaving the app or opening a terminal. It works on any two files you can reach, not just notes in the library.
CAPTURE WITHOUT CEREMONY
A quick capture panel, share extensions, and a menu bar presence. Today's scratchpad is created for you and always one step away. Everything new lands in one inbox. Archive, pin, tag or convert it later, or don't.
Press Control-Option-Space from anywhere and the capture panel is in front of you. macOS asks for Input Monitoring permission the first time. Scratchd watches for that one shortcut and nothing else.
The Stack is a pad of paper on Option+S, for the thought that needs somewhere to go before it goes anywhere. Swipe through the cards, and promote one into a real note if it turns out to be worth keeping.
Fleeting notes carry an expiry, and Scratchd shows you a keep-or-let-go review before anything is removed.
TASKS AND JOURNAL, IF YOU WANT THEM
Task lists with checklists, recurrence, a Today view and an Evening flag. A journal with optional prompts, moods and focus areas. Both are plain files too.
VOICE, ON YOUR MACHINE
On supported Macs, record and turn speech into notes without the audio leaving your machine. Scratchd requires on-device speech recognition and Apple's on-device models. If it cannot do the work locally, Scratchd declines rather than sending your recording elsewhere.
BUILT NOT TO WATCH YOU
No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs collecting anything. There are no servers holding your notes. They stay in the folder you picked.
WHY IT STARTS AT VERSION 10
Scratchd has been version 1 through 9 already. It just wasn't for sale. It began as a plain Markdown editor, and each version added whatever was missing that year: the scratchpad, tasks, links, the journal, the structured viewers. The tenth is the first one worth charging for.
Syncs with the Scratchd app on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
Requires macOS 26.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Tabs. Notes you open now sit in a strip above the editor, so moving between a few files does not mean going back to the list each time. Drag to reorder, Command-click a note to open it in its own tab, and the tabs you had open come back when you reopen the app. Settings, Editing, Tabs lets you choose whether opening a note reuses one tab or always makes a new one.
Compare two files side by side, including API requests and large JSON.
Stack. A pad of paper on Option+S, for the thought that needs somewhere to go before it goes anywhere.
Text from pictures. Paste a screenshot into a stack note and the words come out of it, on device.
Open Quickly on Command-P, Recent Files on Shift-Command-E, and search across the whole library rather than the section you are in.
A window listing every keyboard shortcut, on Control-Command-slash.
Links can hold API endpoints, and a saved link can become a request. A response now shows its headers above the body, folded away until you want them.
A scratchd command inside the app bundle, for opening files from the Terminal.
Opening a file from a folder in the sidebar gives it a tab, and the note you leave keeps your place in it.
Lists can tidy themselves. A switch in Settings, Stack, Lists moves ticked items below the ones still to do, when you leave the note rather than while you are typing in it.
A slow iCloud download now tells you it is waiting, instead of looking like nothing is happening.
Typing, scrolling and the Stack are faster, opening a large folder no longer stops the window responding, and your words are safer: leaving a note waits for it to save and keeps you there if the save fails, a save iCloud turns down is kept and tried again, and anything typed while a save was failing is kept too.
The developer, Divya Duvvuri, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Divya Duvvuri
- Size
- 16.2 MB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
Requires macOS 26.0 or later.
- Mac
Requires macOS 26.0 or later.
- Mac
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
9+
- 9+
- Contains
Health or Wellness Topics
- Copyright
- © 2026 Divya Duvvuri

