🐻 Introducing Bearminder! (looking for beta testers)

Tech
1

Hi Beeminder friends! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here, but I wanted to share that I built a tiny macOS menubar app called BearMinder! It totals the words you wrote in Bear today and posts the delta to your Beeminder goal, automatically or on demand.

Why: I missed Draft’s auto-sync after it shut down. URLminder is great for Google Docs/Dropbox/URLs, but Bear notes aren’t web-accessible. BearMinder bridges that gap for Bear users.

What it does

  • Tracks words written today across Bear notes modified today

  • Posts an idempotent datapoint to your chosen Beeminder goal

  • Runs in the background at 30/60/120 minute intervals and has a “Sync Now”

  • Stores Bear/Beeminder tokens in the macOS Keychain (local only)

What gets posted

  • Value: today’s delta only (won’t post a 0 if you didn’t write)

  • Comment: 📝 {today_words}w | 📚 {notes_modified} notes | 🏷️ {unique_tags} tags • 🐻 via Bear → Beeminder

Requirements

  • macOS 12+

  • Bear for macOS with an API token (Bear → Help → Advanced → API Token)

  • Beeminder username, API token, and goal slug

Try the beta

If you’re comfortable with early builds, you can use the unsigned zip now (you’ll bypass Gatekeeper once). If there’s enough interest, I’ll get an Apple developer license and provide a signed/notarized build or TestFlight for a smoother install.

What to test / feedback most helpful

  • First run/setup and Keychain prompts (choose “Always Allow” once)

  • “Sync Now” after adding words in Bear (check the Beeminder datapoint)

  • Automatic hourly sync reliability

  • Optional tags filter and AppleScript mode (prevents Bear from popping up)

  • Datapoint correctness (value, comment, idempotency)

Privacy/safety

  • Tokens are stored locally in the macOS Keychain

  • No external servers; the app talks to Bear (on-device) and Beeminder over HTTPS

  • Skips posting 0s to avoid overwriting a positive datapoint

Screenshot

BearMinder screenshot

Interested?

Please reply with:

  • Your macOS version

  • How you use Bear (daily? tags? large vault?)

  • Preference: try the unsigned zip now vs wait for signed/TestFlight

If a handful of folks find this useful and the beta looks stable, I’ll spring for the Apple dev license and ship a properly signed build.

Feedback, bugs, and ideas very welcome. Thanks!

4 Likes