Frequently asked questions

Is this a session-notes app or a worldbuilding app?

Both — it's a worldbuilding workspace first. Your campaign is a wiki of Markdown pages with maps, a timeline, a graph and an AI assistant. Chronicle Keeper began as a session-notes tool, and that pipeline is still built in: recordings transcribe and summarize on-device, then fold back into your world.

Is it free?

The app is free and open source (MIT). Transcription is free and runs on your machine. The only money involved is optional: if you choose a cloud LLM, you pay that provider per use. Use Ollama locally and it's free end to end.

What data leaves my machine?

Your audio is never uploaded — transcription is fully local. The only things that ever leave your computer are: the app and model downloads, and — if you choose a cloud LLM — the transcript text sent to that provider to write the summary. Pick Ollama and nothing leaves at all. There is no Chronicle Keeper server at all.

Does it work offline?

Yes, once set up. After the one-time app and speech-model downloads, transcription works with no internet. A cloud LLM obviously needs a connection; a local Ollama model does not.

What languages does it handle?

The speech engine (Parakeet TDT v3) covers 25 European languages, German included. Summary quality in your language depends on the LLM you pick.

Do I need a powerful PC or a GPU?

No GPU required — transcription runs on plain CPU at several× realtime. A faster CPU and more RAM help, especially if you also run a local LLM. There's no Python or CUDA toolchain to install.

Do I have to use Craig Bot?

Chronicle Keeper is built around Craig's multi-track recordings — one audio file per speaker — because that gives the cleanest, speaker-attributed transcripts without diarization. That's the supported path.

Can I edit pages in the app?

Yes — there's a full Markdown editor with a source and reading view, a slash menu, wikilink autocomplete, transclusion, callouts and tabs. Pages are plain files, so you can edit in Chronicle Keeper, in Obsidian, or in any text editor interchangeably.

Do I need Obsidian?

No. A world is just a folder of Markdown with YAML frontmatter — Chronicle Keeper reads and writes it directly, and it opens in any editor. You can point it at an existing Obsidian vault if you keep one, but Obsidian isn't required.

How do I sync my world across devices?

Chronicle Keeper has no built-in sync — by design, it stays strictly local-first. Because a world is an ordinary folder of files, use any folder-sync tool you already trust: Syncthing (free, open source, peer-to-peer, no cloud) works great, as does iCloud Drive, Dropbox or a git repo. Sync the world folder; the per-world index cache rebuilds itself on each machine.

Which LLM gives the best summaries?

Generally, larger cloud models (e.g. Anthropic's Claude) write the most polished recaps. Local models are very usable and improving fast — try a 7–8B model with Ollama and step up to cloud only if you want more. Your page summaries improve name accuracy regardless of model. Tool-using features like the Keeper benefit most from a capable model.

Is it open source? Can I contribute?

Yes — MIT licensed. The Rust core lives in crates/ck-core inside a Tauri shell. PRs welcome; see CONTRIBUTING.md.