Make room for your studies

Installation & updates

Downloads are available for macOS 12 or later (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows 10 or later on x64. The main button follows your operating system; use the ··· menu to choose another build. Safari cannot reliably identify a Mac’s chip, so choose Intel manually if needed.

1. On Mac, open the DMG and move Bandal to Applications. macOS builds are signed and notarized by Apple.
2. On Windows, run Bandal-Setup.exe. The installer is currently unsigned and may trigger SmartScreen. Verify that you downloaded it from the official site, then choose More info → Run anyway.
3. The app checks for updates after installation. You can also check manually from More → Help in the left navigation.

Choose a download →

Your first course

1. Use + in the course sidebar to open an existing study folder. Your material stays in that folder.
2. Open a file from the material rail on the right, or drag files in from Finder or Explorer.
3. Drag tabs to split the workspace and put notes or a browser beside your PDF. Return to a course to continue with its tab layout and reading position.

Read and take notes side by side

PDFs, slides & page notes

Highlight PDF text or annotate with pens, shapes, and text boxes. Create page notes matching your material’s page count and proportions, then open them side by side. Enable linked scrolling to follow the same page, or turn it off to read each pane independently.

Right-click a slide and choose Copy as image to include annotations, text boxes, and inserted images. You can also copy only the original. Editing tools and selection outlines are excluded.

Markdown notes

Notes autosave to ordinary .md files. Type / on an empty line for headings, lists, tables, callouts, and new pages; use [[ to link other material. If a file changes on disk, Bandal asks whether to reload it or keep your edits.

Talk to AI beside your material

Install and connect Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini CLI on your device. Models and usage depend on your provider account and plan. Reading and note-taking work without AI.

Codex requires CLI 0.158.0 or later; Gemini requires 0.58.0 or later. Gemini OAuth may be unavailable depending on server support for your account. The app provides guidance for an API key or another provider.

1. Open the AI sidebar from a PDF, note, browser, or other material tab. Each tab keeps its own conversation and draft.
2. Review the material linked above the composer before asking. Context can include the current page or slide, selected text, and unsaved notes. Remove its chip to exclude the linked context.
3. Use the add menu for files, screen captures, and selected areas. Screen capture begins only when you choose it, with a preview before sending. Select a model, reasoning effort, and permission mode for each conversation.
4. Reopen conversations from the history menu or expand the same conversation into an AI tab. The PDF highlight list opens and closes separately from AI.

Approvals and connected services

Review the action and scope of a permission request before allowing or denying it. Canceled, expired, and completed requests are tracked consistently. OS and site permissions are separate from the AI permission mode. AI requests go through your chosen provider, without a Bandal server relay.

Quizzes, flashcards & English reading

When you run the quiz or flashcard feature, review the selected material and AI provider. Reopen generated questions and cards in their learning space, and follow source links back to the original material and page.

Answer the quiz questions before finishing. For self-graded questions, review your grade again after changing an answer. With flashcards, think of the answer, reveal the back, then rate your recall to save the next review time.

1. For English reading, open New learning from Learning spaces. Choose a name, one to three topics, your English level, reading time, and AI provider, then find your first article.
2. Click a word or select an expression to add it to your vocabulary. Write a meaning or note yourself, or use the connected AI to explain it in context.
3. Completing an article saves your progress and starts finding the next one. If generation or search fails, retry from the learning space’s error message or check your AI connection.

Learning generation and article discovery require the installed app and a connected AI provider. The homepage AI demo shows prepared example replies.

Lecture recording & local transcripts

1. Get any required permission to record, then open New tab → Recording. Choose a microphone and model, and finish downloading the model.
2. Link PDF pages and notes to recording times. Recording continues when you switch or close tabs; return through the global recording indicator.
3. Click a transcript timestamp to listen again. Use ten-second skips and playback speed, or export the transcript to a new Markdown note. Opening audio.wav from the material rail opens its recording and transcript tab.

Study plans & Apple Calendar

Add and edit assignments, exams, and classes in the study-board calendar. On macOS, open Settings → Calendar → Connect Apple Calendar, or use the calendar’s ··· → Calendar settings menu.

1. Allow calendar access when connecting. If you previously denied it, allow full access in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Calendars.
2. Select from the iCloud, local, and subscribed calendars registered in your Mac Calendar app. Read-only events can be displayed too; uncheck every calendar to hide them.
3. Choose a writable destination, open a Bandal task, and select Save and send to Apple Calendar. Sending it again updates the existing event. Set a start and end date and time, or choose an all-day event.

