Local-first Plaud Note Pro recording vault, transcription, and Markdown workspace.
Import over Bluetooth. Keep your original audio. Turn recordings into documents and source-linked AI conversations.
Download · Get started · Plaud · Android · API · MCP · Roadmap · Changelog
OpenPlod is a desktop app for macOS, Linux, and Windows that keeps your recordings in a local vault, transcribes them with the provider you choose (or fully locally), and turns transcripts into Markdown documents. An Android companion pairs over your private network and can pull audio straight from an enrolled Note Pro.
Important
Plaud extraction needs an authorized device. Direct Bluetooth download is verified on one Plaud Note Pro, and the recorder refuses audio until this computer holds a Plaud-minted identity (device authorization). Everything else (vault, microphone, file imports, transcription, documents, automation, backups) works without one. Live-provider, Android-phone, and signing checks that only an owner can run are listed in the roadmap status.
- Audio vault. Bluetooth import from Plaud, microphone capture, file imports, and phone transfers. Originals are kept with fingerprints and provenance; Trash keeps items for 30 days.
- Transcription. Mistral Voxtral, local whisper.cpp, Deepgram, OpenAI, and AssemblyAI, with fallback order, spending limits, and automatic splitting of long recordings. Transcription profiles add a context prompt and vocabulary for each kind of recording.
- Transcript Studio. Speaker and segment editing, word-level version diffs, AI cleanup you review before saving, chapters, decisions and action items, subtitles, and PDF export.
- Documents. Generate notes, minutes, briefs and more from a transcript, review the Markdown, and save it with links back to the source. Folders, tags, saved views, backlinks, and history.
- AI chat over your recordings. Answers cite exact quotes with timestamps and transcript versions. Hybrid search with local embeddings.
- Automation. Signed webhooks, opt-in rules ("Plaud meeting → transcribe → minutes → folder"), task exports to Todoist, Linear, Notion, or calendar files, and one-way Obsidian export.
- Safety. Crash-safe imports, encrypted full-vault backups with a restore wizard, secrets encrypted at rest, and Local only mode that blocks every cloud call.
- Integrations. A versioned REST API and a read-only-by-default MCP server.
- English and French interface, light and dark themes, keyboard navigation, ⌘K command palette.
New in 1.1.0: faster list endpoints and mobile sync (a fixed number of queries per page), webhook history pruned after 90 days, search no longer waits on a stopped Ollama, settings save in one transaction, and updated dependencies. See the changelog.
Get the installers from the latest release.
| Platform | Package | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS Apple Silicon | .dmg |
Ad-hoc signed, not notarized: approve it in Privacy & Security. |
| Windows x64 | .exe or .msi |
Unsigned. Bluetooth extraction not verified on Windows hardware. |
| Linux x64 | .deb or .rpm |
Declares BlueZ, D-Bus, and ffmpeg dependencies. |
| Android ARM64 | Build it | No public APK; sign with your own keystore. |
Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt from the same release:
shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing.
Upgrading: quit OpenPlod, back up the vault, and replace only the app. Never delete the vault directory. See upgrade and migration.
You need Bun, Rust, the
Tauri prerequisites for your platform, and ffmpeg
and ffprobe on the app's PATH.
xcode-select --install && brew install ffmpeg
git clone https://github.com/RemiPelloux/OpenPlod.git && cd OpenPlod
bun install --frozen-lockfile && bun install --cwd web --frozen-lockfile
bun run install:mac --launchThe installer builds, verifies, and replaces /Applications/OpenPlod.app, archiving old copies in
~/Library/Application Support/OpenPlod-install-archives/. Grant Bluetooth access when asked.
Also install bluez and dbus.
git clone https://github.com/RemiPelloux/OpenPlod.git && cd OpenPlod
bun install --frozen-lockfile && bun install --cwd web --frozen-lockfile
bun run tauri build --no-bundle
./src-tauri/target/release/openplodThe app runs its own Bun service on port 3487 and a Rust plaud-bridge
(btleplug) for Bluetooth on every desktop platform.
bun run doctor # what blocks Plaud transfer, with the fix for your platform
bun run doctor --json # the same report, for bug reports
bun run device:scan # look for an advertising recorderThe same report is in the This computer panel on the Plaud page.
- Authorize the Note Pro for this computer (see below).
- Wake the recorder near your computer and disconnect other Bluetooth clients.
- Open Library or New Recording → Get from Plaud → Connect.
- Select recordings and Import, then play, transcribe, or export them.
Audio goes straight from the device over Bluetooth, never through Plaud's cloud. Each transfer is checked (framing, size, decryption, Ogg integrity, playable duration), device bytes and decoded audio are kept next to an M4A playback copy, and the recording stays on the Plaud. The extraction commands exclude force-clear, ownership reset, and file deletion.
