Shorthand

Setup guide

Set up AI note taking.

Shorthand records and transcribes on your computer. The note itself is written by Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor CLI, installed on this computer and signed in to your own subscription. Usage counts against that subscription; no API key needed. The assistant receives the transcript and the current note, never the audio.

Do these steps once, before your first capture. Without them, capture and transcription still work, but the note never appears.

01

Install the assistant and sign in

Open PowerShell on Windows, or Terminal on macOS and Linux. Sign in with the account that carries your subscription; the assistant remembers it.

Claude Code

Claude Pro and Max

  1. Follow Install Claude Code.
  2. Sign in:
    claude auth login

Codex

ChatGPT Plus and Pro

  1. Follow Codex CLI: getting started.
  2. Sign in:
    codex login

Cursor CLI

Cursor subscription

  1. Follow Install Cursor CLI.
  2. Sign in:
    agent login
02

Connect Obsidian

  1. In Shorthand, open Notes and choose Install in Obsidian. Obsidian opens on the Shorthand plugin's page.
  2. In Obsidian, choose Install, then Enable. Back in Shorthand, the Notes section now shows the plugin as installed.
  3. In Obsidian, open the Shorthand plugin's settings and set Enhancement backend to the assistant from step 1: Claude Code (the default), Codex, or Cursor CLI. You can also connect to an Agent Client Protocol (ACP) agent, or choose LLM provider if you would rather use an API key, a local model (such as Ollama), or your own OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

If Obsidian is not installed yet, the Notes section says so and offers a link to get it.

03

Take your first note

  1. Keep Shorthand running and open a Markdown note in Obsidian.
  2. Open the command palette and run Shorthand: Start meeting capture on this note.
  3. Talk normally. The note fills in as the conversation goes.
  4. Run Shorthand: Stop capture when you finish.

For a solo session, turn on Assisted notes in Shorthand under Modes → Notetaking, then run Shorthand: Start assisted notes capture on this note in Obsidian.

The plugin writes only inside its own marked section. Anything you type outside that section stays as it is.

If the note never appears

Work down this list; the first item that fails is the cause.

  1. Is the assistant installed and signed in? In a new terminal window, run claude auth status, codex login status, or agent status. A "not found" error means the install did not finish, or the terminal was opened before it did.
  2. Does the plugin point at the one you installed? Check Enhancement backend in the plugin's settings in Obsidian.
  3. Does Notes in Shorthand show the plugin as installed and enabled? If not, choose Install in Obsidian again.
  4. Is the transcript empty? Open History in Shorthand. An empty transcript is a microphone or model problem, not an assistant problem; check Capture and Transcription in the app's settings.

Install on macOS

The macOS builds are not code-signed, so macOS quarantines the download and will not open it until you clear that once. macOS 14.6 or later is required.

  1. Download the build for your Mac: Apple silicon or Intel. If you are not sure, open Apple menu → About This Mac: a Chip line means Apple silicon, a Processor line means Intel.
  2. Open the .dmg and drag Shorthand into Applications.
  3. Open Terminal and clear the quarantine:
    xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Shorthand.app
  4. Open Shorthand from Applications.

If you would rather not use Terminal: open Shorthand once and let macOS refuse it, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and choose Open Anyway.