Prerequisites
- Recording must be allowed twice over: the workspace’s Meeting recording setting (new workspaces start with it off; only workspace admins and owners can change it) and your own Allow meeting recording setting in Settings → Account.
- For the meeting bot: a meeting URL that starts with
https://(Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams). - For desktop recording: the Cogno desktop app on an Apple Silicon Mac or 64-bit Windows computer. Slack Huddles require an Apple Silicon Mac. Desktop recording is audio-only.
Two ways the Notetaker joins
The Notetaker is visible to everyone on the call: it appears in the
participant list as Cogno Notetaker, and on joining it posts and pins a
chat message — “This meeting is being recorded by Cogno Notetaker.” — so no
one is recorded without knowing.
Send the Notetaker to a meeting
Open Meetings from the sidebar. The page lists recorded meetings on the left and shows the selected transcript on the right.1
Select Meeting
Select Meeting above the meeting list to open the Send Cogno
Notetaker panel.
2
Paste the meeting URL
Paste a Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams URL. The URL must start with
https:// — otherwise you’ll see URL must start with https://, and a
malformed link shows Enter a valid URL.3
Add an optional title
Enter a name in Title (optional — added automatically). Leave it blank
and Cogno names the call after its platform, then replaces that placeholder
with a specific title from the finished transcript. A title you enter
yourself stays unchanged, and you can rename the meeting later from its
detail view.
4
Choose a Project
Select Assign Project and pick an active Project in the same Workspace
to file the meeting under as soon as it is recorded. Leave it unset and the
rule the meeting link already carries still decides — see
Assign a Meeting to a Project.
5
Choose whether to save video
Keep Save video recording on to save a playable video. Turn it off to
create the transcript without saving video.
6
Send the Notetaker
Select Send. Cogno confirms with Notetaker dispatched. It can take
up to a minute for the Notetaker to appear in the call, depending on the
platform.
Record calendar meetings automatically
Once you connect Google Calendar, Cogno sends the Notetaker to your meetings without you pasting a URL. Upcoming meetings appears at the top of the meeting list; before anything is scheduled it reads No upcoming meetings. Cogno sends the Notetaker to a calendar meeting only when all of these hold:- Your Google Calendar is connected.
- The event is not cancelled and has both a start time and a meeting link — Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex links are recognized.
- The meeting starts at least 10 minutes from now — Cogno needs lead time to schedule the bot, so meetings starting sooner are skipped.
- Have Cogno join has not been turned off for that occurrence. Eligible occurrences default to on, including meetings visible through shared or delegated calendars.
- Meeting title starts with the calendar title; a change you make is kept through later calendar syncs.
- Have Cogno join defaults to on. Turn it off to keep the Notetaker out of a sensitive or customer-hosted call — this also removes an already-scheduled Notetaker for that occurrence.
- Save video recording appears only while Cogno participation is on. Video settings cannot be changed within 10 minutes of the meeting start.
If several teammates with connected calendars are invited to the same
meeting, only one Notetaker joins — Cogno de-duplicates by meeting link
and start time.
Add a transcript you already have
A meeting Cogno didn’t record can still become a Meeting. On the Meetings page, select Add transcript, paste your notes or transcript, optionally give it a title, and select Add. Cogno generates the title, summary, and Tasks from what you pasted.Record a desktop call
The Cogno desktop app can record Microsoft Teams calls — including direct calls and Meet now — and Slack Huddles, with no bot joining the call. Zoom and Google Meet are not desktop-recording targets. Desktop recording captures audio only. A desktop recording belongs to your account first; it reaches a workspace only after you share it. Sharing is what creates the Meeting, its summary, and its Tasks.Set up desktop recording
Desktop recording is configured under Desktop recording in Settings → Account.1
Turn on a provider
Switch on Microsoft Teams and/or Slack Huddles. Turning a provider
on lets Cogno notice its calls; nothing is recorded until you accept each
call.
2
Grant recording permissions (macOS)
With a provider enabled, the app shows a Recording permissions row.
While permissions are missing it reads Setup needed; select Open
System Settings, allow Accessibility, Microphone, and Screen Recording,
and switch back to Cogno — the row rechecks automatically and turns to
Allowed. If Microphone access is missing, an Allow microphone
access banner also appears and clears itself once access is granted.
3
Save
Select Save. Cogno confirms with Recording settings saved.
Record a call
Keep the desktop app open and start a supported call. Cogno detects it and offers to record: a badge appears reading Meeting detected, with the call’s title, a Record button, and a way to decline. Nothing is recorded until you select Record. Decline instead and Cogno will not offer again for that call; detection resumes with the next one. If the network drops mid-recording, Cogno says so. Two minutes offline and the recording ends on its own; once the connection is back, Cogno offers the call again so you can start a new one. When the call ends, Cogno shows Recording finished. The recording stays private to your account, and its transcript is produced right away so you can read what was said before deciding where — or whether — it belongs.Control a recording while the call is running
On macOS a small badge floats over the call, showing a red dot and how much has been recorded. On Windows the same controls are in the Cogno menu, reached from the recording indicator.
A call produces exactly one recording: Stop recording is a hold, not an
end, and Delete recording is the only control that ends a recording before
the call does.
