Everything you need to know — from first install to advanced workflows.
Getting Started
Get Tagalong up and running on your Mac in just a few minutes. This section walks you through the app layout, system requirements, installation, licensing setup, and your very first recording.
Sidebar Navigation
Tagalong v2.0 uses a sidebar-based layout built on NavigationSplitView. The sidebar is your central hub for navigating between meetings, starting recordings, and accessing every feature in the app.
The sidebar is organized into three areas:
Pinned items at the top: Home, Search, and Visual Notes. These are always visible and give you quick access to the most common views.
Calendar card below the pinned items: shows your next upcoming calendar event (if Calendar access is granted). Tap it to auto-populate the meeting name.
Meeting list grouped by date: Today, Yesterday, This Week, Last Week, This Month, Last Month, and Older. Every meeting you have recorded or imported appears here.
At the bottom of the sidebar is a persistent bar with four controls:
Settings gear — opens the Settings view
Record shortcut — starts a new recording directly
Sync button — refreshes the meeting list
Tier badge — shows your current tier (Free or Pro)
Selecting Home opens the Home view in the detail pane, where you can start a recording, import files, or see your calendar next meeting. Selecting any meeting in the list opens MeetingDetailView in the detail pane, showing that meeting's transcript, summary, visual notes, and notes as collapsible sections.
Tip: The sidebar collapses automatically when you start a recording, giving the recording view the full width of the popover. It reappears when you stop or cancel.
System Requirements
Tagalong is a native macOS application built with SwiftUI. It ships as a universal binary, so it runs natively on both Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4) and Intel-based Macs.
Requirement
Details
macOS
15.0 (Sequoia) or later
Architecture
Apple Silicon or Intel (universal binary)
Microphone
Built-in or external mic (required)
Internet
Required for transcription and AI processing
Disk space
~25 MB for the app; recordings stored in ~/Documents/Tagalong/
Conference Mode captures system audio using macOS Core Audio Process Taps — a native, low-level API that reads the audio stream directly without interfering with your call. It works seamlessly alongside Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and other apps. When you first enable Conference Mode, macOS will ask for System Audio Recording permission. Standard mic-only recording does not need this permission.
Installation
Tagalong is distributed as a notarized DMG disk image. There is no installer to run — just drag and drop.
Download Tagalong — Visit tagalongai.com and click the Download button. Your browser will download Tagalong.dmg.
Open the DMG — Double-click the downloaded file. A Finder window will appear showing the Tagalong app icon and an arrow pointing to your Applications folder.
Drag to Applications — Drag Tagalong.app onto the Applications folder alias. This copies the app to your Mac.
Launch Tagalong — Open Tagalong from your Applications folder (or use Spotlight: press ⌘ + Space, type "Tagalong", and press Enter). You will see a microphone icon appear in your menu bar.
Grant Microphone permission — On first launch, macOS will ask for Microphone access. Click Allow — this is required for recording to work. You can also grant this later in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.
Tip: Tagalong runs as a menu bar app — it does not appear in the Dock. Click the microphone icon in your menu bar to open the popover window.
System Audio Recording permission is only needed for Conference Mode. macOS requests this automatically when you first enable it.
Setup & API Keys
When you first open Tagalong, you will see the onboarding screen. Tagalong offers two ways to unlock Pro features — choose whichever fits your workflow best.
Subscription — $9.99/mo
The simplest way to get started. Tagalong manages all API access through its own backend — you do not need to create accounts with OpenAI, AssemblyAI, or Google. Just subscribe, and everything works immediately.
Private License — $199 one-time
Bring your own API keys. You sign up for OpenAI, AssemblyAI, and optionally Google Gemini, then enter your keys in Settings. Your audio and transcripts go directly to those providers — they never touch Tagalong servers.
You do not have to choose right away. Tagalong works on the Free tier without any setup at all — you get 5 meetings per month with mic recording, speaker identification, a basic AI summary, and markdown export. No credit card required.
Setting up a Subscription
Open Settings — Click the gear icon in the sidebar bottom bar.
Select Subscription mode — Under Licensing Mode, choose "Subscription."
Complete checkout — Tagalong will open a Stripe checkout page in your browser. After payment, the app activates automatically.
Setting up a Private License
Get your API keys — You will need an OpenAI API key (for Whisper transcription and GPT summaries) and an AssemblyAI API key (for speaker diarization). A Google Gemini API key is optional and only needed for visual notes generation.
Open Settings — Click the gear icon in the sidebar bottom bar.
Enter your keys — Paste each API key into the corresponding field. Keys are stored securely in macOS Keychain and are never sent to Tagalong servers.
Tip: You can switch between Subscription and Private License at any time in Settings. Both modes unlock the full set of Pro features.
Tier System & Feature Gating
Tagalong has two tiers: Free and Pro. The Free tier lets you try the core experience without a credit card. Pro unlocks everything.
Free Tier
5 meetings per month. Includes microphone recording, speaker identification, a basic AI summary, markdown export, and speaker name editing. No credit card required.
Pro Tier
Unlimited meetings with all 25 features: conference mode, visual notes, AI chat, summary recipes, cross-meeting search, Slack and Notion export, file import, audio playback, custom vocabulary, and more.
