How it works

Capture → compile → brief → govern.

Hippo builds a sealed brain for each project, quietly, from the tools where you already work — then briefs whatever AI you're using with the right context before it acts. No second brain to garden. No setup ritual.

Capture

Read on-device, from your own work. Conservative by default.

Compile

A small model on your Mac turns raw input into a sharpening brain.

Brief

Ask for a briefing. The right Context Packet lands in your AI.

Govern

Per-project walls, a receipt on every fact, and a logged Consent Ledger.

01
Capture

From your own work — on-device

Hippo reads your chats, docs, and notes locally, on your Mac, using Apple's on-device intelligence. Nothing is shipped off to be read by us. Capture is default-off, scoped to only what you choose, and conservative by design: Hippo remembers less than it could, on purpose.

When you want to be sure something is filed, capture is manual and reliable. Select text in any app, right-click, and choose Services → “Add to Hippo” — or type it straight into the menu-bar popover. Each capture shows which project it'll be filed under — and stays editable later.

  • Right-click → Services → “Add to Hippo” on selected text — works in most Mac apps
  • Type it in — quick-add in the popover, or a project's Brain view
  • Quick-capture hotkey (select → grab) — arriving soon
02
Compile

A sharpening model of your work

The Memory Compiler runs right on your Mac. It dedupes, resolves contradictions by fact type, and lets stale facts decay so old assumptions don't outlive their truth. The more you work inside a project, the sharper that project's brain becomes.

Because the compile step is a small model on your hardware — not our servers — your raw material never leaves the device. Every memory is structured: a claim, a source, a confidence, a freshness. That structure is what makes a packet trustworthy later.

  • Runs locally on Apple Intelligence (macOS 26+, Apple Silicon) — support for older Macs is on the way
  • Dedupes and resolves contradictions instead of piling up notes
  • Stale facts decay; pinned facts persist; you stay in control
03
Brief

One click, any AI — the Context Packet

Tell Hippo what you're about to do and click “Get my briefing.” It assembles the right Context Packet from that project's sealed brain; “Copy & open” takes you straight into ChatGPT, Claude, Docs — paste, and the AI already knows the score. A floating Brief bar sits one click away in the menu bar; the global hotkey (double-tap Control) is on the way.

A packet isn't a memory dump. It's a briefing: the right five memories, never five hundred — each cited to its source with confidence and freshness, plus what was withheld, what's uncertain, and what the agent must not do. And you can share it: drop a packet into a doc or Slack thread and it's useful even to people who don't use Hippo yet.

60 seconds · no account · no API keys

Anatomy of a packet

What lands at your cursor.

Every row is scoped to one project and traceable to its source. The footer carries the ledger id — and a reminder that every other project is sealed off.

get_context_packet()Acme Corp
Confidence high. B2B SaaS, mid-market HR buyers intake · 95%
Confidence high. Brand voice: warm, no jargon CMO · today
Confidence unconfirmed. Budget ~$50k (unconfirmed) slack · 0.7
Don't mention the competitor teardown — confidential
Unknown: their 2026 headcount plan
ledger #8f2a · other projects sealed off
  • Cited facts. Each memory carries its source and a confidence dot — green for solid, amber for unconfirmed.
  • Do-not rules. The amber line tells the agent what to keep out of the work. Confidential stays confidential.
  • Honest unknowns. A packet names what it doesn't know, so the agent doesn't guess.
  • Project tag. The header names the project — here, Acme Corp, an example project. Everything else is walled off.
  • Logged & shareable. A ledger id ties the packet to the Consent Ledger; the share pill makes it a portable artifact.
Govern

Per-project walls. Logged access.

A project is an isolated, sealed brain. One project's AI never sees another's data, and you can prove it. Every time an agent reads, every approved write, every revocation — it's all in the Consent Ledger, aligned like a bank statement.

  • Per-project confidentiality walls. Scope a packet to one project; the rest stay sealed off.
  • Guarded writes. When an agent wants to write back a new fact, you approve it — and the approval is logged.
  • Honest revocation. Revoke an agent's future access in one click. We cut it off and log it — we never claim a model forgets what it already saw.
Consent Ledger
09:14Claude · read · Acme only
09:31ChatGPT · read · Acme only
11:02Accountant bot · read · finance only
14:20Grok · revoked · future access
14:21Write · "launch is Q3" · approved by you
Where it lives

A menu-bar app you summon, not open.

Hippo lives quietly in your menu bar. Three surfaces, ordered by how often you touch them.

Daily

The Brief bar

A floating glass overlay, one click from the menu bar. It builds the Context Packet and hands it to you ready to paste — over any app. (Summon-by-hotkey is on the way.)

A glance

The menu-bar popover

Anchored under the menu-bar hippo. Your project list, a once-a-day “keep or drop?” glance at what Hippo learned today, and quick-add. Lightweight — never a place you work.

On demand

The main window

Opened for onboarding, settings, and each project's Brain view — every fact has a receipt showing its source; edit, delete, pin, or set “never remember.” Calmer, for real work.

Ready when you are

Brief your AI in one click.

Start free with one project. Add unlimited projects when you're ready — sync and recovery are arriving soon.

60 seconds · no account · no API keys

Runs on Apple Silicon Macs with Apple Intelligence (macOS 26+) · free to start · no account