Ask, and see the page. Every answer cites the document it came from, like 2021-11-02 iron studies.pdf, and one click opens it.
Your family's medical papers, in one private place
Every new doctor asks the same questions. Ovillo keeps every report, letter and test result in one place on your Mac, and shows you the page each answer came from.
Three years. Six clinics. Forty-one papers.
Care for a long-term condition leaves a trail: discharge letters, lab results, scan reports, photos of paper you were handed in a corridor. When a new doctor asks when something started, the answer is in there somewhere. Ovillo is where it stays findable.
From a folder of papers to answers you can point at
Drop in the whole folder
Read on your Mac, in English and Spanish. Your originals stay where they are.
- Photos
- Scans
- Word
Filed, and marked. Routine entries can be undone. Anything unusual waits for you.
As printed, over time. Each result keeps the range from its own report.
One page for the visit. The latest results and what matters for that doctor.
Her record is kept on your Mac, encrypted
- Encrypted with a passphrase only you know Nobody can recover it, not even us.
- No account, no analytics Ovillo sends us nothing about you or your files.
- Locks itself after five minutes away. You choose the time.
- The assistant is optional Without it, nothing from her record leaves your Mac.
- With it, names are replaced first In the text it sends, Ovillo swaps names, birth dates, ID numbers, phone numbers and addresses for placeholders on your Mac.
To be exact: with the assistant on, your question and the parts of the record it reads go to the service you chose, under your own account. Replacing details is careful but cannot catch everything. If a document cannot be read as text, Ovillo asks you first; only a file you allow goes, and it goes as it is. You agree to this before you connect it, and Ovillo shows you exactly what was last sent. Read the privacy details.
Open source, so you can check
Every line of Ovillo is public: how it reads her files, what it sends, and where its protections stop. Read the code, report a problem, or help translate.
Nothing changes without a trace
Every automatic step is marked
Entries the app or the assistant filed say so, give their reason and can be undone.
Someone else's papers are held back
Ovillo checks each document against the name on the record. A sibling's or a parent's report waits for you instead of being filed.
One record per person
Keep a separate record for each person you care for, each with its own passphrase. Records are never mixed.
A backup you can carry
Download an encrypted backup to a USB stick or your cloud drive and restore it on another Mac.
Free
Ovillo costs nothing. The optional assistant runs on the ChatGPT plan you already have: sign in with ChatGPT and there is no separate bill. If you prefer, use your own API key from OpenAI, OpenRouter, Anthropic or another compatible service, which that service bills per use. Everything else works without it.
Download for MacMade for the person who keeps the folder
Parents of a child with a long-term condition
Years of letters from different hospitals, in one place you can search before every appointment.
Adult children caring for a parent
Keep track of results, medicines and specialists, even when the papers come in two languages.
Anyone managing their own history
Your own results across clinics and years, private, on your own computer.
Draft, needs Braeden's approval
"I built Ovillo for my mother's medical history: years of reports from different doctors, in English and Spanish, in one folder nobody could search. Now it answers with the page."Braeden Bihag, co-founder, Almost a Lab
Questions
Is Ovillo medical advice?
No. Ovillo is a notebook for your family's documents. It keeps, files and finds what is written in them. It does not diagnose, recommend treatment or replace your care team or the hospital's records. Keep your original files and check anything important with a clinician.
Does it need the internet?
No. Reading, filing, search and lab tables all happen on your Mac. The app checks GitHub for updates (which shares the app version and your internet address, nothing from the record), and the assistant, if you connect it, needs a connection.
Which files can it read?
PDFs (including password-protected ones you unlock), photos and scans (JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF and more), Word .docx, OpenDocument, RTF, emails saved as .eml, web pages and plain text, up to 100 MB each. It does not read old .doc files, spreadsheets, presentations, archives, audio or video; a folder import lists anything it leaves out.
What if I forget my passphrase?
It cannot be reset by anyone, and backups use the same passphrase. Your original files are untouched, so you can start a new record from them. Write the passphrase on paper and keep it with your important documents.
Does it work on Windows, iPhone or the web?
Not yet. Ovillo is a Mac app for macOS 13 or newer, on Apple silicon or Intel. A few extras, such as dictation and page translation, need an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 27.
Which languages?
The app is in English and Spanish, and it reads documents in both, including lab reports.
What does the assistant cost?
Nothing extra from us. Sign in with ChatGPT and it uses your ChatGPT plan's allowance, with no separate bill; OpenAI decides which plans include it. With your own API key instead, that service bills you for what you use.
Is Ovillo open source?
Yes. The code is public, so anyone can check what it does with your files and what it sends: github.com/BraedenBDev/ovillo. The design notes and the threat model, which lists where its protections stop, are published with it.
Who makes Ovillo?
Almost a Lab S.L., a small company in Barcelona. Write to possible@almostimpossible.agency. Please never send medical files or your passphrase.
Bring the folder. Keep the answers
Free for Mac. The getting-started guide walks you through setup, step by step.