Whisper Notes

- DownloadWhisper Notes for Mac1.5.5 or later— DMG version (not Mac App Store).
- Open the app →Settings → Integrations→ toggle onLocal CLI & MCP.
- ClickInstall CLIin the same section — this putswhispernotes(and thewnshorthand, when that name is free) in your terminal.

$ wn status WhisperNotes 1.5.5 (340) · SenseVoice Small · ready · 3081 notes $ wn list --limit 3 9f3c21a8 2026-08-01 09:14 0:42 meeting Weekly sync — pricing review b2d84e07 2026-07-31 18:03 12:26 recorded Idea dump on the walk home 5a1f9c33 2026-07-30 10:52 47:10 imported interview-with-anna.m4a $ wn transcribe ~/Desktop/standup.m4a Morning standup. Sarah shipped the pricing page, Marco is blocked on the… ✓ done in 6.5s (46x realtime) — saved to WhisperNotes history $ wn export --format md --audio --output-dir ~/Transcripts ✓ exported 312/312 transcript(s), 312 audio file(s) → /Users/you/Transcripts

Transcripts print to stdout, progress and errors go to stderr — safe to pipe or redirect anything. Add--jsonfor machine-readable output. Everything else is in thecommand reference.

claude mcp add whispernotes -- whispernotes mcp

{ "mcpServers": { "whispernotes": { "command": "/usr/local/bin/whispernotes", "args": ["mcp"] } } }

- "Read my last five transcripts and tell me what I should follow up on."
- "Find the meeting where we discussed the invoice, and draft a reply email."
- "Transcribe ~/Desktop/podcast.mp3 and pull out every action item."

- Any local MCP client works the same way — commandwhispernotes, args["mcp"](Cursor, etc.).
- If the command isn't found, use the full path fromwhich whispernotes— GUI apps don't read your shell's PATH.
- The claude.ai website can't reach local MCP servers — use Claude Desktop instead.

# Summarize your latest recording with a local LLM wn show latest | ollama run llama3 "Summarize the key points:" # Transcribe an interview straight into the clipboard wn transcribe interview.mp3 | pbcopy # Who said what — speaker-labeled transcript of your last meeting wn show latest --speakers # Find that one conversation wn search "quarterly review" # Review only your meeting recordings wn list --source meeting --limit 10 # Switch the transcription model, then see which languages it takes wn models select sensevoice wn language list

- wnis a convenience alias forwhispernotes— identical commands. Scripts and AI agents should callwhispernotes, which always exists; the alias is only created when the name is free.
- Self-discovery for agents:whispernotes helpprints the full usage; a misused command replies with its exact usage line on stderr.--jsonalways emits a single JSON object or array on stdout.
- showtakes the full id or just its first 4+ characters as shown bylist— orlatest, which is the default.
- --speakers(onshowandexport) uses the speaker detection you've already run in the app;exportquietly falls back to plain text for notes without it.
- exportwrites date-titled files (2026-08-01-1956 Standup.md), never overwrites, and defaults to./whispernotes-export; Markdown files carry date, duration, source, and id up top.
- --sourcefilters by origin:recorded,imported,meeting, orfn(Fn-key voice typing).
- transcribeuses the model and language currently selected in the app, and the result is also saved into your history.
- If Whisper Notes isn't running, the CLI launches it in the background and waits up to ~15 seconds.

Long recordings are paged: when a transcript exceedsmax_chars, the response ends with an explicit truncation marker telling the agent whichoffsetto continue from — hour-long meetings never overflow a context window.

- Transport is a Unix domain socket at~/Library/Application Support/WhisperNotes/api.sockwith0600permissions — no TCP port, no network interface, unreachable from any other machine.
- Off by default: nothing is served until you enable the toggle in Settings.
- MCP clients like Claude ask for your approval before each tool call.
- Transcription runs on-device with the same engines as the app; results are stored only in your local history.

- command not found: whispernotes— install the command-line tool fromSettings → Integrationsin the app, then open a new terminal window (bothwhispernotesandwnshould work).
- "the local API is disabled"— enableSettings → Integrations → Local CLI & MCPin Whisper Notes. It applies instantly, no restart needed.
- "The running WhisperNotes does not include Local API support"— your app predates the Local API. Update to 1.5.5 or later via the in-app updater or thelatest DMG.
- First transcription is slow to start— the model may still be loading; the server waits for it to become ready.whispernotes statusshowsloading model…until the engine is warm.

- Download Whisper Notes for Mac (DMG)
- Changelog
- Privacy policy
- Raw markdown of this page for agents:whispernotes.app/cli-mcp.md
- Questions or ideas:support@whispernotes.app

The knowledge OS every AI can read from — persistent memory MCP server over your saved YouTube, articles, PDFs, and notes.