To upgrade from Free to Pro, open Settings and choose either licensing mode:
Subscription ($9.99/mo) — zero setup, API keys managed by Tagalong
Private License ($199 one-time) — bring your own API keys for maximum privacy
Your usage counter is displayed in the sidebar and on the Home view. On the Free tier, you will see a message like "3 of 5 meetings remaining this month." The counter resets automatically at the start of each calendar month.
Feature gating: Pro-only features are marked with a PRO badge throughout the app. If you try to use a gated feature on the Free tier, Tagalong will prompt you to upgrade.
Your First Recording
Once Tagalong is installed and you have chosen a licensing mode (or are using the Free tier), you are ready to record your first meeting.
Click the menu bar icon — Click the microphone icon in your Mac's menu bar to open Tagalong's popover.
Go to Home — Select Home in the sidebar if it is not already selected. The Home view shows your recording controls and calendar card.
Name your meeting — Type a name in the meeting name field (e.g., "Weekly Standup"). This is optional — Tagalong will use a timestamp if you leave it blank. If you have Calendar integration enabled, it may auto-fill the name of your current or upcoming meeting.
Click Start Recording — Tagalong begins listening through your selected microphone. You will see a pulsing red dot and a live waveform. Speak normally — the app transcribes in the background every 10 seconds.
When your meeting ends, click Stop Recording. Tagalong will process the audio — uploading it for speaker diarization, identifying who said what, and generating an AI summary. This typically takes 30 seconds to a couple of minutes depending on meeting length.
Your results are saved automatically to ~/Documents/Tagalong/{meeting-name}/ and the meeting appears in the sidebar. Click it to review the transcript, summary, visual notes, and notes.
Tip: You can also start and stop recording from anywhere on your Mac using the global shortcut ⌘ + ⇧ + R — no need to click the menu bar icon first.
Quick Start Checklist
Make sure you have everything in place before your first real meeting.
macOS 15.0 (Sequoia) or later installed
Tagalong.app dragged to Applications
Microphone permission granted
Licensing mode selected (Subscription, Private License, or Free tier)
API keys entered if using Private License
Test recording completed — try a 30-second recording to verify everything works
Recording a Meeting
Tagalong captures your meetings right from the macOS menu bar. Choose between microphone-only mode for in-person meetings or conference mode for virtual calls — then let Tagalong handle the rest.
Starting a Recording
Open Tagalong from the menu bar. From the Home view in the sidebar, select your audio mode (Microphone or Conference) and input device. Enter a meeting name or let the calendar auto-populate it. Click Start Recording. The sidebar collapses and the recording view takes over the full width.
Open Tagalong — Click the mic icon in the menu bar to open the popover.
Select Home — If not already selected, click Home in the sidebar to see your recording controls.
Name your meeting — Type a meeting name or leave it blank (Tagalong will use a timestamp). If you have a Pro license and have granted calendar access, the name auto-fills from your next calendar event.
Choose your audio mode — Select Microphone (default) or Conference ModePRO using the mode toggle.
Click Start Recording — Tagalong begins capturing audio immediately. The sidebar collapses and the recording view fills the popover. The menu bar icon turns into a red recording indicator.
Tip: You can also press ⌘ + ⇧ + R from anywhere on your Mac to start or stop a recording — no need to open the popover first. You can also use the record shortcut button in the sidebar bottom bar.
Microphone Mode vs Conference Mode
Tagalong offers two audio capture modes depending on where your meeting audio is coming from.
Microphone Mode
Captures only your microphone input. Best for in-person meetings, phone calls, or any situation where the audio you want to record comes through your mic. No additional permissions beyond Microphone access are required.
Conference Mode PRO
Captures both your microphone and system audio simultaneously — perfect for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and other virtual meeting apps. No browser extension, no bot, no virtual audio driver, and no meeting URL needed. Tagalong reads the audio stream directly using macOS Core Audio Process Taps without interfering with your call or other apps.
Conference Mode requirements: System Audio Recording permission (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording). No app restart required.
System audio not being captured? Verify that System Audio Recording permission is granted in System Settings > Privacy & Security. Make sure you selected "Conference Mode" before clicking Start Recording.
During Recording
While recording, Tagalong shows a live interface with real-time feedback about the audio it is capturing. The recording view is laid out from top to bottom as follows:
Status bar — A pulsing red dot, "Recording" label, and elapsed timer at the top.
Audio waveform — An animated visualization of your current audio levels.
"Last Heard" card — Shows the latest transcribed chunk from Whisper, updated every ~10 seconds. Displays "Listening..." when waiting for speech, or "Silence detected" when no audio is present.
Word count stats — A row showing how many words have been captured so far.
Meeting name — An editable text field. You can rename the meeting at any time during recording.
Microphone selector — A dropdown to switch input devices mid-recording.
Meeting Notes area — A text input for capturing timestamped notes (see below).
AI Chat panel — A collapsible "Ask AI" panel for asking questions during recording (Pro only).
Stop Recording — Saves the audio and starts processing.
Cancel — Discards the recording entirely and returns to the Home view.
Tip: The "Last Heard" preview is cosmetic — it shows quick Whisper chunks for your awareness. The final transcript comes from AssemblyAI's speaker diarization pipeline after you stop recording, which is far more accurate.
