Record a meeting from both sides, and write its minutes

Who said what is the hard part of a meeting transcript, and the usual answer
is to hand one mixed recording to a model and ask it to tell the voices apart.
That guess is wrong often enough to be worse than useless in minutes, where a
decision attributed to the wrong person is a decision nobody made.

So the question never reaches a model. ffmpeg records the microphone and the
default sink's monitor as one stereo stream, you on the left and everyone else
on the right, and one process reading both is what keeps them aligned over an
hour. Each channel is transcribed on its own and the two are interleaved on a
single timeline, so attribution is settled by the wire a voice arrived on.
What a microphone picks up from the speakers lands on both channels; our copy
is dropped when it overlaps theirs in time and says nearly the same thing.

The stream is written to disk as it arrives rather than held in memory, so
length costs nothing and a crash costs the tail instead of the whole meeting.
Every stage the run reaches is recorded in meetings.jsonl, so a failure while
summarising does not throw away the transcription of an hour of audio: the
retry reads the transcript back out of the document and picks up from there.
A run that dies keeps its recording whether or not audio is being kept.

The minutes model is configured on its own, under Settings, with its own
prompt, and it is told who was expected in the room so the names come out
spelled right. It is told outright that the transcript is a record of other
people talking, not instructions addressed to it.

The built-in listener now holds several bindings rather than one, and the KDE
side is parameterised by desktop id, so the meeting toggle gets a shortcut of
its own on the same footing as the dictation one.

settings_ui.py

@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@
 import os
 import threading
 
-from PyQt6.QtCore import Qt, pyqtSignal
-from PyQt6.QtGui import QGuiApplication, QKeySequence, QShortcut
+from PyQt6.QtCore import Qt, QUrl, pyqtSignal
+from PyQt6.QtGui import QDesktopServices, QGuiApplication, QKeySequence, QShortcut
 from PyQt6.QtWidgets import (
     QAbstractItemView, QCheckBox, QComboBox, QDialog, QDialogButtonBox,
     QFileDialog, QFormLayout, QGroupBox, QHBoxLayout, QLabel, QLineEdit,
     QListWidget, QListWidgetItem, QMenu, QMessageBox, QPlainTextEdit,
-    QPushButton, QSpinBox, QTabWidget, QVBoxLayout, QWidget,
+    QPushButton, QScrollArea, QSpinBox, QTabWidget, QVBoxLayout, QWidget,
 )
 
 import api
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import audio
 import config as cfg
 import filetranscribe
 import hotkey
+import meeting
 from filetranscribe import FileTranscriber
 from i18n import t
 
@@ -43,6 +44,17 @@ CLEANUP_MODELS = [
     "google/gemini-2.5-flash-lite", "anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5",
     "openai/gpt-5-mini", "meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct",
 ]
+# Minutes are a harder job than cleanup: an hour of talk has to be read whole
+# and turned into decisions, so the starting points are the larger models.
+MEETING_MODELS = [
+    "google/gemini-3.5-flash", "google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview",
+    "anthropic/claude-sonnet-5", "openai/gpt-5.4", "x-ai/grok-4.5",
+]
+MEETING_STATUS = {
+    "recorded": "waiting to be written up",
+    "transcribed": "transcript ready, minutes missing",
+    "failed": "failed",
+}
 # How hard the cleanup model may think before it answers, in OpenRouter's own
 # effort levels. A model that ignores the field simply answers as it always did.
 REASONING_LEVELS = [
@@ -63,10 +75,13 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
     _test_done = pyqtSignal(bool, str)
     _or_test_done = pyqtSignal(bool, str)
 
-    def __init__(self, conf, launch_command, parent=None):
+    def __init__(self, conf, launch_command, meeting_command=None,
+                 meetings=None, parent=None):
         super().__init__(parent)
         self.conf = conf
         self.launch_command = launch_command
+        self.meeting_command = meeting_command or launch_command
+        self.meetings = meetings
         # Each provider keeps its own transcription model, so switching the
         # provider back and forth never overwrites the other one's.
         self._models = {"openai": "", "openrouter": ""}
@@ -79,6 +94,8 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         tabs.addTab(self._general_tab(), t("General"))
         tabs.addTab(self._api_tab(), t("API and models"))
         tabs.addTab(self._prompt_tab(), t("Cleanup rules"))
+        tabs.addTab(self._meeting_tab(), t("Meeting"))
+        tabs.addTab(self._minutes_tab(), t("Minutes"))
         tabs.addTab(self._file_tab(), t("Audio file"))
         tabs.addTab(self._shortcut_tab(), t("Shortcut"))
         tabs.addTab(self._history_tab(), t("History"))
@@ -101,6 +118,10 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         self.transcriber.progress.connect(self._on_file_progress)
         self.transcriber.finished.connect(self._on_file_finished)
         self.transcriber.failed.connect(self._on_file_failed)
+        if self.meetings is not None:
+            self.meetings.progress.connect(self._on_minutes_progress)
+            self.meetings.finished.connect(self._on_minutes_finished)
+            self.meetings.failed.connect(self._on_minutes_failed)
         self._load()
 
