Bootstrap of the project (M0). Sets up the monorepo, design docs, hardware BOM, the open API contract, component skeletons, licensing and CI, following the Default Workflow SOP. What changed: - CLAUDE.md + docs/: copied the Default Workflow so sessions load the SOP. - state/: PROJECT, ARCHITECTURE, DECISIONS, TODO, NOTES filled in for OpenScribe. ARCHITECTURE captures the four-part design (firmware, server, app, case) and the three sync paths; DECISIONS records the hardware, AI-stack, storage, app and licensing choices; TODO lays out milestones M1-M9. - hardware/BOM.md: two build options (compact XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense; dev ESP32-S3 + I2S mic + SD), wiring/pinout, indicative cost. - api/openapi.yaml: the completely open API (device + server surfaces), including recording list/download/delete and exports (wav/ogg/txt/srt/vtt/md/json). - firmware/: PlatformIO ESP32-S3 project, two board profiles, pin map, boot scaffold with module seams for M1-M4. - server/: FastAPI skeleton mirroring the OpenAPI, config for self-hosted MinIO, faster-whisper and Ollama; stub routes browsable at /docs. - app/, case/: Flutter app plan; parametric OpenSCAD enclosure. - Licensing: GPL-3.0 (code), CERN-OHL-S-2.0 (hardware), CC-BY-SA-4.0 (case/docs), REUSE-style LICENSES/ with SPDX headers; LICENSING.md explains the split. - CI: Forgejo Actions workflow builds firmware (both profiles) and lints/imports server. Why: - Everything self-hosted and openly licensed per the user's requirements: an open API, three sync paths (BLE control, WiFi transfer, independent WiFi upload on charge to generic cloud storage), and a full self-hosted transcription+summary stack. Notes: - No custom PCB in v1; off-the-shelf modules. Physical verification waits on parts. - Component code is stubs at M0; features land milestone by milestone, each as its own branch/PR per the workflow. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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OpenScribe
An open-source, self-hosted AI voice recorder in the style of the Plaud Note / NotePin. A small wearable device records audio to local storage, syncs to a mobile app and to a server you run, and produces transcripts and summaries, through a completely open API. No proprietary cloud, no lock-in.
Status: early scaffold (M0). The design, hardware BOM, and open API are defined; component code is being built milestone by milestone. See
state/TODO.md.
Why
Commercial AI recorders send your conversations to a vendor's cloud. OpenScribe keeps the whole pipeline (capture, storage, transcription, summarisation, export) on hardware you own, under open licences, with an API documented so you can build against it.
What it does
- Records voice to microSD on a small ESP32-S3 device (button start/stop, LED status).
- Syncs three ways:
- BLE for control, status and WiFi provisioning.
- WiFi to the mobile app for fast bulk transfer.
- Independent WiFi upload to your storage when on charge / hard-powered, with no phone present.
- Transcribes (faster-whisper) and summarises (local LLM via Ollama) on a server you host.
- Exposes a completely open REST API with exports: audio, TXT, SRT, VTT, Markdown, JSON.
- Ships a Flutter app (Android + iOS) and a 3D-printed parametric case.
Architecture at a glance
mic -> ESP32-S3 (record to microSD)
| BLE: control / provision
| WiFi REST API: transfer to app
| WiFi uploader (on charge) -> object storage (MinIO / WebDAV / NAS)
|
self-hosted server (FastAPI)
faster-whisper -> Ollama -> open API + exports
|
Flutter app (Android + iOS)
Full detail: state/ARCHITECTURE.md. The API contract:
api/openapi.yaml.
Repository layout
firmware/ ESP32-S3 recorder firmware (PlatformIO, Arduino-ESP32)
server/ Self-hosted FastAPI server: ingest, transcribe, summarise, serve API
app/ Flutter mobile app (Android + iOS)
hardware/ BOM, wiring/pinout, build notes (off-the-shelf modules, no PCB in v1)
case/ Parametric 3D-printed enclosure (OpenSCAD)
api/ openapi.yaml - the single source of truth for the open API
docs/ Workflow docs (this project follows the Default Workflow SOP)
state/ Project memory: PROJECT, ARCHITECTURE, DECISIONS, TODO, NOTES
LICENSES/ Full licence texts
Hardware
You build the device from off-the-shelf parts. See hardware/BOM.md
for the shopping list, wiring and pinout. Core: an ESP32-S3 board with PSRAM, an I2S MEMS
microphone, a microSD card, a LiPo battery and a charge IC.
Self-hosted stack
Everything runs on hardware you own: Forgejo for the forge, faster-whisper for transcription, Ollama for summaries, MinIO (or WebDAV / NAS) for storage. Plain recording and transfer work without any server; the server adds transcription and summaries.
Getting started
Nothing to run end to end yet (M0 scaffold). To follow along:
- Read
state/PROJECT.mdandstate/TODO.md. - Per-component build/run commands are in
state/NOTES.mdand each component'sREADME.md.
Licensing
Multi-part, copyleft. Code is GPL-3.0-only, hardware is CERN-OHL-S-2.0, case and docs are
CC-BY-SA-4.0. See LICENSING.md.
OpenScribe is an independent open-source project inspired by the Plaud class of device. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Plaud.