Compact Recording Mode
If you need to check other meetings or navigate the sidebar while recording, you can minimize the recording view to a compact strip.
The compact strip shows a pulsing red dot, the elapsed timer, and a stop button
Your full recording continues uninterrupted in the background — no audio is lost
Click the compact strip to expand back to the full recording view at any time
While in compact mode, the sidebar reappears so you can browse meetings or access settings
Tip: Compact mode is useful for long meetings where you want to reference notes from a previous session while still recording the current one.
Pause & Resume Recording
Need to take a break, handle a side conversation, or step away? You can pause your recording and resume it when you're ready — without starting a new session.
Pause — Click the pause button on the recording screen (or right-click the menu bar icon → Pause Recording). Audio capture stops immediately.
Visual feedback — The menu bar icon changes to an amber pause symbol, and the status label switches from "Recording" to "Paused."
Resume — Click the resume button (or right-click → Resume Recording). Audio capture picks up right where you left off.
Note: There will be a gap in the audio during the pause — this is expected. The transcript resumes seamlessly when you unpause, and the final diarized output handles the gap naturally.
Tip: Pausing is useful during breaks, off-topic side conversations, or when sensitive information comes up that you don't want captured.
Recording Start Sound
Tagalong can play an audible notification tone shortly after recording begins — a courtesy alert so meeting participants know the call is being recorded.
Enable the setting — Open Settings and toggle Recording Start Sound under the General section.
Start a recording — Two seconds after recording begins, a brief notification tone plays through your speakers.
Automatic guard — If you cancel recording within those two seconds, no sound plays.
Note: This setting is off by default. The sound plays through your system output, so meeting participants on a call will hear it.
Taking Meeting Notes
Capture important moments as they happen. Notes you take during recording are automatically timestamped so you can connect them to specific points in the conversation.
Type your note — Enter text in the notes area at the bottom of the recording view.
Send it — Press ⌘ + Return or click the send button. The note is saved with a timestamp like "[0:04:32] Agreed on Q3 launch date".
View your notes — Submitted notes appear in a collapsible list below the input. After recording, they show up in the Meeting Notes section of your results.
Notes are included in the AI summary prompt, so important context you capture is reflected in the final output. They are also saved to a plain-text file ({meeting-name}_notes.txt) that you can edit by hand at any time.
Live AI Chat PRO
Ask questions about your meeting while it is still happening. The "Ask AI" panel uses your accumulated live transcript as context and streams answers in real time.
Expand the panel — Tap the collapsible "Ask AI" bar at the bottom of the recording screen.
Ask a question — Type something like "What was the main concern raised?" or "Summarize the last 5 minutes."
Read the response — Answers stream in as they are generated. The chat does not interfere with or pause your recording.
How it works: Live AI Chat sends the transcript accumulated so far to GPT and streams back a response. Your recording continues uninterrupted in the background — the chat runs on a separate thread.
Calendar Auto-fill PRO
Tagalong integrates with your macOS Calendar to save you a few keystrokes at the start of every meeting.
Grant permission — The first time you use this feature, Tagalong asks for Calendar access (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Calendars).
See your next meeting — A calendar card appears in the sidebar below the pinned items, showing your next upcoming event. It refreshes every 30 seconds.
Click to auto-fill — Tap the calendar card to populate the meeting name field instantly.
Switching Microphones Mid-Recording
Need to swap from your AirPods to a USB mic? Tagalong handles microphone changes on the fly without losing any audio data.
Use the microphone selector dropdown on the recording screen to pick a different input device. Tagalong disconnects from the current mic and reconnects to the new one seamlessly — no gap in your recording.
Bluetooth recovery: If a Bluetooth audio device disconnects unexpectedly, Tagalong retries the connection up to 5 times with increasing delays. If it still cannot reconnect, it automatically falls back to your Mac's built-in microphone so you never lose a recording.
Stopping & Cancelling
When your meeting is over, you have two choices:
Stop Recording
Saves the captured audio and begins processing. Tagalong runs speaker diarization via AssemblyAI, then generates your summary. Processing continues in the background — you can navigate to other meetings, start a new recording, or close the detail pane while it works.
Cancel
Discards the recording entirely — no audio is saved and no processing occurs. You return to the Home view. Use this if you started a recording by accident.
You can also minimize the recording to compact mode before stopping. The compact strip keeps the recording running while you browse other meetings. See Compact Recording Mode for details.
Tip: You can also stop a recording with the global shortcut ⌘ + ⇧ + R. This behaves the same as clicking Stop Recording — it saves your audio and begins background processing.
Smart Context Menu
Right-click (or Control-click) the Tagalong menu bar icon to access a context-aware menu that changes based on the current state of the app.
App State
Menu Actions
Idle
Start Recording
Recording
Pause Recording, Stop Recording
Paused
Resume Recording, Stop Recording
Processing
Shows current processing status
Results
New Meeting
Tip: The context menu is especially useful when you are in another app — right-click the menu bar icon to start, pause, or stop recording without opening the Tagalong popover.
Meeting Auto-Detection PRO
Tagalong can detect when you launch a meeting app and prompt you to start recording — so you never forget to capture an important conversation.
Supported apps: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, FaceTime, and Slack.
