Privacy

OpenFolio is local-first by default.

What stays local

• the canonical SQLite graph
• raw Messages history
• local notes and reminders
• local embedding cache
• local connector credentials and BYOK AI keys

If you add your own OpenAI key and use Ask mode, OpenFolio sends the selected retrieved snippets needed to answer that question to OpenAI. If you enable OpenAI embeddings, document text needed for embedding is sent to OpenAI. Without those BYOK settings, semantic indexing and retrieval stay local.

macOS permissions

OpenFolio asks for Full Disk Access so it can read the local iMessage database that macOS stores on your Mac. The app imports that data into a local SQLite database and does not upload raw Messages history by default.

OpenFolio asks for Contacts access so it can resolve phone numbers and email handles to names from Apple Contacts. Contact metadata is stored locally with the same local-first boundary.

What hosted services are for

• account identity
• billing and entitlements
• hosted AI when explicitly enabled in a future paid plan
• future managed connectors
• future hosted MCP / remote access

The current MCP path is local stdio. If OpenFolio later offers hosted MCP, the intended model is an optional derived hosted graph with explicit consent and clear onboarding disclosure about what is uploaded.