Docs / Using Nota

Notebook and calls

Record long notes and call audio, keep the transcript, tidy it into a summary, and export to Markdown.

Notebook keeps long voice notes and call notes in their own library. Record a thought or a conversation, keep the transcript, then turn it into clean notes or a summary. Nothing is pasted into the app in front of you while a note records.

Start a note

1. Choose a speech model in Models. Notebook uses a model that can transcribe files; streaming-only models are not supported for notes.
2. Open Notebook in the sidebar and click New Note. You can also use New note in the menu bar or assign its shortcut on the Shortcuts page.
3. Talk. The elapsed time, pause and stop controls show the recording state.
4. Click Stop when you are done. Any parts still transcribing finish in the background.

Transcript text arrives in segments, usually around 6 to 30 seconds of speech, as each part is processed. The delay depends on your model and connection. This is not a promise of instant word-by-word text from every model.

Notebook Settings › Mode chooses the speech model and language through a mode. The mode's ordinary AI rewrite is not applied to the transcript; Tidy up is a separate step.

Pause and continue

• Pause stops adding audio until you press Resume. Paused time is excluded from the elapsed recording time.
• Open a finished note and choose Continue recording to add a new take to the same note.
• A floating capture panel keeps the latest text and controls available while you work in another app. Turn it off with Notebook Settings › Show the capture panel.

Nota uses one microphone session at a time. Finish a dictation before starting a note, and finish the note before starting a separate dictation.

Record a call

1. Start a note and turn on Call audio.
2. Allow the system-audio permission when macOS asks. It is separate from microphone access. See Call audio permissions.
3. Let the people on the call know you are recording.
4. Pause or stop using the note controls.

Call audio captures the sound playing on your Mac alongside your microphone. Other computer audio can be included too. No bot joins the meeting. If system audio cannot start or becomes unavailable, Nota tells you and the microphone can continue.

Playback uses the combined microphone and call audio when available. Notebook does not identify speakers or produce separate speaker-labelled tracks.

Offer notes when a meeting starts

In Notebook Settings › Meetings, turn on Offer notes when a meeting starts. Nota can notice known desktop meeting apps and supported web meetings, including Zoom, Teams and Meet, and show a small offer. Press Start to record; detection itself records nothing.

You can disable offers for particular apps or add another meeting app. A note linked to a detected meeting can stop when that meeting ends.

Show the calendar event is an optional hint for the meeting title. It is off by default and asks for calendar access when you enable it. It does not schedule recordings or start them automatically.

Tidy the transcript

1. Open Notebook Settings › Tidy up › AI and choose an available AI target.
2. Open a finished note and choose a Tidy up style: Clean notes, Summary and action items, Meeting notes, or one of your saved prompts.
3. Run Tidy up. Long transcripts may be processed in several parts.
4. Switch between Transcript and Tidy. You can edit either finished version.

The AI version is stored separately. Tidying does not overwrite the transcript. If you have edited the tidy text, Nota asks before replacing it with a new AI version. Editing the transcript can mark its tidy version out of date.

Speech recognition and Tidy AI are separate choices. Local speech can work without a key. Apple’s on-device text AI needs macOS 26 and available Apple Intelligence; a configured local Ollama server or another local AI endpoint is another option. With a cloud AI, the note's text goes to the provider you selected on your own key. Choose local speech and local AI if you want the whole workflow offline.

Title notes with AI can name the first take after it is transcribed, unless you already gave the note a title. It is enabled by default only when the chosen AI is local.

Find, pin and listen

• Search looks through titles, transcripts and tidy text. This is text search, not AI Q&A over your library.
• Pin a note to keep it at the top of the list, or edit its title.
• Play a take when its recording is available, and use Show audio in Finder to locate its files.
• Failed transcript parts have Retry. When a cloud model needs a connection, the queue can wait for the network.

After an interruption, Nota attempts to recover unfinished notes and process the saved audio. Check the recovered transcript and retry any failed parts.

Copy, share and export

Copy the current version as Markdown or plain text, save the note as a Markdown file, drag it to another app, or use the system Share picker. The exported file can include the tidy version and its transcript. Apple Notes and other apps receive the shared text or file; this is not a two-way sync service.

Write to a Markdown folder

1. In Notebook Settings › Markdown folder, click Choose….
2. Pick a folder, such as one inside your Obsidian vault or iCloud Drive.
3. Nota writes each note there as a .md file and updates it when the note changes.

This is one-way: Nota writes the files but does not import edits from them. If a file changed outside Nota, choose Overwrite to replace it with the version in Nota, or Keep theirs to leave that file alone and stop updating it for this note. Keep both versions if you are unsure.

An Obsidian link is available when the chosen folder belongs to a vault. A folder in iCloud Drive is synced by macOS; Notebook itself has no built-in cloud sync.

Storage and limits

Notes and their transcripts are stored locally, separately from History. Notebook has its own audio-retention controls, including Keep audio forever. For complete removal of a note and its stored recording files, delete the whole note; exported or shared copies must be removed separately.

A continuous take rolls into a new take in the same note after four hours. A pause of 30 minutes stops the recording. Nota also checks free disk space and can refuse or stop a recording when space is low.

Note transcription counts toward the same 5,000-word trial as dictation and file transcription. Tidy actions also require the trial or licence to allow them. See License.