Enable the feature — Open Settings and toggle Meeting Auto-Detection under the General section.
Launch a meeting app — When Tagalong detects one of the supported apps starting, it waits 10 seconds (to avoid false triggers from brief app launches) before sending a notification.
Respond to the prompt — The notification asks if you'd like to start recording. If calendar integration is enabled, it also suggests a meeting name based on your next calendar event.
Meeting end detection — When the meeting app quits, Tagalong sends another notification asking if you'd like to stop recording.
Note: Meeting detection uses macOS process monitoring to observe app launches — it does not access meeting content, URLs, or participant lists. The 10-second debounce prevents notifications when you briefly open and close a meeting app.
Your Results
After you stop recording (or import a file), Tagalong processes the audio and presents your meeting in the MeetingDetailView. Here you can review who said what, read an AI-generated summary, view visual notes, browse your meeting notes, and ask follow-up questions about the discussion.
Processing Steps
When you stop a recording or import a file, Tagalong runs through a series of steps automatically. You will see each step displayed in sequence so you always know where things stand.
Importing — For file imports, Tagalong copies and prepares the file. For live recordings, this step is skipped.
Uploading audio — Your recorded WAV file is uploaded for processing.
Transcribing & identifying speakers — AssemblyAI diarization converts the audio to text and figures out who said what, labeling each segment by speaker.
Generating summary — GPT reads the full transcript and produces a structured summary with key decisions, action items, and takeaways.
Done — Results are saved to your output folder and the meeting appears in the sidebar.
Processing continues in the background. You can navigate to other meetings, start a new recording, or close the detail pane — your meeting will appear in the sidebar when ready.
Processing time depends on meeting length. A 30-minute meeting typically takes 1 to 3 minutes. The menu bar icon shows a spinning arrow while processing is in progress.
Background Processing
One of the key improvements in Tagalong v2.0 is background processing. After you stop a recording or import a file, you do not have to wait on a progress screen — processing runs independently while you use the rest of the app.
Processing continues even if you navigate away from the meeting in the sidebar
The meeting shows a spinning icon in the sidebar while processing is in progress
When processing completes, the meeting appears in the sidebar with its full results available
You can start a new recording while a previous meeting is still processing
If you close and reopen the popover, processing resumes where it left off
Tip: Background processing means you never have to wait between meetings. Stop one recording, let it process in the background, and start your next meeting immediately.
The Results View
After processing, your meeting appears in the sidebar list and the detail pane shows MeetingDetailView. Content is organized as collapsible sections: Meeting Notes (timestamped notes you took during recording), Summary (AI-generated with recipe selection), Transcript (speaker-labeled entries with search), and Visual Notes (AI-generated infographic). Each section can be expanded or collapsed independently.
Click any meeting in the sidebar to view its results. The collapsible sections let you focus on what matters — expand the Summary to quickly read key takeaways, or expand the Transcript to find a specific quote.
Note: The results view replaces the old tab-based layout. All content is now in a single scrollable view with collapsible sections, so you can see multiple sections at once without switching tabs.
Transcript
The Transcript section shows every segment of the conversation, labeled by speaker. Each entry displays a colored speaker pill, a timestamp, and the spoken text.
Speaker pills use a 5-color rotation so each speaker is visually distinct
Timestamps mark the start of each segment
Click any entry to seek the audio player to that moment PRO
Use the search bar at the top to filter entries by keyword — matching entries are highlighted in real time
Tip: The transcript search bar is great for quickly finding when a specific topic was discussed. Type a keyword and only matching entries will be shown.
Speaker Editing
Diarization labels speakers generically as "Speaker A," "Speaker B," and so on. You can replace these with real names so the transcript, summary, and visual notes all reflect who actually said what.
Click the pencil icon — Next to any speaker name (e.g., "Speaker A"), click the edit icon.
Type the real name — Enter the person's actual name in the text field.
Save — The name change propagates immediately through the entire transcript, the AI summary, and the visual notes.
Tip: Edit speaker names before generating the summary or visual notes. The AI uses the names you provide, so "Alice" and "Bob" will produce much more readable output than "Speaker A" and "Speaker B."
Summary
The Summary section displays a markdown-rendered AI summary generated by GPT. It is structured into clear sections — typically key decisions, action items, and key takeaways — so you can quickly grasp what happened without rereading the full transcript.
If you want a different format, choose a summary recipe before generating. You can also refine the summary after it has been created using AI editing.
Summary Recipes PRO
Recipes let you control the format and focus of the AI summary. Select a recipe before clicking Generate Summary — the recipe's system prompt replaces the default one, so the AI tailors the output accordingly.
Recipe
Description
Standard Summary
Balanced overview with key decisions, action items, and takeaways (default)
Executive Brief
Concise, high-level summary for leadership — focuses on outcomes and strategic points
Action Items Only
Extracts only the action items, owners, and deadlines — nothing else
Detailed Notes
Comprehensive, chronological notes capturing every topic discussed
You can also create custom recipes with your own name and system prompt. Custom recipes are stored locally and appear alongside the built-in options in the recipe picker.
AI Summary Editing PRO
After a summary has been generated, you can refine it using natural language instructions. The edit panel appears below the summary content.
