Notes and tasks app for macOS
Meetings, tasks and knowledge. Local on your Mac.
Merla is a visual editor for your working knowledge: write meeting notes, turn any bullet into a task with a deadline, and file the results as knowledge – all linked, all searchable. Stored as plain files in a folder you choose. No account, no cloud lock-in.
Development channel – not meant for daily use.
- No account
- Works offline
- Your files, your folder
- No telemetry
Working knowledge gets scattered across too many tools
The notes live in one app, the tasks they produced in another, and three weeks later nobody remembers the decision. When you need it, you search five places.
Merla keeps it all connected: a task stays in the meeting note where it came up, yet shows up in your daily overview – and its result later becomes a knowledge note that remembers where it came from.
From meeting to knowledge in four steps
Capture the meeting
A new meeting note with date, participants and project. The template suggests agenda, notes, decisions and tasks – none of it is required. Just start writing.
Turn a bullet into a task
One shortcut turns any bullet into a real task with status and deadline. Text, formatting and links stay right where they are.
See everything
Today, Overdue, Upcoming and Blocked show every task from every document. Edit one there and you edit the task in the text – there is only one task model.
File the result as knowledge
Once the task is done, one command files its result as a knowledge note. Source and destination stay linked both ways.
What Merla does
One tool for notes, tasks and reference knowledge – no plugins, no Markdown, no query language.
Visual editor
Headings, lists, tables, images and PDFs like in a word processor. You never have to write Markdown.
Tasks inside your notes
Status, deadline, priority and recurrence right on the bullet. Optional reminders.
Links that never break
Link documents, people, projects, headings and single paragraphs. Renaming and moving never break a link.
Terms and abbreviations
Keep your own glossary. Searching for “CM” also finds “Capture Manager” – and vice versa, without rewriting your text.
Search that understands
Full-text search that tolerates typos, plus saved views. And a similarity search whose language model runs on your Mac. Every hit shows why it matched.
People and projects
Every person gets a page with meetings, mentions and assigned tasks. Projects and topics gather everything that belongs to them.
Decisions and templates
Decisions with rationale and rejected alternatives. Your own templates for recurring meetings – no template code.
History and trash
Every change is a revision. Compare and restore earlier versions, bring back deleted documents.
Keyboard first
Command palette, quick open, customisable shortcuts and quick capture. Plus light and dark themes and adjustable text size.
Measured, not promised
Merla is tested against a synthetic library of 10,000 documents, one million blocks, 100,000 tasks and 300,000 links. These are the results.
- Typing in a document with 10,000 blocks
- 8.6 ms
- about one frame at 120 Hz
- Quick search across 10,000 documents
- 43 ms
- results as you type
- Opening the command palette
- 23 ms
- faster than a blink
- Connections without your consent
- 0
- checked automatically
All times are 95th percentiles: 95 % of measurements were faster. Typing measured on a MacBook Pro with M1 Pro (16 GB, 120 Hz), search and palette on a Mac mini with M1 (16 GB), each with synthetic data in autumn 2026. Results on other hardware may differ.
Your data does not get lost
Nothing is overwritten
Every change is saved as a new revision. The complete version history lives in the knowledge folder itself, not in a hidden database.
Conflicts instead of data loss
When two Macs edit the same spot, the later timestamp does not simply win. Merla shows both versions and you decide.
Sync tested under stress
A simulator copies files out of order, twice, late and incomplete, and aborts saves midway. Afterwards every copy has to match.
Verified backups
The backup assistant reads the finished backup back in and checks it before it reports “successful”.
Your data stays with you
Everything lives in a knowledge folder of plain files. You choose where it lives – locally, or in a folder that a sync service of your choice brings to your other Macs.
No account, no telemetry, no cloud AI. The only connection Merla makes itself is the update check – and only after you agreed.
To be clear: the files are not encrypted. If you need protection, use FileVault or your sync service’s encryption.
Is Merla right for you?
Merla is for you if you …
- have lots of meetings and track the tasks and decisions they produce – in project management, consulting, product management or team leadership, for example.
- work with confidential material and don’t want it on someone else’s servers.
- want to write fast and do everything from the keyboard.
- want to still own your notes as files ten years from now.
Merla is not (yet) for you if you …
- want to write in the same document as others at the same time.
- work on Windows, on an iPhone or in the browser.
- want an AI to summarise your notes automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Does Merla need an internet connection?
No. Merla works fully offline. Search and similarity search run on your Mac too. Merla only goes online for the update check, and only if you agreed to it.
Where are my notes stored?
In a knowledge folder on your Mac that you choose. It consists of plain files with a complete version history. There is no Merla server and no account.
Can I use Merla on more than one Mac?
Yes. Put the knowledge folder in a folder that a file sync service of your choice keeps in sync. Merla detects parallel edits and merges them; if they contradict each other, Merla shows a conflict and discards neither version.
Do I need to learn Markdown or a query language?
No. Merla has a visual editor with a formatting bar, context menus and keyboard shortcuts. You build filters visually.
How are tasks in Merla different from a to-do list?
Tasks live right in the document where they come up, with status and deadline. The Today, Overdue and Upcoming views show those same tasks. Edits in a view go straight back to the task in the text.
Does Merla use artificial intelligence?
Merla uses no AI services and does not write text for you. Similarity search uses a small language model that ships with the app and runs only on your Mac.
Why does macOS warn me on first launch?
Merla is not notarised by Apple, so macOS says on first launch that it cannot verify the app. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click “Open Anyway” once. The SHA-256 checksum below lets you confirm your download is unchanged.
Is Merla available for Windows, iPhone or the web?
No. Merla is a native app for macOS 12 or later on Apple silicon.
Installation
- Download the file and open it. Drag Merla into “Applications”.
- Merla is not notarised by Apple, so macOS says on first launch that it cannot verify the app.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click “Open Anyway” next to Merla. You only need to do this once.
- Merla offers later updates itself. Nothing installs until you agree, and open changes are saved first.
SHA-256 checksum: d777dceaf8b5ec2bceada9fb56b94537c98518bc63acae4863f111ca2b97971b
Your working knowledge belongs to you.
Download Merla and write your next meeting note – no account, ready in a minute.
Download for macOS