Frequently asked
Plain answers to the questions people actually ask, plus two things you can do here without emailing. If your question isn't covered, the bottom of the page has a real human address.
Lost your licence key?
Type the email you used at Stripe checkout — if a licence is registered to that address, we'll re-send the key.
Manage subscription
You'll be redirected to Stripe to enter your email — they'll send you a link to update card, download invoices, or cancel.
Open billing portal01 What is Distillog?
A tray-app for quick notes. It lives in your menu bar, opens with ⌘L, and gets out of the way. Every note is timestamped and can be tagged (@alice, #PROJ-56, !todo, /src/queue.ts).
It's not a second brain or a knowledge base — it's for capturing the line of thought you're on right now and finding it again in a week.
02 Something's broken — how do I report it?
Email mail@distillog.com. Replies usually come back within a working day.
For bugs, Settings › Diagnostics has an Open log folder button — attaching the log file makes things much easier to track down.
03 Where is my data stored? Does anything leave my Mac?
Your notes are stored locally on your Mac. Nothing syncs anywhere — there's no Distillog cloud holding your notes.
Data only leaves the machine when an AI summary runs: that day's notes (or the week's daily summaries) are sent to Anthropic to be summarised. With Pro this goes via the Distillog backend; with BYOK it goes straight to Anthropic. With neither configured, nothing leaves.
04 Can I use Distillog on more than one Mac?
A Pro licence key works on any Mac you paste it into, but Distillog is a single-device app — your notes don't sync between machines. Each install keeps its own local notes.
Settings has an Export everything button (notes, summaries, tags as a CSV bundle) if you want to move data manually.
05 What's in Distillog Pro?
AI summaries on top of the free app. A short daily recap overnight from the day's notes, and a weekly roll-up every Sunday covering the previous week. Written in plain language, mention the people and tags you used, and respect a custom prompt you can edit in Settings.
Free Distillog has no AI; everything else — notes, tags, statuses, templates, board view, export — works without Pro.
06 Pro vs my own Anthropic key (BYOK) — what's the difference?
Both produce the same summary using Claude. The difference is who's paying Anthropic and where the request goes.
- Pro ($20 / year). Routes via the Distillog backend using your licence key. Monthly cap so a runaway loop can't burn through budget. No Anthropic account needed.
- BYOK. Uses your own Anthropic key, stored in macOS Keychain. Requests go directly from your Mac to Anthropic. No cap, but you pay Anthropic.
If you set a key, BYOK takes priority — the subscription proxy isn't used while a personal key is configured. Switch later any time.
07 What does the $20 / year actually cover?
Pro covers the AI calls behind your daily and weekly summaries, plus the backend that runs them — no separate Anthropic account or API billing to set up.
08 Where does Distillog send my licence key?
To the email you enter on Stripe's checkout page when you subscribe. Stripe sends the receipt and any subscription notices; the same email is stored on your Distillog licence record so we can resend your key if you lose it.
The app itself never asks for an email — your notes stay local and don't carry account info. Change the billing email any time in the billing portal above.
09 I forgot my licence key.
In Settings › Distillog Pro there's a Resend licence to email button — it re-sends the key to whatever address Stripe has on file.
Don't have the desktop app handy? Use the resend tool above with your checkout email.
If both are broken, email mail@distillog.com.
10 How do I cancel? What happens to my notes?
Cancel via the billing portal above. Stripe marks the subscription to end at the period you've already paid for, so Pro keeps working until that date.
After it lapses, Distillog drops back to the free version: notes, tags, templates, board view, and existing summaries all still work — only new AI summaries stop. Your data isn't touched.
Still stuck?
Email is the support channel. Replies typically come back within a working day.