Type an instruction — Describe what you want changed in plain English: "Make it shorter," "Add a risk section," "Remove the action items," or "Rewrite the intro for a technical audience."
Review the proposal — The AI generates a refined version of the summary. You see it as a proposed edit.
Accept or Reject — Click Accept to apply the change, or Reject to discard it and keep the original.
Undo if needed — Click Undo to revert to the previous version. Tagalong keeps a history stack so you can step back through multiple edits.
Tip: The AI uses the full transcript as context when editing, not just the current summary text. This means you can ask it to add information that was discussed but not included in the original summary.
Visual Notes PRO
Visual Notes are AI-generated visual summaries of your meetings — shareable images that capture the key points at a glance. Tagalong uses Google Gemini to create 4K images in a variety of styles. If you took meeting notes, they are included in the prompt for richer content.
Visual Notes is also a pinned item in the sidebar, giving you quick access to browse visual notes across all your meetings.
You can customize the appearance before generating:
Option
Choices
Style
Sketchnote, Corporate Clean, Whiteboard, Dark Dashboard, Minimal, Light Dashboard, Notebook
Aspect Ratio
Landscape (16:9), Square (1:1), Letter (3:4), Portrait (9:16)
Click Regenerate to get a fresh version with the same settings, or change settings and regenerate for a different look. The visual note is saved automatically to your meeting folder as {meeting-name}_infographic.jpg.
Once generated, you have several ways to use your visual note:
Open — Opens the full-resolution image in Preview
Share — Opens the macOS sharing sheet so you can AirDrop, email, message, or send the visual note to any app that supports sharing
Copy to Clipboard — Copies the image to your clipboard for pasting into Slack, Keynote, Google Docs, or anywhere else
Custom palettes: In Settings, you can define your own hex color palette. When selected, Gemini will use your brand colors in the visual note. There are also 6+ built-in presets to choose from.
Notes
The Meeting Notes section collects all the notes you captured during and after the meeting in one place.
Notes taken during recording include a timestamp (e.g., "[0:02:15] Budget confirmed at $50k")
Notes added after recording are labeled "Post-meeting"
Click any note to edit it inline
Notes are also saved to a separate text file: {meeting-name}_notes.txt
Tip: Your notes are included in the AI summary and visual notes prompts. Taking notes during a meeting about key decisions or follow-ups will produce better, more targeted output.
AI Chat PRO
The Chat panel lets you ask any question about the meeting and get an AI-powered answer based on the full transcript. Think of it as a research assistant who was in the room and remembers everything.
Some examples of questions you might ask:
"Who was the most skeptical about the timeline?"
"What were the three options discussed for the vendor?"
"Summarize what Sarah said about the budget."
"Were there any unresolved disagreements?"
Responses stream in real time. Your chat history persists for the current session so you can ask follow-up questions that build on earlier answers.
Note: AI Chat is also available during a live recording via the collapsible "Ask AI" panel at the bottom of the recording view. In that mode, it uses the accumulated live transcript as context.
Action Items PRO
After generating a summary, you can extract structured action items from the meeting. The Action Items section appears as a collapsible panel in the meeting detail view.
Generate a summary first — Action items are extracted from the AI summary, so you need one before this feature is available.
Click "Extract Action Items" — The AI parses the summary and identifies concrete action items, assigning each an owner and priority level.
Review the list — Each item shows a title, assignee (if identifiable from the discussion), and priority badge: High, Medium, or Low.
Select items — Use the checkboxes to choose which action items you want to export.
Export — Send selected items to Apple Reminders (requires Reminders permission) or Todoist (requires API token in Settings).
Tip: For best results, use the "Action Items Only" summary recipe before extracting. This produces a summary focused entirely on follow-ups and deliverables, giving the extraction AI cleaner input to work with.
Apple Reminders: The first time you export to Reminders, Tagalong will ask for permission to access your Reminders. Grant access in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Reminders.
Exporting Your Results
Tagalong gives you several ways to share or archive your meeting results, depending on your workflow and tier.
Markdown Export
Always available, even on the Free tier. Saves the transcript with speaker labels and a Meeting Notes section to a .md file in your output folder.
PDF Export PRO
Generates a formatted PDF document. A save dialog lets you choose where to save the file on your Mac.
Slack PRO
Share the summary directly to a Slack channel. Paste your incoming webhook URL in Settings, then click "Share to Slack" in the results view. Sends a formatted Block Kit message.
Notion PRO
Export the meeting as a new page in a Notion database. Enter your Notion API key and Database ID in Settings, then click "Export to Notion."
Tip: Set up Slack and Notion integration once in Settings, and sharing becomes a single click after every meeting. See the Integrations section for setup details.
Managing Sessions
All your meetings are accessible from the sidebar. Meetings are automatically grouped by recording date. Use Spaces to organize meetings into custom folders. The Search view lets you find content across all meetings.
Meetings in the Sidebar
Previously recorded meetings appear automatically in the sidebar, grouped by date: Today, Yesterday, This Week, Last Week, This Month, Last Month, and Older. Click any meeting to view its transcript, summary, and visual notes in the detail pane.
