minutes

minutes

useminutes.app

Minutes is a free, open-source conversation memory app for the AI you already use. Record and transcribe meetings, calls, voice memos, and dictation on your device, then let Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or another MCP client search the history you choose to share. Your records are Markdown files you own in ~/meetings/.

Capture, transcription, and storage run locally. If you choose a cloud AI assistant or summarizer, the meeting context you authorize is sent to that provider.

Your conversations. Your memory. Ready for the AI you use.

Install

Choose the desktop app or one standalone CLI installation. The desktop app includes a CLI: use About Minutes → Set up CLI to add it to your PATH.

brew install --cask silverstein/tap/minutes  # Desktop app, with bundled CLI
brew install silverstein/tap/minutes         # Standalone CLI alternative
cargo install minutes-cli                   # Standalone CLI via Cargo

For an agent connection, add the MCP server separately with claude mcp add minutes -- npx -y minutes-mcp (or run npx minutes-mcp from another MCP client).

If Homebrew reports an untrusted tap, run brew trust silverstein/tap once.

Ask your agent

Add Minutes to your agent, seed five sample meetings (no mic needed), then ask about them:

claude mcp add minutes -- npx -y minutes-mcp
minutes demo --full

What did we decide about monthly billing, and did it stick?

The answer spans two meetings a month apart: launched on Feb 28, reversed on Mar 25.

A direct MCP call uses the same local meeting files:

search_meetings({"query":"monthly billing decision"})

Record a real one with minutes record, then minutes stop to transcribe. minutes demo --clean removes the samples. Setup: Codex, Gemini CLI, and Claude Desktop, Cursor, OpenCode, Pi, Mistral Vibe, and Cowork or Dispatch.

Works with

Claude Code · Codex · Cursor · OpenCode · Pi · Gemini CLI · Claude Desktop · Mistral Vibe · Cowork · Dispatch · Obsidian · Logseq · any MCP client

How it compares

Workflow	Granola	Otter.ai	Anarlog (formerly Hyprnote)	Minutes
Product	Hosted meeting notepad	Hosted meeting assistant	Local meeting notepad	Local conversation memory
Agent access	Hosted MCP	Hosted integrations	CLI + MCP	Local files, MCP, CLI, SDK
Primary storage	Hosted workspace	Hosted workspace	Local SQLite + files	Local Markdown + YAML
Local AI	Cloud transcription	Cloud transcription	With local providers	Local transcription; AI provider of your choice

Reviewed September 5, 2026 against Granola MCP, Otter privacy and security, and the Anarlog repository. Anarlog’s community app is MIT; its enterprise components use a commercial license. See the detailed comparison and open-source alternatives for fit and limitations.

Who it’s for

Agent-first users treat Minutes as the capture layer of a local second brain. They search meetings through Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, MCP, or the CLI, then fold useful context into a vault or wiki they own.

Desktop notetaker users record and read results in the app. They value reliable setup, clear processing and recovery, Recall, documents, Coach, and summary quality. See the full persona notes.

Surfaces

Surface	What it provides	Docs
Desktop app	Menu bar capture, dictation, Recall, documents, and Coach.	Install
CLI (60 commands)	Local recording, processing, search, import, and automation.	Commands
MCP server (34 tools)	Local meeting tools and resources for any MCP client.	MCP reference
Claude Code plugin (23 skills)	Prep, capture, live help, debrief, and memory workflows.	Client setup
SDK	TypeScript access to meeting files without MCP.	Agent architecture

Dictation

The desktop Dictation settings bring writing preferences, personal spellings and snippets, microphone selection, and recent text together. Cursor context is optional and stays on the Mac. Recovery restores text for review; local edits use an explicit Ollama preview, and spelling corrections require confirmation.

See dictation behavior and evaluation boundaries for supported fields, safe insertion and undo, clipboard restoration, and the synthetic benchmark.

Output format

Meetings are plain markdown with structured YAML frontmatter:

---
title: Q2 Pricing Discussion with Alex
type: meeting
date: 2026-03-17T14:00:00
duration: 42m
context: Discuss Q2 pricing
action_items:
  - assignee: mat
    task: Send pricing doc
    due: Friday
    status: open
decisions:
  - text: Test monthly billing with 10 advisors
---

See the frontmatter schema. Files work with Obsidian, grep, and any markdown tool.

Privacy & consent

• Transcription and speaker processing run on-device. Audio stays on your machine.
• Sensitive meetings save typed markers without audio and default to restricted.
• Consent reminders, acknowledgement, and provenance help you disclose recording.
• Text leaves the machine only when you send authorized context to a cloud agent or summarizer.

See the security documentation and consent enforcement design.

Docs

• Features and commands
• Install, setup, updating, and troubleshooting
• Agent and MCP client integrations
• Phone voice memo pipeline
• Summarization and automation
• Configuration
• Architecture and agent development
• Evidence, retrieval, and decision-history contracts
• Recall and speech evaluation
• Switching from Granola and importing archives
• Frontmatter schema
• Security
• Personas
• Native call capture recovery (minutes recover-stem)
• Opt-in automatic call recording for Teams and Zoom desktop on macOS
• MCP tools
• Error reference
• Agent index
• Full agent index

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Minutes is MIT licensed and staying that way: no relicensing, no paid tier for anything in this repo.

MIT. Built by Mat Silverstein, founder of X1 Wealth.

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