Most AI tools make you explain the context before they can help. Goldfish already has it. It privately remembers what you’ve been working on across your Mac, then helps you write better from any app. Press Option in a text field to draft replies, summarize threads, rewrite sentences, or recall important details from your recent work without copying, pasting, or re-explaining the whole backstory.
Congrats on the launch you guys! Absolutely loved the onboarding and really enjoying getting to know the product so far.
The Option key functionality is really great & seamless (but is there a way to change it to the other Option key....? apparently, I use the right Option key a lot and not always for Goldfish!) 🐠
Goldfish
@josephinedt Hi Josephine!
Thank you so much, I'm happy to hear that! 🙏
Yes, you can rebind the option key to whatever you want in the settings after the onboarding! Just press the settings->shortcuts page. There you can also enable transcription.
Have you found any specific use case that goldfish is extra suitable for? 🐠
@josephinedt Awesome to hear!! Yes you can change key in Settings under Shortcuts. What have you used it for the most?
Hey, Joel. I really appreciate your innovation. I was pleasantly surprised by your project—it’s actually amazing! However, I’m a bit worried about security. Since Goldfish can see everything in every app on my computer, what guarantees do I have that it’s not actually spying on me? For example, when I’m doing something very private, how can I be sure that the info won’t be accessed by Goldfish or even stolen by hackers? Otherwise, I’m really impressed by your creative mind!
Goldfish
@denzel_gota Hey Denzel! Thank you for your comment and I'm happy to hear that you're finding Goldfish useful!
I understand what you mean - no worries! So all context that goldfish collects is saved to a local database. The only time data is sent outside the computer is when you do inline rewrite or chat with the aquarium, or when generating wiki pages. This is sent to a LLM with zero data retention.
Goldfish comes with a large blacklist and you can ask goldfish to pause tracking at any time! you can also ask goldfish not to track certain pages/domains/windows and it will follow that.
The database will be encrypted as well so even if hackers get to the actual file on the filesystem, they cannot open it as its encrypted with your authentication.
I hope this answered some of your questions and that you feel more secure with using goldfish! Do you think it would help if this was shown during the onboarding?
@denzel_gota very fair question. This is top prio for us.
The short version: your memory stays on your Mac in a local database. We do not have a backend where we can browse your data, there is no cloud sync, and AI calls have zero data retention.
You can also pause capture whenever you want, exclude specific apps or domains so they never get remembered, and delete stored history.
the context problem is real and underrated. most AI writing tools make you re-explain the situation every single time, which kills the flow. the passive memory angle is interesting, curious how it handles switching between very different work contexts (e.g. a support thread vs a technical doc vs a slack message where tone should be completely different).
Goldfish
@rnagulapalle Great question. The goal is exactly that Goldfish should adapt to the surface you're in, not just dump the same generic voice everywhere.
It combines what’s visible on screen right now with your recent/passive context, then the rewrite prompt is grounded in the actual app and field you’re typing in. So a support thread, a technical doc, and a Slack reply should all get treated differently in terms of tone, level of detail, and what context matters.
@rnagulapalle great question. Goldfish treats each surface as its own situation, not one giant context blob. The focused thread or doc comes first, then recent relevant context, then tone patterns. So a support reply, a technical doc, and a Slack message should naturally get different defaults instead of bleeding into each other 🐠
Wow, this hits right where it hurts. 🐠
The "goldfish memory" of current AI tools is easily the most frustrating part of my daily workflow. I waste so much time copy-pasting Slack threads or brief docs into Claude just to get a relevant reply. Having that context accessible natively with just the ⌥ Option key sounds like a massive productivity unlock.
Love the local database approach for privacy too, that's usually the biggest blocker for these kinds of tools.
Congrats on the launch Joel!
Quick question: how does Goldfish handle context switching? If I move from a client email to a technical dev task, does it easily separate the two "memories" when I press Option?
Goldfish
@keirodev Hey Kévin, great question!
Goldfish separates context by what you are actually doing when you press Option. It reads the focused field, the surrounding window, and relevant recent activity, then pulls in the memory that matches that situation.
So if you move from a client email to a technical dev task, it treats those as different contexts and avoid blending them. The goal is exactly to stop you from having to re-explain which thread, doc, or task you are in every time.
And yes, the local database part is a big piece of making that safe and usable.
@kar_re Awesome, thanks for the breakdown, Kaspian! That’s exactly what I hoped to hear. Having it analyze the active window and surrounding environment to filter context is super smart, definitely prevents any 'cross-project hallucinations.' I'm going to give it a spin soon. Best of luck with the launch!
Goldfish
@keirodev Thanks Kévin, really appreciate it! Would love to hear what you think once you’ve tried it.
@keirodev totally. Goldfish does not keep one shared “memory soup”. When you press Option, it starts from the app, thread, and field you are in, adds in context from your last apps. But if you jump from a client email to code, the AI will know what info is relevant and not 🐠
Andsend
Congrats on the launch! I've tried the beta and really like the UI and ambition. I'm curious: what's your own/the team's favorite use cases in everyday work?
Goldfish
@per_clingweld Thank you Per for being an early supporter and for the comment! Mostly messaging for me, but I also use it to find old tweets. Weirdly, when I can’t remember a song, I sometimes use transcription in Spotify to see if it can match it. Works 50% of the time haha
@per_clingweld thanks Per! my personal favorites are the tiny daily ones: replying to LinkedIn/Slack/email without re-explaining the context, turning a messy text draft into ready text in my tone, and quickly remembering “where did I see that thing again?” while working. Those are the moments where Goldfish feels most useful 🐠
the 'replies like you' part is what i'm most curious about. how do you handle voice consistency across contexts where someone writes very differently (boss vs partner vs friend)? is the model learning per recipient or one general voice trained on all past replies?
Goldfish
@thenameisarian love this question. it’s per-context, not one blob of “your voice” averaged over everything.
Goldfish looks at the surface you’re writing in, the current thread, who you’re talking to, and your past examples that are relevant to that kind of interaction. So a Slack reply to a teammate, a LinkedIn DM, and an email to a customer can all come out differently.
We’re trying pretty hard to avoid the uncanny “same tone everywhere” thing. It should feel like you, in that specific situation.
@thenameisarian great question. it’s not one general voice trained on everything. Goldfish treats voice as context-specific: who you’re replying to, where you’re writing, and how you’ve written in similar situations matter more than some average “you”. So boss vs partner vs friend should come out differently, because the relationship and surface are part of the prompt 🐠
Congrats on the launch! I have a small question, with Goldfish capturing context across so many apps, how does it filter out irrelevant noise when you're rapidly switching between unrelated projects throughout the day?
Goldfish
@crystalmei Great question. Goldfish uses the current app, focused field, surrounding UI, and recent activity as the strongest signals, so it does not just dump one giant memory into the prompt.
When you press Option, it ranks the context by relevance to what you are doing right now, then pulls in only the pieces that match. If you have been jumping between unrelated projects, the current window and field usually anchor it pretty well, and the noisy stuff gets ignored. It is also designed to be explicit about uncertainty rather than blending contexts together.
@crystalmei i good question. Goldfish starts from the exact thing you’re doing, the app, field, thread, and very recent context, then only pulls in broader memory when it helps. Random project switches should mostly get ignored, not blended into the reply 🐠