Meetings are sorted chronologically with the most recent at the top of each group
Each entry shows the meeting name and recording date
Meetings currently processing show a spinning icon until results are ready
Click the sync button in the sidebar bottom bar to refresh the list
You can also import sessions from older versions of Tagalong using the import button
Tip: The meeting list reads from your output folder at ~/Documents/Tagalong/. If you move or rename session folders in Finder, the sidebar will reflect those changes the next time you sync.
Spaces
Spaces let you organize related meetings into custom groups — like folders for your meetings. Use them to keep projects, teams, or topics neatly organized.
Create a new Space from the sidebar to group related meetings (e.g., "Q1 Planning," "Client Calls," "Product Standups")
Drag meetings into a Space or assign a Space during or after recording
Spaces appear as collapsible folders in the sidebar, making it easy to find what you need
A meeting can belong to one Space at a time
Note: Spaces are an organizational layer within the app — they do not move files on disk. Your meeting files stay in ~/Documents/Tagalong/ regardless of which Space they belong to.
Visual Notes Gallery
The Visual Notes gallery gives you a dedicated view of every visual note you've generated — across all your meetings in one place. It's pinned in the sidebar for quick access.
Opens as a grid view showing thumbnails of all visual notes across your meetings
Search by meeting name or use AI-powered semantic search to find visual notes by topic
Paginated display (12 per page) for fast browsing even with hundreds of meetings
Click any thumbnail to jump directly to that meeting's detail view
Tip: The gallery is a great way to review past meetings visually. Each visual note captures the key themes and decisions, so scanning the gallery can quickly remind you what was discussed without reading full transcripts.
Search PRO
Search is a pinned item in the sidebar. Click it to open the SearchView in the detail pane, where you can search across all meetings — transcripts, summaries, and notes.
Click Search — Select the Search item in the sidebar's pinned section.
Enter a keyword — Type any word or phrase in the search bar. Search is case-insensitive.
Browse results — Each result shows the meeting name, date, matched text with your keyword highlighted in context, a speaker badge, and a source type badge (transcript or notes). Results are sorted newest first, with a maximum of 100 results.
Jump to a meeting — Click any result to navigate to that meeting in the sidebar and open it in the detail pane.
Note: Search scans both .md transcript files and _notes.txt files, so your meeting notes are searchable too.
File Import PRO
Already have recordings or transcripts from Zoom, Otter, or Gong? Import them into Tagalong to get speaker-labeled transcripts, AI summaries, and visual notes for meetings you recorded elsewhere.
Click Import File — On the Home view, click the "Import File" button.
Select your file — Choose an audio file or a transcript file from your Mac.
Wait for processing — Audio files are sent to AssemblyAI for speaker diarization (this may take a minute or two). Transcript files are parsed immediately. Processing runs in the background.
Review results — Once processing is complete, the meeting appears in the sidebar. Click it to view the full results.
Format
Type
Processing
mp3, wav, m4a, mp4, aac
Audio
AssemblyAI speaker diarization
vtt, srt
Transcript
Parsed (Zoom format)
txt, md
Transcript
Parsed (Otter/Gong format)
Tip: The meeting name is derived automatically from the filename. You can rename it in the results view after import.
Open Previous Session
Previously recorded meetings appear automatically in the sidebar, grouped by date: Today, Yesterday, This Week, Last Week, This Month, Last Month, Older. Click any meeting to view its transcript, summary, and visual notes. You can also import sessions from older versions using the import button.
If you have session folders from an earlier version of Tagalong that do not appear in the sidebar, use the import function on the Home view to bring them in. Tagalong will scan the folder for markdown, audio, notes, and visual note files and load whatever it finds.
How it works: If the folder contains a .md file, Tagalong parses it to restore the full session — entries, speakers, speaker names, summary, notes, and visual note path. If only an audio file is present (no markdown), it runs diarization to create the transcript from scratch.
Audio Playback PRO
If a session includes an audio file (from a live recording or an imported audio file), a player bar appears in the results view so you can listen back.
Scrubable progress bar — drag to any point in the recording
Volume control slider
Click any transcript entry to seek directly to that moment in the audio
Time display showing current position and total duration
Tip: Clicking a transcript row jumps the audio to that speaker's start time. This is useful for verifying a specific quote or catching something the transcription may have missed.
Output Folder Structure
Every session is saved to a dedicated folder inside ~/Documents/Tagalong/. Here is what each folder contains.
File
Description
{name}.md
Full transcript with speaker labels, AI summary, and meeting notes
{name}_notes.txt
Human-editable notes in [timestamp] text format
{name}_infographic.jpg
4K generated visual note (if created)
{name}.wav
Raw audio recording (optional; may be large)
Note: These are standard files on your Mac. You can open the markdown in any text editor, share the visual note as an image, or back up the entire folder to cloud storage.
Settings
Configure your licensing mode, API keys, AI model preferences, integrations, and more. Open Settings by clicking the gear icon in the sidebar bottom bar.
Licensing Modes
Tagalong offers two ways to unlock Pro features. Both grant the same full feature set — the difference is how API access is handled.
Subscription — $9.99/mo
Zero setup. Tagalong manages all API access through its own backend proxy at api.tagalongai.com. You do not need API keys from OpenAI, AssemblyAI, or Google. Just subscribe and start recording.
Private License — $199 one-time
Bring your own API keys for maximum privacy. Your audio and transcripts go directly to the providers — they never touch Tagalong servers. Better for organizations with strict data policies.
