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AI Route · AI Distil · Express Studio — now live

Your second brain,
finally intelligent.

Capture anything. Route it with AI. Distil to insights. A Second Brain app built for knowledge workers who mean business.

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Free forever · No credit card · 50 captures/month included

cortex — inbox
✦
Cortex
Inbox3
Projects
Areas
Resources
Archive
AI Provider
GPT-4o mini
|
#project/cortex2m ago

Implement Clerk auth with Google OAuth — need to handle CSP headers for clerk.accounts.dev

#resource1h ago

Deep Work — "focus is the new IQ" — schedule 4hr deep work blocks, no Slack, no email

#idea3h ago

Spaced repetition for captured insights — resurface notes at 1d, 7d, 30d intervals

AI Route suggested: move to Projects → Cortex
0+
Notes captured
0%
Uptime SLA
0s
Avg AI response
0x
Faster recall
Everything you need

A complete system for your knowledge

Built around Tiago Forte's CODE + PARA methodology, supercharged with AI.

Capture

Catch every thought before it disappears

Quick-capture from anywhere. Plain text, rich notes, URLs, voice (coming soon). Zero friction between thought and record.

Quick capture
|
PARA

Organise by actionability, not topic

Projects → Areas → Resources → Archive. The world's best PKM taxonomy, built right in.

Projects
Areas
Resources
Archive
AI Route

Auto-classify every note

AI reads your note and suggests the perfect PARA location. One tap to accept.

AI Distil

Surface the insight, not the noise

Progressive summarisation at the tap of a button. Bullet points, key ideas, actionable takeaways.

Security

Your data stays yours

TLS 1.3 in transit. AES-256 at rest. Zero AI training on your notes. SOC 2 aligned.

AI Pipeline

One note, three AI superpowers

Every note flows through your personal AI stack — auto-tagged, summarised, and ready to draft from. All server-side, never client-exposed.

Your note
raw capture
✦
AI Route
auto-classify
AI Distil
key insights
AI Draft
generate
Express Studio

From messy notes to polished output

Select your notes, choose a template (blog post, email, report), watch AI turn raw thinking into publishable content.

< 2s
Average AI response

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How it works

Raw thought → organised knowledge
in under 10 seconds

Cortex follows the CODE method — Capture, Organise, Distil, Express. Every feature maps directly to a step.

01
Capture

Dump everything.
No folders, no friction.

Open Cortex and type — or paste a URL, article, or meeting note. Raw thoughts land in your Inbox in under 5 seconds. Tag with #hashtag as you type, or let AI do it later.

Works from any device — browser or keyboard shortcut
Plain text, rich notes, or pasted URLs
Zero required fields — just type and hit Enter
cortex — inbox
Quick capture
|
#project/cortex#idea#resource
Press⌘ Kto capture from anywhere
cortex — ai route
Your note
Meeting notes from Q3 planning — need to follow up on auth implementation before sprint ends.
AI Route suggests
Move to
ProjectsCortex Dev
Confidence: 94%
02
Organise

AI routes each note
to exactly the right place.

After capture, AI Route reads the note and maps it to your PARA structure — Projects, Areas, Resources, or Archive. One tap to accept. You stay in control, AI does the filing.

Understands context — not just keywords
PARA-native: Projects → Areas → Resources → Archive
Override any suggestion with one tap
03
Distil

Surface the insight.
Discard the noise.

Over time, notes accumulate. AI Distil compresses any note into bullet-point insights so you never lose the signal in verbose captures. Works best during your weekly review.

Progressive summarisation — like highlighting a book
Extracts action items, key ideas, and open questions
Run on individual notes or entire project folders
cortex — ai distil
Deep Work — Cal Newport
Resource · Added 3 days ago
AI Distil — Key Insights
Deep focus is a competitive advantage in knowledge work
Schedule 4hr deep work blocks before 12pm daily
Drain your shallow work calendar first
ACTION: Remove Slack from phone this week
cortex — express studio
Selected notes (3)
Deep Work insights
Q3 planning notes
Second Brain article
Blog post
Email
Report
Generating draft…
The Case for a Second Brain
In today's knowledge economy, the ability to recall and connect ideas is the real competitive edge. Here's how I built mine…
04
Express

Turn notes into polished output — in your voice.

Select any notes, pick a template (blog post, email, or report), and Express Studio drafts content using your own knowledge as the source — not generic AI. Your ideas, your voice, 10× faster.

Drafts from your notes — not hallucinated filler
Templates: blog post, email, report, tweet thread
Edit the draft live before exporting or copying
Pricing

Start free. Scale when you're ready.

