Desktop Recording SDK
An SDK to build on-device recording for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack Huddles and in-person meetings. No meeting bots.
Works on all platforms, no meeting bots
The Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK records audio, video, and transcription from your Mac or Windows computer directly, with no meeting bots joining your call.
Get audio, video, transcripts and metadata
The Desktop Recording SDK captures real-time and post-call audio, video, and perfectly diarized transcripts, plus meeting metadata like participant names, leave and join events, and meeting titles.
Build vs. buy a botless meeting recorder
Building a desktop recorder from scratch using native macOS and Windows APIs requires developers to manually build support for audio, video, transcription, and edge cases that the Desktop Recording SDK already handles.
Table title
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
MacOS and Windows Native Recording APIs
Reliability
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Works across all operating system versions, network conditions, and virtual audio device configurations
MacOS Native Recording APIs
A single native API cannot capture audio and video across all operating system versions and device configurations
Transcripts
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Offers real-time and asynchronous transcripts
MacOS Native Recording APIs
No built-in transcription functionality
Speaker Names
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Enriches the transcript with the names of all speakers
MacOS Native Recording APIs
No speaker names in transcripts
Participant Metadata
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Captures participant information like names and join / leave events
MacOS Native Recording APIs
Do not capture participant metadata
Video
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Offers clean, participant-separated video recordings that do not include the meeting platform’s UI.
MacOS Native Recording APIs
Record the entire meeting window, including the meeting platform’s UI
Audio
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Offers real-time audio streams while supporting edge cases like echo cancellation, mute state detection, and microphone switching
MacOS Native Recording APIs
Developers can get real-time audio streams, but need to build support for audio edge cases from scratch
Screen Share
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Captures high-quality screenshares by recording the shared content directly.
MacOS Native Recording APIs
Record the screenshare from the meeting view, which reduces video quality
Resilience
Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK
Works even if the user’s disk is full, their battery dies, or their connection drops
MacOS Native Recording APIs
Require developers to separately build fallbacks for device issues
Automatically detects when a meeting starts, even if it’s unplanned
The Desktop Recording SDK detects when a virtual meeting begins, either prompting the user to record or starting the recording automatically.
Records in-person meetings and virtual meetings
The Desktop Recording SDK captures virtual, in-person, and hybrid meetings on macOS and Windows, through a single integration.
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Add a botless recorder to your desktop app in 10 lines of code
Integrate with the Desktop Recording SDK in just a few hours and get meeting recordings, transcripts, and metadata into your desktop app.
// Initialize the Recall AI SDK
RecallAiSdk.init({
api_url: API_URL
});
// When a meeting is detected, get an upload token and start recording
RecallAiSdk.addEventListener ("meeting-detected", async (evt) -> {
const { window: { id } } = evt;
const { upload_token } = await createDesktopSdkUpload();
RecallAiSdk.startRecording({
windowId: id,
uploadToken: upload_token
});
});Built for enterprise scale and security
We recognize the sensitive and critical nature of conversation data we’re dealing with. That’s why Recall.ai's platform is built for enterprise scale and security.
Reliable and stable
We power call recording features for thousands of companies, ranging from seed-stage startups to Fortune 500 enterprises.
Onboarding support
We work closely with your team, and have shared Slack channels to ensure so you are set up for success.
Scalable infrastructure
We run thousands of concurrent bots and process billions of minutes in recording per year. All while maintatining a 99.9% uptime SLA.
Security Controls
We are SOC2, ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA Compliant.
For more information, check out our security portal.
GDPR
SOC 2
HIPAA
CCPA
ISO 27001
Get started with:
Meeting Bot API vs. Desktop Recording SDK
The Meeting Bot API records conversations with a visible bot in the meeting, while the Desktop Recording SDK captures meetings through a desktop app on the user’s device.
User Experience
Meeting Bot API
A bot joins the call to record
Desktop Recording SDK
Your user downloads a desktop app to record
Recording Notification
Meeting Bot API
The bot can speak, show a recording icon, or send a message in the chat telling people it’s recording
Desktop Recording SDK
There is no recording indication, the responsibility is on your user to notify others that the meeting is being recorded
Frequently asked questions
Recall.ai's Desktop Recording SDK captures audio, video, and transcripts with speaker names directly on Windows and macOS for all of the major meeting platforms.
No, the user of any desktop app with Recall.ai's Desktop Recording SDK integrated can start recording without the hosts permission, though all end users of apps built with the Desktop Recording SDK are responsible for following the laws governing consent.
Yes. The Recall.ai Desktop Recording SDK delivers real-time transcripts with speaker labels during the meeting and after the meeting ends. The speaker labels delivered are actual speaker names (eg. “John Smith”), not placeholders (eg. “Speaker 1”).
Yes, Recall.ai is SOC 2, ISO 27001:2022, GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA compliant.
We can store or pass through data, depending on your needs and compliance requirements.
Yes. You can get both audio and video recordings and speaker-labeled transcripts of a meeting within minutes after it ends, along with meeting artifacts such as meeting metadata and participant emails.
Recall.ai's Desktop Recording SDK works with all frameworks, including Electron, Tauri, native Mac apps, native Windows apps, and more.
The Desktop Recording SDK supports all desktop application frameworks including Electron, and Tauri. We recommend using Electron as it offers the most comprehensive support for setup and ongoing maintenance.
If you're building with Tauri or another non-Electron framework, we recommend using a Node.js sidecar process to integrate with the Desktop Recording SDK. We strongly recommend this approach over directly integrating the underlying binary, which can introduce compatibility issues.
For implementation details, read our guide to integrating with non-Electron apps.
Yes. If you want to record a meeting you need to be present in that meeting.
Yes. The Desktop Recording SDK can detect meetings taking place on your laptop and you can set the Desktop Recording SDK to record automatically so that you don't forget to hit record. This helps prevent the common human issue of forgetting to record meetings. It can also record in-person conversations and VoIP calls.
No. The Desktop Recording SDK only records the conversation when an active recording session has been started. It does not continuously listen to or store conversations outside of recording sessions. Additionally, the SDK does not solely rely on microphone activity to detect meetings, so personal calls, voice notes or unrelated microphone activity will not trigger recording.
You can use Recall.ai Transcription or you can bring your own API keys for any of our transcription providers.
You can call the Retrieve Recording endpoint to get data such as audio, video, and transcripts from a meeting. This endpoint works for both meeting bots and the Desktop Recording SDK.
MacOS permissions are fully configurable and include microphone access, screen recording access, and accessibility permissions. There are no permissions needed on Windows, as Windows does not have a permissioning system.
Building a production-ready desktop recorder that works reliably across meeting platforms, devices, operating systems, and real-world user conditions is significantly more complex than simply capturing audio and video streams.
Recall.ai’s Desktop Recording SDK handles the infrastructure and edge-case challenges involved in building a desktop recorder, including capturing actual speaker names (eg. “John Smith”, not “Speaker 1”), mute-state detection, echo cancellation and unreliable user network conditions. It also ensures high-quality recordings and transcripts, allowing engineering teams to focus on building differentiating features into their product instead of maintaining recording infrastructure.