     # ---- tabs ----------------------------------------------------------
@@ -283,6 +304,184 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         layout.addWidget(self.transcribe_prompt)
         return page
 
+    def _meeting_tab(self):
+        page = QWidget()
+        layout = QVBoxLayout(page)
+        intro = QLabel(t(
+            "A meeting is recorded from two devices at once: your microphone and "
+            "whatever comes out of your speakers. Nothing has to guess who was "
+            "speaking, because the two never share a channel."
+        ))
+        intro.setWordWrap(True)
+        layout.addWidget(intro)
+
+        sources = QGroupBox(t("Sound"))
+        sources_form = QFormLayout(sources)
+        self.meeting_mic = QComboBox()
+        self.meeting_mic.addItem(t("Same as dictation"), "")
+        for name, desc in audio.list_sources():
+            self.meeting_mic.addItem(desc, name)
+        sources_form.addRow(t("Microphone"), self.meeting_mic)
+
+        self.meeting_system = QComboBox()
+        self.meeting_system.addItem(t("Current output"), "")
+        for name, desc in audio.list_monitors():
+            self.meeting_system.addItem(desc, name)
+        sources_form.addRow(t("The other participants"), self.meeting_system)
+
+        note = QLabel(t(
+            "Wear headphones if you can. Through speakers your microphone hears "
+            "the other side as well, and although a line that lands on both "
+            "channels at once is dropped again, the repair is never as clean as "
+            "not needing it."
+        ))
+        note.setWordWrap(True)
+        sources_form.addRow(note)
+        layout.addWidget(sources)
+
+        people = QGroupBox(t("Who is talking"))
+        people_form = QFormLayout(people)
+        self.meeting_self_name = QLineEdit()
+        self.meeting_self_name.setPlaceholderText(t("Me"))
+        people_form.addRow(t("You"), self.meeting_self_name)
+        self.meeting_other_name = QLineEdit()
+        self.meeting_other_name.setPlaceholderText(t("Other side"))
+        people_form.addRow(t("The other end"), self.meeting_other_name)
+        self.meeting_participants = QPlainTextEdit()
+        self.meeting_participants.setMaximumHeight(70)
+        self.meeting_participants.setPlaceholderText(t("One name per line"))
+        people_form.addRow(t("Expected"), self.meeting_participants)
+        people_note = QLabel(t(
+            "Everyone on the far end shares one label: they reach you as a single "
+            "mixed signal. The names go to the transcription model so they come "
+            "out spelled right, and to the minutes, which may use one for a line "
+            "only when the conversation itself makes clear who was speaking."
+        ))
+        people_note.setWordWrap(True)
+        people_form.addRow(people_note)
+        layout.addWidget(people)
+
+        models = QGroupBox(t("Minutes"))
+        models_form = QFormLayout(models)
+        self.meeting_model = QComboBox()
+        self.meeting_model.setEditable(True)
+        self.meeting_model.addItems(MEETING_MODELS)
+        models_form.addRow(t("Model"), self.meeting_model)
+        self.meeting_reasoning = QComboBox()
+        for label, value in REASONING_LEVELS:
+            self.meeting_reasoning.addItem(t(label), value)
+        self.meeting_reasoning.setToolTip(t(
+            "Unlike cleanup, this one is worth some thinking: it has to hold a "
+            "whole meeting in its head and work out what was actually decided."
+        ))
+        models_form.addRow(t("Thinking"), self.meeting_reasoning)
+        self.meeting_language = QComboBox()
+        self.meeting_language.addItem(t("Same as dictation"), "")
+        for label, code in LANGUAGES:
+            self.meeting_language.addItem(t(label), code)
+        models_form.addRow(t("Speech language"), self.meeting_language)
+        self.meeting_cleanup = QCheckBox(t("Clean the transcript up first"))
+        self.meeting_cleanup.setToolTip(t(
+            "Runs the cleanup model over the transcript before the minutes are "
+            "written, keeping the timestamps and the speaker labels."
+        ))
+        models_form.addRow("", self.meeting_cleanup)
+        layout.addWidget(models)
+
+        recording = QGroupBox(t("Recording"))
