Chef’s Menu
Peeksh, Envl, and Slip: three small macOS tools I made with AI for my daily workflow.
Recently, three new icons have taken their place in my Mac’s menu bar: a terminal, a mail reader, and a notepad. I had AI design all three specifically around my own needs and habits.
Opening a terminal, checking my inbox, and jotting down a quick note are things I do repeatedly throughout the day. With tools I use this often, the features they offer matter a great deal, and so does how quickly and easily I can reach them. I needed tools I could access immediately whenever I wanted, with minimal interruption to my existing workflow.
Peeksh, Envl, and Slip grew out of precisely those needs. All three live in the menu bar for the same reason: to make the tools I use frequently an integral, easily accessible part of my working routine.
Where the terminal window opens, how many steps it takes to start a note, and how my inbox appears were among the details I cared about most while designing these apps. These choices may look small at first, but once I start using a tool every day, they directly affect how comfortably and efficiently I can work.
At this point, I’d like to look at how each one meets my needs and has changed my workflow.
Peeksh
Peeksh brings terminal sessions together in a single window accessible from the menu bar. Processes keep running when I hide the window, so I can return to the same session without keeping a terminal on screen. This makes managing terminal sessions much more practical in my daily workflow.
Envl
Envl works with accounts already configured in Apple Mail and offers a simple interface for accessing my inbox from the menu bar. I can easily view messages and attachments and quickly check my email in one place.
Slip
Slip opens over the app I’m using with a keyboard shortcut and lets me start writing without choosing a title first. Markdown support lets me keep code snippets and to-do lists together in one place. These features fit the way I take notes.
As someone who works with AI professionally, it can be easy to get lost in the intensity and complexity of the job at times. At moments like these, developing tools solely for my own needs, without the work becoming exhausting, reminds me of the simplest and most personal side of making things.
Through small projects like these, I rediscover the enjoyable side of technology and get the chance to take a brief break amid the rush of work. Solutions that fit my habits also give me a more personal and lasting kind of happiness than the success that comes with larger projects. Perhaps even the simplest things I make can renew my connection with technology and become a new source of inspiration. That’s why continuing to build things for my own needs, however small, always brings fresh motivation and enthusiasm to my professional journey.