Dayflow README

The project's README from github.com/JerryZLiu/Dayflow. As one markdown file: README.md.

Dayflow

A private, automatic work journal for Mac.

Dayflow understands the work you do on your Mac and turns it into a clear timeline of your day. Built from the ground up for privacy, it’s open source, local-first, and can run entirely with local AI.

JerryZLiu/Dayflow | Trendshift

Download Dayflow for Mac

Automatic Timeline

Dayflow turns raw screen activity into a chronological timeline of what you actually did, so you can reconstruct the day without timers or manual notes.

Dayflow automatic timeline view

Daily Standup

See a GitHub-style activity grid of your day, plus yesterday's highlights, today's priorities, and blockers, so you can walk into standup with the update already written.

Dayflow daily workflow and standup view

Weekly Review

See your week at a glance: when you were focused, where time went, which apps dominated, and what pulled you off track.

Dayflow weekly analytics view

Chat With Your Work Journal

Ask questions about your day/week/year and get answers grounded in your timeline instead of digging through notes, screenshots, or memory.

Dayflow chat feature answering questions about your workday

What Dayflow Does

Dayflow runs quietly on your Mac and builds a useful record of your day from your screen activity.

Feature How it works Why it's useful
Automatic timeline Dayflow captures lightweight screen chunks, analyzes them with your chosen AI provider, and turns the day into activity cards. You get an accurate work journal without starting timers or writing notes.
Context-aware summaries It looks at what you were actually doing on screen, not just which app was active. Cursor, Chrome, YouTube, or Slack become meaningful work context instead of vague app usage.
Daily standup Dayflow pulls yesterday's highlights, today's tasks, and blockers from your timeline. You can write updates in minutes and stop relying on memory.
Chat with your work journal Ask natural-language questions about your timeline and recent activity. You can recover details, explain where time went, and turn raw activity into useful answers.
Weekly review It aggregates your timeline into focus patterns, categories, app usage, and interaction graphs. You can see where the week actually went and spot the habits that helped or hurt.
Distraction tracking Dayflow identifies distracting sessions and shows them alongside focused work. You can catch drift early without manually labeling every break.
Timeline export Export your timeline as Markdown for any date range. Useful for status updates, client notes, personal reviews, or saving a searchable record.
Local-first storage Recordings, timeline data, and the app database stay on your Mac by default. You stay in control of sensitive screen history and can delete it whenever you want.
AI provider choice Use local models, Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude depending on your privacy and quality needs. You can trade off privacy, cost, speed, and summary quality instead of being locked into one backend.
Automatic cleanup Configure storage limits and let Dayflow purge old recordings automatically. You get the value of a work journal without filling your disk forever.

Why People Use It

Most time trackers tell you which app was open. Dayflow tries to understand what you were doing.

Cursor for two hours could mean shipping a feature, debugging auth, reviewing a PR, or getting lost in setup. Dayflow gives you the context, not just the window title.

Privacy

Dayflow is local-first and open source.

Your recordings, timeline, and database live on your Mac at:

~/Library/Application Support/Dayflow/

You choose how AI analysis runs:

If you choose a cloud provider, activity data needed for analysis is sent to that provider. If you choose local models, analysis stays on your machine.

Install

Download

Download the latest Dayflow.dmg from GitHub Releases:

Download Dayflow for Mac

Open the DMG, drag Dayflow into Applications, then grant macOS Screen & System Audio Recording permission when prompted.

Homebrew

brew install --cask dayflow

Requirements

Build From Source

git clone https://github.com/JerryZLiu/Dayflow.git
cd Dayflow
open Dayflow/Dayflow.xcodeproj

Select the Dayflow scheme in Xcode and run it.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. If you are planning a larger change, open an issue first so the scope is clear.

License

Dayflow is licensed under the MIT License.

dayflow.so · Pricing · Privacy · Guides

Dayflow (JerryZLiu/Dayflow)

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7.3K ·GitHub
Dayflow
What is this?Dayflow is a private, automatic work journal for Mac that watches your screen activity and turns it into a clear, chronological timeline of what you actually did during the day, no manual timers or notes needed.
Does it record full video of my screen, or just snapshot the activity periodically?Dayflow captures lightweight screen chunks at intervals and sends them to your chosen AI provider for analysis, which then generates activity cards rather than a raw video recording.
Which AI providers can I use, and do I need an API key?You can run analysis fully locally through Ollama or LM Studio, use Gemini with your own API key, or route through ChatGPT/Claude via their local CLI tools; no account is required if you stick to local models.
What's the tradeoff if I choose a cloud AI provider instead of local models?Choosing a cloud provider like Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude sends the activity data needed for analysis off your machine, while local models keep everything on-device at the cost of potentially lower summary quality.
Does it work on Windows or Linux too?No, Dayflow is Mac-only and requires macOS 14 or later along with Screen and System Audio Recording permission.
Where does my screen activity data go?By default your recordings, timeline, and database stay only on your Mac. If you pick a cloud AI provider instead, the activity data needed for analysis is sent to that provider.
What makes Dayflow different from a typical time tracker?Most time trackers only log which app had focus, but Dayflow analyzes what was actually on screen, so two hours in Cursor can be identified as shipping a feature versus debugging rather than just 'Cursor: 2h'.
Can I chat with my own timeline?Yes, you can ask natural-language questions about your day, week, or year and get answers grounded in your recorded activity instead of relying on memory or screenshots.
Can I export my timeline for status updates?Yes, Dayflow can export your timeline as Markdown for any date range, handy for status reports, client notes, or personal archives.
Does it help me prepare for daily standups?Yes, it surfaces yesterday's highlights, today's priorities, and blockers pulled straight from your timeline so you can write your standup update in minutes.
What are similar projects?easyread, laya, super-productivity, chatbox, screenpipe, activitywatch, taskuary, qiaomu-clipper
Which topics is it in?time, lmstudio, time-tracker, timeline, productivity-tools, screen-recording, chat, chatgpt, ollama, swift, gemini, local-first
Creator
JerryZLiu
Size
162 MB
Stars
7.3K
Updated
CommitOct 15Releasev2.7.1Oct 15
Age
1y
Commits · 90 Days