+        recording_form = QFormLayout(recording)
+        self.meeting_max_minutes = QSpinBox()
+        self.meeting_max_minutes.setRange(5, 600)
+        self.meeting_max_minutes.setSuffix(t(" min"))
+        recording_form.addRow(t("Longest meeting"), self.meeting_max_minutes)
+        self.meeting_keep_audio = QCheckBox(
+            t("Keep the recording after the minutes are written")
+        )
+        self.meeting_keep_audio.setToolTip(t(
+            "A run that fails keeps its recording either way, so it can be tried "
+            "again from the Minutes tab. This is about the ones that worked."
+        ))
+        recording_form.addRow("", self.meeting_keep_audio)
+
+        self.meeting_shortcut = QLineEdit()
+        self.meeting_shortcut.setPlaceholderText(t("none"))
+        install = QPushButton(t("Install as a KDE shortcut"))
+        install.clicked.connect(self._install_meeting_shortcut)
+        remove = QPushButton(t("Remove"))
+        remove.clicked.connect(self._remove_meeting_shortcut)
+        recording_form.addRow(t("Shortcut"),
+                              self._row(self.meeting_shortcut, install, remove))
+        self.meeting_shortcut_status = QLabel("")
+        self.meeting_shortcut_status.setWordWrap(True)
+        recording_form.addRow(self.meeting_shortcut_status)
+        layout.addWidget(recording)
+
+        prompt_label = QLabel(t("System instruction given to the minutes model."))
+        prompt_label.setWordWrap(True)
+        layout.addWidget(prompt_label)
+        self.meeting_prompt = QPlainTextEdit()
+        self.meeting_prompt.setMinimumHeight(200)
+        layout.addWidget(self.meeting_prompt, 1)
+        reset = QPushButton(t("Reset to default"))
+        reset.clicked.connect(
+            lambda: self.meeting_prompt.setPlainText(cfg.default_meeting_prompt())
+        )
+        layout.addWidget(reset, 0, Qt.AlignmentFlag.AlignRight)
+
+        # Everything above is more than one screenful; let it scroll rather than
+        # squeezing the prompt box down to nothing.
+        area = QScrollArea()
+        area.setWidgetResizable(True)
+        area.setFrameShape(QScrollArea.Shape.NoFrame)
+        area.setWidget(page)
+        return area
+
+    def _minutes_tab(self):
+        page = QWidget()
+        layout = QVBoxLayout(page)
+
+        self.minutes_list = QListWidget()
+        self.minutes_list.setWordWrap(True)
+        self.minutes_list.setMaximumHeight(170)
+        self.minutes_list.currentItemChanged.connect(self._show_minutes)
+        layout.addWidget(self.minutes_list)
+
+        self.minutes_status = QLabel("")
+        self.minutes_status.setWordWrap(True)
+        layout.addWidget(self.minutes_status)
+
+        self.minutes_view = QPlainTextEdit()
+        self.minutes_view.setReadOnly(True)
+        self.minutes_view.setPlaceholderText(t("Pick a meeting to read it."))
+        layout.addWidget(self.minutes_view, 1)
+
+        copy = QPushButton(t("Copy"))
+        copy.clicked.connect(
+            lambda: QGuiApplication.clipboard().setText(self.minutes_view.toPlainText())
+        )
+        self.minutes_retry = QPushButton(t("Write it up"))
+        self.minutes_retry.clicked.connect(self._retry_minutes)
+        self.minutes_retry.setEnabled(False)
+        folder = QPushButton(t("Open the folder"))
+        folder.clicked.connect(
+            lambda: QDesktopServices.openUrl(
+                QUrl.fromLocalFile(str(cfg.MEETINGS_DIR))
+            )
+        )
+        delete = QPushButton(t("Delete selected"))
+        delete.clicked.connect(self._delete_minutes)
+        reload_ = QPushButton(t("Reload"))
+        reload_.clicked.connect(self._load_minutes)
+        row = QHBoxLayout()
+        row.addWidget(copy)
+        row.addWidget(self.minutes_retry)
+        row.addStretch(1)
+        row.addWidget(folder)
+        row.addWidget(delete)
+        row.addWidget(reload_)
+        layout.addLayout(row)
+        return page
+
     def _file_tab(self):
         page = QWidget()
         layout = QVBoxLayout(page)
@@ -478,6 +677,22 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         self.cleanup_prompt.setPlainText(conf["cleanup_prompt"] or cfg.default_cleanup_prompt())
         self.transcribe_prompt.setPlainText(conf["transcribe_prompt"])
 
