macOS menu bar · local-first

Keep the thread alive.

A quiet menu bar timer built around reset. Count elapsed work, feel the texture of your input, then return the session to zero with one dead stroke.

Join the waitlist → try it on three real work sessions
Session receipt no. 0091

00:45:23 elapsed
label · Draft alpha launch notes

Est. Active 30:40
Quiet gaps 4
Keys 1,840
Clicks 231

reset → 00:00:00

local-first · your keystrokes are never recorded

00:02:00

A two-minute task is a real session.

Short bursts tell you the pace of focused work. Start, reset, and the receipt is kept. Low starting energy is the point.

62:14:08

A weekend-long gap is data, not failure.

Long spans show lived time between bursts. Quiet gaps are texture you can read later — never a score, never a grade.

The loop

Reset is the primary stroke.

01 · Reset

One stroke returns the session to 00:00. No countdown, no confirm, no alert — it collapses what came before.

02 · Work

The menu bar counts elapsed time and the texture of your input — keys, clicks, and the quiet between them.

03 · Label

Name the task after the fact, when the timestamp jogs your memory. A blank label is a valid label.

04 · Return

Come back to a quiet receipt in Recent Sessions. Nothing you typed was kept — only the shape of the work.

What a session leaves behind

Four aggregate signals. No content.

Elapsed
45:23
wall-clock time on the session
Active
30:40
estimated input-backed effort
Quiet gaps
4
pauses, not interruptions
Input
1,840 / 231
keys · clicks, counted not read
Rhythm bursts · gaps · returns
By design

What it won't do.

An instrument earns trust by what it refuses. Dead Strokes stays a small, quiet utility on purpose.

Record what you type
Score your productivity
Sync to the cloud
Auto-start or interrupt your work
Nag you to label anything
Early access

Try it on three real work sessions.

One short task. One messy session. One long return. That's the whole ask.

Dead Strokes is local-first. It does not record typed content.