Recording meetings

Starting a recording

Start a recording in two ways:

• Overlay window: click the record button on the floating overlay pill.
• Main window: click the record button in the sidebar.

You can also use the global keyboard shortcut (default: CmdOrCtrl+Shift+R) to toggle the overlay, then start recording from there.

The overlay window

The overlay is a small, always-on-top floating pill that provides quick access to recording controls. It displays the recording status, a timer, and audio level indicators. You can drag it anywhere on your screen.

Toggle the overlay with the global keyboard shortcut or from the system tray menu.

Audio sources

MeetingDebrief captures two audio sources simultaneously:

• Microphone: your selected input device. Change the input device in Settings → Recording.
• System audio: audio output from your computer (virtual meeting participants, shared audio). Requires screen recording permission on macOS.

You can enable or disable system audio capture in Settings → Recording. If a saved system audio device disappears, recording uses the default output and tells you, instead of failing to start.

Audio enhancement

MeetingDebrief cleans up your audio before transcription runs, which produces more accurate text, especially in noisy rooms and with quiet talkers:

• Echo cancellation: when the other side's audio leaks back into your microphone, MeetingDebrief cancels that echo, so you are not transcribed twice. It runs during recording when possible, with an automatic offline cleanup pass as a fallback.
• Noise suppression: real-time suppression smooths out background hum and keyboard clatter.
• High-pass filter: removes low-frequency rumble.
• Automatic gain control: evens out uneven volume between loud and quiet speakers.

Notes during the meeting

The notes field is available while you record. Your notes go to summaries and chat as additional context, which helps with what mattered most to you and with names the transcript garbles.

Pause and resume

During a recording, click the pause button on the overlay or in the main window. The timer pauses and no audio is captured. Click resume to continue recording. Paused segments are excluded from the final recording.

Stopping a recording

Click the stop button on the overlay or in the main window. MeetingDebrief saves the recording and creates a new session. If Transcribe when recording stops is enabled in Settings → Transcription, transcription starts automatically.

To save recordings somewhere else, such as an external drive, set the Recordings folder in Settings → Storage. Recordings are always captured locally first and moved when they're finished, so an unplugged drive never costs you a meeting.

Importing audio files

You can import existing audio files instead of recording live. Click the upload button in the recording controls to open a file picker. MeetingDebrief supports WAV, MP3, M4A, OGG, FLAC, MP4, and AAC formats.

Imported files are converted automatically and a new session is created. If auto-transcribe is enabled, transcription starts immediately after import.

System tray

The system tray icon provides quick access to show the recorder overlay, open the main window, or quit the app. Right-click (or click on macOS) the tray icon to see these options.