Auto-Start Recording
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:
- Auto-redirect: when you open Groupthink during an active meeting, it takes you straight to that meeting's agenda
- Auto-start recording: when an in-progress meeting is on screen, 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.
How Auto-Redirect Works
When you open Groupthink from the dashboard or home page, it checks for an active meeting and, if one is running, takes you straight to it.
Priority order:
- Active meeting (Groupthink is already recording): you are sent to that meeting's agenda
- Joinable event (a calendar event is in progress, not yet recording): you are sent to that event's agenda
If you are already on an agenda page, Groupthink does not redirect you (it assumes you went there on purpose). If there is no active or joinable meeting, nothing happens and you see the normal dashboard.
How Auto-Start Recording Works
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 | 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 your calendar configuration. 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). Open the desktop app instead.
- One start per agenda. Auto-start fires once per agenda visit; it will not re-fire if you stay on the same page.
- URL triggers still work. Opening an agenda with
?start=1still starts recording, the same as before.
Back-to-Back Meeting Transitions
If your next meeting starts within 10 minutes of your current one ending, 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 5+ minutes away | Blue card: "Starts in X min" |
| Next meeting 0 to 2 minutes away | Blue card: "Starting now" |
| Next meeting already started | Yellow card: "Started X min 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:
- Open your calendar settings
- Change the attendance setting for the relevant calendar to Let Me Choose Each Time
- Save
Groupthink will keep auto-redirecting you to active meetings, but will no longer start recording until you click the button yourself.
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 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? Each calendar carries its own attendance setting. Auto-start uses whichever calendar the meeting belongs to.
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 stays on the recap until you dismiss the page. You can click Open notes any time during that 10-minute window, or navigate to the next meeting from your calendar.