A journal for a clear head

Your head is full of ideas. Leave them here, and get to your day.

You open Cold Open and write out whatever is taking up room. The day’s mark is 750 words, with a counter showing how far there is to go and a bell at the end if you want one. Both can be turned off, and Focus Mode clears the bar above the page.

Every entry is a Markdown file, in a folder on your Mac that you can change whenever you like. If you choose a folder that your cloud service syncs, your entries go wherever that service takes them. Past entries are read only inside of Cold Open. To make a change, open the entry in a text editor of your choice.

The Cold Open window. The page, part way through a day. — The page, part way through a day.

What it is not

Cold Open is a journal and not a drafting tool. It has no outline and no notion of a project, and its one export writes every entry into a single Markdown file.

Your entries are plain text in an ordinary folder. They are not encrypted and there is no password on them, so anyone who can open the folder can read them, and Cold Open adds nothing on top of that. Cold Open keeps no second copy of your entries unless you export them, so it is not a backup. If the folder happens to sync, that is your cloud provider’s doing.

What it is

WritesOne Markdown file per day, named for the date.
CountsWords, and how many are left of the 750.
KeepsDays written, days in a row, days past 750.
Past entriesRead only inside Cold Open. To change one, open it in a text editor.
NetworkOnce a day it asks oddlots.shop whether a newer version exists, and a switch in Settings turns that off. Help › Check for Updates asks whenever you choose. The request names neither you nor the version you have, and nothing downloads until you choose to install.
NeedsA Mac with Apple silicon or Intel. Tested on macOS 26.

Every tool is sold under the terms set out in Principles & Terms.