macOS · Local · Private

Your meetings,
transcribed locally.

trnscrb lives in your menu bar, detects meetings automatically, and transcribes with Whisper — on device, no cloud. Every transcript is instantly searchable from Claude Desktop.

Install
# homebrew
brew tap ajayrmk/tap
brew install trnscrb
trnscrb install
How it works
1
Auto-detects your meeting

Mic active for 5 s + Google Meet, Zoom, Slack, Teams, or FaceTime running.

2
Records locally

Captures mic only, or mic + system audio via BlackHole virtual driver.

3
Transcribes on-device

Whisper small model runs on Apple Silicon Metal. No internet required.

4
Saved to Claude Desktop

Plain .txt in ~/meeting-notes/, searchable via MCP tools.

With Claude Desktop

After trnscrb install, Claude Desktop can control recordings and search your transcripts.

What were the action items from this morning's standup?
From your 9:15 AM standup, three action items came up: deploy the auth fix before EOD (you), review the design mockups by Wednesday (Sara), and schedule a follow-up with the infra team (Alex).
Start recording — I'm about to jump on a call.
Recording started via start_recording. I'll capture until you tell me to stop.
Stop and summarise the call.
Stopped and transcribed. The 28-minute call covered the Q2 roadmap — three features were prioritised and a June 15 target was agreed. Full transcript saved to meeting-notes/.
What has Sara mentioned across all my recent meetings?
Sara appeared in 4 of your last 7 meetings. She raised the design review twice, flagged a dependency on the API team, and mentioned being blocked on staging access in Tuesday's call.
Install
Recommended

Homebrew

# tap once, then install
brew tap ajayrmk/tap
brew install trnscrb
trnscrb install
pip / uv

Python

pip install trnscrb && trnscrb install
# or
uv tool install trnscrb && trnscrb install

trnscrb install handles BlackHole, HuggingFace token, Whisper model, Claude Desktop MCP config, and launch-at-login.

MCP tools
ToolDescription
start_recordingStart capturing audio
stop_recordingStop and transcribe in background
recording_statusCheck if recording or transcribing
get_last_transcriptFetch the most recent transcript
list_transcriptsList all saved meetings
get_transcriptRead a specific transcript
get_calendar_contextCurrent or upcoming calendar event
enrich_transcriptAdd summary + action items via Claude API
FAQ
Does it need an internet connection?
No. Recording and transcription are fully offline. The only exception is trnscrb enrich, which sends transcript text to the Claude API to generate a summary and action items.
Which meeting apps are detected?
Google Meet, Zoom, Slack Huddle, Microsoft Teams, and FaceTime. Detection uses mic activity + process presence, so it also works if you join via browser.
Do I need a HuggingFace account?
Only for speaker labels (SPEAKER_00, SPEAKER_01 etc.). It's a free account — trnscrb install walks you through it. Without it, transcription still works, just without speaker separation.
What is BlackHole and do I need it?
BlackHole is a free virtual audio driver that lets trnscrb capture system audio alongside your mic — meaning you record both your voice and the other participants. Without it, only your mic is recorded. trnscrb install sets it up automatically.
Does it work on Intel Macs?
Yes, but Whisper won't use Metal acceleration so transcription will be slower. Apple Silicon (M1 and later) is recommended.
Where are transcripts stored?
Plain .txt files in ~/meeting-notes/. No database, no proprietary format — you own your data.
Is my audio or transcript data sent anywhere?
Never, unless you explicitly run trnscrb enrich. Audio is processed locally and deleted after transcription. Transcripts stay on your machine.