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After transcription, Steno passes the transcript to a language model to generate structured notes: a summary paragraph, key topics, and action items. By default, this uses a local model running via Ollama entirely on your Mac. You can optionally configure a cloud model (OpenAI, Anthropic, or custom endpoint) — see the section below.

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Available models

ModelSizeSpeedQualityBest for
llama3.2:3b~2GBFastGoodQuick meetings, daily use (default)
gemma3:4b~2.5GBFastGoodLightweight alternative to llama
qwen3.5:9b~6.6GBModerateVery goodStructured output, action items
deepseek-r1:14b~9GBSlowerExcellentComplex meetings, detailed analysis
gpt-oss:20b~14GBSlowExcellentHighest quality local output
Larger models produce better-structured, more detailed notes. The trade-off is processing time and disk space.

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How to change models

  1. Open Settings → Models → Summarization
  2. Select a model from the list
  3. If the model is not yet downloaded, Steno will download it via Ollama
The new model is used for all future recordings. You can re-summarize an existing recording from its detail view using any model.

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Choosing the right model

For daily use: llama3.2:3b (default) works well for most meetings. Notes are clear and concise without requiring significant processing time. For important meetings: qwen3.5:9b or deepseek-r1:14b produce more detailed notes with better-identified action items and more accurate key topics. For hardware with limited RAM: Stay with llama3.2:3b or gemma3:4b. The larger models require at least 16GB RAM to run comfortably without swapping.

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Using a cloud model

Steno optionally supports OpenAI, Anthropic, or a custom API endpoint as an alternative to a local model. If configured, your transcript (not your audio) is sent to that API for summarization. To configure a cloud model:
  1. Open Settings → Models → Summarization
  2. Select Cloud model
  3. Choose the provider and enter your API key
Cloud models are off by default. If you work with confidential recordings, use a local model.
qwen3.5:9b is particularly good at identifying and formatting action items from meeting transcripts. If structured output is important, it is worth the extra size over the default llama3.2:3b.
The default setup (whisper-small + llama3.2:3b) requires approximately 2.5GB. The largest model (gpt-oss:20b) requires ~14GB. Models are stored in ~/.ollama/models/.
Yes. Run ollama rm [model-name] in Terminal to remove a model and free the disk space. You can re-download it later from within Steno.
Stick with llama3.2:3b (the default). It runs comfortably on 8GB. The 9B and larger models will cause swapping on 8GB, significantly slowing both summarization and your Mac.