What is Daisy
Daisy is a free, open-source, local-first meeting recorder and dictation app for Mac (Apple Silicon, macOS 14+). It records meetings from any app (Zoom, Meet, Telegram, etc.) by capturing both your microphone and the remote audio, transcribes on-device using WhisperKit on the Neural Engine, and saves transcripts as Markdown files to a folder of your choice (e.g., Obsidian vault, iCloud Drive). Daisy also includes a push-to-talk dictation mode and a local MCP server that lets Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP client query your transcripts directly — all without data leaving your machine unless you explicitly send it to a destination like Notion, Linear, Attio, Slack, or a webhook.
How to use Daisy
- Download and install the DMG from the website (Apple Silicon M1+, macOS 14+).
- Launch Daisy — a small flower-shaped widget appears at the edge of your screen.
- Start a meeting recording by clicking the widget or using a keyboard shortcut. The centre turns orange and petals dance with audio.
- Stop recording — Daisy automatically transcribes the audio on-device and saves a Markdown file to your chosen folder.
- Review transcripts in your folder or via the Daisy Library.
- Optional: Enable the MCP server in Settings to let Claude Desktop or Cursor read and act on your transcripts.
- Optional: Set up destinations (Notion, Linear, Attio, Slack, webhook) to automatically push transcripts after recording.
Features of Daisy
- Local recording — captures both your mic and remote audio from any app; no bot joins the meeting.
- On-device transcription — WhisperKit on the Neural Engine, with Silero VAD pre-pass to avoid hallucinating silences.
- Speaker diarisation — offline re-diarisation using FluidAudio (pyannote family) for ~10–15% diarization error; two-channel capture (you vs. remote) reduces confusion.
- Markdown transcripts — saved to any folder you choose; plain files you own.
- MCP server — bound to 127.0.0.1, exposes tools like
list_sessions,get_session,search_sessions,rename_speaker,route_session_to_destination. - Push-to-talk dictation — lilac centre, audio-to-text anywhere you type.
- Voice notes — quick one-off thoughts saved to your Library.
- Destinations — send transcripts to Notion, Linear, Attio, Slack, or any webhook; folder-based auto-routing.
- BYOK AI — use your own Anthropic, OpenAI, Apple Intelligence, Ollama, or LM Studio key for summaries; Daisy never sees your key or data.
- No telemetry, no account, no subscription — free during beta, lifetime after launch.
Use Cases of Daisy
- Meeting notes for remote teams — record Zoom/Meet calls, get accurate transcripts with speaker labels, and push action items to Linear or Notion.
- Personal journaling or dictation — use push-to-talk mode to capture thoughts hands-free.
- Compliance-sensitive environments — transcripts stay on your Mac; no cloud server to audit.
- AI-powered workflow — connect Daisy’s MCP server to Claude Desktop to query past meetings, rename speakers, or re-summarize.
- Obsidian integration — save transcripts directly into your Obsidian vault for linking and searching.
Pricing
Daisy is free during beta and will have a lifetime license after launch — never a per-meeting subscription.
FAQ
Q: Does Daisy upload my recordings anywhere? A: No. Transcription runs entirely on your Mac. Transcripts are saved to your chosen folder. Nothing leaves your machine unless you explicitly send a transcript to a destination (Notion, Linear, etc.) or use a cloud AI key for summarization.
Q: What hardware do I need? A: Apple Silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 14+.
Q: Can I use my own AI model for summaries? A: Yes. Daisy supports BYOK for Anthropic, OpenAI, Apple Intelligence, Ollama, LM Studio, or any MCP-compatible local model.
Q: How accurate is the transcription? A: On-device WhisperKit achieves ~95% word accuracy. Speaker diarization error is ~10–15% offline (on par with pyannote). Two-channel capture (you vs. remote) improves accuracy.
Q: Can I rename speakers? A: Yes. Rename a speaker once, and Daisy remembers their voice for future recordings.
Q: Is there a cloud component? A: No. Daisy has no cloud server, no telemetry, no account system. The MCP server listens only on 127.0.0.1.
Q: How do I get transcripts into Claude Desktop? A: Enable the MCP server in Daisy’s Settings, click “Add to Claude Desktop”, and restart Claude. Your transcripts become a queryable data source.
Q: Can I send transcripts to other tools? A: Yes. Daisy supports Notion, Linear, Attio, Slack (webhook), and generic webhooks. Configure destinations in Connections.
Q: Is Daisy open source? A: Yes, under Apache 2.0. Source is on GitHub.
