Settings Reference

Settings reference

This page walks through every section of the plugin's settings tab (Settings, ReWrite (Voice Notes)), top to bottom. For provider-specific guidance see Providers; for the local whisper server see Self-hosting: whisper.cpp.

API key encryption

Controls how your provider API keys are encrypted at rest. There is no unencrypted option.

• Encryption mode: choose between Obsidian secret storage (the default when your Obsidian version and OS support it; keys live in the OS keychain) and Passphrase (AES-GCM with a key derived from a passphrase via Argon2id, or PBKDF2 where Argon2id is unavailable). A status badge next to the section heading shows the active mode and whether it is currently unlocked.
• Change passphrase: set or rotate the passphrase (passphrase mode only). The plugin enforces a minimum strength and offers a one-click 6-word generator.
• Lock now: clears the derived key from memory (passphrase mode). The next pipeline run prompts you to unlock.

Full detail, including which file holds what and how to keep keys off your sync, is on Secrets and sync.

Active profile

• Profile selection: pick which profile is active. The plugin ships two profiles, Desktop and Mobile, so a device can use different providers and keys. Each device auto-detects which profile applies; this setting lets you override that.

Profiles (Desktop and Mobile)

Each profile is rendered in its own framed section, with the device's active profile highlighted. The fields:

• Profile label: a friendly name for the profile.
• Transcription provider: the service that turns audio into text. Choosing a provider reveals the fields it needs. None disables the recording paths for this profile (text-only use). See Providers for the full list.
• Transcription base URL: shown only for providers that need it (for example openai-compatible). See Providers for the base-URL conventions.
• Transcription API key: stored encrypted (see API key encryption above). Not shown for providers that need no key (such as local whisper.cpp).
• Identify speakers: turns on diarization (Speaker A: / Speaker B: labels) when the provider supports it (AssemblyAI, Deepgram, Rev.ai). A no-op on other providers. A template can also force this on. See Providers.
• LLM provider: the model that cleans and structures the transcript. None skips cleanup and inserts the raw text.
• LLM base URL: shown for openai-compatible. Note the base-URL asymmetry between transcription and LLM described in Providers.
• LLM API key: stored encrypted.
• Maximum note length: a friendly dropdown that frames the LLM output cap in minutes of speech (5 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 60). Internally this sets the LLM max-tokens value. A custom token value entered in Advanced shows here as a "Custom" option.
• Transcription model / LLM model: a single adaptive field. When the provider supports listing models and the cache is populated, it is a dropdown with a Refresh button and a "Custom..." escape hatch for typing an id by hand; otherwise it is a plain text field. Whichever is shown, the value is the model id sent to the provider. See Providers for which providers support the dropdown.
• Advanced (collapsible):
  • Transcription language: an optional language hint passed to the transcription provider.
  • LLM max tokens: the raw output-token cap that "Maximum note length" frames in minutes. Editing it here updates the dropdown on the next render. The cap bounds output (note length), not input.

Local whisper.cpp server (desktop)

Shown on desktop only. Manages a whisper-server binary you supply for fully on-device transcription. Fields: Binary path, Model path, Port (default 8080), Extra args, and a live Status row with Start/Stop and a log viewer. The server is always bound to loopback (127.0.0.1); it refuses to start if Extra args contains a non-loopback --host. Full walkthrough on Self-hosting: whisper.cpp.

Templates

• Templates folder: where the template Markdown files live (default ReWrite/Templates). Changing it reloads templates from the new location.
• Populate or update default templates: three buttons sharing one row:
  • Populate: creates any missing default templates plus SharedCore.md. Non-destructive; skips anything that already exists. (The template format is documented in Creating templates, not a seeded vault file.)
  • Update: reconciles your default-derived templates against the current built-ins with a per-field 3-way merge, and writes a Template update report.md for anything it cannot safely auto-merge. Recreates any default you deleted.
  • Load prior versions: drops earlier shipped versions of the defaults into the folder as separate, selectable templates so you can compare wording.
• Default template: the template pre-selected when you open the modal.
• Quick record (set template): the template used by the "Quick record (set template)" command (see Commands and menus).
• On filename collision: when a newFile template would overwrite an existing note, either auto (silently append -1, -2, ...) or prompt (ask you for a name).

See Creating templates for the file format and how Populate / Update / Load prior versions differ.

Recording

• Audio format preference: a hint for which container/codec MediaRecorder should prefer; the plugin falls back to a supported format if the preferred one is unavailable.
• Attachments folder: where recorded audio is saved. Leave empty to use Obsidian's own attachment location; set a folder to override it. Saved recordings are linked into the output with an ![[...]] embed.

Ad-hoc instructions

Controls spoken "assistant" instructions extracted from a transcript (say the assistant name followed by a directive, and that directive is injected into the cleanup prompt).

• Enabled: turns the feature on or off.
• Assistant name: the trigger word the extractor listens for (the vocative, for example "Scribe, make this a bulleted list").
• Assistant prompt file: the vault Markdown file whose body is prefaced above extracted directives (default ReWrite/AssistantPrompt.md).
• Populate default assistant prompt: writes the default prompt file if missing.

Shared core

The baseline cleanup rules prepended to every template prompt (unless a template opts out). A status badge shows whether it is currently enabled (the file exists and is non-empty).

• Shared core file: the vault Markdown file used (default ReWrite/SharedCore.md). Delete or empty it to disable the shared core globally.
• Re-create shared core file: writes the default shared core if missing.

See Creating templates for how the shared core combines with a template at run time.

Known nouns

Proper nouns the LLM should preserve verbatim (with optional misheard variants).

• Known nouns file: the vault Markdown file used (default ReWrite/KnownNouns.md). Its frontmatter is human-guidance only and is never sent to the LLM; only the body lines are used.
• Populate default known nouns: writes the default file (with example entries) if missing.

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