Yogurt open-source meeting tool runs local AI models on device without cloud sync

Eric, an independent developer, shared Yogurt on Hacker News as a free, open-source alternative to commercial meeting tools like Granola. The project is licensed under the MIT license and operates as a desktop application that uses on-device artificial intelligence to transcribe, summarise and enable chat interactions with meeting recordings.Yogurt is a free desktop app that records and summarises your meetings using AI that runs directly on your computer, keeping your data private.The application leverages whisper.cpp and llama.cpp for local transcription and summarisation, exposing data via a local MCP server for controlled external model access.

The evidence

The application records audio from the microphone and system sound without joining calls as a bot, keeping transcripts and summaries local. According to the project description, it uses whisper.cpp for transcription and Apple SpeechAnalyzer on supported Macs, while llama.cpp runs local open-weight models for summarisation and question answering.reported

Yogurt supports macOS 14.4 and newer on Apple Silicon, Windows 10 version 2004 and newer on x64, and Ubuntu 22.04 or similar on Linux.reported Each platform requires a minimum of 8 GB of memory, and the setup process warns users if their hardware is too slow.reported The software does not require an account to function.

The decision

Users can choose to keep all data offline or enable a local Model Context Protocol server to share notes with frontier models from Anthropic or OpenAI directly. This architecture removes the need for a paid cloud service to act as a middleman for data processing or storage.

The tool transcribes 99 languages and identifies speakers from Zoom, Teams and Meet, though speaker identification is currently limited to Mac devices.reported It automatically stops recording when a call ends and offers reminders to record when supported calls start, ensuring users manage consent manually.

What to make of it

The design prioritises privacy by default, ensuring that audio, transcripts and AI processing never leave the computer unless the user explicitly configures external access. This contrasts with many popular open-source note-taking tools that either require account creation or lack features like calendar integration and MCP server support.

Yogurt allows users to copy notes or transcripts and save them as Markdown files. It organises meetings by folder, title, notes or transcript content, enabling search functionality across local data. The application stores data in standard directories, such as ~/Library/Application Support/Yogurt on Mac and ~/.config/Yogurt on Linux.

In practice

Startup founders can use Yogurt to maintain strict data sovereignty over meeting records while still leveraging advanced AI capabilities through local MCP connections. The tool is available for immediate download without subscription fees or account registration, though it requires compatible hardware and manual consent management for recording. Users must ensure their operating systems meet the minimum version requirements to access full functionality.