Native for macOS

Start with a note. Stay for the editor.

MeatPad is a local-first home for quick notes, Markdown, and real code projects. Search everything, fold actual syntax, tune every color, and bring your own tools—without moving your work into a browser.

Download for Mac See the workspace

macOS 14+ · No account · Plain files · Preview 0.9

Local-first Built with SwiftUI

The fast path into thought

Find the sentence.
Not the file.

Folders keep the broad shape. Full-text search finds the exact thought inside every note. Results update in the same native window, and the source remains ordinary text on your Mac.

MeatPad notes browser showing a search for local-first and matching text highlighted inside a privacy architecture note — Full-text note search · highlighted matchesLocal storage · folders · trash

A notebook that can grow teeth

Plain text when it should be. A project when it must be.

Open a folder and MeatPad becomes a serious editor: file tree, tabs, syntax-aware structure, project search, and tools that understand the document in front of you.

01 / Project workspace

Move through a codebase without losing the thread.

Browse folders, keep several files open, and edit in a distraction-free native window.

MeatPad editing a Swift project with a file tree, open tabs, syntax highlighting, and code folding controls

02 / Markdown that reads like code

Write prose and fenced code in one real editor.

Markdown structure and embedded languages stay legible, with line numbers and native text behavior.

MeatPad editing Markdown with highlighted headings, lists, links, and a fenced Swift code block

Editor fundamentals, finished

The small things are the whole thing.

⌄

Real code folding

Collapse syntax-defined regions, fold everything, or reopen exactly where you were working.

⌕

Project-wide search

Search every file, inspect grouped matches, and replace across the project from one panel.

⌃

Project-aware completion

Local completions draw from the open project, snippets, language keywords, and optional server results.

◫

Custom themes

Choose a built-in theme or tune the editor palette token by token—without restarting the app.

MeatPad project search showing matches for local-first across Swift, Markdown, and test files — Project search · grouped resultsSearch and replace · keyboard-first

Bring your own intelligence

Your language server. Your machine. No cloud middleman.

When a supported server is installed, the direct-download build connects projects to diagnostics, completion, hover information, definition, references, document symbols, and rename.

01SwiftSourceKit-LSP
02Rustrust-analyzer
03TypeScript / JavaScripttypescript-language-server
04PythonPyright

Make the editor yours

Every token has a color. You choose it.

Start with a balanced built-in theme, then adjust editor background, text, comments, keywords, strings, numbers, types, and more. The preview updates as you work.

MeatPad Themes settings showing multiple themes and editable syntax colors with a live code preview — Built-in themes · custom palettesLive syntax preview · editor colors

Local means operationally local

No account. No sync engine. No hostage data.

MeatPad’s privacy screen says what the app does in plain language. Notes and settings stay on this Mac. Export creates ordinary files. Delete Everything removes local data only after an explicit confirmation.

✓

Export on demand

Take notes and settings out as normal files.

✓

Imported commands start untrusted

Review the script, working directory, input, environment, and timeout before it runs.

✓

Deletion is deliberate

Destructive actions are visible, scoped, and confirmed.

MeatPad Privacy settings explaining local data storage, export, and the confirmed Delete Everything action

MeatPad 0.9 preview

The editor is ready.
Take it home.

Download the notarized Mac build now, free. Join the Graphic Meat list below for release notes on the road to 1.0.

Download MeatPad macOS 14 Sonoma or later · free direct download · no account required

Find the sentence.Not the file.