Show HN: Keen Bean – Mac meeting notes that draft the spec while you talk

Leave the meeting with a first draft, not a blank page. Not just a transcript. Tasks, decisions, a draft spec, a diagram, a rough mock-up of the screen you were describing — started while you talked, ready for you to finish. On your Mac, in files you own. macOS · Apple Silicon or Intel · no API keys to paste, no bot in your call See it work A replay running in this page. The meeting is a stand-in; what it builds is what the app builds. You ran the meeting, so you couldn't take notes. The bot that took them made your client uncomfortable and gave you a transcript nobody will read. And the write-up is still yours to do tonight — because there's nobody to hand it to. Three things that make it different No bot. Nobody knows. It hears both sides from your Mac's own audio. Nothing joins, nothing announces itself, nothing appears in the participant list — so the meeting stays a meeting. Works where recording bots are banned. It starts the work. Tasks, decisions, risks and blockers appear as cards while people speak. When the conversation gets substantive it drafts the spec, sketches the diagram, roughs out the screen you're describing. Drafts, not deliverables — you finish them. Your meetings stay yours. Audio goes from your Mac to a transcription service to be transcribed, and the transcript to the model — that's the whole list. We run no proxy and no server in that path, so your meeting content never reaches us. Everything else is Markdown and JSON on your Mac. Open the files in any editor. Ever. A day of meetings What it's actually like. Today's calendar is on the launch pad. One click opens the meeting with attendees and project already filled in. Cards appear as things are said. Type a question silently, or just say “hey Bean, mock that up” out loud. Pause for the off-record bit. Below about half your screen it folds into a single newest-first feed, so it sits next to the call window instead of fighting it. Duplicates merge, what's left is ranked with blockers first. Nothing is deleted — “show all” is one click away. Export the summary, transcript, cards and every draft straight into your Obsidian vault or project folder. Ask questions across every meeting you've ever had — who owned that, when did we decide it, what did they object to. Who it's for You run the meeting and you write it up. There's nobody to hand it to. That's the whole thing — a transcript is useless to you, because you were never going to re-read it. Built for Consultants and solution architects — client calls, NDAs, and policies that forbid bots Founders and entrepreneurs — discovery, investors, customer interviews, hiring People who already live in Markdown and already pay for Claude or ChatGPT Anyone whose meetings produce a document, not just a memory Not for Teams wanting a shared workspace with admin and SSO Windows or Linux — this is a Mac app, and deliberately so Anyone after a free tier forever Anyone who wants to pay once and be done — this one is a subscription The honest answers Questions worth asking. No, and we won't pretend otherwise. It gets you a first draft while the conversation is fresh. Plenty of what a finished document needs won't even have been discussed yet — that part is still yours. What changes is that you edit something instead of facing a blank page. No, and that's the point of the subscription. When you activate, Keen Bean provisions its own capped keys for transcription and for the models, on our accounts. You never open a provider account, never paste a key, and never get a second bill to reconcile. If you cancel, billing stops at the end of the period and every file the app made stays yours. Bean keeps listening. Building pauses — you still get the transcript and the recording, the drafting stops — and nothing is ever cut off in the middle of a meeting. Top up whenever you want, or wait for the reset on your billing date. The path hasn't changed: audio goes from your Mac to a transcription service to be transcribed, and the transcript to the model. Nowhere else. We run no proxy, so your meeting content never touches anything of ours. Because the keys are ours we can see how much a subscription has spent — that's what fills the bar — and nothing about what was said. Whenever you like, and nothing of yours is held hostage. Billing stops at the end of the period you've paid for. After that the app stops starting new meetings, a meeting already running finishes on transcription alone, and every note, transcript and draft stays in your folders, readable and exportable. Leave whenever you like — you keep all the work. Your files are Markdown and JSON, and the app runs on your Mac rather than on a service that can be switched off. If Keen Bean stopped being maintained tomorrow, everything it made would still open in any editor. That's a design decision, not a reassurance. It asks you to confirm everyone knows, once per meeting. Telling them is your job; the app just makes it hard to forget. Price Two sizes. The AI usage is included. One price covers the app and the AI behind it — transcription and models both. There are no provider accounts to open, no keys to paste and no second bill to reconcile at the end of the month. Seed US$19/month A normal week of client calls, with Bean drafting as you go. Sprout US$39/month Back-to-back days, or Bean turned most of the way up most of the time. Every plan starts with 14 days free. Card up front, nothing charged until day 15, and cancelling before then costs nothing. The trial runs on its own smaller allowance; if you spend it early, Bean keeps listening and drafting pauses until your first billing date. How the allowance works Each plan carries a monthly allowance of AI usage, shown in the app as a bar that empties as you work. How fast it empties is your call: the HOW KEEN? slider sets how hard Bean works, so a quiet morning of listening costs a fraction of an afternoon spent drafting. The app tells you what's left in hours, not in cents. Sprout carries twice Seed's allowance. On a yearly plan the allowance still resets every month. When the bar empties, Bean keeps listening. Building pauses — you still get the transcript and the recording — and nothing is ever cut off in the middle of a meeting. Top up any time, or wait for the reset on your billing date. Everything in the app, running on your Mac The AI usage included — transcription and models, on capped keys the app provisions for you Top-ups whenever a month runs heavy Cancel whenever you like — billing stops at the end of the period you've paid for, and every file stays yours 14 days free, then prices in US dollars, billed monthly or yearly, local pricing shown at checkout. Paddle is the merchant of record and handles tax. Your next meeting is going to happen anyway. Download it, run it on real calls for 14 days, then decide. If it doesn't earn its place by the second real meeting, cancel before the first charge and keep every file it made. macOS 13+ · Apple Silicon or Intel · signed and notarised by Apple