Building Shelve: A Smarter Way to Keep Downloads Clean
I’ve been working on a new version of Shelve, my macOS app for automatically organizing messy folders like Downloads, Desktop, and Documents.
Daniel Kaijie Zhang
8/31/20262 min read
I’ve been working on a new version of Shelve, my macOS app for automatically organizing messy folders like Downloads, Desktop, and Documents.
The original idea was simple: my Downloads folder kept turning into a junk drawer. PDFs, screenshots, installers, ZIP files, school notes, random images, duplicate files, everything ended up in one place. I wanted an app that could quietly watch a folder and sort files into useful destinations without me having to clean everything manually.
But as I kept building, I realized something important: a file organizer should not just be powerful. It has to be trustworthy.
So the newest version of Shelve is built around review-first automation.
Instead of blindly moving every file, Shelve now gives each suggestion a confidence score. If it is confident enough, it can move the file automatically. If it is unsure, the file goes into a review queue first, where I can approve, ignore, or adjust the rule. This makes the app feel much safer, especially because it is dealing with real files.
I also added a storage health feature. Shelve can generate a report about watched folders, showing things like low storage, old installers, large files, duplicates, and pending review items. The goal is for Shelve to become less like a simple file sorter and more like a small assistant for keeping a Mac clean.
Another big update is AI support. Shelve can now work with multiple AI providers, including Qwen and other common APIs. AI can help generate organizing rules from plain English, label ambiguous files, explain suggestions, and give cleanup recommendations. At the same time, I designed it to be token-aware: normal search happens first, and AI is only used when it actually helps.
Some recent improvements include:
A polished Liquid Glass-style interface
A collapsible sidebar
Dark theme support
AI rule generation
Review queue for low-confidence moves
Adjustable confidence threshold
Weekly/manual storage health reports
Better API key setup and error messages
Safer watcher behavior for Downloads and other folders
Better app packaging with ZIP and DMG builds
One bug I recently fixed was especially important: Shelve could show that auto-review was enabled, but the underlying file watcher was not always clearly restarting from the saved settings. I added better watcher validation and logging so the app can confirm which folders it is actually watching.
Right now, Shelve is still a beta, but it is becoming much closer to the app I originally wanted: something that quietly keeps files organized, but still respects the user’s control.
The best version of Shelve is not “AI moves everything for you.”
It is more like:
Shelve handles the obvious stuff automatically, and asks before touching anything uncertain.
That balance feels right. It makes the app useful without making it scary.
Next, I want to keep improving reliability, polish the onboarding experience, and make the review workflow feel even more natural. I’m also thinking about adding a clearer watcher status panel, so users can always see exactly which folders Shelve is monitoring and when it last reacted to a new file.
Download it now at Github!