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The companion

Record a meeting

How the companion offers to record your calendar meetings and unplanned calls, how Record now works, and how to stop, keep or discard a recording.

Goose brings your meetings in from your calendar, from Granola and from transcripts you upload. The companion adds one more way: it records the call on your Mac, so Goose has a transcript to write up even when nobody took notes. This page covers recording day to day. To set the companion up, see Install the companion.

Everything here happens in two places:

  • The menu bar. Goose's icon shows your next meeting, or a clock while it's recording. Press it for the menu.
  • The Halo. A small card at the top of your screen that asks before a recording and shrinks to a pill while one runs.

Meetings on your calendar

By default, Goose asks two minutes before each calendar meeting that has a video-call link. It asks with a Mac notification showing the meeting's title, its time and how soon it starts, with these buttons:

  • Record opens the consent card (below). Press Record there to start.
  • Join & record, when the meeting has a link, opens the call and does the same.
  • Don't record skips that meeting.

Click the notification itself to see the meeting popup instead. Closing or swiping the notification away doesn't answer it. If the meeting starts before you answer, the notification goes and the meeting popup appears.

If Goose's notifications are off, or their style is set to None, Goose asks with the meeting popup instead. It slides in at the top right of your screen, where notifications appear, and shows the meeting's company, title and time with Join & record (when there's a link), Record and Skip. Point at it and it opens to show who's invited, the deal and what happened last time when Goose has them, and the consent reminder. A press on the closed popup only opens it, so the reminder is always on screen before anything records.

You can also answer early from the menu-bar menu. When a meeting is coming up, the menu reads Meeting starting soon, with Record this meeting and Don't record. The menu also lists today's and tomorrow's meetings. Each one's submenu offers, where they apply, Record now, Don't record, Record it after all (for one you skipped) and Hide from Goose.

Don't record and Hide from Goose aren't the same. Don't record only skips the recording: the meeting stays in Goose for you and your team. Hide from Goose removes the meeting from Goose for everyone. See Who can see your meetings.

To stop being asked, open the companion's Settings, choose Recording, and set When a meeting starts to Don't record. Goose then records only the meetings you choose from the menu.

Before anything records, Goose shows the meeting's title, time and attendees, and reminds you to make sure you have the other people's consent. It says the recording is saved on your Mac and that the audio is sent off to be transcribed. Press Record to start, or Skip (or Esc) to close it.

Recording starts the moment you press Record. Join & record opens the call first, then starts. The menu-bar icon changes straight away, so you can see it's recording.

Calls Goose notices

When Goose hears you on a call in Zoom, Teams, FaceTime, Webex, Google Meet, a Slack huddle or your browser, and nothing is recording, a card in the top-right corner offers to record it. This includes a call during a calendar meeting you chose not to record. For example: You're in a Zoom call. Record it?, with Record now and Not now. For a call in your browser it asks You're in a call. Record it? If the call isn't on your calendar, the card says Not on your calendar.

If a call starts shortly before a meeting on your calendar, Goose guesses it's that meeting and asks, for example, Is this your 4:00 PM Renewal review? Press Record if it is. If it isn't, press No, a different call: Goose offers to record the call on its own, and still asks about the meeting at its time.

Not now closes the offer for that call; Goose doesn't ask about it again.

Recording starts only when you press Record now or Record on the offer. To turn these offers off, switch off Unplanned calls in the companion's Settings, under Recording.

Record now

To record anything right away, a call or an in-person conversation, choose Record now in the menu-bar menu, or press ⌥⌘R from any app. The consent card opens, titled Call with the date and time, and noting Match it to a meeting later. Press Record and it starts straight away, with no countdown. The same happens when you record a call Goose offered to record.

If Goose can't start, the card says why. For example, recording is paused for your workspace, this copy of the companion is out of date, or you're not signed in. See Troubleshooting.

While it records

The Halo shrinks to a pill showing how long it's been recording, with a Stop button. The menu-bar icon shows the same clock. The menu reads Recording, says This Mac is recording., and has Stop recording….

The pill has a Pause button, but it's grayed out: you can't pause a recording yet.

If Goose stops hearing one side of the call, it tells you, for example Goose can't hear the other side or Goose can't hear your microphone. If it hears nothing at all for five minutes, it asks whether you're still in the meeting, with Stop recording and Keep recording. Silence never stops a recording by itself.

The pill is kept out of screen shares by default; the recording carries on. To show it in a share, switch off Hide while screen sharing in the companion's Settings, under General.

If your Mac sleeps or you close the lid, recording pauses and picks up again in the same recording when the Mac wakes. Nothing is captured while it sleeps. The eight-hour limit counts only recorded time.

Back-to-back meetings

The companion records one meeting at a time. If a meeting is still recording when the next one starts, Goose doesn't start the next one. Stop the first recording, then choose Record now or Record this meeting for the second. If you don't stop it, the second meeting is recorded into the first.

Stop a recording

Press Stop on the pill, or Stop recording… in the menu. Goose asks Stop recording?:

  • Stop & write up stops, and sends the recording to Goose to write up. Goose shows Sent to Goose, and the notes follow in a few minutes. The recording stays on your Mac too.
  • Keep recording carries on.
  • Discard… asks you to confirm, then deletes the recording from your Mac. Nothing from it is sent to Goose. For a calendar meeting, the meeting stays in Goose, where you can upload a transcript instead.

When a calendar meeting's time is up, Goose shows the same Stop recording? card but keeps recording until you answer. To have it stay quiet, switch off Stop when the meeting ends in Settings, under Recording.

A recording that's still running after eight hours stops by itself, and the audio is kept and sent as usual, unless Goose couldn't save it; then the notification says so. A recording also stops if your Mac runs out of disk space; what was recorded so far is kept.

After a Record now recording

When you stop a Record now recording, Goose asks you to Classify recording:

  • Name it, if you like.
  • Pick a Type: Internal, Ad-hoc or Deal. For Deal, search under Find a deal and pick one.
  • Press Save. Or press Keep as ad-hoc to leave it unattached, or Discard recording to delete it. Discarding deletes it from your Mac and asks Goose to drop it. If the upload already finished, it stays in Goose until you delete it there.

You can also put it on a deal later, in Goose.

A Record now recording is private to you until you put it on a deal or a company. Once you do, your workspace can see it. Only you, the person who recorded it, can change which deal it's on, whatever your teammates' roles. See Who can see your meetings.

When the notes are ready

Goose writes up the meeting once the recording reaches it. If notifications are on, you'll get Notes ready, with Open notes. To see the recording's progress on your Mac, see Your recordings.

Common snags

  • Goose didn't ask before a meeting. The meeting may have no video-call link, or When a meeting starts may be set to Don't record. Use Record now.
  • Goose asked about a call you don't want recorded. Press Not now on the offer, or Skip on the popup.
  • Only your side was recorded. Goose didn't have permission to hear the call's audio. See What the companion asks permission for.
  • Already recording — stop the current recording first. Another recording is still running. Stop it, then start the new one.
  • You can't pause. Pausing isn't available yet. Stop the recording and start a new one with Record now.
  • A teammate can't change your Record now recording's deal. Only the person who recorded it can.