Audio Retention¶
Audio retention is opt-in and off by default. When it is on, one file is
written into the session directory beside transcript.md, incrementally, while
the meeting runs.
| Mode | File | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| No Audio File | none | Default. Only the transcript is kept; no audio touches disk. |
| Raw (Lossless) | audio.caf |
Linear PCM in a CAF container, in exactly the 48 kHz mono 32-bit float audio ScreenCaptureKit delivered. Measured at 691 MB an hour. |
| Compressed | audio.m4a |
AAC at 64 kbit/s in an MPEG-4 container. Measured at 31 MB an hour — about a twentieth of the raw size. |
Both files open in QuickTime Player and anything else that reads standard macOS audio.
What retention does and does not change¶
- The recording's time zero is the first captured audio frame, which is the same origin the transcript's segment offsets are measured from. Offset t is second t of the file, before and after any number of pauses. See Two-clock Timeline.
- Audio is streamed to disk buffer by buffer as it is captured, never accumulated in memory, so a multi-hour meeting costs what a short one does.
- No retention mode changes a word of the transcript.
- A retained recording is what makes review playback possible. A meeting that kept no audio still lists its uncertain passages and says there is nothing to play.
Honesty about the file¶
- The file stays on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded.
- Nothing is encrypted. It is an ordinary audio file in the folder you chose, and it is as private as that folder is. Anyone who can read the folder can play the recording.
- A recording that fails or cannot be finalised ends the meeting and is reported. Whatever reached the file is closed and left on disk rather than deleted or quietly completed — meeting audio cannot be captured again.
- A recording left behind by a crash differs by format: a partly written
audio.cafplays up to the moment ScribeKit stopped, while a partly writtenaudio.m4adoes not open at all, because an MPEG-4 container is completed only when the file is closed. ScribeKit reports the file's size and repairs neither.