Frequently asked questions

What Syncore is, what it costs, which agents and platforms it supports, and how it compares to standalone meeting-notes apps.

What is Syncore?

Syncore (by Syncore Labs) is a local-first MCP (Model Context Protocol) server you install once and connect to any AI agent. It ships three first-party components — Syncore Notes (record meetings your agent can read back), Syncore Wiki (cross-session markdown memory), and Syncore Search (web + Reddit + X research with citations) — plus 70+ pre-wired integrations like Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Calendar, Notion and Drive. The daemon runs on 127.0.0.1, so your data stays on your machine.

Is Syncore free?

Yes. The free tier includes 5 standard integrations, 3 Syncore Notes meeting hours per month, unlimited Syncore Wiki, plus Firecrawl and Perplexity quotas — with no API keys required to get started. Paid plans (Pro $29/mo, Ultra $99/mo) raise the limits, and you can bring your own key (BYOK) on every paid provider to bypass quotas.

Which AI agents and apps does Syncore work with?

Any MCP-compatible client: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, Zed, and ChatGPT desktop. You install Syncore once and its tools become available to whichever agent you use — your memory and tools aren't locked to a single app or vendor.

Is Syncore a Granola, Otter or Fireflies alternative?

Yes — and a fundamentally different shape. Instead of a standalone meeting-notes app, Syncore Notes lives inside your AI agent: it records your computer's audio locally (no bot joins the call), transcribes with speaker diarization, and the agent reads the transcript back to write summaries, action items and follow-up emails. Unlike Granola (macOS-first, meeting-notes only, MCP gated behind a paid tier), Syncore is cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux), free to start, local-first, and the same memory feeds any agent plus a searchable wiki.

Is there an MCP server for meeting notes and transcription?

Yes — Syncore Notes is an MCP-native meeting recorder. The recording, live transcription (via Deepgram, with speaker diarization) and the past-meeting search are all exposed as MCP tools, so your agent can start a recording, read the transcript back, summarize it, pull action items, or recall what was said in a past meeting — all without leaving the agent.

Is Syncore local-first and private?

Yes. The Syncore daemon runs locally at 127.0.0.1 and your meeting recordings, transcripts and wiki are stored on your own machine (the wiki is plain markdown, Obsidian-compatible). Syncore does not train on your data, and processing is local-first by default — there's no paywall on privacy.

Which platforms does Syncore run on?

macOS, Windows and Linux for the CLI/daemon, with a native desktop app on macOS (Windows desktop in progress). This cross-platform reach is a deliberate contrast to mac-first meeting tools.

What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

MCP is an open standard that lets AI agents call external tools and data sources through a uniform interface. An MCP server (like Syncore) exposes a catalog of tools; an MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT, etc.) discovers and calls them. Syncore implements MCP and adds dynamic skill discovery so adding integrations doesn't bloat the agent's tool list.

How is Syncore different from Zapier or n8n?

Zapier and n8n are workflow-first — you draw fixed trigger→action chains by hand. Syncore is agent-first — your AI agent decides which tools to call at runtime, composing Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Notion, Search and meeting context on the fly. There's no canvas to maintain; the workflow is whatever the LLM decides in the moment.

Do I need API keys to use Syncore?

No. Paid providers (Perplexity, Firecrawl, Deepgram, etc.) are routed through the Syncore gateway on the free and paid tiers, so you can start with zero keys. BYOK (bring your own key) is supported on every paid provider if you'd rather use your own and bypass quotas.