cardamomo

A writing space for connected ideas

branch your
ideas out.

Start with a thought. Give it room to grow.
Write in cards, follow the branches, and find the shape of your story.

Get the Mac app Try it in your browser

Mac $4.99, one time No subscription
Windows coming soon

One draft. Two ways to see it.

My project

Every project begins with a small idea. This is where I gather the pieces, explore how they connect, and give the work a direction.

There’s room for the plan to change.

01

First ideas

A brief outline of what I want to explore and why it matters. The aim is to find a clear starting point, without needing every answer yet.

02

What first drew me to this idea?

A question worth following, a detail that stayed with me, and the feeling that there’s more to discover.

03

A few things to keep in mind:

  • Start with something specific.
  • Leave space for unexpected connections.
  • Keep the questions that lead somewhere new.
04

A closer look

Here I develop the most promising thread. A rough thought becomes a fuller passage, supported by examples and a little more context.

05

This is where I take the idea one step further. A small example can make an abstract thought easier to understand—and reveal what still needs work.

06

What if I approached this from another angle?

Trying a different perspective might uncover a connection I hadn’t noticed before.

07

Next steps

Bring the strongest pieces together and read them as a whole. Look for what flows naturally, what needs a bridge, and what can be left for later.

08

A little room for revision:

  • Clarify the main idea.
  • Give each section a purpose.
  • Let the ending return to the beginning.
09

Not every thought needs a place just yet.

Keep the useful fragments nearby. One of them might become the beginning of something else.

10
10 cards An example draft

Ideas side by side. Follow a branch as far as it takes you.

A little structure. Plenty of room.

Your writing doesn’t
have to start at the top.

A scene. A question. A sentence you want to keep. Give each thought its own card, then connect it to the next. Cardamomo lets you work on the small pieces while keeping the whole draft in sight.

01 / MAKE CONNECTIONS

Let a thought branch.

Add a card below to continue, or to the right to explore a detail. Fold a branch when you want a little more space.

02 / FIND THE SHAPE

Move the whole idea.

Rearrange a card with its children attached. Park a branch in the dock, find its new home, and bring it back when you’re ready.

03 / STAY WITH THE WORDS

Make room to focus.

A spacious canvas, comfortable type, and light and dark themes. Enter fullscreen focus mode when you want to settle into a passage.

04 / READ IT ALL TOGETHER

See the story emerge.

Switch to document view to read your cards in order. Keep editing, folding, and rearranging, with the same structure underneath.

Your words, with you

Close the laptop.
Pick up where you left off.

The desktop app works offline and keeps a recovery copy as you write. Save a Cardamomo document to carry your cards, connections, and folded branches to another device. Export Markdown whenever you want your words all together.

.cardamomo keep the structure.md take the words

Cardamomo for Mac

A place for your next idea.

The writing space you know, in its own window.
Open your files, write offline, and make yourself at home.

Try the free browser app first
$4.99USD
One-time purchase
  • Mac desktop edition
  • The complete writing canvas and document view
  • Local files, offline writing, automatic recovery
  • No account needed to write. No subscription.

Mac release coming soon

Windows coming soon

Checkout on Ko-fi · Opens in a new tab

Before you begin

A few things to know.

How is the desktop app different from the browser app?

Both have the same writing tools. The desktop edition has its own window, works offline, and opens and saves files through your computer’s file dialogs. Once you’ve chosen a file, Save updates it directly. The browser app remains free to use.

Is this a subscription?

No. The Mac desktop app costs $4.99 USD as a one-time purchase. You can keep using the version you buy without a recurring payment.

Where does my writing live?

On your device. The desktop app keeps a local recovery draft, and you choose where to save your .cardamomo and Markdown files. There’s no Cardamomo account or automatic cloud sync. To move between devices, save a .cardamomo file and transfer it yourself, or keep it in your own synced folder.

Automatic recovery is separate from your saved document. Use Save to update the file you want to keep.

Can I bring in something I’ve already written?

Yes. Open a Markdown file and its heading levels become columns of cards. Open a .cardamomo file to restore its cards, branches, folds, and docked ideas. Save a .cardamomo file in the browser app to continue working on it in the desktop edition.

What do I need to install it?

Mac: the build targets macOS 11 or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel. Unzip it and move Cardamomo to Applications.

The Mac app isn’t notarized by Apple or signed with a Developer ID certificate, so macOS may show an installation warning or block it under its security settings.

Windows is coming soon. The current purchase is for the Mac version only. In the meantime, you can use the free browser app on Windows.

Can I use the keyboard?

Yes. Format text, add cards, move between them, split and merge thoughts, and open the dock from the keyboard. The desktop app uses F outside editable text to toggle focus mode and P to toggle document view. Escape finishes editing the current card. The writing guide inside the app has the full shortcut list.

Where can I get help or share feedback?

Open an issue on GitHub to report a problem or suggest an improvement. Include your operating system and the steps that caused the problem. Please keep private writing out of reports.

Begin anywhere.

Make room for a thought