Balise works with the files around a project: Markdown documentation, CSV data and Mermaid diagrams. It keeps them open to other tools. A .md stays Markdown, a .csv stays CSV, and your other tools can read them during and after your work in Balise.
Requirements
Balise requires macOS 26.4 or later, a Mac compatible with Apple Intelligence, and Apple Intelligence enabled. If the local model is still downloading, Balise tells you to wait and lets you try again.
Install and activate Balise
Download the DMG from the Balise website, open it, then drag Balise into Applications. Launch Balise from Applications; you can eject the DMG. You can try Balise’s features without a license; it then shows the welcome page at launch.
A license costs USD 19.99 as a one-time payment, with applicable taxes calculated at checkout, for up to three Macs. After your Polar purchase, find your key in the order confirmation or customer portal. In Settings > License, choose Activate a License…, then paste the key. See Settings to check your license, release an activation and check for updates.
This manual, the Balise interface and the website instructions are available in French, English and Spanish. The Help menu opens the manual in the language chosen in Balise.
Try the examples
Choose Help > Show Balise Examples to open the documents included with your version of Balise, in the language selected in the application. Each request opens a fresh copy of the originals; existing experiments stay in their own windows. See Open the examples to keep an experiment or find the examples after an update.
Where to start
Each walkthrough follows a real task from the incoming file to the delivered file.
Maintain a repository’s documentation
Write Markdown files comfortably, ready for Git commits without surprises.
Clean up a data file you received
Turn an unfamiliar CSV into a clean file you can send back with confidence.
Track a project’s progress
Turn a folder of Markdown notes into a progress board, without a service or database.
Maintain a diagram alongside your code
Create, edit and publish a diagram that stays versionable text.
Recover lost work
After a crash, a mistake or a conflict: what you can recover, and how.
Reference
What each surface does, in detail.
- Open and save
- Windows, navigation and inspector
- The Markdown workspace
- The Kanban view
- The whiteboard, an experimental option
- The Data workspace
- The Mermaid workspace
- Local versions and recovery
- Formats and conversions
- Settings
- File and folder access
- Keyboard shortcuts
Troubleshooting
The symptom you see, its cause, and the action that fixes it.
- When a data file causes problems
- When saving is refused
- When Balise can no longer read a file or folder
- When a diagram does not appear
Before you go further
Balise has deliberate limits. Knowing them helps you avoid looking for a feature that does not exist.