+        self._select_data(self.meeting_mic, conf["meeting_mic_target"])
+        self._select_data(self.meeting_system, conf["meeting_system_target"])
+        self.meeting_self_name.setText(conf["meeting_self_name"])
+        self.meeting_other_name.setText(conf["meeting_other_name"])
+        self.meeting_participants.setPlainText(conf["meeting_participants"])
+        self.meeting_model.setCurrentText(conf["meeting_model"])
+        self._select_data(self.meeting_reasoning, conf["meeting_reasoning"])
+        self._select_data(self.meeting_language, conf["meeting_language"])
+        self.meeting_cleanup.setChecked(conf["meeting_cleanup"])
+        self.meeting_max_minutes.setValue(max(5, int(conf["meeting_max_seconds"]) // 60))
+        self.meeting_keep_audio.setChecked(conf["meeting_keep_audio"])
+        self.meeting_shortcut.setText(conf["meeting_shortcut"])
+        self.meeting_prompt.setPlainText(
+            conf["meeting_prompt"] or cfg.default_meeting_prompt()
+        )
+
         self.file_timestamps.setChecked(conf["file_timestamps"])
         self.file_cleanup.setChecked(conf["file_cleanup"])
         self.file_path = ""
@@ -488,7 +703,9 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         self.history_limit.setValue(max(0, int(conf["history_limit"])))
 
         self._refresh_shortcut_status()
+        self._refresh_meeting_shortcut_status()
         self._load_history()
+        self._load_minutes()
 
     def _save(self):
         conf = self.conf
@@ -525,6 +742,23 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         conf["cleanup_prompt"] = "" if prompt == cfg.default_cleanup_prompt() else prompt
         conf["transcribe_prompt"] = self.transcribe_prompt.toPlainText().strip()
 
+        conf["meeting_mic_target"] = self.meeting_mic.currentData() or ""
+        conf["meeting_system_target"] = self.meeting_system.currentData() or ""
+        conf["meeting_self_name"] = self.meeting_self_name.text().strip()
+        conf["meeting_other_name"] = self.meeting_other_name.text().strip()
+        conf["meeting_participants"] = self.meeting_participants.toPlainText().strip()
+        conf["meeting_model"] = (self.meeting_model.currentText().strip()
+                                 or cfg.DEFAULTS["meeting_model"])
+        conf["meeting_reasoning"] = self.meeting_reasoning.currentData() or ""
+        conf["meeting_language"] = self.meeting_language.currentData() or ""
+        conf["meeting_cleanup"] = self.meeting_cleanup.isChecked()
+        conf["meeting_max_seconds"] = self.meeting_max_minutes.value() * 60
+        conf["meeting_keep_audio"] = self.meeting_keep_audio.isChecked()
+        conf["meeting_shortcut"] = self.meeting_shortcut.text().strip()
+        meeting_prompt = self.meeting_prompt.toPlainText().strip()
+        conf["meeting_prompt"] = ("" if meeting_prompt == cfg.default_meeting_prompt()
+                                  else meeting_prompt)
+
         conf["file_timestamps"] = self.file_timestamps.isChecked()
         conf["file_cleanup"] = self.file_cleanup.isChecked()
 
@@ -608,10 +842,11 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         if error:
             self.models_label.setText(t("Could not fetch the list: {error}", error=error))
             return
-        current = self.cleanup_model.currentText()
-        self.cleanup_model.clear()
-        self.cleanup_model.addItems(models)
-        self.cleanup_model.setCurrentText(current)
+        for combo in (self.cleanup_model, self.meeting_model):
+            current = combo.currentText()
+            combo.clear()
+            combo.addItems(models)
+            combo.setCurrentText(current)
         self.models_label.setText(t("{count} models loaded.", count=len(models)))
 
     def _test_openai(self):
@@ -763,6 +998,120 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
             else t("No KDE shortcut installed.")
         )
 
