Your files stay on your Mac
Parallel Media Encoder processes your media locally. If you connect the optional MCP server, your AI client can receive selected paths, metadata, job details, and still frames the assistant asks to see.
Local-Only Processing
All encoding and media inspection happen on your Mac. PME does not upload your video or audio files. The optional MCP server returns text and structured tool results to the AI client you connect, plus small JPEG still frames when the assistant asks to look at a clip.
No Usage Analytics
The app does not collect usage analytics or crash reports, and never sends us what you encode or which files you work with. Pro license activation and renewal are the only things the app reports, as described below. A problem report is sent only after you review it and press Send.
Minimal Network Contact
Apart from problem reports you choose to send, the app makes two kinds of request: an update check against our feed (every tier), and Pro license requests to our license server at activation, at deactivation, at each launch and about once a day. These send the license key, a machine identifier (a one-way hash of your Mac's hardware UUID), the computer name, model and macOS version. A connected AI client operates separately and may communicate with its model provider.
No Account Required
Use the free version without creating an account or providing any personal information. Pro requires only a license key (from Gumroad or from us), with no registration on our end.
What an AI assistant can read through MCP
MCP access is optional. An assistant only receives PME data after you connect an MCP client and allow that client to call a PME tool. Confirmation behavior depends on the AI client you use.
Tool results may include
- Full file and output paths supplied to a tool
- Filenames and technical metadata such as codec, resolution, frame rate, duration, audio tracks, timecode, HDR, color, and camera details
- Preset names and settings summaries, Mac hardware capabilities, and your Free or Pro license tier
- Queue state, job progress, planned output paths, and encoding errors
- Still frames of a clip as JPEG images, only when the assistant calls the frame grab tool (pme_grab_frame): one frame by default and at most 12 per call, scaled to 768 pixels on the long edge by default and never larger than 1,920
PME keeps media processing local
- Full media files and audio are never included in MCP tool responses. The only picture content is the downscaled still frames the frame grab tool returns when the assistant asks for them
- Probing, decoding, encoding, and output file creation happen on your Mac
- The MCP server uses a local connection and does not open a public network port
- PME does not receive or store your MCP prompts, tool requests, or tool results. A problem report an AI assistant drafts is sent only if you review it in PME and press Send
Your AI client's privacy policy still applies
Depending on the client, model, account, and privacy settings you use, your prompt and the MCP tool results, including any still frames, may be sent to the AI provider for processing. Review that provider's data controls before sharing sensitive project names, client names, file paths, camera metadata, or frames from confidential footage. This section describes PME's MCP tools only. Your AI client may have separate file, shell, or application access outside PME. PME cannot control how a separate AI service stores or uses data it receives.
Read the MCP setup and tools documentationWhat the app sends and what it doesn't
PME does not receive or store
- Video or audio file contents on PME servers
- Technical metadata, file paths, or directory structure on PME servers
- Encoding settings or presets on PME servers
- Crash reports or error logs, unless you send a problem report
- Your IP address from license requests (we store a hash of it combined with a secret value, and the country)
What is transmitted
- License activation: At activation, at deactivation, at each launch and about once a day (Pro only), the license key, a machine identifier (a one-way SHA-256 hash of your Mac's hardware UUID, not the UUID itself), the computer name, model identifier and macOS version, the app version and the License Terms version accepted on that Mac, sent to our license server. It stores the key encrypted so it can be re-sent, linked to the customer the license was issued to, with the country and a hash of your IP address. Keys bought on Gumroad are confirmed with Gumroad by our server. Pro features may be restricted after 30 days without a successful check.
- Update check: The app fetches our update feed to check for updates. Update checks are served from cache and are not recorded per user.
You may voluntarily share
- Diagnostic logs: macOS version, hardware model, and clip names. Only if you choose to send them via the contact page for troubleshooting.
- Problem reports: Your description, PME and macOS versions, Mac model, and the jobs' settings, errors and log lines, with file and folder names replaced by placeholders unless you include file names. Sent only when you press Send (or type "send" in Terminal), stored with a one-way hash of your IP address to limit abuse, and deleted after 90 days.
- MCP tool results: Paths, metadata, presets, hardware details, and job information shared with the AI client you connect when it calls a PME tool, plus downscaled still frames if it asks to look at a clip.
Limited license validation data
Your media stays on your Mac. The app does not send us your media, paths, encoding settings or presets. Pro activation and validation do use the network: at activation, at deactivation, at each launch and about once a day, the app sends our license server the license key, a machine identifier (a one-way SHA-256 hash of your Mac's hardware UUID; the UUID itself is not sent), the computer name, model identifier and macOS version, the app version and the version of the License Terms accepted on that Mac. For a key bought on Gumroad, our server confirms it with Gumroad. After a successful check, Pro works offline for up to 30 days.
Our server stores the key encrypted, so we can send it to you again, together with the customer the license was issued to, the Macs that use it, the country derived from your connection and a hash of your IP address combined with a secret value (not the address itself). We use this data to validate licenses, apply the number of Macs a license covers and release a Mac when you replace it. App versions before 1.147.02 check keys with Gumroad directly instead. See the Privacy Policy for retention, service providers and your privacy choices.
Website vs. App
Our website uses standard analytics tools (Google Analytics and HotJar), but only with your explicit consent via the cookie banner.
The app itself sends nothing beyond the license requests and the update checks described above. Your media files and output files remain on your Mac. If you enable MCP, selected paths, metadata, settings, job information, and any still frames the assistant asks for can be returned to your connected AI client as described above. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
Third-party services we trust
PCI-compliant checkout and payment processing for purchases on our website. Keys bought earlier on Gumroad keep working. We never see or store your payment details.
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