Where your notes actually go
Privacy claims are easy. Data paths are better. This page shows what stays on your Mac, what can leave only when you choose it, and what Hibiscus itself never stores.
- Notesstays here
- Attachmentsstays here
- Search indexstays here
- Historystays here
- Locked noteblocked at gate
- Apple on-deviceStays on this Mac
- OllamaYour runtime, normally this Mac
- Your own keyOnly the request you approve
Locked note · excluded from AI context
Notes and attachments
Notes and their attachments are stored locally in Hibiscus's app data on your Mac. Storage is Markdown-authoritative and exports losslessly. Hibiscus does not claim that every live note appears as a loose .md file in Finder.
On-device AI
When the selected model runs on-device, the request stays on your Mac. No note content is sent anywhere for that action.
Ollama
Requests go to the Ollama runtime you configured. That is normally the same Mac, unless you have deliberately pointed Hibiscus at another machine.
Bring-your-own-key providers
When you explicitly select a cloud model, the content required for that request goes to that provider under your own configuration and key. Hibiscus does not become a storage server for your notes.
Locked notes
Locked content is excluded from AI context and other content-access paths — copy, export, attachments, dictation, and history — until you unlock it. The gate is structural.
Optional account
No account is required to create, keep, edit, search, import, or export notes. Account and session data are separate from note content. [FOUNDER_VERIFY: confirm the production purpose of the optional account before launch.]
Export and deletion
Every note exports as Markdown without loss, and deletion is under your control inside the app.
Every action, and where it happens
| Action | Where processing happens | What leaves the Mac | Who chose the route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write or edit a note | Your Mac | Nothing | — |
| Dictate with an on-device engine | Your Mac | Nothing | — |
| Search across notes | Your Mac | Nothing | — |
| AI edit with Apple on-device | Your Mac | Nothing | You |
| AI edit with Ollama | Your configured Ollama runtime | The request content | You |
| AI edit with your own key | The provider you selected | Only the content that request needs | You |
| Any action on a locked note | Blocked at the access gate | Nothing | You |
| Export | Your Mac | Only where you save the file | You |
Hibiscus does not operate a server that stores your notes. Cloud providers are legitimate routes when you pick them — the difference is that you pick them, and the route is visible before use.
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