+    def _install_meeting_shortcut(self):
+        combo = self.meeting_shortcut.text().strip()
+        if not combo:
+            QMessageBox.information(self, t("Shortcut"),
+                                    t("Type a key combination first."))
+            return
+        clashes = hotkey.conflicting_shortcuts(combo, hotkey.MEETING_DESKTOP_ID)
+        if clashes:
+            answer = QMessageBox.question(
+                self, t("Shortcut conflict"),
+                t("{shortcut} is also used by:\n\n{list}\n\nInstall anyway?",
+                  shortcut=combo, list="\n".join(clashes[:6])),
+            )
+            if answer != QMessageBox.StandardButton.Yes:
+                return
+        ok, message = hotkey.install_kde_shortcut(
+            combo, self.meeting_command, name="Dikte: start/end a meeting recording",
+            desktop_id=hotkey.MEETING_DESKTOP_ID,
+        )
+        QMessageBox.information(self, t("Shortcut"), message)
+        if ok:
+            self.conf["meeting_shortcut"] = combo
+            self.conf.save()
+        self._refresh_meeting_shortcut_status()
+
+    def _remove_meeting_shortcut(self):
+        hotkey.remove_kde_shortcut(hotkey.MEETING_DESKTOP_ID)
+        self._refresh_meeting_shortcut_status()
+
+    def _refresh_meeting_shortcut_status(self):
+        current = hotkey.kde_shortcut_status(hotkey.MEETING_DESKTOP_ID)
+        self.meeting_shortcut_status.setText(
+            t("Registered in KDE: {shortcut}", shortcut=current) if current
+            else t("No KDE shortcut installed. The tray menu starts a meeting too.")
+        )
+
+    # ---- minutes ---------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def _load_minutes(self):
+        self.minutes_list.clear()
+        for row in reversed(cfg.read_meetings()):
+            title = row.get("title") or t("Meeting")
+            head = f"{row.get('ts', '')}  ·  {meeting.length_label(row.get('duration', 0))}"
+            state = MEETING_STATUS.get(row.get("status", ""), "")
+            if state:
+                head += "  ·  " + t(state)
+            item = QListWidgetItem(f"{head}\n{title}")
+            item.setData(Qt.ItemDataRole.UserRole, row)
+            self.minutes_list.addItem(item)
+        if not self.minutes_list.count():
+            self.minutes_view.clear()
+            self.minutes_retry.setEnabled(False)
+
+    def _selected_meeting(self):
+        item = self.minutes_list.currentItem()
+        return item.data(Qt.ItemDataRole.UserRole) if item is not None else None
+
+    def _show_minutes(self, *_):
+        row = self._selected_meeting()
+        if not row:
+            self.minutes_view.clear()
+            self.minutes_retry.setEnabled(False)
+            return
+        doc_path, _wav = cfg.meeting_paths(row["base"])
+        try:
+            self.minutes_view.setPlainText(doc_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+        except OSError:
+            self.minutes_view.setPlainText(
+                row.get("error") or t("Nothing has been written yet.")
+            )
+        busy = self.meetings is not None and self.meetings.busy
+        self.minutes_retry.setEnabled(
+            self.meetings is not None and not busy and row.get("status") != "done"
+        )
+
+    def _retry_minutes(self):
+        row = self._selected_meeting()
+        if not row or self.meetings is None or self.meetings.busy:
+            return
+        # A row that already has its transcript resumes from there; only a run
+        # that never got that far goes back to the audio.
+        self.meetings.run(row)
+        self.minutes_retry.setEnabled(False)
+        self.minutes_status.setText(t("Working…"))
+
+    def _delete_minutes(self):
+        row = self._selected_meeting()
+        if not row:
+            return
+        if self.meetings is not None and self.meetings.running_base == row["base"]:
+            QMessageBox.information(self, t("Minutes"),
+                                    t("This one is being written up right now."))
+            return
+        if not self._confirm(
+            t("Delete this meeting, its minutes and its recording?"), t("Minutes")
+        ):
+            return
+        try:
+            cfg.delete_meetings([row["base"]])
+        except OSError as exc:
+            QMessageBox.warning(self, t("Minutes"), t("Failed: {error}", error=exc))
+        self._load_minutes()
+
+    def _on_minutes_progress(self, _base, message):
+        self.minutes_status.setText(message)
+
+    def _on_minutes_finished(self, _base, title):
+        self.minutes_status.setText(t("Done: {title}", title=title))
+        self._load_minutes()
+
+    def _on_minutes_failed(self, _base, error):
+        self.minutes_status.setText(t("Failed: {error}", error=error))
+        self._load_minutes()
+
     # ---- history ---------------------------------------------------------
 
     def _load_history(self):
@@ -807,9 +1156,9 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
             return
         self._rewrite_history(cfg.clear_history)
 
-    def _confirm(self, question):
+    def _confirm(self, question, title=None):
         answer = QMessageBox.question(
-            self, t("History"), question,
+            self, title or t("History"), question,
             QMessageBox.StandardButton.Yes | QMessageBox.StandardButton.No,
             QMessageBox.StandardButton.No,
         )