macOS desktop app

The Fortress desktop app is an Electron shell that loads fortressproductivity.com and adds the system integrations you’d expect from a native app: a menu bar tray, a global quick-capture hotkey, a dock badge, and native notifications. It is signed, notarized, and updates itself in the background.

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Install

Download the latest release from the GitHub Releases page and open the .dmg. Drag Fortress into /Applications and launch it like any other app. The first launch signs you in through your default browser; from there the app remembers the session.

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First launch

When you open the desktop app while signed out, Fortress shows a compact sign-up and sign-in panel instead of the full marketing landing page. You’ve already chosen to install — the wrapped shell skips the pitch and drops you straight into the auth flow. Toggle between sign-up and sign-in from the panel itself; once you’re authenticated the app behaves identically to the web experience. The mobile app has its own focused triage surface. Plain browsers continue to see the full landing page at fortressproductivity.com.

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What you get

• Menu bar tray — quick access from the macOS status bar without focusing the window.
• Quick-capture hotkey — a global shortcut opens a compact capture window so you can drop a note into your Inbox without leaving the app you’re already in.
• Dock badge — unread question and task counts mirror the web app’s tab badge, refreshed by the desktop shell whether or not the main window is open.
• Native notifications — system notifications when an agent finishes work or asks a question.
• Single-instance lock — launching Fortress a second time focuses the existing window instead of opening a duplicate.
• Auto-update — electron-updater checks the GitHub Releases feed in the background and applies updates on next launch.

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Quick capture

Press the global shortcut from anywhere on macOS to open a small Fortress window dedicated to capturing into your Inbox. Because the window is backed by the same web app you’re already signed into, your styling and session carry over — there’s nothing extra to configure. Submit the capture and the window dismisses itself; you stay in whatever app you were in. Open the full Fortress window from the menu bar tray when you’re ready to triage what you captured. Quick capture is the recommended way to offload a passing thought, a link, or an anomaly without breaking your current focus. If you need the full app instead, click the Fortress icon in the dock or menu bar tray.

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Updates

Updates are delivered through the same GitHub Releases feed that powers the installer. When a new build is published the app downloads it in the background and applies it on next launch — no action needed. To force a check, quit and relaunch the app.

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Version numbers

Desktop builds use a CalVer version string of the form YYYY.M.D-<short-sha> — for example, 2026.4.28-3ca14c6. The date reflects when the build was cut and the suffix is the short Git SHA of the commit it was built from. Use the SHA when reporting a bug so the team can map the build back to the exact source revision. Each merge to main that touches the desktop shell automatically publishes a new release, so the version you’re running typically matches the day’s most recent merge.

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Troubleshooting