No hidden fees. Cancel anytime. Your data is always exportable.

✓ Free plan available today  ·  Pro & Team plans launching soon
Free
$0forever

The essential Second Brain for getting started.

50 captures / month
2 projects
AI Route (10/mo)
AI Distil (5/mo)
PARA system
Get started free
Coming soon
Pro
$12/ month

For knowledge workers who capture and create daily.

Unlimited captures
Unlimited projects
AI Route (unlimited)
AI Distil (unlimited)
Express Studio
Priority support
Join waitlist
Coming soon
Team
$29/ seat / mo

For teams building a shared knowledge base.

Everything in Pro
Shared team inbox
Role-based access
Usage analytics
SSO (SAML)
Dedicated CSM
Contact us

Loved by knowledge workers everywhere

* Illustrative testimonials representing typical user experiences

"Finally a second brain that feels like a developer tool, not a productivity toy. The AI Route feature is freakishly accurate."

A
Alex Chen
Staff Engineer · Linear

"I had 3,000 scattered notes. Cortex organised them in minutes. The PARA taxonomy just clicked."

S
Sarah Müller
Product Designer · Vercel

"The AI Distil feature alone is worth it. Surfaces connections I would never have made myself."

J
James Okafor
Founder · YC W24

"I live in this app. The Express Studio turns rough notes into publishable essays. Game changer."

P
Priya Sharma
Research Scientist · Anthropic

"Cortex replaced Notion, Obsidian, AND my Readwise subscription. It's the whole stack."

T
Tom Nakamura
Engineering Manager · Stripe

"The keyboard-first workflow, the dark theme, the AI — it's the tool I would have designed myself."

C
Chloe Dubois
Head of Design · Figma

"Finally a second brain that feels like a developer tool, not a productivity toy. The AI Route feature is freakishly accurate."

A
Alex Chen
Staff Engineer · Linear

"I had 3,000 scattered notes. Cortex organised them in minutes. The PARA taxonomy just clicked."

S
Sarah Müller
Product Designer · Vercel

"The AI Distil feature alone is worth it. Surfaces connections I would never have made myself."

J
James Okafor
Founder · YC W24

"I live in this app. The Express Studio turns rough notes into publishable essays. Game changer."

P
Priya Sharma
Research Scientist · Anthropic

"Cortex replaced Notion, Obsidian, AND my Readwise subscription. It's the whole stack."

T
Tom Nakamura
Engineering Manager · Stripe

"The keyboard-first workflow, the dark theme, the AI — it's the tool I would have designed myself."

C
Chloe Dubois
Head of Design · Figma

"The keyboard-first workflow, the dark theme, the AI — it's the tool I would have designed myself."

C
Chloe Dubois
Head of Design · Figma

"Cortex replaced Notion, Obsidian, AND my Readwise subscription. It's the whole stack."

T
Tom Nakamura
Engineering Manager · Stripe

"I live in this app. The Express Studio turns rough notes into publishable essays. Game changer."

P
Priya Sharma
Research Scientist · Anthropic

"The AI Distil feature alone is worth it. Surfaces connections I would never have made myself."

J
James Okafor
Founder · YC W24

"I had 3,000 scattered notes. Cortex organised them in minutes. The PARA taxonomy just clicked."

S
Sarah Müller
Product Designer · Vercel

"Finally a second brain that feels like a developer tool, not a productivity toy. The AI Route feature is freakishly accurate."

A
Alex Chen
Staff Engineer · Linear

"The keyboard-first workflow, the dark theme, the AI — it's the tool I would have designed myself."

C
Chloe Dubois
Head of Design · Figma

"Cortex replaced Notion, Obsidian, AND my Readwise subscription. It's the whole stack."

T
Tom Nakamura
Engineering Manager · Stripe

"I live in this app. The Express Studio turns rough notes into publishable essays. Game changer."

P
Priya Sharma
Research Scientist · Anthropic

"The AI Distil feature alone is worth it. Surfaces connections I would never have made myself."

J
James Okafor
Founder · YC W24

"I had 3,000 scattered notes. Cortex organised them in minutes. The PARA taxonomy just clicked."

S
Sarah Müller
Product Designer · Vercel

"Finally a second brain that feels like a developer tool, not a productivity toy. The AI Route feature is freakishly accurate."

A
Alex Chen
Staff Engineer · Linear
✦

Your second brain
is waiting.

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Free plan includes 50 captures/month · No credit card required · Export anytime