Ask AI Without Revealing Client Names
You ask “What does Müller owe us?”. The AI provider receives “What does ⟦W-7F3A0⟧ owe us?”. You still see the answer with the real name, because GrandTotal puts it back in on your Mac.
How It Works
With Redact info, GrandTotal replaces names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and IBANs with placeholders before anything leaves the Mac. The same client keeps the same placeholder throughout the conversation. So the AI can compare, count and ask follow-up questions without ever knowing a name. Amounts, dates and document numbers stay readable.
In Your Question, Too
In Ask GrandTotal, GrandTotal also replaces the names in your question before it goes out: “Mueller”, “Müler” and names typed in lowercase are recognized. When the AI searches, creates or exports something, GrandTotal puts the real values in. The spreadsheet in the Exports folder therefore contains the correct names.
See for Yourself
The eye in the Ask GrandTotal window switches to what actually went to the AI: your question, the AI's queries and its answer, each with placeholders.
You find the option under Settings › MCP Server. When you choose an agent for Ask GrandTotal there, GrandTotal turns it on.
What It Cannot Do
GrandTotal only partly recognizes names in notes and item texts. Files the AI reads from shared folders go out unchanged. A name GrandTotal does not know stays in the question. Amounts, places and dates may in some cases point to a client.
With other AI programs connected through the MCP Server, the option protects everything GrandTotal delivers. What you type there yourself goes straight to the provider. So that the program still finds the client you named, GrandTotal looks up the name on the Mac and answers only with placeholders.
Reversible tokenization
Every value gets a random placeholder, not a hash. Nothing can be calculated back from the placeholder. The mapping lives only in GrandTotal's memory and disappears with the conversation.
Fuzzy name search on the Mac
Jaro-Winkler similarity for typos, Cologne phonetics for names that sound alike, such as Meier and Mayer. Umlauts and forms of address are normalized.
Names in lowercase
The Mac's spell checker decides whether a word is a name or an ordinary word.
Free text
Known names are replaced, and Apple's language analysis (NLTagger) also detects further names of people and places.
Protection against probing
Protected fields only allow comparisons with placeholders, no searching by initial letters. The name lookup for other AI programs only accepts whole words and is rate-limited.
At a Glance
Placeholders instead of names
Names, addresses, email, phone, IBAN
Answer with real names
GrandTotal puts them back on the Mac
Your question, too
In Ask GrandTotal, even with typos
Verifiable
The eye shows what went to the AI