Auto-Start Recording
Start recording as soon as a meeting begins, with no setup.
On this page
Groupthink can start recording the moment your meeting begins, and move you smoothly between back-to-back meetings, so you never lose the first few minutes of a conversation to manual setup.
Two behaviors work together:
- Desktop app, in the background: while the desktop app is open, it starts private notes for your meetings on its own, even when its window is hidden
- On an agenda page: when you are on the agenda page of a meeting that is in progress, recording begins based on your calendar attendance preference
Plus a third behavior for chained meetings: a transition card on the recap when your next meeting is starting soon.
Private Notes Start on Their Own in the Desktop App
While the desktop app is open, it keeps an eye on your calendar. Within about half a minute of a meeting that Groupthink takes private notes for beginning, the app opens that meeting's agenda and starts recording. It does not bring its window to the front or take over your screen, so this works with the window hidden in the tray.
It starts a meeting only when all of these are true:
- The meeting is one Groupthink takes private notes for.
- Your attendance setting is not Let Me Choose Each Time.
- The calendar event has a video meeting link. A focus block or lunch with no link is never recorded.
- It is not a task block. A block only you are on, that you made, is a to-do and not a meeting, even when it has a video link. See Task blocks.
- If you are the only person on the event, the video link is a real one. Groupthink's own private notes link does not count.
- The meeting is in progress and is no longer than six hours. Nothing starts on its own after the event's end time.
- Notes have not already run for that event. If a recording stops, for example because nobody spoke, the app does not start a second one.
- You have not already ended or removed Groupthink from that meeting.
You can still take notes on any of these yourself: open the event's agenda page and start notes there.
When the Groupthink notetaker is set to join a meeting, it joins on its own. The app does not need to be open for that.
Opening Groupthink during a meeting does not take you to that meeting. Open its agenda page yourself, and if your attendance setting calls for it, recording starts there.
How Auto-Start Works on an Agenda Page
Once you are on an agenda page with an in-progress meeting, what happens next depends on your calendar attendance setting.
| Attendance setting | In-progress meeting | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Privately Take Notes | Yes | Private recording starts (desktop app only) |
| Automatically Join All Meetings | Yes | The Groupthink bot joins and starts recording |
| Let Me Choose Each Time | Yes | No auto-start. You see the manual prompt as before |
| Any | No | No auto-start |
The setting lives in Today > Calendar & booking. See User Settings or your calendar integration page (Google Calendar, Outlook) for how to set it.
A few details:
- Private recording requires the desktop app. If your attendance is set to Privately Take Notes but you are on the web, Groupthink will not auto-start (you cannot record privately from a browser). A note on the agenda page says why and points you to the desktop app. Open the desktop app instead.
- One start per event. Auto-start fires once for an event. It does not fire again if you stay on the page, and it does not fire again once notes have run for that event and stopped.
- Task blocks never auto-start. Opening the agenda page of a task block while it is in progress does not start recording. Neither does opening an event that only you are on and that has no video link. Start notes yourself on the page if you want them.
- URL triggers still work. Opening an agenda with
?start=1still starts recording, the same as before, up to 30 minutes after the event's end time. It does not start on a task block, or on an event whose notes already ran and ended. - When a start link does not start notes. If you opened a
?start=1link and notes did not start, a grey note on the agenda page may say why: the event is a task on your calendar and not a meeting, or notes for this event already ended. Either way, you can still start notes yourself on the agenda page. When notes would have started on their own and did not, the page shows no note. - No meeting link, no bot. If the notetaker would need to join but the meeting has no video link, nothing starts and the page says "There is no meeting link to record. Start the call in your conferencing app first, or start notes manually to use a Groupthink room."
Back-to-Back Meeting Transitions
Once your meeting has ended, if your next one starts within the next 10 minutes, Groupthink shows a transition card at the top of the recap.
The card shows how soon the next meeting starts and includes an Open notes button that takes you to the next agenda.
| State | What you see |
|---|---|
| Next meeting 3 or more minutes away | Blue card: "Starts in X min" |
| Next meeting less than 3 minutes away | Blue card: "Starting now" |
| Next meeting started in the last 2 minutes | Yellow card: a line that starts with "Started", such as "Started a minute ago" |
When you click Open notes, you land on the next meeting's agenda. If your attendance setting auto-starts recording, the recording begins there as well.
How to Turn It Off
Auto-start follows your calendar attendance setting. To stop meetings from auto-recording:
- Go to Today > Calendar & booking
- Change the attendance setting to Let Me Choose Each Time. It saves as soon as you pick it.
This also turns Auto-join off on every calendar you have connected, so Groupthink no longer starts recording until you click the button yourself, on an agenda page or in the desktop app. A meeting you added the notetaker to yourself still gets it. To have one calendar join on its own again, turn its Auto-join toggle back on in the same place. It stays on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I auto-start the bot but not private recording (or vice versa)? Yes, by choosing the right attendance setting. Set the calendar to Automatically Join All Meetings for bot-only auto-start, or Privately Take Notes (with the desktop app open) for private-only auto-start.
What if I have multiple calendars connected with different settings? Choosing Privately Take Notes copies that setting to every calendar you have connected, so a meeting that syncs through a second account stays private too. Choosing Automatically Join All Meetings turns private notes off on your other calendars too, so any of them that already join automatically send the bot instead. It does not start auto-joining on a calendar that was set to join manually. Choosing Let Me Choose Each Time turns the Auto-join toggle off on every calendar you have connected. You can turn one back on afterwards with its own toggle (see Google Calendar), and it stays on. On an agenda page and in the desktop app, auto-start follows the setting of your main calendar. When the notetaker joins on its own, it follows the calendar the meeting is on. Opening the agenda page of a meeting on another of your calendars does not send the notetaker on its own when that calendar's Auto-join is off or that calendar is set to Privately Take Notes.
Why didn't Groupthink record my calendar block? If only you are on it and you made it, Groupthink treats it as a task block, not a meeting, and never starts notes on it by itself. The same goes for an event that only you are on with no video link: there is no call to join. Open its agenda page and start notes yourself if you want them.
The same holds for the notetaker with Automatically Join All Meetings: it does not join a task block, even one with a video link, such as the Meet link Google Calendar adds to many events. To have the notetaker there, add it to that event yourself. See Task blocks on your calendar.
Does auto-start work on shared agendas? Yes, the same rules apply. If the meeting is in progress and your attendance setting calls for auto-start, recording begins regardless of whether you created the agenda or someone else did.
What if I missed the transition card and ended up on the wrong meeting? The card shows on the recap from 10 minutes before the next meeting starts until about 2 minutes after. During that time you can click Open notes, or navigate to the next meeting from your calendar.