Getting started

Bedrock is a local-first, markdown workspace for the context documents that drive AI-assisted development — things like CLAUDE.md, architecture notes, decision records, plans, and prompt snippets. It also includes a full product workspace: releases, features, tasks, and an inbox, all scoped per product and stored as plain files on your disk.

Bedrock is free for personal use and local-first: your markdown lives on your disk, works offline, and nothing about your usage is collected. (Using Bedrock at work? See Licensing and commercial use.)

Open your first workspace

A workspace is a folder of markdown files. Launch Bedrock and you’ll land on the welcome screen.

1. Click Open folder… and pick a directory. Good choices: - A repo root (my-app/) — Bedrock will find every .md file in it. - A dedicated docs folder (my-app/docs/) — shown with a small docs tag. - A context folder (my-app/.ai/ or my-app/context/) — same behaviour.
2. Bedrock scans the folder and all subfolders for .md, .markdown, and .mdx files, indexes their content, and opens the Library on the left.
3. The next time you launch, Bedrock reopens your last workspace automatically.

Recent workspaces appear in a list on the welcome screen — click one to jump back in.

The interface at a glance

Bedrock has a global rail on the left, a top bar, a status line at the bottom, and a main content area that changes based on which tool you select.

The global rail

The tools, always visible:

Below those: a Today view and a Notifications bell. At the bottom of the rail: Settings. At the top: the product switcher.

The top bar

The top bar always shows a breadcrumb (project → release/feature → current doc) and action buttons including ⌘K search and panel toggles.

The status line

The footer shows the current git branch, changed-file count, a commit button, and the active release version with a progress bar.

The three-pane document editor

When you’re in the Documents tool, the layout has three resizable panels:

1. Library (left) — every markdown file, grouped by type. Create, rename, pin, duplicate, and delete files here.
2. Editor (center) — read and write the selected doc, with a frontmatter strip above the text.
3. Inspector (right) — outline, backlinks, history, and the active release’s task board for the open doc.

Both side panels can be hidden with ⌘B (library) and *⌘* (inspector). Drag the dividers to resize them.

Your first document

1. Press ⌘N or click New file in the library footer.
2. Pick a template — for example Rules for a CLAUDE.md-style file.
3. Name the file and press Enter.
4. The file opens pre-filled with the template body and correct frontmatter.
5. Edit the document, then press ⌘S to save.

Your first product

If you plan to use releases, features, tasks, and the inbox, create a product:

1. Click the product switcher at the top of the rail.
2. Click New product.
3. Enter a name, pick a colour and icon.
4. Click Create.

Your product gets its own docs folder, release board, feature board, task list, and inbox, all fully separated from any other product.

What to read next

• Workspaces and windows — open several projects at once.
• The library and files — organise, pin, and manage docs.
• Editing docs — the editor, frontmatter, and shortcuts.
• The dashboard — the per-product home screen.
• Releases and the roadmap — versioned milestones and ship checklists.
• Features and tasks — kanban boards for product work.
• The inbox — capture ideas without interrupting your flow.