Bluetooth discovery does not grant access. The recorder needs a private identity file (binding
token, signed authorization, RSA key pair) with permissions 0600:
~/Library/Application Support/com.openplod.vault/plaud-device.json # macOS
~/.local/share/com.openplod.vault/plaud-device.json # Linux
%APPDATA%/com.openplod.vault/plaud-device.json # Windows
Getting this identity is not yet an in-app flow; the verified test used the owner's existing authorization. No identity, vendor secret, or SDK is distributed here. Do not reset or rebind a device to work around authorization errors.
- With the desktop app open on a trusted network, scan the pairing QR code from Settings.
- On the phone's Plaud tab, request authorization and approve the matching code on the desktop. The identity is encrypted to the phone and kept in Android Keystore.
- Wake the Note Pro beside the phone and choose Get from Plaud. Extraction then works without the desktop online; the library, transcripts, and AI still use it.
Uploads to the desktop resume after interruptions and are checked with SHA-256 before the phone lets go of its copy (mobile sync). To build, install JDK 17, Android SDK 36, and the NDK, then:
bun run tauri android build --debug --target aarch64 --apk --ci
bun run check:android # 16 KB alignment checksPick speech and text providers separately in Settings > AI providers, or in the first-run guide. Cloud fallback is off by default. Local only uses whisper.cpp and Ollama and blocks every cloud request.
| Provider | Runs | Profile hints |
|---|---|---|
| Mistral Voxtral | Cloud | None |
| whisper.cpp | Your computer | Prompt and vocabulary |
OpenAI (whisper-1, gpt-4o-transcribe) |
Cloud | Prompt and vocabulary |
| Deepgram (Nova-2, Nova-3) | Cloud | Vocabulary |
| AssemblyAI | Cloud | Vocabulary |
| Documents, summaries, chat | Mistral, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or local Ollama | — |
Hints a provider cannot take are skipped, shown before the job runs, and recorded in the transcript's provenance. Cloud transcription sends audio; documents and chat send transcript text. Setup and limits: AI providers, privacy and cost.
The desktop service exposes an authenticated /api/v1 (REST API). The
MCP server runs over local stdio and is read-only unless you set
OPENPLOD_MCP_WRITE=1; even then it has no purge, reset, or external-delivery tools.
{
"mcpServers": {
"openplod": {
"command": "/absolute/path/to/bun",
"args": ["/absolute/path/to/OpenPlod/src/mcp/index.ts"],
"env": { "OPENPLOD_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:3487" }
}
}
}| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| macOS desktop | Built and tested on Apple Silicon; Plaud download verified on hardware |
| Linux desktop | Runs on Arch (Hyprland); BLE discovery and connection verified over BlueZ |
| Windows desktop | Builds; Bluetooth extraction not verified on hardware |
| Android → Note Pro | Listing, download, and playback verified on one authorized Note Pro |
| Account-free first authorization | Not implemented |
| iOS | Not supported |
| Signed, notarized distribution | Needs signing keys; current builds are unsigned or ad-hoc signed |
Device details: supported devices.
The vault lives in com.openplod.vault under your platform's app-data directory: the SQLite
database, recordings/ (with originals/), the pairing token, and the device identity.
- Back up the whole vault, ideally with the built-in encrypted backup.
- Recordings and the database are not encrypted by OpenPlod; secrets are. Protect your OS account and disk.
- Keep the service private. It listens on the LAN for pairing, protected by a token but over plain HTTP. Do not expose it to the internet.
- Trash is not secure erasure, and deleting in OpenPlod never deletes from the Plaud.
React, TypeScript, Tailwind, and Radix UI in web/; Bun, Hono, Drizzle, and SQLite in src/;
Tauri and Rust in src-tauri/. Quit the native app, then:
bun run dev # backend on http://127.0.0.1:3487
bun run dev:web # UI on http://127.0.0.1:5173
bun run tauri:dev # or the native shellBefore a pull request:
bun test && bun run typecheck && bun run --cwd web lint && bun run buildDocker (docker compose up --build, port 3456) runs the web vault and file imports, without
Bluetooth. See CONTRIBUTING.md and SECURITY.md.
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| Plaud is visible but recordings are unavailable | Presence is not authorization. Check the identity file, Bluetooth permission, and other connected clients. |
| Audio verification fails | ffmpeg and ffprobe must be on the app's PATH. |
| Phone cannot reach the vault | Keep the desktop app open, same private network, check the firewall, rescan the QR code. |
| App cannot reach its service | Something else is using port 3487, such as a dev backend. |
| Old-looking interface on macOS | Check Settings > About OpenPlod; reinstall with bun run install:mac. |
Run bun run doctor --json and include it, redacted, when you open an issue.
Never attach device identities, private audio, or pairing QR codes.
OpenPlod is maintained by Remi Pelloux. Sponsoring funds test devices, compatibility work, and signed distribution. It does not buy a paid tier or support guarantees. Stars, bug reports, and focused fixes help too.
Original OpenPlod work is MIT; see LICENSING.md for scope and third-party notices. OpenPlod builds on jddavenportOpen/openplaud, whose history is preserved. OpenPlod is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Plaud.