Question
People commonly ask on the Zoom Developer Forum:
Why aren’t my meetings automatically recorded (and transcribed) when I start/join them via start_url or join_url, even though I created the meeting with settings.auto_recording = "cloud"? Is there a meeting-level field like recording_transcript I can set to force transcription?
Answer
Automatic cloud recording and audio transcription depend on your account/license and user settings, not just the meeting payload.
- Verify you’re on a paid Zoom plan. Cloud recording and transcription require a paid license.
- Enable the features at the account/group/user level: - Turn on Cloud Recording. - Turn on Audio transcript under Recording & Transcript. You can do this in the Zoom web portal or via the Update User Settings API. - Note: Transcripts are generated only for cloud recordings and appear after processing.
- Don’t include recording_transcript in the Create Meeting body—this is not a valid field for the meetings API. Keeping settings.auto_recording set to "cloud" is correct.
- Ensure the host actually starts/joins the meeting. If you allow join_before_host and participants enter without the host, auto recording may not start; additionally, meetings without a host can be limited in duration. Have the host open the meeting (e.g., via start_url) so recording begins.
Once these are in place, meetings created with auto_recording = "cloud" will start recording when the host joins, and transcripts will be produced for those cloud recordings.
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