Admin Guide
This guide covers server configuration, permissions, and operational best practices for Chronote administrators.
Initial setup
After adding Chronote to your server (Getting Started), configure these settings to improve meeting quality from the start.
1. Set server context
Server context is a description of your team, project, or organization that is included in every transcription and notes prompt. It helps the AI understand domain-specific conversations.
/context set-server context: Backend engineering team at Acme Corp.
We build the Rocket API, a REST service for satellite telemetry.
Key projects: Rocket v3 migration, observability rollout.
Keep context concise and factual. Update it when your team's focus changes.
2. Set channel context
If different voice channels serve different purposes, add channel-specific context:
/context set-channel channel: #design-reviews context: Weekly design review
meetings for the product team. Participants discuss UI mockups, user research
findings, and design system updates.
Channel context is combined with server context, so avoid repeating information.
3. Build a dictionary
In Server Settings, choose Teach Chronote and describe the exact names, acronyms, or jargon it should recognize. You can write naturally, for example: "It wrote John Smith, but his name is Jon Smythe. He works with us on Apollo." Chronote proposes structured entries for you to edit and approve. It does not save a proposal automatically.
You can also manage one exact term at a time from Discord:
/dictionary add term: Kubernetes
/dictionary add term: LGTM definition: Looks Good To Me, a code review approval
/dictionary add term: Jira definition: Project management tool used for sprint tracking
/dictionary add term: Priya Patel definition: VP of Engineering
Terms are injected into the transcription prompt to help improve spelling accuracy. Definitions are included in the notes prompt to give the AI more context.
Only members with Manage Server can use the portal teaching flow. /dictionary retains its Manage Channels permission for existing Discord workflows. Both paths update the same server dictionary; the portal flow adds AI proposals and a separate human approval step.
4. Configure auto-recording
Set up auto-recording so meetings are captured without anyone running /startmeeting:
/autorecord enable voice-channel: #standup-voice text-channel: #standup-notes
tags: standup, daily
/autorecord enable voice-channel: #all-hands text-channel: #meeting-notes
tags: all-hands
Or enable it for every voice channel:
/autorecord enable-all text-channel: #meeting-notes
Auto-record starts when any user joins a configured voice channel. It ends when the channel empties. If the recording produces too little content, it is cancelled automatically instead of generating empty notes.
5. Choose which meeting artifacts viewers can access
In Server Settings -> Meetings, server admins (members with Manage Server) can control two independent settings:
- Transcript access controls completed transcripts, transcript timelines, shared meeting transcripts, live transcript links, and transcript retrieval through Remote MCP.
- Audio recording access controls the current viewer-facing audio delivery surfaces: recording playback and audio URLs in portal exports.
Both settings apply server-wide to past and future server meetings. Turning one off blocks future retrieval of that artifact, but leaves the meeting summary and notes available. It cannot recall downloaded copies, an audio URL remains usable for up to 15 minutes after it was issued, and an already-open live transcript stream stays connected until the meeting ends or the viewer disconnects. The settings do not stop recording, transcription, summary generation, or storage, and a server admin can turn access back on later.
Chronote's automated notes generation and correction workflows can still use the stored transcript. The correction workflow does not return the transcript as an artifact, but its proposed notes change and diff can include details or wording from the transcript.
These controls do not apply to personal meetings and uploads, which remain controlled by the account owner. To request removal of stored audio or transcript data instead of limiting access, follow the meeting deletion process in the privacy policy.
Permissions model
Bot permissions
Chronote needs these Discord permissions:
| Permission | Scope | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| View Channel | Text channels | Access the notes channel |
| Send Messages | Text channels | Post embeds, notes, and status updates |
| Read Message History | Text channels | Update meeting status and summary messages |
| Connect | Voice channels | Join voice channels to record |
| Speak | Voice channels | Required by Discord for voice bot presence |
Command permissions
| Command | Required permission | Notes |
|---|---|---|
/startmeeting | None | User must be in a voice channel |
/autorecord | Manage Channels | |
/context | Manage Channels | |
/dictionary | Manage Channels | |
/ask | None | |
/tts | None | Per-user preference |
/say | None | Must be in an active meeting |
/billing | None | Shows subscription status |
/onboard | Manage Server | Can be disabled server-wide |
The portal's Teach Chronote workflow requires Manage Server. It can propose terms from natural-language guidance and, when explicitly opened after a web notes correction, from up to 2,000 characters of the notes diff plus up to 2,000 characters from lexically matching transcript segments. Every entry requires human approval.
Notes correction permissions
- Manual meetings: Only the meeting creator can accept corrections.
- Auto-recorded meetings: Anyone with Manage Channels can accept corrections.
- Both the original requester and authorized approvers can reject corrections.
Web portal access
The web portal uses Discord OAuth. Users land on My Meetings first, then can open direct meeting links or use View servers to browse Server Library for one server at a time. Users see meetings from channels they have access to in Discord. Attendees of a meeting can always view it regardless of current channel permissions.
Server artifact settings are checked after meeting access. A user may be allowed to open a meeting while its transcript, audio recording, or both are unavailable.
Operational recommendations
Channel organization
Use dedicated voice and text channel pairs for different meeting types. This keeps notes organized, makes auto-record rules cleaner, and improves the AI's context awareness through meeting history.
For example:
#standup-voice+#standup-notes#design-review-voice+#design-review-notes#all-hands-voice+#all-hands-notes
Context maintenance
Review and update context when:
- Your team's focus or projects change.
- New team members join (add their names to the dictionary).
- You notice the AI consistently misunderstanding a topic.
Tag strategy
Tags help organize meeting history and power the /ask command's filtering. Establish a consistent tagging convention:
- Use lowercase, short tags:
standup,retro,design-review,1-on-1. - Set default tags on auto-record rules so they are applied automatically.
- Edit tags after the meeting if you forgot to set them.
Meeting minutes management
Each plan tier includes a weekly meeting minutes allowance. Monitor usage by watching for warning messages that appear when you approach the limit. Chronote warns when the server is near its cap and blocks new meetings when the limit is reached.
Billing
Open your server's Billing page in the portal to review its plan and usage. The original payer must also have Manage Server permission to manage an existing Stripe subscription. Other server managers cannot open the payer's Stripe account.
Existing plan changes are currently unavailable while hosted billing validation is completed. Your current subscription stays unchanged; contact support for help. When plan changes are enabled, Stripe shows a confirmation for that subscription, including the price and any prorations, before applying the change. Returning to Chronote does not itself confirm payment; the plan updates after Stripe reports the change. A failed confirmation does not create a second subscription.
Use billing management to update payment methods or view invoice history. If a subscription has an unpaid invoice, a pending change, or a scheduled cancellation, resolve that state before changing plans. Contact support if the original payer cannot access billing or the server's billing information needs repair.
Plan tiers affect weekly meeting minutes, the number of meetings searchable by /ask, and access to features like image generation.
Chronote may also grant a server a complimentary Basic or Pro plan. Comped servers see the granted plan and any public note on the billing page, but they do not see Stripe billing management until a paid subscription exists. Server admins can still start paying or upgrade from the billing page when they are ready.