Getting Started
Daylens is built around four top-level surfaces: Timeline, Apps, AI, and Settings. The desktop app does the real work. The website explains the product, hosts optional access flows, and points to current platform status.
Install the desktop app
macOS and Windows builds are available from the download links on the home page. Linux is part of the product too, but the public install path still lives on the Linux status page while real-machine validation catches up.
Let it keep running
Daylens tracks in the background and stores history locally. The timeline should reconstruct from persisted data after relaunch instead of depending on the current window session.
Review the proof surface
Open the Timeline later in the day or revisit an earlier date. If the product is healthy, you should see coherent reconstructed work blocks, gaps, and supporting evidence rather than a blank slate.
Optionally enable web access
Settings can create a workspace for optional sync and browser access. That path is additive, not required for the desktop product to be useful.
Product Status
Daylens is further along than an idea deck and not as finished as a polished launch story would suggest. The right way to read the product today is: the core desktop direction is real, several important features are implemented, and a lot of honest validation still matters.
- Daylens is one cross-platform desktop product for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
- macOS install, onboarding, and menu-bar polish are implemented, but the final packaged-app feel still needs human validation.
- A deterministic daily, weekly, and monthly recap now exists inside the AI surface, but it is not yet fully shipped and proven.
- Persistent AI threads, artifacts, focus flows, exports, and several settings refinements are in the product, with many still marked implemented pending verification.
- Linux is part of Daylens, but real-machine validation across X11 and Wayland is still incomplete.
- Provider-backed packaged AI flows are still not fully proven end to end from the current validation environment.
Timeline
The Timeline is the proof surface of Daylens. It is where raw capture gets reconstructed into work blocks that read like real sessions instead of a pile of app totals.
- Prior days and weeks should reload from the database after restart.
- Blocks should stay visible even when attribution is weak or incomplete.
- Meetings, active work, and gaps should read as different kinds of time.
- Block detail should expose the artifacts, apps, and evidence behind the label.
Apps
The Apps view is secondary to the Timeline. It exists to explain how each tool participated in real work sessions.
A good Apps detail view should answer what you were working on in that app, which files or pages were involved, what other tools commonly appeared alongside it, and when during the day it mattered most.
AI
The AI surface is how Daylens memory becomes useful in conversation. Ask what you got done, where an afternoon went, or what you were last deep in — and get an answer grounded in the same facts as Timeline and Apps. You can also bring that context into the AI tools you already use when you opt in.
Starter prompts, freeform chat, tables, charts, artifacts, and feedback all live here. The AI layer is orchestration over local data, not the primary runtime of the product. Deterministic recap cards and durable AI state are implemented now, while provider-backed packaged flows still need broader real-world proof before they should be treated as fully settled.
Focus Sessions
Focus sessions live inside the AI surface. They are not a separate top-level tab. Starting, stopping, and reviewing focus runs should stay connected to the same evidence-grounded workflow as the rest of Daylens.
In practice, that means a focus session is part timer, part work context, and part review loop. Session summaries should stay grounded in what the tracker actually saw happen.
Reports and Exports
Reports and exports also belong in the AI surface. Ask for a report, export, or artifact there and Daylens should generate it from tracked evidence rather than from a separate reporting product.
This is where client summaries, recap cards, and evidence-backed exports are meant to live. Today that includes a deterministic daily, weekly, and monthly recap foundation inside AI, but it still needs human validation before it should be called fully shipped. Richer year-end storytelling remains future work.
Sync and Web Access
Daylens is local-first. Optional workspace and sync features exist so you can access linked surfaces from a browser, but the desktop app remains the source of truth for capture, persistence, and reconstruction.
Create a workspace in Settings
The desktop app exposes workspace and sync controls directly in Settings. If you keep everything local, you can leave them alone.
Link browser access when needed
Use the link and recovery flows from this site only if you want browser-side access to that synced workspace.
Keep expectations grounded
The desktop app is the primary experience. The web layer should stay aligned with it, not drift into a separate product with contradictory claims.
Privacy and Data
Daylens is built around a simple default: keep work history local and explain it from evidence instead of collecting more than the product needs.
Local-first by default.
The database on your machine is the source of truth for tracked history.
No screenshots.
Daylens uses window, app, browser, and artifact evidence rather than grabbing screen images.
No keylogging.
The product does not record what you type.
Optional sync.
Workspace and web access flows are additive, not required for the core desktop experience.
FAQ
What platforms are currently supported?
Daylens is one cross-platform desktop product. macOS and Windows have public download paths here today. Linux is part of the product too, but public guidance still routes through the Linux status page until real-machine validation is further along.
What does Daylens actually track?
It uses app, window, browser, meeting, and artifact evidence to reconstruct work sessions. The goal is to answer what you were working on, not just which app was foregrounded.
Where do focus sessions and reports live?
Inside the AI surface. Focus start, stop, and review flows, along with report and export requests, stay there instead of becoming extra top-level tabs.
Can I delete or export my data?
Settings is where privacy, export, delete, and workspace controls belong. The product is designed so local history remains the base layer even when optional sync is enabled.
Is Wrapped already shipped?
Not as a fully proven feature. A deterministic daily, weekly, and monthly recap now exists inside the AI surface, but it still needs broader validation before it should be marketed as fully shipped. Richer Wrapped-style storytelling remains future work.
Where is the source of truth?
Your local Daylens database on your machine. Optional sync and web access are additive; they do not replace the desktop history store.
Need the current implementation status rather than the product overview?