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Steno can record from three audio sources: your microphone, your Mac’s system audio (what you hear through your headphones or speakers), or both simultaneously.

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Microphone recording

Microphone recording is the default. It captures your voice and any voices in the same room as your Mac. No setup is required beyond granting microphone permission on first use. Best for: in-person meetings, interviews, one-on-one conversations where you are the primary speaker.

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System audio recording

System audio capture records the audio playing through your Mac — including the other participants on a Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or any other call. Combined with microphone recording, this captures both sides of a virtual meeting. Setup (one time) macOS requires explicit permission for apps to record system audio. Steno uses a virtual audio driver to access this. On first use:
  1. Click Record and select System audio or Microphone + system audio
  2. Steno will prompt you to install the audio extension — click Allow
  3. macOS may require your administrator password
  4. Restart Steno after installation
After this one-time setup, system audio recording works without any additional steps.

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Speaker labels

When Steno captures system audio, it labels lines in the transcript as [You] (microphone audio) or [Others] (system audio). This makes it easier to follow who said what in a virtual meeting. Speaker labels appear automatically — no configuration is needed.

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Starting a recording

  1. Click the Record button in the toolbar or use the menu bar icon
  2. Enter a name for the recording, or leave it blank (Steno will auto-generate a title)
  3. Select the audio source if you want to change from the default
  4. Click Start

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Stopping a recording

Click Stop in the toolbar or from the menu bar icon. Transcription begins immediately.

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Apple Shortcuts

You can start and stop recordings remotely using Apple Shortcuts and the stenoai:// deep link scheme. See Apple Shortcuts for the full setup guide.
Steno records in WAV format. By default, files are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/stenoai/recordings/. You can change the storage location in Settings → Storage.
Not currently. System audio capture records all audio playing on your Mac — there is no per-app filtering.
No. Steno will record until you stop it or your disk fills up.