Ask GrandTotal: Ask Instead of Searching
Which invoices are overdue? How much revenue did a client bring in this year? With Ask GrandTotal you ask right inside GrandTotal and get the answer in one sentence. If you like, the assistant creates a draft as well. It shows figures as a chart, and on request the chart goes into a PDF report in a shared folder.
Privacy
What the agent reads goes to the provider of its model. GrandTotal always hides names and addresses behind placeholders first, including in your question. Your client data reaches the AI provider without names, yet you still see the answer with the real names. The context menu command Show as Ask GrandTotal sees it shows how a document reaches the AI. More on this: “Privacy with AI: Client Names Stay on Your Mac”.
Setting Up
Under Settings › Ask GrandTotal you choose an AI agent and decide whether it only answers questions or also creates drafts. The agent runs as a program on your Mac and uses your existing account with its provider. Install it beforehand following the provider's instructions (see table). You choose the model in the same pane; the list comes from each program. Test asks a sample question. More agents, such as a local model via Ollama, can be connected as a plugin. The integration wizard builds it with your AI assistant.
Ask Wherever You Are
The sparkles symbol next to the search field or ⇧⌘K opens Ask GrandTotal on top of your work. The assistant knows your selection: “this invoice” is the selected one. Follow-up questions refer to the previous ones.
| Agent | Works with |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | Claude Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise, or an API key from Anthropic. Not with the free Claude account. |
| Codex | Your ChatGPT account, including Free and Go, within the usage limits of your plan, or an API key from OpenAI. |
| Gemini CLI | Only a paid Gemini API key. Signing in with a personal Google account has not worked since June 2026, not even with Google AI Pro. |
| Mistral Vibe | Your Mistral account or an API key from Mistral. |
As of September 2026. The terms are set by each provider.
What the Assistant May Do
The agent only gets GrandTotal's tools, and they only act on the open file. Its own tools for files, terminal and web are switched off. With the Questions permission it only answers questions.
With Questions and drafts it creates drafts and may change or delete what it created in the same conversation. Existing invoices, clients and payments stay untouched.
Files and Routes
In folders you share, the assistant reads spreadsheets, PDFs and texts and saves new files: Excel spreadsheets, CSV or a PDF report with charts. GrandTotal does not overwrite existing files, and the saved files contain the real names.
The assistant asks GrandTotal for distances and travel times, for example for the trip to a client, instead of estimating them. GrandTotal calculates them with Apple Maps on your Mac, even if the AI only knows the address as a placeholder.
At a Glance
Pseudonymization
Names always hidden, even in the question
Four agents
Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Mistral Vibe
Knows the selection
“This client” means the selected client
Only GrandTotal's tools
Only the open file
Drafts
Existing records stay untouched
Charts and reports
As PDF or Excel in the shared folder
Distances
Calculated by GrandTotal with Apple Maps