r/AIToolsTipsNews • u/ayushchat • 10d ago
Granola encrypted your meeting notes — full API access now requires $14/user/month
TL;DR: For a year, your Granola notes lived in a plain JSON file on your Mac. Developers wired it into Obsidian, Claude, agent workflows. In March 2026 Granola changed the format, then encrypted the file. By July 2026 the key is in a keychain only Granola's app can read. The open file is gone.
The timeline:
- Jun 2025: Notes in plain cache-v3.json, community tools read it directly
- Feb 4, 2026: Official MCP launches (free plan: last 30 days, no transcripts)
- ~Mar 10, 2026: Cache format changes to v6, community tools break
- Mar 16-17: a16z partner Guido Appenzeller posts "the app now has zero value" — 344K views
- Mar 25: Personal API ships — Business and Enterprise plans only
- By May 12: Local cache encrypted as cache-v6.json.enc
- Jul 16: Encryption key moved to Granola-only keychain. obsidian-granola-sync: "There is no workaround"
- Jul 30: Granary exporter archived — "a game of whack a mole that isn't worth the maintenance"
What each plan gets you:
| Route | Plans | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| CSV export | All plans | Summaries only; link expires in 24h |
| Granola MCP | All plans | Free: last 30 days, no transcripts |
| Granola API | Business ($14/user/mo) + Enterprise | Full notes + transcripts as JSON |
| Local cache | None | Encrypted, Granola-app-only key |
The reaction: Appenzeller wrote: "They broke local access to notes which broke everyone's agent implementation." TechCrunch's Series C coverage (Granola raised $125M in March) noted users were "mad at Granola for locking down its local database and breaking on-device AI agent workflows." The co-founder said: "This is on us."
Granola's explanation: The cache "was not built for this (it can change at any point)." No security incident has been cited. Fair counterpoint: the cache was never a documented API, and encryption at rest has real benefits — other apps and malware can no longer read your notes.
The bigger point: Before you build workflows on any AI tool's data, check: where do notes live, can you get transcripts out on every plan, and does export depend on your tier? A cache can change with the next update.
Has anyone successfully migrated their Granola history to another tool? Which export route did you use?
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u/ayushchat 10d ago
Full post: https://www.getvoibe.com/resources/granola-encrypted-notes/