Choose where a recording is saved
Select the destination on the badge to open the list. Only me keeps the recording private to your account and is what every recording starts as. Choosing a workspace shares it there straight away, creating the Meeting; going back to Only me withdraws it again. Only workspaces you can add content to are listed — a Viewer seat is not offered.Share or download a private recording
Recordings that have not reached a workspace are listed on the Meetings page under the Not shared scope — switch the toggle above the list from Workspace to Not shared. They stay private to your account until you share one. Selecting a recording opens its transcript beside it, along with:- Share — pick a workspace. The recording becomes a Meeting there, and its transcript produces the summary and Tasks.
- Change workspace — a shared recording can be moved to a different workspace, which removes it from the first one. Once its workspace has processed the recording it can no longer be moved.
- Download — save the recording file through your browser. While Cogno fetches the link the button reads Preparing….
When teammates record the same call
Each person’s recording is separate until someone shares it, so a call several teammates recorded reaches the workspace only once — whoever shares first creates the Meeting. If you share a recording of a call the workspace already has, Cogno asks Another member already shared a recording that looks like the same meeting to this workspace. Share anyway?Find an older meeting
The list loads the 50 most recent meetings. Load older recordings at the bottom brings in the next 50, and the count on the button says how many are still behind it. Above the list, Search recordings matches a meeting’s title, its meeting URL, and the name of whoever recorded it. The search covers the workspace’s whole meeting history, not only the meetings already loaded, so a call from last year is found by typing its title. The Anyone filter beside it narrows the list to one person’s recordings, and it offers everyone who has recorded in the workspace — including colleagues whose meetings are all older than the first page. Both work together, and Clear filters returns to the full list.Read, edit, and stop a meeting
Select a meeting in the list to open its detail view.- Summary — a short takeaway plus key points, stamped Generated with its date. Select Edit to revise the Short summary and Key points (one line per bullet), or Copy to copy it out. The summary is written from more than the transcript: who was in the call, who spoke and for how long, and anything typed into the meeting chat all feed it.
- Transcript — the call by speaker, with consecutive lines from one person grouped into a turn. Select Edit to correct speakers or text, or Copy to copy the full transcript.
- Recording — once ready, Play streams it in the detail view and Download saves the video file through your browser. The section also shows duration and file size.
- Copy link — copies a direct link to the meeting. It works only for workspace members; it is not a public share link.
- Title — select the edit control next to the title to rename the meeting.
Assign a Meeting to a Project
Choose a Project directly from the Meeting list, or in the Send Cogno Notetaker panel while sending the Notetaker. You do not need to open each Meeting first. This organizes shared Meetings without changing their sharing or moving existing Tasks. When Cogno evaluates a finished Meeting, its selected Project takes precedence over meeting-link filters. Without an assignment or matching filter, Cogno still considers relevant active Projects in the Workspace; it does not assign a default Project or grant unrestricted access to other source content. An archived assigned Project does not receive new work through this evaluation. After an input has been evaluated, retrying it in the same Workspace does not start another review, even after its first review started. Changing only the Project, filters, generated summary, or generated speaker labels does not reactivate it. Editing the source transcript — including spaces and line breaks — makes it eligible for evaluation when processed again. Restoring an older text after another version was evaluated also counts as a changed input. A different shared Workspace is a new scope, but existing Tasks stay in their original Workspace and Project. Concurrent edits or sharing changes invalidate an in-flight evaluation. Older transcripts without an evaluation marker may be evaluated once again. This retry protection does not by itself prevent similar Tasks from genuinely different transcript versions.1
Choose a Project from the list
In Meetings, select the folder control at the right of a Meeting row.
Search for an active Project in the same Workspace and select it. The name
appears on the row and in the Meeting detail. Select No Project to clear it.
2
Assign several Meetings together
Select Select meetings, check the rows you want, then use the folder
control above the list. Choose one Project or No Project for all selected
rows. Select Done to leave selection mode. The list contains up to 50
recent Meetings; a bulk change applies only to the selected visible rows.
3
Keep a recurring meeting in one Project
For a Meeting with a room link, open its Project picker and check
Same meeting link, including future meetings before choosing the Project.
All shared Meetings with that exact link in this Workspace are updated,
including older ones outside the current list. Future Meetings inherit the
Project when recorded or shared here. This also replaces prior assignments
for that link. To remove the rule and its assignments, check the same option
and choose No Project. Leave it unchecked to change only this occurrence.
Play or download the recording
After the call, Cogno saves the meeting video and adds a Recording section to the meeting’s detail view. Any workspace member can use it:- Play streams the recording right in the detail view.
- Download saves the video file (MP4) through your browser.
- The section also shows the recording’s duration and file size.
Recordings delete after 90 days
Cogno keeps each recording for 90 days after it becomes available, then deletes the video permanently. During the final 14 days, the meeting’s row in the list warns you with Recording deletes in 7d (the number counts down each day), then Recording deletes soon.From meeting to work
A finished transcript doesn’t just sit in Meetings. Cogno reads the call and creates, updates, or ignores Tasks based on what was said, each backed by evidence from the transcript. The Tasks appear in their normal status rows with meeting provenance. See Concepts for how that loop fits together and Tasks for how people curate the work. On a task that came from a meeting, the task detail offers a Transcript toggle so you can read the source conversation without leaving the task. The meeting detail also lists Tasks from this meeting.Troubleshooting
If a meeting shows Failed, its detail view explains why. Common causes:
For anything not listed here, see Troubleshooting.
Related docs
- Meetings reference — statuses, retention, caps, and the Free-plan allowance.
- Record an in-person conversation — record the room with one key.
- Connect Google Calendar — let Cogno schedule the Notetaker.
- Tasks — review and curate work created by Cogno.