Edit Apple events in the Calendar app. Reactivate or refresh Bandal to load changes. Changes do not sync automatically in both directions, and deleting a task or disconnecting keeps exported events. A separate Google Calendar sign-in is not available yet.

Tabs & shortcuts

Under Settings → Tabs, configure note fonts, browser and AI preferences, recording models, microphones and playback, new whiteboard backgrounds, and the initial study-board view. Keyboard shortcuts are customizable in Settings.

System · Light · Dark

Choose System, Light, or Dark in Settings → Appearance. New installations follow your device. Legacy Sepia and High Contrast map to Light; Midnight and Graphite map to Dark. Palettes and global plugin themes have been retired. Text size, note fonts, and interface density remain adjustable.

The website also supports system, light, and dark modes. Its appearance is remembered in this browser, separately from desktop settings. System follows changes to your device’s appearance.

Try it before installing

Switch between PDFs and notes, linked pages, AI examples, and the board and calendar in one homepage demo. Try drawing, editing Markdown, and adding tasks in the real app UI. Notes are stored by language and demo URL in this browser and can be exported as Markdown. Clearing browser data removes them; blocked storage keeps changes only for the current window.

Demo AI replies are scripted examples: no live AI requests, account connections, or tools run. Local files, recording, browser-profile imports, and Apple Calendar require the desktop app.

Open the demo →

Campus sites & the built-in browser

18 registered universities: Seoul National University · Yonsei University · Korea University · Sungkyunkwan University · Hanyang University · Chung-Ang University · Kyung Hee University · Sogang University · Ewha Womans University · KAIST · POSTECH · Konkuk University · Dongguk University · Pusan National University · Kyungpook National University · Inha University · Ajou University · Sejong University

Choose your school to open its registered portal, LMS, library, and other sites from the sidebar. Presets include Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, KAIST, and POSTECH. Review the school and site addresses in Settings. These are supported shortcuts, not claims of university adoption, endorsement, or affiliation.

Sites open as course tabs. Private mode in the tab menu separates cookies from normal tabs and discards private data when Bandal quits. School sign-in and access depend on each school’s service policies.

Profiles and browser imports

Separate school and personal sign-ins, history, and site permissions using browser profiles. Import supported cookies, passwords, bookmarks, and history from Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or a Safari export. OS-protected data that cannot be decrypted and Safari cookies require signing in again.

The address bar shows the domain until you click it or press ⌘L / Ctrl+L to edit the full URL. Search history, favorites, and open tabs; inputs and navigation state remain when you switch tabs.

Share study ideas in the official community

Open Community in the left navigation and sign in to your Bandal account for contest entries, study methods, and questions and feedback. Exchange ideas through posts and comments, and react to helpful suggestions.

Submit study tool ideas in the app during the entry period. Awards and development decisions are separate; see the contest guide for dates and judging criteria. The website provides the guide; reading and writing entries take place in the app.

The study-material marketplace has closed. The plugin marketplace in Settings remains available.

Study tool contest guide (한국어) →

Plugins

Use Settings → Plugins to enable installed plugins and manage permissions and preferences. Plugins can extend note selections, material menus, workspace panels, and individual settings.

To build your own, connect a watched local folder from the Developer screen. Use the SDK to scaffold, validate, and package a ZIP; changed code requires approval again. AI skills in the + menu are managed separately from plugins that extend the app interface.

Storage & services

Desktop essentials are free. Optional paid cloud sync between desktop and iPad is in development. Sync will send selected material to a server. About Bandal Sync · Privacy policy

Course material and Markdown notes are files on your computer. Recordings are stored on the device too; back up your course folders and app data regularly.

Prompts and selected context sent to AI are processed through the chosen provider’s CLI. Account sign-in, the official community, and feedback use connected servers. Together and shared features were retired in v0.61; personal whiteboards remain available. Browsing, connected mail, model downloads, and updates communicate with their respective services.

When something goes wrong

If an update cannot install, check free disk space, save your work, fully quit the app, and retry. Replacing the app may need more temporary space than the download size alone.

Use More → Help → Feedback in the left navigation and include your app version, operating system, and steps to reproduce. For AI connection problems, check the CLI installation and sign-in. For delayed transcripts, check model status and device load.