Medium opens TK, an AI notebook that brings old notes into new drafts

Medium opened its TK writing app to people with a Medium account on November 9. Typing @TK in the editor calls an assistant that can answer a short question or look up a passage the writer saved earlier. TK gives writers a separate place to work on notes and drafts before sending a finished piece to Medium.

In September, access depended on an invitation or a Friends of Medium membership. Medium’s September 16 guide explained that people could join for free through an invitation from an existing user. The public opening removes that step for account holders. Medium published examples from its first 1,000 beta users on September 10.

Bringing old notes into a new draft

Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine gave the example of asking for a paragraph written the day before. The assistant also gives feedback on a headline or draft and can compare the text with the editorial guidelines of a publication on Medium.

The September guide says writers can import work from Medium, Apple Notes, Bear, Obsidian and Markdown files. The Android listing describes daily notes and voice-to-text capture for ideas recorded away from the desk. The listing also describes writing prompts and a counter for consecutive writing days. Those routes bring short observations and longer pieces into the same notebook, where they can serve as material for a draft.

TK can summarize search results or items grouped by a tag and link back to the original notes. Medium also offers Markdown export for an individual note or an entire archive, so writers can continue editing the material in another tool.

Medium also provides an optional connection for outside assistants. Its Claude add-on requires a TK account connection and can carry unfinished tasks into a daily note. When a writer also connects calendars or work tools, the add-on can bring items from those services into the note with links to their sources. Its documentation says sections for disconnected services stay blank. If a note for that day already exists, the add-on updates it in place. Medium says it is designed to preserve the writer’s own text and checkbox state.

Sharing a draft before publication

Notes start out visible only to their author, according to Medium’s September guide. A writer can share a note or open a Library to selected readers. The Android listing describes responses and reactions attached to notes, so readers can comment during drafting. This gives a group a place to read early versions before a piece reaches an audience on Medium.

Writers can send a finished draft from TK to Medium and publish it there. Choosing readers for a working draft and giving a finished story a public address are separate steps. Medium’s distribution guide distinguishes the public link and delivery to a writer’s followers from recommendations to a wider readership.

Medium says TK can show the contributions of the author and the assistant when a note is published. In September, a member of Medium’s product team linked to a TK version of a beta recap that marked AI attribution in blue. She said she had used the assistant to find links for the piece. While drafting, she also asked it to identify the longest gap in her Medium publishing history.

Stories published on Medium fall under its existing AI content policy. The help center requires disclosure when a writer includes generated text or images and limits the distribution of undisclosed generated writing to the author’s own network. The policy’s FAQ exempts uses such as checking grammar or spelling, developing an outline and verifying facts from the disclosure requirement.

Medium also applies a separate rule to stories placed behind its Partner Program paywall. A piece written mostly by AI with little human editing, fact checking or original contribution is ineligible. Medium can remove paywall eligibility for stories already published in violation of the rule.

The Android listing says TK may collect personal information, files and documents, and app activity, and that data is encrypted in transit. TK is available on the web, iOS and Android. Medium’s launch announcement places a native desktop app on its roadmap.