First Launch

Everything that happens after you install the app: macOS permissions, AI configuration, and you are ready to run your first session.

Before reading this, make sure you have completed Prerequisites (calendar setup, and cloud credentials only if you want a cloud engine).

1. Grant macOS permissions

On first launch, Azynote will ask for four macOS permissions. Grant all of them for the full experience.

Microphone

Azynote transcribes your voice locally via Whisper during sessions. When macOS prompts you, click OK / Allow.

If you missed the prompt:

  1. System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone
  2. Toggle Azynote on
  3. Restart Azynote

Calendar

Azynote displays your meetings and links sessions to calendar events. When macOS prompts you, click OK / Allow.

If you missed the prompt:

  1. System Settings > Privacy & Security > Calendar
  2. Toggle Azynote on
  3. Restart Azynote

You can verify the status inside the app: Settings > AI Configuration > Calendar Integration. The Status line should read "Calendar access granted". If it doesn't, click Refresh Access.

Screen & System Audio Recording

Azynote captures meeting app audio separately from your microphone, so it can tell who said what. macOS will show a Screen & System Audio Recording prompt. Click Allow.

If you missed the prompt:

  1. System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording
  2. Toggle Azynote on
  3. Restart Azynote

Accessibility

Azynote registers a global hotkey (Control+Shift+K) for Quick Capture. This requires Accessibility access. macOS will prompt you. Click Open System Settings, then toggle Azynote on.

If you missed the prompt:

  1. System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility
  2. Toggle Azynote on
  3. Restart Azynote

2. Choose your AI engine

When you open your first workspace, Azynote shows a Choose your AI engine screen with four cards. You have to pick one, there is no skip: an unspoken choice is how people end up wondering why nothing works.

Azynote pre-selects Local for you, unless your Mac has less than 16 GB of memory, in which case it pre-selects Gemini instead. You can change engines later in Settings > AI Configuration.

Local (the default)

Nothing to configure. Click Local, confirm, and Azynote downloads the model (about 5.4 GB) with a progress bar. When the download finishes, you land in your workspace and everything runs on your Mac.

Needs 16 GB of memory or more. Azynote shows a warning on the card if your Mac has less.

Gemini

  1. Click the Gemini card
  2. Paste your API key from Prerequisites into the key field
  3. Confirm

If you ever see "Invalid API key", regenerate the key in AI Studio and paste the new one in. To use Vertex AI instead of an API key, pick Gemini here, then switch to Vertex in Settings > AI Configuration and fill in your GCP Project ID and Region. The ADC Status indicator should show a green checkmark.

OpenAI-compatible

For OpenAI itself, OpenRouter, Mistral, Groq, or a local server like Ollama. Fill in the base URL (for example https://api.openai.com/v1) and your API key.

Claude CLI

If you already use Claude Code in your terminal, Azynote detects the claude command and routes AI work through it. The card tells you whether it found the CLI. In-app chat is switched off with this engine: you chat from your own terminal through the workspace's MCP integration instead.

Next: Core Concepts. Read it once. The rest of the app will click.