Ariadne

Keeps your Mac's files and Apple Notes filed, with your OK. Free and open source, for Macs.

Your Desktop, Downloads and Notes pile up. Ariadne suggests where everything should go, shows you the plan, and only moves what you approve.

The name comes from the myth, where Ariadne's thread led Theseus back out of the labyrinth. Here the thread is the move log, so anything Ariadne moves can be put back.

Ariadne has a sister app, Theseus, a personal assistant for when too much is coming at you. The manifesto is what they both promise.

The promises

• Nothing moves until you say yes. Background runs only count.
• Nothing gets deleted or overwritten. If there's a clash, it's skipped and reported. Duplicates go to a tray for you to empty.
• Every batch can be undone, files and notes alike.
• Some things never move. That's ~/Code, anything in a git repository, any folder containing one, app-owned folders, your standard folders themselves (Desktop, Documents and so on), anything outside your home folder or an external drive, and Ariadne's own folder. It checks where a path really leads, so .., capitalization and symlinks don't get around it, and it checks again right before each move. Your config can add to that list but can't take anything off it.

Two ways to use it

The Mac app. It lives in your menu bar and counts what's waiting. You review a plan row by row, tick what moves, and can undo any batch. The tool ships inside it.

The command, from Terminal or Claude Code:

Command	What it does
ariadne count	what's waiting in your watched folders
ariadne scan --path ~/Downloads	read-only inventory
ariadne plans, ariadne show --plan NAME	your plans and their rows
ariadne check --plan NAME	dry run: missing files, clashes, protected paths
ariadne approve, ariadne apply --plan NAME --yes	approve rows, then move them
ariadne where NAME --text	where a filed file or note went
ariadne history, ariadne undo [--batch NAME]	see batches, and put one back (add --yes)
ariadne dupes, ariadne secrets	find duplicates, and files that look like they hold passwords (never prints the values)
ariadne notes …	the same for Apple Notes
ariadne doctor	what's working and what needs a permission

In Claude Code, /tidy, /file and /restore run a whole pass in plain language. To see every command, run /commands, or ariadne help in Terminal.

Where Claude comes in

Scanning, reviewing, moving and undoing don't use AI at all. The only part that does is suggesting a plan, which uses Claude Code on your own account. It reads file names, and contents only if you allow it in read_contents. When the app asks for a plan, Claude can draft one, but it can't approve, apply or undo anything, and it can't use the web.

What it costs

Ariadne is free. You'd only pay for Claude, and only if you want it suggesting plans.

What	Cost	Needed for
A Mac	the one you own	Everything
Claude Pro, Max or Ultra	$20, $100 or $200 a month	Only for having Claude suggest a plan

Install

The app

1. Download the .dmg from Releases and drag Ariadne to Applications.

2. Apple charges for notarizing and Ariadne is free, so it isn't notarized and macOS blocks the first launch. There are two ways to allow it. Apple says to do this only for an app you trust.

   System Settings: try to open Ariadne once and close the warning. Then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway, and click Open when the warning comes back.

   Or Terminal: this lifts the block for Ariadne only.

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Ariadne.app"

Requires macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel, and Apple's command line tools (xcode-select --install).

Open it once and it lives in your menu bar. After that it opens at login and reopens after a crash, and you don't need Claude or Terminal open. If you quit it from the menu bar, it stays closed until you open it or restart. To turn that off, set "open_at_login": false in its config.

Sorting Notes also needs Full Disk Access (Setup tab). To use ariadne from Terminal, Claude Code or Theseus, click Install the command in the Setup tab.

Just the command

git clone https://github.com/ExtantApe/ariadne ~/ariadne
~/ariadne/bin/ariadne install

For /tidy, /file and /restore in any Claude Code session, also run /plugin marketplace add ExtantApe/ariadne, then /plugin install ariadne@ariadne.

Build it yourself

Needs Rust, Node 22+ and pnpm.

pnpm install
pnpm app:build     # apps/desktop/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/Ariadne.app
pnpm test          # tests for the part that moves files; runs in a throwaway home

Your own builds are signed ad hoc, so each one asks for permissions again. Releases don't have that problem.

Your data

Everything is in ~/Library/Application Support/Ariadne (or $ARIADNE_HOME): config.json, filing-map.md, filing-rules.md, plans/, and the move logs. The only thing that leaves your Mac is what Claude Code reads when it drafts a plan. Notes you file stay in the account they're in.

Works with Theseus, doesn't need it

Theseus can offer a filing pass when things pile up. It calls ariadne count to see what's waiting and ariadne protect to mark what it owns, and that's the whole connection.

Not yet

Apple signing, automatic updates, a Notes review screen and a filing map editor in the app, and watching folders live.

Questions and ideas: open an issue.

MIT License. Independent project, not affiliated with Anthropic or Apple.