Strandweave

Getting Started

Strandweave is a macOS-only, local-first app for recording, importing, transcribing, editing, organising and exporting audio sessions. Recording, transcription and storage happen on your Mac by default — no cloud account, no meeting bot, and no routine audio upload.

Installation

Download the latest version of Strandweave from the download page. Open the downloaded file and drag Strandweave to your Applications folder.

Launch Strandweave from your Applications folder or Launchpad. macOS may ask if you want to open an app downloaded from the internet — click Open to proceed.

First-run setup

On first launch, Strandweave shows a setup flow before the app is ready for use. Review and accept the recording responsibility notice and EULA, then confirm the local storage folder. The default storage folder is ~/Strandweave.

The local folder contains your sessions, models, settings, exports and trash. Each session can include audio, transcript JSON, metadata, speakers, working files and exports.

Granting permissions

Strandweave needs one macOS permission to record audio:

  • Microphone access — required for Strandweave to record audio from your microphone during a session. macOS will prompt you the first time you attempt to record.

You can review or change this permission at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.

Permission denied by mistake? Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, find Strandweave in the list, enable it, then quit and relaunch the app for the change to take effect.

Setting up local transcription

Strandweave transcribes recordings locally on your Mac using the Whisper runtime and bundled model. Transcription runs after recording is complete — Strandweave does not currently provide live or real-time transcription.

To use transcription, a local Whisper runtime and model must be available on your Mac. Open Settings → Transcription in Strandweave to check the current status and confirm which model is configured. If no model is shown, refer to the setup guidance in the app's onboarding checklist or Settings screen.

Activating your licence

If you have purchased Local Pro from store.strandweave.app , enter your licence key when prompted on first launch, or open the licence section in the app's preferences.

Your licence key is in the confirmation email sent after purchase. If you cannot find it, check your spam folder or contact support with your order reference.

Free, Local Pro and the trial

Strandweave Free is permanent and supports unlimited local use with no session cap. It includes local recording/import, offline transcription, basic playback, basic editing, exact search and basic TXT/Markdown export.

Local Pro is available monthly (£5.99/month), annually (£49.99/year) or as a one-time licence (£69.99 launch price, rising later). Every route unlocks the same Local Pro feature set: advanced models, batch import, watched folders, speaker tools, AI summaries, AI Context Packs, Obsidian workflows, semantic search, advanced exports, actions and decisions, and local MCP/agent access.

If a Local Pro subscription lapses, Strandweave returns to unlimited Free. Existing recordings, transcripts and basic exports stay accessible; only new Pro processing is disabled until you reactivate Local Pro.

The 14-day Local Pro trial starts in-app on your first recording or when you explicitly start it from an unlock prompt. No payment details are required. When the trial ends, Strandweave returns to unlimited Free; your local data stays accessible.

Making your first recording

  1. Open Strandweave on your Mac.
  2. On the Home screen, choose New Session, Quick Record or Record Meeting Session. Use Record Meeting Session when you want to add title, participants, agenda or other meeting details before recording.
  3. When prompted, allow Microphone access. No bot joins any call.
  4. When your session ends, press Stop Recording.
  5. Open the Recording tab for the session and press Transcribe Offline to run local transcription.
  6. Review the transcript in the Transcript tab.
Tip: Use Record Meeting Session on the home screen to fill in a meeting title, participants and agenda before recording starts. Participants and reviewed speaker information can feed speaker labels and later project memory.

Importing existing audio or video

Strandweave can transcribe media you already have. Choose Import Audio/Video on Home or press Command-I, then select a file. MOV and MP4 imports use the audio track only.

Supported formats: M4A, WAV, MP3, AAC, AIFF, CAF, MOV and MP4.

The imported session appears in your Sessions list alongside any recorded sessions. Run Transcribe Offline on the session's Recording tab to generate a transcript.

Local Pro also supports batch import and watched folders. Configure these under Settings → Batch Automation and choose whether imported files should be transcribed automatically. You can also enable podcast import there, then paste an RSS feed or direct episode audio URL into Import Podcast / RSS / Web Audio.

Reviewing playback and transcript

Open a session and select the Transcript tab to read and edit the transcript. Selecting a segment moves audio playback to the corresponding point in the recording.

Use speaker tools to add, rename, reorder or merge speakers, and assign them to transcript segments individually or in bulk. Local Pro can separate speakers and suggest names from enrolled voice profiles; suggestions still require human review.

Set a review status — Unreviewed, Needs Correction, Reviewed or Finalised — to track your progress across sessions.

Use the session's consent status to record whether consent was obtained, not required, declined, or not recorded. Consent and exclusion settings are also used by optional cloud AI features.

AI summaries

Strandweave can generate optional AI summaries after a transcript exists. Cloud providers such as Claude or OpenAI require your own API key and may receive eligible transcript text plus meeting context. Local providers such as Ollama can keep summarisation on your Mac. Summaries stay in review until you approve them.

Configure AI providers in Settings → AI Providers. API keys are stored in macOS Keychain. Sessions marked as excluded from AI exports or where consent was declined are blocked from cloud summarisation.

Organising sessions

Sessions can be searched, filtered by source, review status, date range, project or tags, grouped by project or tag, archived, and sorted with multi-key sort settings.

Use session metadata to assign project, workstream, related projects, tags, sensitivity and retention settings. These fields organise sessions without forcing files into a separate folder structure.

To rename a session, select it and edit the title in the Session Info tab. To duplicate or delete a session, use the buttons at the bottom of the sidebar or right-click the session for additional options.

Exporting transcripts

Right-click a session or open its Exports area and choose Quick Export. The first export uses the session's default exports folder. Quick Export to New Location lets you choose and remember a different folder. Open the Advanced controls when you need detailed format and inclusion options.

Available export formats:

  • Markdown — transcript-focused record with session metadata
  • TXT — plain text transcript
  • JSON — structured session data for backup or tooling
  • HTML — a self-contained page for a web browser
  • RTF — rich text for word processors
  • DOCX — basic Word-compatible document
  • PDF — a paginated document for reading or printing
  • AI Processing Input — local Markdown prepared for manual use with AI tools
  • AI Context Pack — compact, structured context for AI tools and agents
  • Obsidian / Second Brain notes — structured Markdown with frontmatter for knowledge-management apps

Local Pro also includes Advanced Export, export packs, Obsidian Filing Mode, synthesis note exports, action dashboards, decision logs and weekly review exports where configured. Exports are local files saved to your Mac unless you explicitly choose an external destination or share route.

Finding your app version

If you need to include your Strandweave version when contacting support, open Settings and scroll to the Help / About section. The version number is shown there. You can also access it via the Help menu → About Strandweave.

To find your macOS version, click the Apple menu (top-left of your screen) and select About This Mac.

Next steps

Continue with the task guide or set up integrations. If you run into an issue, visit the troubleshooting guide. For further help, contact support.