Semper exists because useful work context disappears too easily. A page you had open, a line in a PDF, a note you meant to revisit, or a setup detail from another app can all matter later, but most of it is not worth organizing by hand in the moment.
The first version of Semper is built around a simpler idea: your Mac should keep a searchable memory of the context around your work without turning that memory into a cloud feed.
Why local-first matters
Screen context is sensitive. It can include unfinished work, private notes, messages, documents, credentials you should not share, and personal information you did not intend to publish anywhere.
That is why Semper starts with local storage and user control. The product direction is to keep capture history on the Mac, make it searchable, and avoid uploading your work context by default.
What Semper is trying to remember
Semper is not meant to replace your notes app, browser bookmarks, or project docs. It is meant to catch the small useful trail between them:
- the app you were using
- text visible in past screen context
- useful pages, documents, and references
- the rough time something appeared
- enough surrounding context to help you return to the work
The goal is recall, not surveillance. Semper should help you find what you were doing without making you feel watched by your own computer.
What comes next
The immediate focus is getting the macOS preview stable enough to use, inspect, and improve. After that, the plan is to share more technical notes about capture, OCR, local indexing, app-aware history, and the open source release path.
For now, the core promise is straightforward: useful memory for your Mac, built with privacy as the default constraint.