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AI settings

Choose where your AI runs, add your own keys, pick how speech is transcribed, turn Attention on or off and review the sites Plexii may act on.

All plansUpdated

The AI tab in Settings is where you decide how PlexiDesk's AI works on this computer: whether it runs on your PlexiDesk credits or on your own key, how your voice is turned into text, whether Attention is switched on, and which websites Plexii may act on for you.

This article walks through the tab from top to bottom and links to a detailed guide for each part.

Before you start

  • Plan: the AI tab is available on every plan.
  • Credits need an account. To run AI on PlexiDesk credits, sign in to your PlexiDesk account. See Create an account and sign in Coming soon.
  • These settings belong to this computer. Your AI source, your keys, your transcription choice, the Attention switch and your site permissions are all kept on this computer. If you use PlexiDesk on more than one computer, set them up on each one.
  • Changes take effect straight away. There is no Save button, and you do not need to restart PlexiDesk.

Open the AI settings

  1. Click the gear at the right-hand end of the header. Its tooltip says Appearance settings, and it opens Settings.
  2. Click the AI tab.
  3. Scroll down through the sections described below. They appear in the same order as on screen.

AI · source

The three buttons at the top decide what pays for, and carries, your AI requests.

Button What it says What it does
Automatic Credits first, then your key Uses your PlexiDesk credits while you have a balance. Once your credits are used up, it switches to your own Anthropic key, if you have added one. This is where every new install starts.
PlexiDesk credits Metered, prepaid balance Always uses your credit balance while you are signed in, even if you have also added a key.
Your own key Direct to Anthropic Always uses your own Anthropic key, and never your credits.

Click a button to choose it. The chosen button is highlighted.

Unless you choose Your own key, a card under the buttons shows your credits:

  • Signed in: the card shows your Credit balance. If your credits run out, the card says Credits used up and suggests what to do next.
  • Not signed in: the card asks you to sign in to use credits. Until you do, PlexiDesk uses your own Anthropic key, whichever button is chosen.

For how credits work, and how they differ from using your own key, see AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon.

Local AI enrichment

This section, inside AI · source, lets a local AI model running on your own computer through Ollama describe your documents, so Plexii can find and ground its answers with richer context. It runs on this computer and does not use any credits.

  • A card says whether a local model is running, and which models it found.
  • What the assistant can see counts how many of your documents, files and conversations Plexii can search, and how many documents have been described, ranked by meaning and read for memory.
  • Enrich my documents describes your documents with the local model. It is available only while a local model is running.
  • Refresh status checks again, for example after you start Ollama.

For setup and every detail, see Enrich documents with a local AI model Coming soon.

AI usage on this device

After this computer has made its first AI request, a small box appears under AI · source, headed AI usage on this device. It shows:

  • how many AI calls this computer has made
  • how many tokens (the units AI text is measured in) were sent and received, which are exact counts
  • an estimated cost, marked est., worked out at standard rates

Use it to keep an eye on how much AI you are using.

AI · API keys

Here you add keys from your own accounts with AI and media services. Each row says what its key is for:

Row What the key is used for
Anthropic API key Plexii and the other AI features, whenever PlexiDesk runs on your own key.
OpenAI API key Cloud voice transcription and image generation.
Pexels API key Stock photo search in PlexiiDesign. Optional.
remove.bg API key Removing an image's background in PlexiiDesign. Optional.

Each key is encrypted with your computer's secure storage and kept on this computer. When PlexiDesk uses your own key, requests go straight from your computer to that provider. On PlexiDesk credits, AI requests go through PlexiDesk so that their use can be counted against your balance.

For step-by-step instructions, see Add your own API keys.

Voice · transcription provider

This choice decides how your speech becomes text: in voice notes, in the Transcribe widget on your Home dashboard, and when you hold to talk to Plexii.

Button What it does
Cloud Sends the recording to OpenAI's Whisper service with your own OpenAI key. OpenAI charges your OpenAI account for it by the minute. New installs start here.
Local Transcribes on this computer with a small Whisper model, free, with no key and no internet connection once the model is downloaded.

To switch to Local:

  1. Click Local.
  2. The first time, PlexiDesk downloads the speech model, a one-time download of about 80 MB. A line under the buttons says it is loading. Stay online until it finishes.
  3. When the line says Switched to Local Whisper, your next recordings are transcribed on this computer.

To go back, click Cloud. Cloud needs an OpenAI key in AI · API keys above.

For help choosing, see Choose how speech is transcribed: Cloud or Local Coming soon.

Attention

The Attention layer checkbox turns Attention on or off. It starts off.

While it is on, you get:

  • the capture console: type @attention in the command palette (⌘ K on a Mac, Ctrl K on Windows) to note something down
  • Plexii sorting your reminders, reviews and loose thoughts into Attention
  • the Attention page and its notifications

When you turn it off, none of this runs and Plexii does not file anything into Attention. Everything you already captured is kept, and shows again when you turn it back on.

See Turn Attention on or off Coming soon and Attention: everything that needs you Coming soon.

Plexii on the web

Plexii can work in the in-app browser for you, one visible step at a time, and you can stop it at any point. Reading a page needs no permission. The first time Plexii wants to act on a site, such as clicking or typing there, it asks you first.

This section lists every site you answered Always allow for, in alphabetical order, with the date you allowed it.

  • To take a permission back, click Revoke beside the site. Plexii asks again the next time it wants to act there.
  • If the list is empty, it says No sites yet.

See Allow, limit or revoke Plexii on websites Coming soon and Let Plexii work on a web page Coming soon.

Choose the AI model

The model Plexii uses is not on this tab. It is under Settings > Advanced > AI model. See Choose the AI model Coming soon.

Common questions

Do I need an API key to use AI? Not for most features. Sign in to your PlexiDesk account and leave AI · source on Automatic or PlexiDesk credits, and AI runs on your credits. A few features need your own Anthropic key, and Cloud transcription and image generation need an OpenAI key. See Add your own API keys.

I added my key, but my credits are still being used. On Automatic, PlexiDesk uses your credits first and turns to your key only when they run out. To use your key all the time, click Your own key.

I cannot see AI usage on this device. The box appears after this computer makes its first AI request.

Local did not switch. The first switch needs an internet connection to download the speech model. Check that you are online and click Local again. If it still does not switch, quit PlexiDesk, open it again and try once more.

My settings are different on my other computer. The settings on this tab are kept on each computer separately. Set them up again on the other one, including your keys.

I turned Attention off. Are my items gone? No. Everything you captured is kept, and shows again when you turn the Attention layer back on.

  • Add your own API keys: add, test, replace or remove each key.
  • AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon: how credits work and when your own key is used.
  • Enrich documents with a local AI model Coming soon: set up and use a local model.
  • Choose how speech is transcribed: Cloud or Local Coming soon: pick the right transcription option.
  • Turn Attention on or off Coming soon: what the Attention layer does.
  • Allow, limit or revoke Plexii on websites Coming soon: manage the sites Plexii may act on.
  • Choose the AI model Coming soon: pick the model Plexii uses.
  • Settings overview Coming soon: every Settings tab at a glance.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].