---
title: 'Forging the Future—AI Studios, Local Voice, and Complete User Control'
published_at: 2026-07-17T12:00:00.000Z
author: Arthur Ketchel II
tags: 'Announcements, AI, Releases, Privacy'
excerpt: >-
  Introducing Basalt Notes v1.3 and v1.4—bringing autonomous workspace agents,
  speech-to-text transcriptions, the Migration Wizard, and user account deletion
  controls.
slug: v1.4.0-launch
canonical_url: 'https://basaltnotes.com/blog/v1.4.0-launch'
markdown_url: 'https://basaltnotes.com/blog/v1.4.0-launch.md'
---
# Forging the Future—AI Studios, Local Voice, and Complete User Control

Over the last two days, we have shipped two massive updates to Basalt Notes: **Version 1.3** and **Version 1.4**. 

These releases represent a giant leap forward in our mission: giving you the most powerful knowledge workspace on earth while keeping you in complete ownership of your data.

---

## 1. Transforming Notes with AI Studio & Research Studio

We believe that AI should help you think, not lock you into a proprietary cloud. 
- **Agent Studio:** You can now create custom AI agents, assign them names and guidelines, and have them read, format, and synthesize your notes.
- **Research Studio:** Synthesize hundreds of note sources to generate timelines, FAQs, comparative matrices, and portable research briefs.

---

## 2. Dynamic Media: Offline Voice Recorder

We've added an embedded microphone tool.
- Speak your thoughts directly into any note.
- Basalt runs a WebAssembly-based Whisper pipeline locally in your browser. 
- Your voice is converted to clean text in seconds without a single byte of audio leaving your computer.

---

## 3. Transparent Migration & Complete Control

Moving your knowledge should never feel like a gamble.
- **Migration Wizard:** Import notes directly from Evernote, Obsidian, or Markdown zips.
- **Account Control:** Added secure account deletion. If you delete your account, we cancel paid plans, delete files, and scrub PII from system logs immediately.