Recording Controls

Start, stop, and manage sessions from the menu bar

Version: This guide describes Parrot Scribe 1.1.0.

Starting a Session

Click the Parrot Scribe menu bar icon and select Start Listening, use the recording controls in the Library window, or press ⌃⌘R. The first recording may download a speech model first.

Audio Sources

Parrot Scribe can capture one or both sources at the same time:

Microphone - Your voice and room audio
System Audio - Audio playing through your Mac, including calls and recorded briefings

Choose the sources in Settings > Sources. When people talk at the same time, microphone and system audio stay separate in the transcript, each with its own timestamps.

Session Controls

Action	Menu bar	Shortcut
Start	Start Listening	`⌃⌘R`
Stop	Stop Listening	`⌃⌘S`
New session while listening	New Session	`⌃⌘N`

The live transcript appears in the Library window while you record.

Meetings

With Pro, Parrot Scribe can start and stop listening automatically for Zoom and Microsoft Teams calls. Turn on each app under Settings > General > Meetings. Parrot Scribe does not notify other participants; tell them before recording. See Settings.

After You Stop

After you stop, Parrot Scribe finishes transcribing and saves the session. Speaker analysis runs on the saved recording, and people you have not named appear with generic labels such as "Speaker 1".

To name them, open the session in Library and choose Identify Speakers. This needs the session's retained audio; see Speaker Recognition.

Accessing Sessions

Use Show Library… from the menu bar icon to open all sessions, transcripts and speakers.

Session Duration

There's no fixed maximum session length. For a long call, use New Session while listening when the topic or context changes. It ends the current session and starts another. Separate sessions are easier to find and review.