Recall

What is Recall?

Recall is a personal AI knowledge base and second brain tool that allows users to save articles, videos, podcasts, PDFs, social media content, and personal notes. The system generates summaries, applies automatic tagging, connects related concepts, and enables users to pose questions based on individual sources or the entire database.

What sets it apart from ordinary tools for reading later is its closed loop of \"saving, understanding, connecting, and memorizing\". In addition to retrieving previous information, Recall can also convert the content into quizzes and flashcards, thereby helping to retain knowledge over the long term through active recall and spaced repetition.

Main functions of Recall

• One-click save:Save web content using browser extensions, by pasting links, or via sharing on mobile devices.
• AI Summary:Convert long articles, YouTube videos, podcasts, and PDFs into concise or detailed summaries.
• Timestamp positioning:Time markers are retained in the supported video and audio content to facilitate returning to the original segments.
• Personal notes:Use the block editor to create tables, to-do lists, code blocks, highlights, and long notes.
• Automatic labeling:Automatic classification based on content themes, reducing the need to create complex folders manually.
• Knowledge graph:Extract key concepts and connect related cards to show the relationships between different sources.
• Knowledge base Q&A:Chat with a single card, an entire database, the Internet, or a combination of these.
• Listen Mode：Listen to the summary via text-to-speech and select a suitable voice.
• Quizzes and flashcards:It automatically generates questions of types selection, judgment, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, matching, sorting, and flashcards.
• Interleaved repetition:Review is arranged based on the performance in answering questions, so that weak areas can be addressed more quickly.
• Augmented Browsing：When browsing new web pages, relevant old knowledge from the database is located and displayed locally.
• API and MCP:Allow external scripts and AI assistants to search for, read, and summarize a personal knowledge base in a read-only manner.

What is supported by Recall?

Comparison of prices for Recall packages

The following shows the average monthly price in USD for annual payment, as displayed on the official pricing page; with an annual payment, the full amount is settled in one go. The monthly price, taxes, currency, and any offers may vary, and the actual amount to be paid at the time of purchase or renewal is determined according to the settlement page.

The “unlimited” plans of Plus and Max are subject to reasonable use policies; if usage exceeds normal limits, the platform may suspend, review, or adjust the services. The official site also provides options for applying for student discounts, and users who meet the criteria can request a 20% discount by using their student email address.

How to choose between Free, Plus, and Max?

Tutorial on building a knowledge base using Recall

1. Determine the scope:First, choose a long-term theme; do not import all past collections from the start.
2. Install extensions:Use the official extensions for Chrome or Firefox, and enable the sharing option on mobile devices.
3. Save content:Add high-quality articles, videos, podcasts, PDFs, and your own key notes.
4. Check summary:Verify that the main points, figures, timestamps, and terms are consistent with the original content.
5. Optimize tags:Retain thematic tags that provide differentiation, and merge duplicate or overly broad automatic tags.
6. Additional notes:Write down your own understanding, doubts, and use cases, rather than just saving the AI summaries.
7. Establish connection:View the knowledge graph and connect isolated cards to existing concepts and projects.
8. Regular review:Search for one topic each week, organize the sources that are no longer valid, and review the key issues.

Tutorials for summarizing videos and podcasts

1. Paste the link to a public video or an episode, or share and save it using browser extensions and mobile devices.
2. Wait for Recall to read the subtitles or audio content, and generate a summary, key concepts, and time points.
3. First, read the concise summary to assess its value, then switch to detailed mode or open the original text for the important content.
4. Use the chat function to ask for arguments, evidence, counterexamples, action recommendations, and information that is uncertain.
5. Write down the truly valuable ideas in your own notes, and indicate why it is necessary to keep them for a long time.
6. Create a small number of focused questions for review, so as to avoid turning every detail into a flashcard.

Quizzes and spaced repetition tutorials

1. Select material:Open a saved card or personal note to enter the Quiz section.
2. Generate question:Choose from multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, short-answer, matching, sequencing, or flashcards.
3. Manual editing:Remove questions that are vague, too broad, or have multiple possible answers, and add explanations.
4. Join the plan:Enable the review schedule to add the questions to the spaced repetition queue.
5. Complete the review:Give priority to the tasks that have reached their deadline in the \"Ready for Review\" category, focusing on a small amount of work at each time.
6. Adjustment based on performance:Wrong answers appear more frequently, while the interval between reviews gradually increases after answering correctly multiple times.
7. Check progress:Track the New, Learning, Practiced, Confident, and Mastered stages.

Importing and organizing old data

• Browser bookmarks:A maximum of 1,000 bookmarks can be imported at once, and any duplicate items among those imported are automatically removed.
• Markdown notes:In Plus mode, it is possible to import a large number of Markdown notes in bulk, making it suitable for migrating content exported from Notion or Obsidian.
• Text file:You can upload a single file containing text or Markdown; very large files should first be split into notes with clear topics.
• Quality screening:First, import the data that is still useful; do not bring in broken links or temporary bookmarks into the new system.
• Batch processing:Migrate in small batches by project or year; after completing labeling, summarization, and deduplication for each batch, proceed further.

