Show HN: Screen memory without screenshots, just text to Markdown

A macOS menu bar application named Ambient Context allows users to maintain a written record of their work, which can be easily read by an LLM. The app monitors the text of the currently active window, appending it to a plain Markdown file. Each day generates a new file in a user-chosen folder. Users can query Claude Code or any other agent using this folder to learn about their work activities on specific days, build project memory, or even generate standup reports.

The app is currently in development and requires Node, Rust, and Xcode Command Line Tools for installation. Once built, the app can be dragged to the Applications folder for use. The user interface consists of an eye icon in the menu bar, which opens the recording when open and stops when closed. A right-click on the icon grants access to the current day's file, folder, and settings.

The app can only observe the focused window, excluding background windows, other displays, minimized windows, and locked screens. It also avoids password managers, private browsing modes, and secure input fields, scrubs secrets before writing, and keeps files small by writing only once per day. The format of the data is documented in a file named AGENTS.md.

Ambient Context only captures plaintext data on the user's disk and the capture folder is excluded from monitoring to prevent self-observation.