Automatic Meeting Notes

Once a Groupthink notetaker is on your call, the rest is automatic. It captures the conversation, builds a full transcript, files notes against the items you discuss, and generates a recap after the meeting ends. You do not have to type anything to get notes, and you can still edit or add to them yourself at any time.

Heads up: Starting a notetaker, whether the visible bot or private desktop capture, requires an active trial or paid plan. Without one, the notetaker will not start.

Overview

There are two ways Groupthink can take notes on a meeting:

• Public with Bot: Groupthink joins your call as a visible participant and shares notes with everyone on the agenda.
• Private with App: Groupthink records locally through the desktop app. Nothing joins the call, and the notes are visible only to you.

Both paths produce the same things automatically: a transcript, notes attached to the agenda, and a recap once the meeting is over.

Getting Automatic Notes Working

You have two ways to get a notetaker onto a meeting.

Option 1: Set it and forget it

Choose how Groupthink attends your meetings once, and it applies to your future calls. This setting lives in User Settings > Calendar, under the heading How should Groupthink attend your meetings?

Option	What it does
Privately Take Notes	Groupthink records privately through the desktop app. No bot joins the call and other participants do not see Groupthink.
Automatically Join All Meetings	The Groupthink notetaker joins your meetings as a visible participant and shares notes with attendees.
Let Me Choose Each Time	Nothing joins automatically. You add the notetaker to specific calls yourself when you want notes.

To attend scheduled meetings this way, connect your Google Calendar first so Groupthink can see your meetings and their conferencing links.

Option 2: Start a notetaker on a single meeting

Open the meeting and click Start Notetaker, then pick one:

• Public with Bot: Groupthink joins your call as a participant to take and present notes.
• Private with App: Groupthink records the meeting locally on your desktop.

If you choose Private with App, you will need the Groupthink desktop app installed. Groupthink will prompt you to download it if it is not already running.

What Groupthink Captures

While the notetaker is on the call, Groupthink:

• Transcribes the conversation as it happens.
• Files notes against the agenda item being discussed, matched by when each part of the conversation happened. You do not need to add a description to an item for this to work.
• Generates a recap, including topics, decisions, and follow-ups, automatically once the meeting ends.

You can edit any note by hand. Every note item is a free-form text field, so you can add thoughts, questions, or anything else alongside what Groupthink captured.

Private vs. Shared Notes

The capture mode you choose determines who can see the notes.

Private notes (Private with App)

• Recorded through the Groupthink desktop app.
• Visible only to you. They carry a 📝 Private notes (only you) label in the app.
• A good fit for confidential calls or your own running notes.

Shared notes (Public with Bot)

• Created when the Groupthink bot joins your meeting.
• Visible to everyone on the agenda by default.
• Support collaborative editing during and after the meeting.

Switching Between Private and Shared

You can switch a meeting between private and shared capture from the meeting's three-dot menu on your calendar:

1. Open the calendar event.
2. Click the three-dot menu.
3. Choose Swap to Invisible Note Taker to go private, or Swap to <Bot> Joining <Conference> to go shared.
4. Confirm in the dialog that appears (Switch to Private Notes? or Switch to Shared Notes?). For a recurring meeting, you can apply the change with Switch For This Event or Switch For All In Series.

A few things to know before you switch:

• Switching to private removes everyone else. All other users immediately lose access to the agenda and its notes. Their content is not copied into a separate private agenda.
• Switching to shared starts fresh. Your private agenda stays private, and a new blank shared agenda is created. If you want anything from your private notes in the shared one, move it over yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why didn't the notetaker take any notes?

A notetaker has to actually be on the call. Either set an attendance option under How should Groupthink attend your meetings?, or start one manually with Start Notetaker. Starting a notetaker also requires an active trial or paid plan.

Do I need to describe each agenda item for notes to land in the right place?

No. Notes are filed against agenda items based on timing, not on what you wrote in the item. You do not need to add a description.

Can other people see my private notes?

No. Private notes recorded through the desktop app are visible only to you and carry a 📝 Private notes (only you) label.

What happens to shared notes if I switch a meeting to private?

Everyone else loses access to that agenda and its notes. The shared content is not moved into your private notes, so switching to private is not a way to keep a copy for yourself.

Getting Help

Questions about automatic notes? Email support@groupthink.com.