What the companion asks permission for

The companion asks you before it records anything. This page covers each permission: what it is for, when Goose asks, and what happens without it.

Asking before every recording

Before a meeting is recorded on a Mac, Goose shows a card with the meeting's title, time and attendees. It reminds you to make sure you have the other people's consent before you record, and says where the recording is kept and that the audio is sent off to be transcribed.

Nothing records until you press Record. Press Don't record and that meeting is skipped.

On macOS

macOS asks each permission question only once. If you said no or dismissed the dialog, the way back is System Settings. The companion's menu tells you when something is off.

Microphone

Used for: recording your side of the call. macOS shows: "Goose records your voice in the meetings you record."

When Goose asks: when you press Allow during setup. If you skipped setup, Goose asks once ahead of your next meeting, so the question never lands in the middle of a recording.

Without it: Goose can't hear you. Before a meeting it shows "Goose needs microphone access", with Open System Settings and Don't record.

Turn it on later: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone, then switch on Goose.

Choose a microphone: in the companion's Settings, under Recording. Automatic follows your Mac's choice.

Call audio

Used for: recording the other people on the call, from the sound your Mac plays. macOS calls this permission System Audio Recording and shows: "Goose records the other people on the call in the meetings you record."

Without it: Goose still records, but only hears you. Before the meeting you'll see "Goose can't hear the other side of the call", with an Allow button that asks again or opens System Settings.

Turn it on later: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording, then switch on Goose in the System Audio Recording Only list. If you allow it while Goose is open, quit and reopen Goose so it notices.

Notifications

Used for: telling you when a meeting's notes are ready, when a recording couldn't be sent, and, before a meeting, when something would stop or limit its recording. The Record / Don't record card Goose shows two minutes before a meeting, when Ask me two minutes before is set, isn't a notification, so it appears either way.

Without them: Goose still records, but it can't tell you those things. The menu-bar menu shows a line saying notifications are off. You can always start a recording from the menu bar.

Turn them on later: System Settings › Notifications › Goose.

On Windows

The Windows companion is coming. This page will cover its permissions when it's available.

Where the recordings go

On a Mac, recordings are saved on your computer. To transcribe a call, the audio is uploaded to Goose and its transcription provider. After transcription, Goose deletes its copy of the audio (a cleanup job retries if that fails) and asks its transcription provider to delete theirs.