Setting up Meeting Recorder
Activate your license, then choose how each computer handles meetings: on its own, through your office server, or as the server.
Activating your license
The setup window asks for your license key before anything is installed. Activating needs an internet connection; after that the app works offline.
- Copy the key from your receipt email (or your Lemon Squeezy My Orders page).

The license page before a key is entered. Next stays disabled until a key is active. - Paste it into the box and click Activate (or press Enter).
- A green tick shows the license type, Personal or Business, and the end of your key. Click Next.

Activated. You can change the key any time later in Settings → License.
If activating doesn't work
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Activating needs an internet connection… | Connect to the internet and click Activate again. |
| That license key wasn't found… | Copy the key again from the receipt email. It looks like XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX. |
| This key is already active on its maximum number of computers… | Deactivate it on a computer you no longer use (its Settings → License), or free a slot on your My Orders page. See moving to a new computer. |
| This license key has been disabled… | The key was refunded or turned off. Contact support. |

Command line: meeting-recorder license activate <key> (Linux), or --license <key> on a silent install. See Command line.
Choosing how this computer handles meetings
| Choice | What it does | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| On this computer | Records, transcribes and summarizes here. Downloads the speech and summary models (setup shows the sizes). | Any license |
| Use a Meeting Recorder server | Records here; your office server does the transcripts and summaries. Nothing big to download. | Any license on this computer; a Business license on the server |
| Make this computer the server | Does the transcripts and summaries for everyone's Meeting Recorder. Linux only. | Business license |
You can change this later in the library: Settings → Server. Switching never deletes models you already have.
Personal or Business: on this computer
This is the usual setup, for a Personal license and for Business seats where each person's computer does its own work.
- On the role page choose On this computer and click Next.

- Check what setup found, then the parts it will install, and click Install. Step-by-step pictures are in the Install guide.
- When it says All set, you're ready: join a meeting and it records by itself.
Business seats: your company's key can be activated on 2 computers per seat (a 5-seat key on up to 10). Everyone uses the same key; the License card in Settings shows how many computers are using it.
Business: use the office server
Each computer still records the meeting itself; only the meeting's sound goes to the server, which sends back the transcript, speakers and summary. Recordings, names and the library stay on the computer.
- Get the server URL from whoever runs the server. It looks like
https://192.168.1.20:8791/#key=…&fp=…. Copy the whole URL, including the part after#. - On the role page choose Use a Meeting Recorder server, paste the URL and click Test.
- When it says Connected to your server (and what it runs), click Next and install. There are no large downloads.

A working server URL: Test shows the server's name, where transcripts run and the summary model.
Away from the office? If the server can't be reached, the computer does the work itself when it has the models, otherwise meetings wait and are sent when the server is back.
Already installed? Open the library, Settings → Server, paste the URL, click Test, then turn on Use a server.

Silent install for IT: --server-url "<URL>". See silent install.
Business: set up the office server (Linux)
One Linux computer with a good graphics card does the transcripts and summaries for everyone. It needs a Business license activated on it, and it should stay on.
What you need
- A 64-bit Linux computer, ideally with an NVIDIA graphics card; it can be headless (no screen).
- A Business license key.
- Port 8791 reachable from the other computers on your network (allow it in the server's firewall if one is on).
With the setup window
- Install the package (see Install on Linux) and open Meeting Recorder.
- Activate the Business key on the License page. With a Personal key the server option stays greyed out.
- Choose Make this computer the server, then install.

The server option, available on Linux with a Business license. - The last page shows the URL to give to the other computers, with a Copy button.
Without a screen (over SSH)
- Install the package, then run (one line):
meeting-recorder setup --server --license <your-business-key>
It activates the key, installs the speech engine, starts the server as a user service that keeps running after you log out, and prints the URL:Give the apps this URL (setup, or Settings → Server → Use a server): https://192.168.1.20:8791/#key=<sign-up key>&fp=<certificate fingerprint> Check on it any time with: meeting-recorder server status
- Check that it's working:
meeting-recorder server status Meeting Recorder server on office-server (encrypted) Transcripts : nemo-cuda on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Summaries : gpt-oss:20b Search : nomic-embed-text Queue : 0 running, 0 waiting Devices : 0
- Give the URL to the other computers (setup's Use a Meeting Recorder server, or Settings → Server). Get it again any time with
meeting-recorder server url.
Security and privacy
- Traffic is encrypted. The server makes its own certificate, and the URL carries its fingerprint, so computers only talk to your server.
- The key in the URL is only for signing up. Each computer then gets its own key, so one can be removed without changing everyone's setup.
- The server keeps no transcripts, and meeting audio is deleted once the computer has picked up the results.
- If the server already runs an AI model server, Meeting Recorder uses the models already loaded there and never changes them.
Managing computers
meeting-recorder server devices # computers using the server, last seen, meetings, GPU time meeting-recorder server approval on # new computers wait until you approve them meeting-recorder server approve <name|id> # let a waiting computer in meeting-recorder server remove <name|id> # this computer can't use the server any more meeting-recorder server new-url # new sign-up URL; computers already connected keep working
After remove, run new-url too if that computer still has the old URL, so it can't sign up again.
After setup: first steps
- Open the library: click the tray icon (or Start menu → Meeting Recorder).
- In Settings → Personal → You are, pick your name once you've named yourself in a meeting: your action items then show on Home.
- Optional: create tags for your clients or projects, and give a tag a knowledge folder for Live assist.
- Join a meeting. See Using the app.