Privacy & your data
Unclaw is local-first by architecture, not by promise. The character is rendered on your machine, your voice is transcribed on your machine, and the app’s cloud footprint is small and inspectable.
Where things happen
Section titled “Where things happen”| Thing | Where it runs |
|---|---|
| Character rendering | Your machine, always |
| Speech recognition (your mic) | Your machine, always |
| Her voice (Pocket, Supertonic, Kokoro) | Your machine |
| Her voice (ElevenLabs) | ElevenLabs’ cloud, with your key |
| Her mind (the LLM) | The provider you chose (or your machine, with Ollama) |
| Face animation & expressions | Your machine, always |
Your API keys
Section titled “Your API keys”Keys are stored in your system’s secure credential storage (Keychain on macOS, encrypted credential storage on Windows and Linux), readable only by Unclaw on your machine. They are sent only to their own provider (your OpenAI key goes to OpenAI and nowhere else) and are never uploaded to Unclaw’s servers, not even in your account sync. Signing in on a new machine means re-entering keys, on purpose.
What syncs with your account
Section titled “What syncs with your account”Signing in syncs the things that make another machine feel like yours:
- Your profile (name, vibe, interests)
- Your roster and each companion’s wardrobe/customization
- Your Claws balance and unlocked characters
- Conversation history, so your companions remember you across machines
What never syncs: API keys and anything about your machine.
Running fully private
Section titled “Running fully private”Choose Ollama for the mind and Pocket (or Supertonic/Kokoro) for the voice, decline sign-in, and conversation involves no network at all. The mic, the mind, the voice, and the face all run on hardware you own. Web answers and weather obviously need the network; everything conversational does not.
Resetting
Section titled “Resetting”The profile popover’s Reset all data wipes everything tied to you, on every surface: API keys and sign-in from the system’s secure storage, your local settings, your cloud-synced profile and history, and per-companion memories. The next launch behaves like a fresh install. There’s also a lighter session reset that clears the current conversation without touching your account or keys.
Custom-character photos
Section titled “Custom-character photos”Photos you use to create a custom character are processed to build the character and are yours to delete; the output is a stylized character rig, not a stored biometric profile.