Hopper is a Mac canvas for notes, reference material and pages produced by AI agents. Its official listing combines sticky notes and longer Markdown pages with images, audio, PDFs, videos and live website cards. This first look describes that documented workspace without claiming a practical import, synchronization or agent-permission test.
The likely audience is an independent professional who wants the written brief, visual references and working material in one spatial view. The important distinction is between arranging useful context and granting an assistant access to it. Open files and agent-written cards can support a workflow, but their presence alone does not establish an automatic agent system or a secure collaboration boundary.
Based on official store information. We have not tested this app hands-on.
What it does
Double-clicking creates a sticky note, while longer notes become sheets with a fuller writing view. Headings, lists, tasks, highlights, links and emphasis are saved as Markdown. Labels identify board regions, and snapping, undo and zoom-to-fit support organization. Those controls offer a way to make a board legible; they do not decide which information is current or approved.
Images, GIFs, videos, PDFs and audio can arrive from Finder or the clipboard. A pasted URL can become a live website card or a cleaner snapshot, and a Loom link can become a video card. Pressing R records a voice memo with a waveform that can be scrubbed. Distinguish an interactive external page from a captured reference, since a live site's content and access requirements may change.
The app accepts agent-written pages as an HTML file or Claude artifact link, displaying them as live cards. Notes remain Markdown and media plain files. Spaces separate contexts, selected cards can form a stack, and search covers spaces and stacks. A Scratch Pad opened with Option-Space captures a thought over another app; Hopper continues in the menu bar after its window closes.
Before you install
A useful client board starts with a short brief and a few selected references. Label regions for the approved material, questions and alternatives, then use notes to explain why each reference matters. A canvas full of attractive cards can still hide a missing decision. Keep the current brief recognizable before adding more inputs.
Stacks can reduce visual clutter without making a source self-explanatory. Give a card or nearby note enough context that it can be understood after the original conversation has been forgotten. Search and the layer list provide routes back to material, but they are not substitutes for an understandable project structure.
Live website and agent-written HTML cards deserve separate review. A page can be interactive without being a final deliverable, and content generated by an assistant can contain mistakes. The description does not establish a universal agent connection, a permission model for every external tool or a guarantee that an artifact is safe to execute. Check the specific file, link and requested access before sharing sensitive client material.
The library lives on the Mac. Optional sync sends a private copy through the user's account to other devices, and can be turned off in Settings. The listing does not establish that every live external website or linked video becomes local or usable offline. Local library storage, optional sync and an embedded network resource are distinct data paths.
Price and access
The US App Store offers a free download, but the stated ongoing product is Hopper Pro, an auto-renewing monthly subscription. Signing in starts seven free days. Pro includes unlimited spaces, cards, files, links, voice notes and videos, live websites, PDFs and agent-written pages, optional sync and full export. The source does not establish the current monthly dollar amount or a permanent free tier after the trial.
Check the purchase screen and renewal terms before making the canvas central to ongoing work. Deleted cards remain in Trash for thirty days, and export is available as Markdown or a ZIP archive. Those are useful recovery and portability routes, not proof of a separate backup outside the library.
Our take
Hopper's strongest documented proposition is a readable relationship between written thinking and mixed reference material. A canvas can keep an image near the note explaining it, while open formats provide a possible route beyond a single interface. The useful outcome is a board whose purpose remains clear when it is revisited or exported.
The qualified take is to evaluate one small project through capture, arrangement, search and export before expanding the library. Inspect an interactive card and the sync setting separately. The listing supports a flexible workspace for people and selected agent outputs, but it does not justify promises about autonomous research, perfect portability or unrestricted access after a free installation.
For a client handoff, decide whether the recipient needs a board, a Markdown note or an exported collection of files. Those are different deliverables. A live card that works in the author's setup may depend on an external login or resource unavailable elsewhere. Verify the actual receiving route with a small example, and keep approved wording separate from experiments so the convenience of a shared format does not make a provisional idea look like a final instruction.
Sources
App icon from the official store listing.
