Cyrano documentation | Install, privacy, MCP, and dictation

01 / Privacy first

What happens before you opt in

Out of the box, transcription, speaker labels, session storage, and the live map run on your Mac. Cyrano records only while you run a session. It does not send raw audio to Cyrano’s servers.

The app has three separate kinds of outbound route. Each is explicit:

Hosted Copilot (Pro+) sends transcript text to Cyrano’s service for hosted analysis.
Live relay sends a scoped text window to a remote agent using a separate, revocable credential.
Fast transcription is a separate opt-in that streams audio to ElevenLabs using the configured service. This is the only transcription mode in which audio leaves the device.

The local MCP bridge is different: it binds to loopback on your Mac and passes context to a local assistant through a bundled helper. It does not make the relay reachable from the internet.

02 / Install

Getting started on macOS 14+

Request access. We will email you when downloads open.
Open the DMG and move Cyrano to Applications.
Open Cyrano. It appears in the menu bar rather than the Dock.
Complete the first-run explanation and choose your initial privacy posture.

Permissions

Cyrano asks for access when a feature first needs it. You do not need to grant everything.

Microphone: required to transcribe your voice.
Screen and System Audio Recording: required only when you choose system audio or combined capture.
Accessibility: required for Dictate anywhere to insert text into other applications.
Input Monitoring: needed only for modifier-only shadow hotkeys.
Notifications, Calendar, Photos, and files: requested only by the related optional feature.

If you decline a permission, the rest of the app remains available. Change a decision later in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

03 / First session

From the menu bar to useful context

Click the Cyrano menu-bar item.
Choose Mic, System, or Both under Capture.
Choose a voice input if you do not want the system default.
Select Start Session.
Open Items for commitments and open questions, Today for the day document, or Sessions for retained history.

Cyrano does not need a meeting bot. It captures from the Mac you are already using. End the session from the same menu-bar panel.

04 / Plans

The same relay, with different data routes

Plan	What it includes	Where data lives
Lite	On-device session transcription, speaker labels, the live map, and export.	On your device.
Lifetime Pro	The on-device smart layer, Dictate anywhere, daily context tools, integrations, and other Pro features. One-time unlock.	On your device. Optional relay and integrations remain off until enabled.
Hosted Copilot (Pro+)	The Pro feature set with analysis hosted on Cyrano’s service. Subscription.	Raw audio stays local; transcript text transits the hosted service for analysis.
Local / self-hosted	A technical route through a backend you operate or a direct provider key.	Text goes only to the infrastructure or provider you configure.

New installs receive a three-day Pro trial without a card. After the trial, Lite remains available. The shipping app currently gates Dictate anywhere behind Pro or a configured backend; free Lite still includes transcription inside a Cyrano session.

05 / MCP

Connect an MCP assistant

On macOS, Cyrano exposes retained context through a local MCP bridge. The bridge supports Claude Desktop, Claude Code when configured as an MCP client, and Codex.

Open Settings → Connections → Claude Desktop & Codex.
Turn on Let assistants on this Mac connect.
Under Assistants can see, choose Live, Today, or All.
Select Add to Claude Desktop, Copy config for Codex, or copy the Claude configuration for another compatible local client.
Fully quit and reopen the assistant so it reloads its MCP configuration.

What the agent can see

Live: only the session currently running on this Mac.
Today: the live session, retained sessions from today, and today’s context document.
All: every session still available under your retention choices.

The bridge returns structured context: transcript lines, speaker labels, commitments, open asks, notes, and extracted items that exist for the selected session. It cannot recover deleted audio or text, read other applications, bypass retention, start arbitrary system actions, or reach sessions outside the selected scope.

During a live session, a connected agent can send back a reply, note, or suggestion through Cyrano’s bounded write-back path. It cannot write into an old session.

Claude Code

Claude Code can register the same bundled local helper as an stdio MCP server. Name the server cyrano and use /Applications/Cyrano.app/Contents/Helpers/cyrano-mcp as its command, adjusting the path if Cyrano is installed elsewhere. Cyrano does not currently write this configuration for you.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT uses a separate HTTPS MCP connection because it cannot spawn Cyrano’s local helper. Open Settings → Connections → Connect an MCP assistant → Connect ChatGPT, create a one-time code, copy the MCP URL, and open ChatGPT Plugins. Create a developer-mode app named Cyrano with that URL, then enter the code on Cyrano’s authorization page.

The code expires after fifteen minutes and works once. The resulting connection uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE and can be revoked from Cyrano Settings. It exposes only the current relayed session, not local-only history, and therefore requires Hosted Copilot, a configured backend, or Lifetime Pro with live relay enabled.

06 / Dictation

Use Cyrano only as speech-to-text

You can use Dictate anywhere without running a meeting session or connecting an agent.

Open Settings → Dictation → Dictate anywhere.
Enable the feature and record a hold-to-talk hotkey.
Grant Accessibility when macOS asks; Cyrano needs it to insert text into the active field.
Hold the hotkey, speak, and release. Cyrano transcribes on-device and inserts the result where you were typing.

Hold the dictation hotkey with Shift to add the utterance to today’s context. Or enable Add every dictation to today’s context if you want that to happen automatically.

The dictionary, phrase replacements, and ordinary on-device transcription remain local. Model polish follows the engine you choose; turn polish off if you want the simplest substitution-only path.

07 / Control

Narrow or revoke access

Stop local MCP: turn off Let assistants on this Mac connect.
Narrow it: change Assistants can see to Live or Off.
Invalidate the helper credential: select Rotate local access token, then reinstall or recopy client configuration.
Remove a client: delete the cyrano MCP entry from that client’s configuration and restart it.
Revoke ChatGPT: open Connect ChatGPT → Authorized and remove the connection. Cyrano invalidates its OAuth access and refresh tokens.
Revoke a remote agent: open Settings → Connections → Connect an Agent and revoke its key.
Stop hosted analysis: change the Session engine to On-device or Off, subject to your plan.

For a visual account of every active route, open Settings → Plan & Privacy → Where your data goes.

Start locally. Open only the routes you choose.