---
type: reading
title: "AudioPen integration paths — self-hosted research"
author: "various"
source: "web (conversation notes during PKB planning, 2026-04-19)"
status: done
started: 2026-04-19
finished: 2026-04-19
tags: [audiopen, self-hosting, pkb, tailscale]
---

# AudioPen integration paths — self-hosted research

## Summary

AudioPen ships several output integrations: email, webhooks, direct-to-Obsidian (which routes through Obsidian's sync cloud), clipboard, and a few third-party automation platforms. The "direct to Obsidian" path is the one an earlier investigation surfaced, and it implicitly sends content through Obsidian Sync. For a self-hosted setup, that path is the wrong choice.

The cleaner architecture routes AudioPen's polished prose into user-controlled infrastructure via either a webhook (to a self-hosted receiver exposed via Tailscale Funnel) or email with IMAP pull on the desktop. Both fully avoid Obsidian's sync cloud.

The distinction worth holding: AudioPen's *processing* cloud (audio → polished prose) is unavoidable with AudioPen. The *storage/sync* cloud (Obsidian's paid service) is optional. This document is about the second.

## Highlights

- **Tailscale Funnel is the right tool for the webhook path.** Outbound-initiated; `*.ts.net` endpoint; no router ports opened; bypasses Authentik (which is gating Gitea's HTTPS in this setup).
- **Email+IMAP is the no-open-ports fallback.** Works if running a public-reachable receiver isn't feasible. Fully outbound.
- **Raw → normalised is a two-step pipeline.** AudioPen produces bare prose; a small bash wrapper wraps it in frontmatter and moves it from `inbox/raw/` to `inbox/`. Keeps the receiver stupid; all schema decisions live in one shell script.

## My notes

- AudioPen's payload shape varies slightly across versions. The receiver accepts multiple possible body keys (`body`, `output`, `summary`, `polished`) to avoid fragility; the raw payload is logged to stderr so you can inspect drift.
- If AudioPen's pricing or terms ever change, the documented escape hatch is whisper.cpp + a local polishing LLM + a phone-side Tasker/Shortcut. Out of scope for v1 but noted.

## Connections

- [[projects/mql/brief|mql CLI]] — separate but related self-hosted tooling push
- [[notes/pkb-as-lens-substrate|PKB as substrate]] — the overall architecture frame
- [[daily/2026-04-19|today's daily note]] — where the decision to go webhook-via-Funnel was made