No screenshots
OpenHistory reads permitted activity context—not your screen, camera, microphone, or keystrokes.
Your automatic work timeline.
Turn your mac activity into a private timeline for you & your AI.
On-device by default Open source Full control
Privacy by design
Your history
belongs to you.
OpenHistory was built on a simple belief: remembering your work should never mean giving up ownership of your data.
Pause at any time
Collection is always visible and always yours to stop. One click pauses the entire system.
On-device inference available
Summaries can run on-device. External inference providers are optional and entirely under your control.
Open source
Inspect the implementation, review the privacy boundaries, or build OpenHistory yourself.
How it works
Your day
belongs to you.
Stay focused on the work. OpenHistory quietly turns the day into a useful daily rollup in the background.
OpenHistory observes
It notices the apps, windows, and permitted context that make up a working session.
Your Mac summarizes
Activity becomes a concise timeline of completed work, decisions, and unfinished work.
Your agent can search
Ask natural-language questions and get grounded answers from your own local history.
Ask your local agent
“What was I working on before lunch?”
Answered from OpenHistory
Works with Claude Cowork, ChatGPT Desktop, and any other agent that can access your local MCP server.
Frequently asked questions
A few things
worth knowing.
OpenHistory is designed to keep you in control of what it remembers, where that history lives, and who can access it.
What does OpenHistory record?
OpenHistory observes foreground apps and the macOS Accessibility context you permit, such as window names, document context, browser domains, clicks, and visible interface text. It does not capture screenshots, audio, camera or microphone input, passwords, private browser windows, or low-level keyboard events.
Where is my history stored?
Your activity, timelines, summaries, settings, and agent connections are stored in a permission-restricted directory on your Mac. The OpenHistory app does not send analytics or telemetry.
Does my data ever leave my Mac?
Not by default. You can use Apple’s on-device model, turn automatic summaries off, or explicitly connect a cloud provider. Nothing is sent to OpenAI, Anthropic, or Kimi unless you choose that provider, supply an API key, and approve the transmission disclosure.
Do I need an API key?
No. You can use OpenHistory without automatic summaries, or use Apple On-Device inference on a compatible Mac. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Kimi require your own API key.
What are the system requirements?
OpenHistory requires macOS 14 or later. Apple On-Device summaries require a Mac that supports Apple Intelligence and macOS 26 or later. Richer activity context requires granting macOS Accessibility permission.
Can I control what OpenHistory sees?
Yes. You can pause collection at any time, disable individual capture categories, exclude specific apps, and independently control email and messaging activity.
How do AI agents access my history?
Approved local agents connect through an authenticated MCP server running only on your Mac. They receive a redacted, read-only view of your timeline—not the raw activity log. OpenHistory works with ChatGPT Desktop, Claude Cowork, and other agents that support local MCP servers.
Can I delete everything?
Yes. “Delete all local data” permanently removes your recorded activity, summaries, settings, saved API keys, and agent connections from your Mac.
Is OpenHistory open source?
Yes. You can inspect the code, review how OpenHistory handles your data, or build it yourself on GitHub.
Local-first. Built for macOS.
Download for Mac