Prerequisites

Welcome to Azynote. This page covers everything you need to set up before you install the app. Azynote is free and there is no account to create, so this is shorter than you might expect.

If anything here is unclear or broken, please email support@azynote.com.

1. Add your Google Calendar to Apple Calendar

Azynote reads events directly from the Apple Calendar app on your Mac. It does not connect to Google or Outlook by itself. Add your Google (or Outlook, or iCloud) account to Apple Calendar once, and Azynote will automatically see every event.

This is a deliberate choice. By piggybacking on Apple Calendar, you don't have to give Azynote any cloud credentials, OAuth tokens, or API keys for your calendar. macOS handles authentication for you. Azynote just reads what is already on your Mac.

1. Open Calendar.app (Cmd+Space, type "Calendar")
2. Menu bar: Calendar > Settings... (or Cmd+,)
3. Click the Accounts tab
4. Click the + button at the bottom-left
5. Pick Google in the account type list
6. Sign in with your Google account in the browser window that opens
7. Make sure Calendars is checked in the list of things to sync
8. Click Done

Your Google events should now appear in Apple Calendar within a minute or two. Repeat for any other Google account, Outlook, or iCloud account.

2. Tune the refresh interval (so events stay fresh)

By default, macOS only pulls fresh data from Google every 15 minutes. If you create or move an event on your phone and want it visible quickly, you can speed this up.

1. Calendar > Settings > Accounts
2. Pick your Google account in the left list
3. Find the Refresh Calendars dropdown at the bottom of the panel
4. Pick Every minute (most responsive) or Push if available

3. Decide which AI engine you want

The first time you open a workspace, Azynote asks you to choose the engine that generates OnePagers, answers questions about your sessions, and powers the chat. There are four choices, and the default one needs no preparation at all.

You can switch at any time in Settings > AI Configuration, so this is not a one-way door.

The local engine (nothing to prepare)

Azynote downloads and manages a model that runs entirely on your Mac. Your transcripts never leave the machine, and you do not need an account or an API key with anyone.

It needs 16 GB of unified memory or more, plus about 5.4 GB of disk for the model, which Azynote downloads for you on first launch. If your Mac has less memory, Azynote pre-selects Gemini instead, and you can follow one of the cloud options below.

Everything below this line only matters if you want a cloud engine.

Cloud option A: Google AI Studio (the easy path)

1. Go to https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey in your browser
2. Sign in with your personal Google account
3. Click Create API Key
4. Copy the key (starts with AIza...) and keep it somewhere safe

That's it. You will paste this key into Azynote after install.

Cloud option B: Vertex AI (corporate Google Cloud)

If your company has a GCP project with Vertex AI enabled, follow these steps. Set aside 10 minutes.

B.1 Install the Google Cloud CLI

brew install google-cloud-sdk
gcloud --version

If you see gcloud: command not found, add this line to your ~/.zshrc and reopen the terminal:

source "$(brew --prefix)/share/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc"

B.2 Authenticate with Application Default Credentials

gcloud auth application-default login

A browser window opens. Sign in with your company Google account. This creates a credentials file at ~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json that Azynote reads automatically.

Verify it worked:

ls ~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json

B.3 Find your GCP Project ID

1. Open https://console.cloud.google.com
2. Confirm you are signed in with your company account (avatar top-right)
3. Click the project selector dropdown next to the "Google Cloud" logo
4. Pick the project your team uses for Vertex AI
5. The Project ID is shown in grey under the project name (for example, my-company-ai-123)

The Project ID is not the project name. The ID is lowercase with no spaces. If you are unsure which project to use, ask your team lead or GCP admin.

Note down your Project ID and your preferred region from the list below. You will enter these into Azynote after install.

You are ready to install Azynote. Your calendar is syncing, and either you are using the local engine (nothing to prepare) or your cloud credentials are ready. Next: First Launch.