Free tier: Without either license, Tagalong works in Free mode — mic recording, speaker identification, basic AI summary, and markdown export for up to 5 meetings per month. No credit card required.
License Mode Selection
You choose your licensing mode in Settings. Both Subscription and Private License unlock all 25 Pro features — the difference is how API calls are handled and how you pay.
Subscription ($9.99/mo)
Zero setup. API calls are routed through Tagalong's managed proxy at api.tagalongai.com. You never see or manage API keys. JWT-based authentication handles everything. Best for users who want to get started immediately without creating accounts with AI providers.
Private License ($199 one-time)
Bring your own API keys (OpenAI, AssemblyAI, optionally Google Gemini). All API calls go directly from your Mac to the respective providers — your audio and transcripts never touch Tagalong servers. Better privacy, no recurring cost, and you control your own API usage and billing.
You can switch between modes at any time in Settings. Switching does not affect your existing meetings or recordings — only how future API calls are routed.
Subscription Auth Flow
Setting up a subscription takes less than two minutes. Here is how the end-to-end flow works.
Download and install Tagalong — Follow the installation steps above.
Open Settings — Click the gear icon in the sidebar bottom bar.
Choose Subscription — Under Licensing Mode, select "Subscription."
Click Subscribe — Tagalong opens a Stripe checkout page in your default browser. Your device ID is passed along automatically.
Complete payment — Enter your payment details on the Stripe page. Promotion codes are supported at checkout.
Return to Tagalong — After checkout, the app detects your subscription automatically and issues a JWT token for authentication.
Authentication details:
JWT-based auth with automatic 24-hour token refresh (refreshes 60 seconds before expiry)
Device-based licensing — one active subscription per device
Token stored securely in macOS Keychain
All API calls routed through api.tagalongai.com/v1/proxy
Managing your subscription: To cancel, manage billing, or update payment details, visit the Stripe customer portal linked from Settings.
Private License Setup
If you choose Private License, you need to provide your own API keys. Here is what each key is used for.
API Key
Required
Used For
OpenAI
Yes
Whisper transcription + GPT summary generation
AssemblyAI
Yes
Speaker diarization (who said what)
Google Gemini
No
Visual notes image generation (optional)
Open Settings — Click the gear icon in the sidebar bottom bar.
Choose Private License — Under Licensing Mode, select "Private License."
Enter your AssemblyAI key — Get one at assemblyai.com and paste it into the AssemblyAI field.
Enter your Gemini key (optional) — Get one at aistudio.google.com. Only needed if you want to generate visual notes.
Tip: All keys are stored in macOS Keychain with Data Protection encryption. They are never sent to Tagalong servers — API calls go directly from your Mac to the respective providers.
Model Selection
Tagalong uses several AI models across its pipeline. Some are configurable, while others are fixed for reliability.
Service
Model
Configurable?
Summary generation
GPT-5.2 (default)
Yes — changeable in Settings
Visual notes
Gemini
No
Transcription
Whisper-1
No
Speaker diarization
AssemblyAI
No
To change the summary model, open Settings and look for the Model section. The selected model is stored locally and applies to all future summaries.
Note: The summary model setting only applies to Private License mode. Subscription users use the model configured on the Tagalong backend.
Custom Vocabulary
Improve transcription accuracy for company names, product names, people's names, and industry jargon by adding them to your custom vocabulary list.
Open Settings — Click the gear icon.
Find Custom Vocabulary — Scroll to the Custom Vocabulary section.
Add your terms — Enter words separated by commas or newlines. For example: Tagalong, AssemblyAI, OpenAI, Q3 launch, COGS
These terms are sent to AssemblyAI as a word_boost parameter, which biases the speech recognition model toward recognizing these words correctly. "Tagalong" is included by default.
Tip: Add the names of meeting participants, your company's product names, and any acronyms or abbreviations that come up frequently. This significantly reduces transcription errors for domain-specific terms.
Visual Notes Options
Customize how your AI-generated visual notes look. These settings are available in both the Settings view and the Visual Notes section in the results view.
Option
Choices
Style
Sketchnote, Corporate Clean, Whiteboard, Dark Dashboard, Minimal, Light Dashboard, Notebook
Aspect Ratio
Landscape (16:9), Square (1:1), Letter (3:4), Portrait (9:16)
When you select a color palette, the specific hex colors are included in the prompt sent to Google Gemini, so the generated image closely follows your chosen theme. Choose "None" to let the AI pick colors that fit the meeting content.
Tip: The "Custom" palette option lets you specify your own brand colors. Enter hex values in Settings and they will be applied to every visual note you generate.
Integrations PRO
Share meeting results directly to Slack or Notion without leaving Tagalong.
Slack
Send meeting summaries to any Slack channel via an incoming webhook. The summary is formatted using Slack Block Kit for clean, readable output.
Notion
Export meetings as new pages in a Notion database. Each export creates a page with the transcript, summary, and notes organized into blocks.
Todoist
Export action items directly to Todoist as tasks. Each item's title, assignee, and priority are mapped to Todoist task fields. Requires a Todoist API token in Settings.
Apple Reminders
Export action items to the built-in Reminders app on macOS. Requires Reminders permission (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Reminders).
