MacParsleyMacParsley Help
MacParsley keeps your meetings, calls and recordings in one library on your Mac. It records them (or imports them from files, links, Plaud and Pocket), turns the audio into a transcript, works out who is speaking, writes a summary and a mind map, and lets you search, share and print all of it. Everything is stored as plain files in a folder you choose.
It works with models that run on your own Mac, and with cloud AI services if you choose to add them. Nothing is sent anywhere until you set that up. Use the list on the left to move around, the search box to find a word anywhere in the guide, and the arrows at the top to go back.
What it does
| Area | What you get |
|---|---|
| Record | Record from the microphone and the Mac's audio, or let MacParsley notice a Zoom, Teams, Webex or Slack call and record it for you, with a live transcript. |
| Import | Audio files, web links and podcast feeds, MacParsley zips, and recordings from Plaud, Pocket and Fireflies (with their transcripts and summaries). |
| Transcribe | Apple's built-in speech recognition, or Whisper and Parakeet models that run on your Mac, or (optionally) Plaud, Pocket or Fireflies.ai in the cloud. |
| Speakers | Separates voices, learns people's voices ("voice prints") and names them automatically in later meetings. |
| Summarize | 60+ summary prompts (meeting notes, sales calls, interviews, medical visits, lectures…), chosen automatically or by you, in five styles; or let Plaud, Pocket, Fireflies.ai or note1.ai write the summary from the audio. |
| Mind maps | A concise map written by AI and a detailed one that follows the summary exactly. |
| Organize | Folders, tags, colors, icons, smart folders, drag and drop. |
| Find | Search every title, summary and transcript; combine conditions in Advanced Search; jump between matches. |
| Share | PDF, Markdown, zip, mind map picture, audio; show a meeting's folder in Finder, or use the Mac's Share sheet; print. |
| AI apps | An optional built-in MCP server lets Claude, Cursor, LM Studio and others read (and, if you allow it, work on) your library. |
The guide
| Read this | For |
|---|---|
| Getting started | Your first recording, import and summary in a few minutes |
| The trial and buying MacParsley | What the trial includes, buying, entering your license key, using it on more than one Mac |
| The library | Folders, tags, smart folders, Deleted Items, what's on disk |
| Importing | Files, links, zips, big imports, the speaker review prompt |
| Plaud and Pocket | Signing in, what comes over, sending meetings to them, ignoring, rate limits |
| Fireflies.ai | Using it to transcribe and summarize, importing from it, extra sections |
| note1.ai | Sending recordings to note1 for its summary |
| Audio storage | The cloud bucket Fireflies downloads recordings from: R2, S3, B2, Wasabi |
| Recording | Recording yourself, and automatic call recording |
| The Recording tab | Detection, the integrations, audio storage, permissions |
| Transcripts and speakers | Models, voice prints, naming people, fixing spellings |
| Summaries and mind maps | Prompts, styles, versions, folder defaults |
| Writing your own prompts | Editor fields, how automatic choice works, tips, a worked example |
| The Summaries tab | Transcription engines, the Summarization Model, automatic features |
| Which should I use? | Models on your Mac, cloud models, Plaud, Pocket, Fireflies, note1 |
| AI models and privacy | Which models do what, and what leaves your Mac |
| Searching | Quick search, Advanced Search, smart folders |
| Sharing and printing | Getting meetings out of MacParsley |
| AI apps (MCP server) | Connect Claude and others; keys; tools reference |
| Settings reference | Every Settings tab |
| Keyboard shortcuts | All of them in one table |
| Troubleshooting | When something doesn't work |