Practical overview
When it fits
Use Humla when you want to keep a meeting record that combines your own notes with captured audio, then revisit it through transcripts, summaries or cited question-answering. It is also relevant when you want to choose local or hosted processing separately for transcription, summaries and chat.
Who it is for
- Mac users who want transcripts and structured summaries alongside their own meeting notes.
- People who need speaker-labelled records of remote or in-person conversations.
- Users who want to search meeting notes or ask questions grounded in those notes.
- Agent users who want read-only access to their meeting notes through MCP.
Documented uses
- Capture microphone and computer audio as separate streams during a meeting.
- Transcribe recorded conversations using on-device Whisper or a configured hosted provider.
- Identify and rename speakers in a transcript.
- Create a summary that draws on both typed notes and transcript content.
- Ask questions about notes and inspect cited sources.
Requirements & limits
The README describes macOS 13 or later, recommends Apple Silicon, and links to a macOS release download. It describes the app as free and local-first, with optional paid cloud sync; transcription and summaries use the user’s chosen providers or on-device options.
- Local Whisper runs on the Mac after a one-time model download; hosted transcription requires a provider API key.
- Humla supports per-language transcription provider choices and a default provider.
- Speaker identification runs on-device; the README lists Nemotron 3 and Community-1 engines.
- Summaries and chat can use local LLM servers including Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp or vLLM, or supported hosted services.
- The built-in MCP server provides read-only tools for searching and reading notes.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Set up fully on-device summaries and chat
Configure local language-model servers for summaries and note-question answering.
Before you start
- Humla installed on macOS.
- A local LLM server such as Ollama, LM Studio, or llama.cpp.
Steps
Configure the local LLM server under Settings → Summary to use it for on-device summaries.
Configure the local LLM server under Settings → Chat to use it for on-device chat.
Expected outcome
Humla is configured to use a local LLM for summaries and chat.
Guide limitations
- This setup guide does not cover installing or configuring the local LLM server itself.
- The README describes local summarization and chat separately, under their respective settings sections.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 12 October 2026
- Original website title
- michaelwilhelmsen/humla · Official homepage title · retained in its source language