Setting up Slack
Create a webhook — Go to api.slack.com/apps, create or select an app, enable Incoming Webhooks, and add a new webhook to the channel you want.
Copy the webhook URL — It looks like https://hooks.slack.com/services/T.../B.../...
Paste in Settings — Open Tagalong Settings, find the Slack section, and paste the URL.
Share — After generating a summary, click the Share to Slack button in the results view.
Setting up Notion
Create an integration — Go to notion.so/my-integrations and create a new internal integration. Copy the API key.
Share your database — Open the Notion database where you want meeting pages created, click Share, and invite your integration.
Get the database ID — Open the database in Notion. The database ID is the 32-character string in the URL between the workspace name and the question mark.
Paste in Settings — Enter both the Notion API key and Database ID in Tagalong Settings.
Export — After a meeting, click the Export to Notion button in the results view.
Paste in Settings — Open Tagalong Settings, find the Todoist section, and paste the token.
Export action items — After extracting action items from a meeting summary, select the items you want and click "Export to Todoist."
Launch at Login
Enable this toggle in Settings to have Tagalong start automatically when you log in to your Mac. The menu bar icon will appear right away, ready for you to start a recording at any time. This uses macOS SMAppService and requires macOS 13 or later.
Tip: If you take meetings frequently, enabling Launch at Login means Tagalong is always one click (or one shortcut) away from recording.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Tagalong supports a global keyboard shortcut for hands-free control and standard macOS shortcuts within the popover.
Global Shortcuts
These shortcuts work anywhere on your Mac — even when Tagalong is not focused.
Start / Stop Recording
⌘+⇧+R
Tip: The global shortcut works even when another app is in focus — great for starting a recording the moment a call begins without switching windows.
In-Popover Shortcuts
Standard macOS text shortcuts apply in all text fields (meeting name, notes).
Submit meeting note
⌘+Return
Copy transcript / summary text
⌘+C
Undo summary edit
⌘+Z
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to common questions. For deeper troubleshooting, check the sections above.
No. Tagalong runs entirely on your Mac and captures audio through your microphone or system audio — it never joins a call, sends a bot, or requires an invitation link. Other participants cannot see or interact with it.
Tagalong requires macOS 15.0 Sequoia or later. It runs as a universal binary on both Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs.
All output files go to ~/Documents/Tagalong/{meeting-name}/ on your Mac. Each session folder contains the transcript markdown, notes file, visual note image, and optionally the raw audio WAV. Nothing is uploaded to Tagalong servers.
Yes. In Private License mode, all API keys (OpenAI, AssemblyAI, Google Gemini) are stored exclusively in macOS Keychain using the Data Protection security class. They are never transmitted to Tagalong servers. In Subscription mode, you don't enter any API keys — Tagalong's backend proxy handles authentication.
Both unlock all Pro features. Subscription ($9.99/mo) is zero-setup — Tagalong manages API access through its own backend. Private License ($199 one-time) uses your own API keys, so API costs go to your accounts directly and audio never touches Tagalong servers. Private License is the best choice for maximum privacy.
Transcription uses OpenAI Whisper, which achieves near-human accuracy for clear English speech. Speaker diarization uses AssemblyAI. Accuracy improves with a quality microphone, a quiet environment, and adding your company-specific terms to Custom Vocabulary in Settings.
Tagalong currently optimizes for English transcription to maximize accuracy. Whisper supports many languages, but language selection is not yet configurable in the UI. Multi-language support is on the roadmap.
Conference Mode requires System Audio Recording permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording. No app restart required. If audio still isn't captured, ensure you selected "Conference Mode" in the audio mode toggle before clicking Start Recording. Note that system audio is only captured when something is actively playing — if no one is speaking on the call, mix skips are normal and expected.
Yes — with a Pro license. You can import audio files (mp3, wav, m4a, mp4, aac) for diarization, or transcript files (vtt, srt, txt, md) in Zoom, Otter, and Gong formats. Use the "Import File" button on the Home view.
Open Settings in Tagalong (gear icon in the sidebar bottom bar) and choose your preferred licensing mode — Subscription or Private License. Follow the setup instructions to activate Pro features.
Click the pause button on the recording screen, or right-click the Tagalong menu bar icon and choose "Pause Recording." The menu bar icon changes to an amber pause symbol, and the label switches from "Recording" to "Paused." Click Resume (or right-click → Resume Recording) to continue. There will be a brief gap in the audio during the pause — this is expected, and the transcript picks up seamlessly when you resume.
First, generate a summary for your meeting. Then open the collapsible Action Items section in the meeting detail view and click "Extract Action Items." The AI parses the summary and lists each action item with an assignee and priority. From there you can export selected items to Apple Reminders or Todoist.
Meeting auto-detection currently recognizes Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, FaceTime, and Slack. When one of these apps launches, Tagalong waits 10 seconds (to avoid false triggers), then sends a notification asking if you'd like to start recording. If calendar integration is enabled, the notification also suggests a meeting name from your next event.
In the Visual Notes section of any meeting, click the Share button to open the macOS sharing sheet — from there you can AirDrop, email, or message the image directly. You can also click Copy to Clipboard to paste the image into any app. For a broader view of all your visual notes, use the Visual Notes gallery in the sidebar.