How to use API and MCP

• Recall API：List cards via HTTP, filter by criteria, read content blocks, and perform semantic search.
• API Key：A maximum of 10 keys can be created, with expiration periods that can be set to permanent, 1 year, 90 days, 30 days, or a custom duration.
• Remote MCP:Connect to AI assistants via OAuth browser authorization, without the need to manually copy API keys.
• Knowledge base retrieval:External AI can search for cards, read their content, and generate summaries based on the profile.
• Read-only restrictions:Currently, both the API and MCP are read-only; capabilities for writing and modifying data are still under development.

The API Key is displayed only once during creation; it should be stored in a secure server environment and rotated regularly. MCP authorizations need to be managed on a per-client basis, with the connection terminated promptly when they are no longer in use.

Which users are suitable for Recall?

• Students and test preparers:Convert courses, videos, and notes into questions for sustainable review.
• Researchers:Provide unified management for papers, interviews, web pages, and one’s own research notes.
• Content creator:Gather materials for the topic, and revisit previous viewpoints while writing.
• Industry professionals:Stay tuned to podcasts, reports, and industry insights on a long-term basis to build a personal knowledge advantage.
• Lifelong learners:Ensure that the saved content is truly reused through maps and reviews.
• AI tool users:Integrate personal knowledge bases with familiar AI assistants through APIs or MCP.

Product advantages

• It covers saving, summarizing, organizing, Q&A, linking, and memory – not just for reading later;
• It supports articles, videos, podcasts, PDFs, social media content, and personal notes;
• Automatic tagging and knowledge graphs reduce the need for manual maintenance of folders and backlinks;
• Quizzes and spaced repetition transform passive collection into active learning;
• Augmented Browsing allows old knowledge to be recalled while browsing new web pages;
• The free tier offers unlimited storage, notes, as well as read-only APIs and MCP.

Usage restrictions and precautions

• AI-generated summaries may omit conditions, counterexamples, and tone, and important information should be checked in the original source.
• Audio and video content without subtitles, subject to regional restrictions, or that requires login may not be processed properly.
• Tables, formulas, footnotes, and scanned pages in complex PDFs may not be parsed completely.
• Automatic tagging and knowledge linking are not always accurate, and they need to be merged and corrected on a regular basis;
• AI-generated quizzes may contain ambiguous answers, which must be manually edited before starting extended review.
• The proper rules for using paid plans do not imply unlimited automated batch processing.
• Currently, APIs and MCPs can only be used for reading; it is not possible to write data into the knowledge base using external tools.

Privacy, Data, and Exporting

According to Recall’s official statements, user content is not used to train AI, and users are allowed to export their own databases. Augmented Browsing is disabled by default; local processing takes precedence, with only the content that is explicitly saved being uploaded to the cloud database.

• Before saving, check whether the web pages, files, and media contain sensitive personal or corporate information;
• Do not import paid content, confidential reports, or unauthorized materials in bulk to third-party cloud services;
• Set a reasonable expiration period for API keys, and immediately delete any keys that have been leaked or are no longer in use;
• When connecting to external AI systems, check the OAuth authorization scope to prevent the database from being made available to untrusted clients.
• Regularly export important notes and a list of sources to avoid relying entirely on a single cloud platform.

Open-source and product description with the same name

The Recall personal AI knowledge base platform is not an open-source product; OpenRecall on GitHub is primarily a privacy tool related to Microsoft Windows Recall, and it is not the same product as the one mentioned here. Recall.ai, on the other hand, is an API service for conference robots, and it is also unrelated to the Recall knowledge base.

What is made public by the authorities are the hosting API and MCP integration capabilities, not the source code of the core applications. Third-party repositories with identical names, browser scripts, and import tools require separate verification regarding their authors, permissions, and licenses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Recall be used for free?

Yes, the Free plan offers unlimited storage, unlimited personal notes, a manual knowledge graph, API and MCP access, as well as 10 AI summaries per month. Full features such as automatic organization, AI chat, and review are available mainly in the Plus plan.

How much is Recall Plus?

According to the official pricing page, the cost is $10 per month for an annual subscription; generally, the full annual amount is paid in a single settlement. The details regarding monthly payments, taxes, and student discounts can be found on the purchase page.

Can Recall summarize YouTube and podcasts?

Yes, it is possible to save videos and podcasts, and to generate summaries, key time points, tags, and quizzes. Subtitles, audio length, region, and access permissions can affect the outcome of the processing.

How Recall helps with memory

It generates quizzes and flashcards from the saved content, and then arranges spaced repetition based on the performance in answering questions. Questions that were answered incorrectly reappear more frequently, while the interval between reviews increases as consistent correct answers are given.

Is Recall open source?

The Recall knowledge base platform is not an open-source product; it does provide read-only APIs and hosted MCP services. OpenRecall and Recall.ai are separate projects, and they should not be confused with each other.