Getting Started with Ember
Ember is a quiet journal where the people you mention are first-class. You write the day as it happened; Ember gathers every entry around the people inside it, and slowly your life takes shape as a map. Here's how to begin.
What Ember is (and isn't)
Ember is a journal, not a contact manager or a CRM. You don't log every call and coffee — only the moments you want to remember. Ember never writes, summarizes, or suggests anything. It holds what you give it and shows it back, so every word stays yours.
Your first launch
The first time you open Ember, you'll land in a small demo — a fictional life you can explore to get a feel for entries, people, worlds, and the graph. Nothing in the demo is real, and none of it is saved or synced.
When you're ready, tap “Start your own Ember” in the floating banner. The demo clears, and you begin with a blank, private journal of your own.
Writing your first entry
- Press ⌘⇧J (or the New menu → New Journal Entry) to start writing.
- Write the day as it happened — plain text, in your own voice.
- Type
@and start a name to mention a person. Pick them from the list, or create them on the spot. - That's the whole ritual. The entry is saved as you write.
You can also add #tags, reference a ~world, or continue an &story right from the text — more on those in Worlds, Stories & Tags.
Adding people
The fastest way to add someone is to @-mention them while writing — Ember offers to create anyone it doesn't recognize. You can also add a person directly with ⌘⇧N.
A person can have a photo, nicknames, a birthday, a “how we met” note, and one or more worlds (Work, Family, and so on). None of it is required — a name is enough to begin.
The command palette
Almost everything in Ember starts from the keyboard. Press ⌘N to open the command palette and choose what to create — a person, a journal entry, a story, or a quick interaction log. A few shortcuts worth learning early:
- ⌘N — the palette (create anything)
- ⌘K — search across your whole journal (how search works)
- ⌘L — quick-log an interaction
- ⌘1–⌘8 — jump to People, Graph, Journal, Stories, Feed, Nudge, Worlds, Tags
- ⌘/ — the full keyboard-shortcut cheat sheet
Where to go next
- Writing & People — the editor, mentions, and logging interactions.
- Worlds, Stories & Tags — give your life structure.
- Feed, Nudge & the Graph — how Ember helps you stay close.
- Sync & Backup — keep your journal across devices.