No — not unless you explicitly configure a cloud AI provider and then ask a question. Imports, charts, filtering, reports, and exports all run locally against a SQLite file on your machine.
Yes. The only feature that requires a network connection is the optional AI assistant, and even that can run fully offline if you point it at a local Ollama instance.
The extractor is tuned for Curtin University’s standard unit survey report. Other institutional formats that follow a similar structure may work; formats that reorganise sections will not.
Not at the moment. Import is PDF-only. If this is a blocker for you, please open an issue describing the CSV format you have.
By default, in the OS user-data directory (~/Library/Application Support/InsightLens on macOS, %APPDATA%\InsightLens on Windows, ~/.config/InsightLens on Linux). You can change the location from Settings → Data Storage.
Copy surveys.db. A cloud-synced folder like Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, or Google Drive will back it up automatically.
Install InsightLens on the new machine, copy surveys.db onto it, and point Settings → Data Storage at the new location.
Technically yes — put the database in a shared folder and point multiple installs at it. In practice, SQLite isn’t designed for multi-writer workloads, so concurrent imports from different machines can corrupt the file. Treat it as a single-user database.
If you want strong answers and don’t mind paying per use, OpenAI or Anthropic are the most consistent. If you want to stay offline, Ollama with a model like llama3.1 is fine for most questions. If cost is the main concern, Groq or OpenRouter both offer free tiers.
No. The AI assistant is optional. Everything else works without a key.
When a new release is available, InsightLens shows an update notification. You can also download the latest installer from the Releases page at any time.
InsightLens is a local tool for lecturers who want their own view of their own units without going through institutional dashboards. It’s not a replacement for official reporting — it’s a sidecar for the day-to-day work of reading your own surveys.
Open an issue at github.com/michael-borck/insight-lens/issues. Please include your platform, the InsightLens version (shown at the bottom of the sidebar), and steps to reproduce if possible.