NotchShelf

NotchShelf is a local-first macOS notch productivity app built inside the NotchApp Xcode project. It keeps recent clipboard items, temporary files, quick notes, and keep-awake controls close to the notch without using Notification Center or a persistent menu bar item.

Features

• Notch-only panel: compact black SwiftUI/AppKit panel anchored around the notch, with no Dock icon and no visible menu bar item.
• Clipboard history: tracks recent copied text and links, deduplicates entries, supports search, copy-back, delete, clear recents, and local JSON persistence.
• Link and text handling: link items open in Safari from the left icon; text items open in a selectable detail view so partial text can be selected.
• Favorites: save clipboard items into custom folders with optional titles, search saved items, move favorites between folders, and delete custom folders.
• Temporary file shelf: drag files into the notch/panel to copy them into local app storage, then reveal, copy path, drag out, AirDrop, pin, multi-select, or remove them.
• Two-day shelf retention: unpinned shelf files are treated as temporary and automatically expire after two days; pinned files are kept.
• Quick notes: add short notes from the notch panel, including Enter-to-add behavior, copy, and delete.
• Focus view: keep-awake control for two hours or until turned off.
• Local-only storage: no app network calls. Clipboard, favorites, notes, shelf metadata, and copied shelf files stay on the Mac.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Command 1: Clipboard
• Command 2: Shelf
• Command 3: Notes
• Command 4: Focus
• Command K: toggle Keep Awake until turned off
• Command Shift Delete: clear recent clipboard history
• Enter: add the current quick note

Local Storage

NotchShelf stores data under:

~/Library/Application Support/NotchShelf/

Important files:

• clipboard.json: recent clipboard metadata
• clipboard-folders.json: custom favorite folders and saved clipboard items
• notes.json: quick notes
• shelf.json: shelf file metadata
• Shelf/: copied shelf files

Removing a shelf item deletes only the app-managed copy in Shelf/, never the original source file.

Permissions

• Pasteboard access is used for clipboard history and copy-back behavior.
• File shelf actions use local file access for files the user explicitly drops into the app.
• Keep Awake uses a local IOKit power assertion while enabled.

Build

Open NotchApp.xcodeproj in Xcode and run the NotchApp scheme, or build from the command line:

xcodebuild -project NotchApp.xcodeproj -scheme NotchApp -sdk macosx -configuration Debug build

Run tests:

xcodebuild -project NotchApp.xcodeproj -scheme NotchApp -sdk macosx -configuration Debug test

Architecture

• AppDelegate owns the accessory app lifecycle.
• NotchPanelController manages notch/panel activation and positioning.
• NotchShelfPanelView hosts the top-level SwiftUI tabbed interface.
• Feature views live in separate SwiftUI files for Clipboard, Shelf, Notes, and Focus.
• Local persistence uses small JSON stores rather than a database.
• The old Codex task provider remains isolated behind model/provider types for later reuse, but the active UI does not expose a Codex tab.

Limitations

macOS does not provide a public API for placing third-party UI inside the hardware notch itself. NotchShelf uses an overlay-style panel anchored around the notch/menu-bar region, which is the practical approach for a personal-use notch app. External displays and Macs without a notch fall back to the same anchored panel behavior.

Roadmap

• Privacy filters for sensitive clipboard sources.
• Better folder management for favorites, including rename.
• Optional snippet expansion or multi-paste workflows.
• Shelf size limits and cleanup controls.
• Settings panel for retention, shortcuts, and launch-at-login.