Getting started
Is recording calls legal?
It depends on where you and the other person are. Many places allow recording a call you take part in; some require everyone on the call to agree. Check the rules where you work. AskCalls doesn't record calls; it stores what you upload.
Does it work in Hebrew?
Yes. The interface, search and transcription work in Hebrew and English, mixed in one call. Search handles Hebrew prefixes, so “בחולון” finds “חולון”.
Which AI and transcription providers can I use?
Transcription: ElevenLabs Scribe v2 by default, or OpenAI, Deepgram, Soniox or any OpenAI-compatible speech endpoint. Questions: Anthropic by default, or OpenAI, Google or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, Ollama and LM Studio included. You can switch each to your own key or turn it off.
Can I self-host?
Yes. Run docker compose up and a setup wizard walks you through the database, storage, sign-in and providers.
Is AskCalls open source?
Yes, under the MIT licence. Every release publishes the SHA-256 of each client JavaScript asset, so you can check that askcalls.com serves the code in the repository.
Privacy and keys
Can AskCalls staff see my calls?
No. We store ciphertext and keyed tokens. Without your keys, which never reach us, there is nothing to read.
What if I lose my phone?
Unlock on another device with your passkey, if it syncs, or with your recovery code. If you lose every passkey and the recovery code, your calls can't be recovered: we never had your keys.
Where is my data stored?
On askcalls.com, in Frankfurt: Postgres on Neon and storage on Amazon S3 (AWS, eu-central-1), encrypted on your device before upload. Recording backups can go to your own bucket or Google Drive instead.
What does the remote MCP endpoint see?
It has no keys, so it offers only inbox uploads, recent call ids with their days and durations, and your account status. Inbox uploads are visible to the server in transit, then encrypted to your inbox key.
How do I delete my account?
In Settings. Deleting the account deletes the wrapped keys, so the remaining ciphertext can never be decrypted, and then deletes the data. Export first if you want a decrypted copy; the export is decrypted on your device.
Limits
What happens at the limit?
Uploads pause until you delete calls or the month resets. Search, reading, playback and export keep working, and nothing is deleted.
What about my own keys?
Transcription and questions with your own key don't count toward the limits. The key is encrypted with your keys and used only on your device.
Is self-hosting free?
Yes. The code is MIT-licensed. You pay only for the server, storage and providers you choose, or nothing if it all runs locally.