# How Recall works > Source: https://www.joinrecall.com/how-it-works > The mechanism behind Recall: the four moves (Capture, Understand, Hold, Return), your day in the menu bar, Today, notes, Loops, projects and threads, the three cases where Recall speaks up, and what it keeps. Recall brings you back to the work. Recall follows the work on your screen, groups it into threads and projects, and brings you back to where you were after a break or an interruption. Platform: macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon (M1 or newer). Windows is in active development. The full user guide is at https://www.joinrecall.com/docs. ## The mechanism Four quiet moves, start to finish. No timers, no streaks, nothing to manage. Recall runs in the background and holds the thread for you. Recall Core, our own model, runs entirely on your Mac. **Capture. Sees the shape of your work.** The tab you stayed on, the file you edited, the message that pulled you out. Quiet, in the background, with nothing to create, tag or start. **Understand. Your work becomes threads and projects.** Related tabs, files and chats become one named thread, filed under a project Recall finds from the work itself: a repo, a document, a site. **Hold. Holds the thread while you are away.** Lunch, a Slack reply, a quick errand. Leave one line with `⌥⌘B` and Recall keeps the thread, your note and what you had open. **Return. One click back to where you were.** Not a list of recent apps. The tab, the workspace, the Claude Code or Codex chat you had open, listed and ticked. Nothing opens until you say so. ## The menu bar Your day, one click away. Click the Recall icon in the menu bar and you see your day: your active time, what is waiting on you, and what you worked on. The icon itself never changes. - **Active time.** How long you actually worked. Time away from your Mac never counts. - **Waiting on you.** One line, led by the most urgent thing, such as an agent blocked on your approval. - **Now.** The thread you are in. Click it to leave a note. - **Worked on.** Today's threads, newest first. Hover one for Resume. - **Earlier days.** ‹ steps back, up to six days. The tray always opens on today. - **Recall is on.** Pause for 15 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, the rest of the day, or until you resume. How the tray works: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/menu-bar-tray ## Today Your day as a timeline, one lane per project. Open Recall and the first tab is Today: what you worked on and when, the thread to return to, and what you owe people. Below it, today's work by project, with breaks kept apart. - **Project lanes.** One lane per project, with its time today. Click a block to open its thread. - **Return to.** The thread you most likely want back, with its open question. - **Owed.** What people asked you for and what you promised, with how long ago. - **Today's work.** Tasks by project, Active or Done. Tick one when it is finished. - **Breaks.** Shown apart from your work time, so you can see where the day went. How Today works: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/today ## Notes Leave yourself one line. When something pulls you away, press `⌥⌘B` from anywhere and type where you stopped and what's next. Smart Return shows your note first when you come back. - **Leave a note?** A prompt that never interrupts. When Recall sees you get pulled away, a small pill appears at the top right. Ignore it and it goes away. It never takes your keystrokes. - **This thread.** One line on your thread. Enter saves, Esc closes. The note leads the Smart Return card the next time you come back to that work. - **Project.** Or a note for the whole project: a deadline or a decision. It shows on Smart Return whenever a thread of that project is on the card. Done archives a note. It is never lost. How notes work: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/notes ## Loops Everything still open, in lists. Loops is a page of lists, like Reminders: people waiting on you, coding agents, your notes, and one list per project. It is strict about unfinished work, and its counts are people, agents and your notes, never guesses. - **People.** What people asked you for in Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp or Mail, and what you promised. - **Agents.** Claude Code and Codex sessions that need your approval or finished their turn. - **Notes.** Every thread note and project note you left, grouped by day. - **Tidy up.** Merge and split suggestions. Keep something as it is and Recall never asks again. How Loops works: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/loops ## Projects and threads Recall files the work for you. Projects come from the work itself: a repo, a document, a site, the people you talk to about it. They get the names people would use, and you can rename, merge or archive any of them. **Every thread keeps its own page.** What was done, your note, the windows it had open and the one you were last on. Return to session shows what will reopen before anything does. **One picker, and Recall learns from it.** Move to project works on anything: a task, a thread, a note, a request from a chat, an agent session. Recall learns from every move, and a name you give a project stays. How projects and threads work: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/projects-and-threads ## Quiet by default It speaks up in three cases. Each one is the same small card at the bottom right, and nothing pops up over a Smart Return that is already open. - **Drift reminder.** When you drift off your task. A clear detour gets a gentle reminder after about five minutes. Work that looks like research gets a longer leash. - **Ask reminder.** When something you owe sits unanswered. At most once a day for each one, never more than one an hour, and never while you are still in that conversation. - **Blocked agent.** When an agent needs your approval. With the optional hooks on, a Claude Code or Codex session that has waited five minutes for your approval gets one nudge. An agent that only finished its turn never nags. Settings, under Nudges, has three switches: Drift reminder, Smart Return (after a break) and Breadcrumb prompt (the Leave a note? pill). How nudges work: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/nudges-and-reminders ## Shortcuts When you want it, three shortcuts. They work from anywhere. Change them in Settings, under Shortcuts. - `⌥⌘R` · Smart Return: the thread you left and what is waiting on you. - `⌥⌘B` · Leave a note: on the thread you are in, or on a project. - `⌥⌘P` · Start a project: the launcher with your learned project setups. ## What Recall keeps Structured context, not a recording. Recall looks at your screen about every 15 seconds. A local AI describes what is there, then the image is discarded. What it keeps stays in a folder on your Mac. What it keeps: - Short descriptions of what was on screen - App names and window titles - Active time. Time away from your Mac never counts - Your corrections and moves, so they stick - Notes you leave with `⌥⌘B` What it never keeps: - Anything while Recall is paused, your screen is locked or you are away - Apps you exclude in Settings, under Excluded apps - Content that looks private, such as adult or dating content - DM and email body content, except the tasks from your chats - Microphone, camera, keystrokes and clipboard: never used Usage analytics and crash reports are on by default. Analytics say which screens and features get used, and neither ever carries anything from your screen. One switch in Settings, under Privacy, turns both off. Read the privacy guide: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/privacy ## Community Where Recall gets shaped. The subreddit r/joinrecall is public: anyone can read and search it. The Telegram power-user group is smaller, and the people in it see builds before they ship. ## Pricing One plan, $14 per month, or $9 per month billed annually at $108 per year. Every account starts with a 30-day free trial of the full app, no card required to begin. Paddle is the Merchant of Record. Full details are on the pricing page. ## Links - How Recall works: https://www.joinrecall.com/how-it-works - Smart Return: https://www.joinrecall.com/smart-return - AI agents: https://www.joinrecall.com/ai-agents-mcp - Docs: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs - Pricing: https://www.joinrecall.com/pricing - Privacy Policy: https://www.joinrecall.com/privacy-policy - Community: https://www.joinrecall.com/community - Site overview for AI agents: https://www.joinrecall.com/llms.txt