Update, October 2026: this is the original announcement. The default models have changed since (see Five local models, 6.8 GB of weights), the app now checks for updates (see the privacy policy for every network use), and LokalBot also runs on Windows and Linux.
One app instead of several
Recording meetings, autocompleting text, and keeping track of the day usually means several separate apps, each with its own subscription and its own cloud. LokalBot does all of it in one Mac app, with no third-party inference cost. It's free and open source under the GPLv3.
The model stack
- Summaries, chat, and autocomplete run on a bundled llama.cpp: in-process for autocomplete's low latency, llama-server otherwise. Any of them can point at your own GGUF file, Ollama, an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, or Apple Intelligence.
- Transcription uses Granite Speech 4.1, Parakeet, Whisper, or Qwen3-ASR through Core ML and MLX on Apple Silicon. Parakeet runs at about 190 times real time.
- Semantic search uses Qwen3-Embedding 0.6B on a second llama-server, with vectors in SQLite and brute-force cosine similarity. At personal scale, brute force is instant, and it adds no dependencies.
- Speaker separation is optional: pyannote, through FluidAudio, splits the other side of a call into individual speakers.
- An in-app Hugging Face browser searches and downloads GGUF models, with a note on whether each one fits your Mac.
Launch defaults
- Transcription: IBM Granite Speech 4.1 2B, Q4.
- Summaries: Qwen 3.6 35B-A3B, Q4_K_M.
- Autocomplete: Gemma 4 E4B, Q5 XL.
These run well on an M4 Max with 48 GB of memory. With 16 to 24 GB, choose one of the lighter alternatives in the app's model settings.
Private by design
After the one-time model download, LokalBot works offline. Optional screenshots are sealed with AES-GCM and deleted automatically. LokalBot needs an Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 15 or later.
Get it from GitHub, and join the launch discussion on r/LocalLLaMA, especially if you have better local speech or small, fast autocomplete models to suggest.