Configuration

Settings

Access settings from the menu bar: Tesseract icon > Settings (or ⌘,).

• Launch at Login — Start Tesseract when you log in
• Auto-update — Check for updates automatically (via Sparkle)
• Summarize with AI — Set up providers for AI-powered summaries

LLM providers

Tesseract uses LLM providers for the summarize_day tool and in-app summaries. Three providers are supported:

Note: Claude API sends your captured text to Anthropic for processing. Ollama and Apple Intelligence process everything locally.

Provider priority

Tesseract tries providers in order. If the first fails, it falls back to the next.

Default order: Claude > Ollama > Apple Intelligence

Config file

Settings are stored in ~/.config/tesseract/config.json:

{
  "providerPriority": ["claude", "ollama", "apple"],
  "claudeApiKey": "sk-ant-...",
  "claudeModel": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
  "ollamaEndpoint": "http://localhost:11434",
  "ollamaModel": "llama3"
}

Feature flags

Some features are behind flags controlled via defaults write. These persist across app restarts.

Enabling AI summaries sidebar tab

LLM provider settings (API key, model, provider priority) are always visible in Settings under "Summarize with AI". The separate AI Summaries sidebar tab for in-app summary generation is hidden by default:

defaults write com.proofgeist.tesseract-memory-kit EnableAISummaries -bool YES

Note: The summarize_day MCP tool only appears when an LLM provider is available (Claude API key configured, Ollama set up, or macOS 26+ for Apple Intelligence).

Enabling the timeline view

The animated timeline was disabled by default due to high idle CPU usage. To re-enable it:

defaults write com.proofgeist.tesseract-memory-kit EnableTimelineUI -bool YES

Resetting a flag

defaults delete com.proofgeist.tesseract-memory-kit EnableAISummaries

Data locations