NoteBay DE

NoteBay

Native notes app for Mac & iPhone.

Capture fast, keep things tidy. And when an AI is supposed to pitch in, you decide folder by folder what it gets to see.

Coming soon to the App Store.

NoteBay on the Mac with the folder list and notes list, one note marked as a favorite NoteBay on the iPhone showing a notes list, one note marked in yellow
A floating NoteBay note window with the note Go-Live API-Migration sits on top of a TextEdit document

Your note floats above everything

Open any note as its own small window. It stays visible on top of the app you're working in and doesn't steal its focus while you type.

Capture without switching windows

NoteBay lives in your menu bar. ⌥⌘N opens a blank note right on top of whatever you're doing. Type two sentences, close it, move on.

A freshly opened, empty NoteBay quick note floats above a TextEdit document

Writing in blocks

## turns into a heading as you type, - [ ] into a checklist, ``` into a code block. Mark what matters in five highlight colors.

A NoteBay note with headings, bold text, and a blue highlight on the Friday 6 pm appointment

Colors and folders

Give notes a color and nest folders however you like. The folder icon tells you what your AI is allowed to see.

Folder list on the iPhone with the folders Unsortiert, Code-Snippets, Meetings, Privat, and Projekte

With you on your iPhone

Your notes reach your iPhone through your private iCloud, no separate account needed. On the go, you start a new note straight from the home-screen widget. Finding it again is what full-text search is for.

AI access via MCP

NoteBay ships with a local MCP server. AI assistants like Claude use it to read, create, and organize notes right in your library — but only in folders you've shared with a right-click. Everything else stays invisible to the AI.

What you can do with it

  • “Summarize this week's meeting notes into one overview.”
  • “Create a separate note for every open item in the minutes.”
  • “Tidy up the Projects folder and give the notes consistent names.”
  • “Find everything on the API migration and put together a status report.”

What stays protected

  • Sharing works per folder. Anything you haven't shared never shows up in a response, not even in an error message.
  • The server is reachable only on your Mac and requires a pairing token on every connection.
  • Before an AI changes anything, NoteBay saves the previous state as a snapshot — restorable with one click for 30 days.
  • Every operation goes into the audit log. There are no delete tools in the MCP.

Setup

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notebay": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:27431/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

You'll find your token and the ready-filled snippet in NoteBay under Settings → AI Access.

For AI agents there's a ready-made skill package with all tools, example calls, and the Markdown conventions.

Download skill (ZIP)

Frequently asked questions

Where do my notes live — and who can see them?
Locally on your devices and, for sync, in your private iCloud (CloudKit private database). There's no NoteBay account, no tracking, and no company servers. The MCP server binds exclusively to 127.0.0.1 — it can't be reached from the network, and every connection without a pairing token is rejected.
Does NoteBay work offline?
Yes, completely. NoteBay is offline-first: your entire library lives locally, and everything works without an internet connection — capturing, editing, search, even AI access (it runs over localhost, after all). iCloud sync catches up on changes as soon as you're back online.
What does NoteBay actually cost?
Up to 20 notes, NoteBay is free — with the full feature set: sync, MCP, export, archive, every editor feature. The note limit is the only restriction. The full version removes it: a one-time in-app purchase of €2.99, valid on all devices with the same Apple ID, with Family Sharing. No subscription, no recurring fees.
Can an AI delete my notes or get at blocked content?
No. Delete tools don't exist in the MCP — there's no trash access either. Blocked content never appears in any listing, search, or count; even a lookup by a known ID returns nothing but not_found. And before an AI changes anything, a snapshot is created automatically (kept for 30 days) that you can restore with one click. Every operation goes into the audit log.
Which devices does NoteBay run on?
On the Mac from macOS 15 (Sequoia) — including the menu bar widget, floating windows, and the MCP server. On the iPhone from iOS 18, with a home-screen widget for quick capture. The MCP server is deliberately part of the Mac app: no running app, no access. An iPad version is planned for later.
Can I get my data back out?
Any time. NoteBay exports your entire library as a Markdown folder structure: folders become directories, notes become .md files, attachments sit right next to them — with relative links. No proprietary dead end.