All chapters

  1. Getting started

    1. Start here
    2. Install, update & first launch
    3. Bring your notes in
    4. Your vault & the window

  2. Daily work

    1. Writing & the editor
    2. The Note Inspector & history
    3. Capturing ideas
    4. Today & daily notes
    5. Tasks
    6. Minutes: recording meetings

  3. Find and understand

    1. Finding & connecting notes
    2. Setting up AI
    3. Ask Header
    4. AI writing tools: Review, Refactor & the selection assistant
    5. Lenses
    6. Atlas
    7. Mindprint, Review & Retro

  4. Research and publish

    1. Research & the Reading Room
    2. Manuscripts
    3. Boards

  5. Protect your notes

    1. Trust, safety & privacy
    2. Sync & backup

  6. Reference

    1. Header across macOS
    2. Settings
    3. Keyboard shortcuts
    4. Help, feedback & FAQ
Header AI

Setting up AI

AI is optional in Header. Writing, linking, search, Lenses, tasks, exports and recording meetings all work without it. When you do want AI, you pick where it runs: Apple Intelligence on your Mac, your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Mistral key, or a model you run with Ollama. Header adds no charge on top of AI; a cloud provider bills you directly for what you use.

The routes, side by side

Choose one or combine them
RouteWhere your text goesWhat you need
Apple IntelligenceStays on this MacAn Apple silicon Mac on macOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on and downloaded
Apple Image PlaygroundStays on this MacAn Apple silicon Mac with Apple Intelligence turned on. Pictures only, from the editor; no key, nothing to set up in Header
OpenAI, Anthropic or MistralThat provider, when you start an AI actionYour own API key
OllamaThe Ollama server you point at, usually on this MacOllama installed with a model downloaded

Everything below lives in Header → Settings… → AI.

Apple Intelligence On-device

No key, nothing to install in Header

On a Mac that supports it, Header can answer with Apple's on-device model without any setup. If no other provider is set up, Ask Header uses it automatically.

If you have a cloud key but want questions about your notes answered privately first, turn on Prefer Apple Intelligence (on-device) when available under On-device Intelligence. The caption reads "Prefers Apple Intelligence locally; cloud AI handles other work." Some requests still go to your cloud provider because the small on-device model can't serve them well: web searches, generating a whole document or page, drafting messages, and hard reasoning across many notes. When Apple Intelligence isn't available, the switch is dimmed and the caption gives the reason.

Find it Settings → AI → On-device Intelligence

Your own key: OpenAI, Anthropic or Mistral Cloud

Saved in macOS Keychain after a connection check
  1. Create an API key on your provider's site. Each provider's section has a link to its API Dashboard.
  2. Paste the key into that provider's field. The eye button shows or hides it.
  3. Click Check Connection. Header saves the key only after the provider accepts it, and stores it in macOS Keychain. The status badge changes to Connected.
  4. Turn on Use cloud AI when available at the top of the page. It starts off, and saved keys aren't used until you switch it on.

Once a key is saved, a Model picker appears. Auto (recommended) picks a capable model; choose a specific one if you want to control cost and speed. With two or more keys saved, a Preferred provider picker appears too: pick one to use it first, or leave it on Auto (most capable). Remove Key deletes a key from Keychain.

Keys stay in Keychain on your Mac and never reach Header's servers. Turning off Use cloud AI when available later keeps local providers working.
Find it Settings → AI → Generation Mode, then the OpenAI, Anthropic and Mistral sections

Ollama Local

A model you run yourself

Install Ollama and download a model with it. Then, under Local LLM:

  • Turn on Use Ollama local LLM.
  • Base URL starts as http://localhost:11434, Ollama's usual address on this Mac.
  • Model starts as llama3.2. Change it to the model you downloaded.
  • Click Check Connection.

Ollama works whether or not Use cloud AI when available is on. If you also have a cloud key and cloud AI is on, the cloud provider is used first.

A network address isn't local. If the Base URL points at another machine, such as a server on your office network, your notes travel to it. Header says "Remote Ollama receives your notes; sends are previewed and recorded." and treats it like a cloud provider.

The send preview Privacy

See what's going out before it goes

With Show preview before sending content to cloud AI on (it starts on), Header asks before it sends anything to a cloud provider. The sheet is titled "Send to Anthropic?" (or whichever provider) and lists the Destination, the Action (for example Ask Header), and what it Includes. Click Review exact content to read the exact text, then Send to … or Cancel.

One approval covers that feature's follow-up sends for two minutes. Tick Don't ask again for … to stop asking for that one feature; turning the preview setting back on brings the question back. Local providers never ask.

Find it Settings → AI → Cloud AI controls

What leaves your Mac, and Privacy Receipts

A record you can check

Note excerpts are sent only when you start a cloud AI action. Settings → Privacy & Data has a table titled What may leave this Mac?. For example, Ask Header sends your question and relevant excerpts, and Review with Header the text you chose, only if a cloud provider is selected. Saving, search, Lenses and Graph send nothing.

Privacy Receipts is the log. It records each approved cloud send and research lookup, grouped by day, with the provider and model. Local AI never appears in it. If nothing has gone out, it says "None of your notes have left this Mac." Requests that carry none of your content, such as checking for updates, aren't listed.

The same page also counts Billed cloud AI calls this month. Apple Intelligence and Ollama aren't counted, and the count stays on this Mac.

Find it Settings → Privacy & Data → Privacy Receipts → View Receipts… · or ⌘K → Privacy Receipts

What your Mac can do: capability tiers

Settings → Privacy & Data → On this Mac

Header behaves differently depending on the Mac, so Settings tells you which tier yours is in, with a few lines about what that means for AI and meeting transcription.

TierWhich MacsWhat it means
Full capabilityApple silicon, macOS 26 or later, Apple Intelligence availableEverything Header offers, including private on-device AI for Ask Header, AI Review and meeting notes
StandardApple silicon on macOS 14.4 or 15, or a newer macOS without Apple Intelligence availableThe full app; AI features use your own provider (cloud key or Ollama)
CompatibilityIntel MacsThe full app; on-device AI isn't available, and local models such as Whisper are slower

Every tier gets the same core: "Notes, links, search, tasks, exports, and Minutes work fully on this Mac."

Which features need AI

So you know what to expect before setting anything up

Work without AI

Writing and the editor, links, search, Lenses, Graph, tasks and exports. Saving web pages with Save a Link. Recording and transcribing meetings in Minutes. Ask Header's Find mode, which returns exact passages from your notes.

Need an AI route

Ask Header's written answers, AI Review, Atlas pages, the selection assistant's explain actions and its wording rewrites. (Its Edit verbs fall back to built-in rules without AI, and its instruction box still builds tables, checklists and outlines.) Minutes drafts use Apple Intelligence; without it you get automatic transcript highlights instead.

Whatever answers, check what matters: AI output can be wrong. The next chapter, Ask Header, shows how answers point you to the notes behind them.