Short answers to the questions people ask before bringing their research to Heartwood.
Heartwood keeps your family files, records, images you attach, notes, and logs in one folder on your own computer; Twigly Labs does not receive, host, or have access to your genealogical data. The Privacy Policy itemizes the few separate paths that can leave your machine, including update checks, feedback you choose to send, and beta usage statistics.
Heartwood Desktop and every offline feature are free permanently. Any future paid hosted collaboration will be optional, and Desktop will never require it; see Features & roadmap.
Claude Desktop is the only client Heartwood can configure in one click and has verified end to end; the setup guide also documents Claude Code, ChatGPT and Codex desktop, Gemini CLI, and other MCP clients, while ChatGPT on the web and Claude Cowork cannot connect to Heartwood's local server today. Heartwood requires no AI account or payment, but access to any AI you choose is under that provider's own terms and pricing; compare the current boundaries in Connect your AI.
Heartwood imports GEDCOM 5.5.1 and GEDCOM 7, retains the original file's raw bytes, and gives every import and export a loss report so mappings, retained vendor data, downgrades, and gaps are never silently hidden. Read A switcher's first week for the fidelity workflow and the Family Historian 7 interop checklist for the directly tested third-party boundary.
Apple Silicon (M1 or later) is the current boundary because Heartwood is keeping its finite first beta cohort to one release target, not because your research depends on Apple-only hardware. The beta page states the current admission and platform boundary.
There is no Windows build or download today, and there is no announced date. Windows is planned after macOS; follow Features & roadmap for the honest current boundary rather than a date we have not set.
Heartwood admits people from the waitlist in small waves so each new user can be supported, with no published calendar or promised cadence. Join the beta waitlist and you will receive an email when your spot opens.