Chat limits and privacy
Understand Chat question allowances, cloud processing, local history, and reasons Chat may pause.
Chat has its own cloud allowance. It does not use or change your recording, dictation, or summary allowance. Chat has one model choice: Cloud · Standard. There is no local chat model or bring-your-own-key option.
Question allowances
| Plan | Questions | Additional limits |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible trial | 20 for the lifetime of the trial account | 10 in a rolling 24 hours; 3 in a minute |
| Active Pro | 300 per UTC calendar month | 30 in a rolling 24 hours; 6 in a minute |
| Pay Once alone | Not included | An active Pro subscription is required |
Only one question can run on an account at a time, including across Macs. The composer and Plan & usage show the remaining allowance. Pro resets at the start of the next UTC month, which may appear on the preceding date in your local time zone. Trial questions do not renew each month.
A question counts once cloud processing starts. A saved-row list completed locally does not use a cloud question. Sometimes Chat first expands your search terms to find relevant passages. That step and the answer together count as one question, even if the search finds nothing. Stopping before cloud processing starts does not count. Stopping afterwards, losing your connection, or receiving an incomplete answer can still count.
Why Chat may pause
Spending safeguards can stop Chat before the question counter reaches zero. Chat estimates provider cost before starting each question. Account ceilings are $0.50 for a trial and $5 per UTC month for Pro, with additional rolling daily ceilings of $0.20 and $1. Shared service ceilings also apply. The question allowances are upper limits, not guaranteed numbers of answers regardless of size. These safeguards do not add charges to you.
Questions are limited to 2,000 UTF-8 bytes. Some characters use more than one byte; the composer shows the count. Each answer uses a bounded selection of passages and recent conversation context. Shorten a long question or choose fewer meetings if Chat asks you to narrow it.
An unavailable service, a used-up trial allowance, an inactive subscription, or a paused Chat service can also prevent new answers. Existing notes and recording are unaffected. Existing chat history stays on this Mac; it is not a cloud backup.
What leaves your Mac
When you choose Ask, Chat sends your question, selected transcript or note passages, and bounded recent conversation context through Epilude's backend to OpenAI. It does not send audio or your entire library. Search-term planning can send your question before any passages are found.
If you attach files, Chat also sends their names and selected text excerpts. Text extraction runs on your Mac. Original file bytes and file locations are not sent; the saved conversation retains the excerpts used in the answer.
The current answer model is GPT-6 Sol. API requests use store: false. OpenAI's default abuse monitoring may retain API data for up to 30 days, with possible longer retention for legal or safety reasons. OpenAI can also retain encrypted prompt-cache state under its model and account policies. Epilude does not claim Zero Data Retention for Chat. See OpenAI's API data controls and prompt-caching policy.
Epilude's chat accounting stores request IDs, timing, model and policy versions, token usage or a conservative estimate, and cost. It does not store questions, passages, meeting titles, or answers in the cloud chat ledger. Detailed request metadata is pruned after 90 days; aggregate usage remains so deleting history cannot reset a trial allowance.
Local history and deletion
Conversations and their saved source excerpts stay in this app's local storage, separated by signed-in account. They are not synced between Macs. The existing meeting library itself belongs to this Mac, not to an Epilude account. Only ask about notes you are authorized to use on the device.
Use the chat's … menu to export or delete a conversation. Deleting it removes the local transcript of that chat, not its accounted usage or a copy you already exported. Permanently deleting a referenced meeting removes related local chats. Corrupt history files are preserved for recovery rather than silently erased.
Deletion errors appear in Chat. When the folder is writable, Epilude saves a deletion record so a delayed save or restart cannot restore the conversation, then retries cleanup when history loads. If permissions prevent even that record from being saved, resolve the warning and retry before quitting. A damaged file can also prevent removal, so check the warning before assuming every local copy is gone. Exported copies remain yours to manage.
Choose Stop to cancel an active answer. You can leave Chat without sending another question. Processing already sent to the provider cannot be recalled.