# Shorthand [![Obsidian Community Plugin](https://img.shields.io/badge/Obsidian-Community%20Plugin-7C3AED?logo=obsidian&logoColor=white)](https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/shorthand) [![Downloads](https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/mshish/shorthand-obsidian-plugin/total?label=downloads&color=4d8b74)](https://github.com/mshish/shorthand-obsidian-plugin/releases) [![MIT License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-536f9e)](LICENSE) [![Support](https://img.shields.io/badge/Support-Stripe-635BFF?logo=stripe&logoColor=white)](https://buy.stripe.com/bJe28r91b87UemkahifEk02) **AI meeting notes and personal note taking using your existing AI subscription (ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor).** Take meeting notes, think out loud, or tidy up your writing directly in Obsidian. Shorthand organizes conversations and dictated thoughts into clear notes as you speak. - **Meeting notes** — capture your microphone and system audio for notes that keep up with the discussion, whether you use Zoom, Meet, Teams, or another calling app. - **Personal notes** — think out loud, dictate your thoughts, or improve writing without a recording. - **Your writing style** — customize how Shorthand structures and writes your notes. - **Linked transcripts** — optionally save the transcript so you can revisit the original conversation. - **More AI options** — connect another AI agent via ACP, choose an API provider, or use a local model with Ollama. Live transcription runs locally using the [Shorthand desktop app](https://shorthand.ing), which is required for note taking. By default, Shorthand deletes recordings, transcripts, and AI agent sessions when you finish. It is free and open source. ## Start here 1. Install **Shorthand** from **Settings → Community plugins** in desktop Obsidian. 2. Install and run the [Shorthand desktop app](https://shorthand.ing). 3. In Shorthand's plugin settings, choose the note taker: Claude, ChatGPT (Codex), Cursor, another app (ACP), or your own API key. 4. Open the note you want to update, then open **Shorthand panel** from the command palette or microphone ribbon icon. 5. Choose **Meeting** for a conversation or **Assisted notes** for solo thinking. Stop from the panel or status bar when you are done. Requires Shorthand 0.5.0 or newer for the OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, OpenAI-compatible, and ACP network backends. The first start adds Shorthand's note section automatically. Turn off **Automatic note scaffolding** in settings if you prefer to approve it first. ## What you get - A right-sidebar panel that always shows the current state, elapsed time, and the note being updated. Below the mode cards, one quiet line names the note taker (for example "Note taker: Claude · Opus"). Click it to choose a different one for the next meeting or to check the connection. If your note taker is signed out or unreachable, the panel says what to do, and a notice at the start of a capture warns you. - Live meeting notes that improve as new transcript arrives. - A linked transcript note when you turn on **Transcript notes**. - **Enhance now** for a saved transcript, or **Clean up this note** for writing with no transcript. - If enhancement fails during a capture, the transcript is kept in memory and the panel offers **Take notes again** once you have fixed your note taker. - In Meeting mode, a 30-second countdown you can cancel before Shorthand stops recording when the transcript suggests the meeting has ended. This applies even if **Control Shorthand transcription** is off or the recording began with Shorthand's hotkey. Turn it off with **Detect meeting end and stop recording**. ## Note writing Shorthand checks its ownership markers before every update and preserves the existing text if the note is no longer safe to change. Under **Note writing**, you can set your name, adjust mode-specific prompts, and choose the headings in a new note. See [note-writing options](docs/advanced-usage.md#note-writing). ## Privacy and access - Shorthand transcribes locally and does not collect telemetry. - The plugin reads and updates your active note and an optional linked transcript. Claude Code may also search other notes in your vault when you choose that backend. - The selected AI backend receives the current note and transcript. Claude, Codex, Cursor, OpenAI, Anthropic, and compatible providers use the account or endpoint you configure; Ollama and other local endpoints can keep that traffic on your machine. - The plugin launches the local Shorthand and selected AI executables. Provider keys are stored by the Shorthand app in your operating system's credential store; the plugin never writes them to disk. ## Learn more - [Advanced usage: commands, AI backends, and settings](docs/advanced-usage.md) - [Contributing and building from source](CONTRIBUTING.md) - [Architecture](docs/architecture.md) - [Support Shorthand on Stripe](https://buy.stripe.com/bJe28r91b87UemkahifEk02) or [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/mshish) ## Third-party code The plugin's source is MIT-licensed. Its compiled `main.js` also bundles third-party libraries, including the non-open-source Anthropic Claude Agent SDK, copyright Anthropic PBC, used subject to [Anthropic's legal agreements](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/legal-and-compliance). The build appends an inventory and the applicable license text for every bundled dependency to `main.js`. The plugin runs on desktop only. It does not include Shorthand, an AI model, or a cloud service. ## License MIT. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).