Getting Started

Three steps to get started.

Install the app, add the extension, and start saving. No accounts, no configuration.

Step 1

Install the desktop app

Download the latest DMG, drag Markie to your Applications folder, and launch it. The app runs in your menubar — look for the Markie icon at the top of your screen, not in the Dock.

macOS may block the app on first launch.
Right-click the app and choose Open, or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
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Drag to install
Step 2

Add the Chrome extension

Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store with one click.

Make sure the Markie desktop app is running before using the extension. The extension connects to the app locally.
Add to Chrome

Also works with Edge, Brave, Arc, and other Chromium browsers.

chrome web store
Markie
Markie
Save assets to your local library
Step 3

Start saving

Right-click any image, video, or PDF and select “Save to Markie.”

You can also click the Markie extension icon to see all saveable assets that Markie has identified on the current page.

Open the Markie app from the menubar to browse your collection.

Open link in new tab
Open link in new window
📌 Save to Markie
Copy link address
Save link as…
In your pocket

Add the iPhone app

Save from any app with the Share Sheet and browse your library on the go. The iPhone app talks to the same library folder your Mac uses — synced by your own cloud provider, never through Markie servers.

  1. 1.
    Put your library in a cloud folder — in Markie Settings on your Mac, set the library folder to one inside iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Skip this if it already lives there.
  2. 2.
    Install Markie on your iPhone — get it from the App Store. It's free.
  3. 3.
    Pair the library — open the app, tap Choose folder…, and pick that same folder in the Files browser. That's the whole setup.
  4. 4.
    Save from anywhere — share from Safari, Photos, or Instagram and pick Markie. Saves show up under “Waiting for Mac” until your Mac picks them up, tags them, and files them in.
Your Mac does the heavy lifting. Thumbnails, tagging, and organizing happen on the Mac — the iPhone app queues saves even when your Mac is off, and they process next time it runs.

Pair your Markie library

Pick the folder your Mac Markie uses — usually inside iCloud Drive, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

Choose folder…

Good to know.

📁

Choose your library folder

By default, Markie saves to ~/Markie. Change it in Settings to a Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud folder for cross-device sync.

🖼️

Browse your collection

Click the Markie menubar icon and choose Open Vault to see your assets in an infinite canvas with search, filters, and five layout modes.

✋

Drag and drop

Drag files from Finder directly into your Markie folder. Great for organizing assets you've already downloaded.

Optional

Set up AI tagging

Markie can automatically tag and describe your assets using a local AI model via Ollama. Everything runs on your machine — no data is sent anywhere.

  1. 1.
    Install Ollama — download from ollama.com and follow the install instructions.
  2. 2.
    Pull the recommended models — open Terminal and run:
    # vision & text
    ollama pull gemma4
    # embeddings
    ollama pull embeddinggemma
  3. 3.
    Connect Markie — open Markie Settings, enter your Ollama server address, and hit Test. Then choose your models: set both Text and Vision to gemma4, and Embedding to embeddinggemma. Tagging starts automatically — there's no separate toggle.
This is completely optional. Markie works great without AI tagging — you can always add and edit tags manually.
gradient-poster.png
1200 × 800 · 2.4 MB
Analyzing with Ollama…
Description
Abstract gradient poster with purple and indigo tones
Auto-tags
gradientabstractpurpleposter
OllamaRuns locally via Ollama

Troubleshooting

macOS says the app can't be opened

Right-click the app and choose Open, or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click "Open Anyway." This happens because Markie is distributed outside the App Store.

The extension can't connect to Markie

Make sure the desktop app is running — check for the Markie icon in your menubar. The extension communicates with the app locally.

I don't see "Save to Markie" in the right-click menu

Check that the extension is enabled in chrome://extensions. If it is, try refreshing the page — extensions only load on pages opened after install.

I saved something but it doesn't appear in my library

Assets take a moment to process after saving. Check that the desktop app is running and look for the processing indicator in the menubar menu. If the issue persists, try restarting the app.

Where are my saved files?

In ~/Markie by default. You can change the save location in the app's Settings.

My iPhone saves aren't showing up on my Mac

Saves travel through your cloud folder, so both devices need to sync the same folder and the Mac app must be running. On the phone they wait under "Waiting for Mac" until the Mac processes them — if they stay there, check that the folder on your Mac is actually syncing (iCloud Drive can pause on low battery or disk space).

The iPhone app says it can't reach my library

This usually means the cloud provider's iOS app (Google Drive, Dropbox) was signed out or removed, so the folder permission broke. Make sure the provider app is installed and signed in, then re-pair the folder from the Markie app.

Does Markie phone home?

Only if you let it. Markie makes a few optional network calls: checking for updates (GitHub), validating Pro licenses (LemonSqueezy), and — only if you opt in — a daily anonymous usage ping (a random id, the app version, and your OS, nothing about your assets). Analytics are off by default, and the update check can be disabled in Settings. With both off, a free-tier install makes zero outbound connections.

Ready to start?

Download Markie and build your personal asset library in seconds.

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