> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://assemblyai.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Transcribe Your Zoom Meetings

This guide creates a Node.js service that captures audio from Zoom Real-Time Media Streams (RTMS) and provides both real-time and asynchronous transcription using AssemblyAI.

<Note>
  **Zoom RTMS Documentation**

  For complete Zoom RTMS documentation, visit
  [https://developers.zoom.us/docs/rtms/](https://developers.zoom.us/docs/rtms/)
</Note>

## Features

* **Real-time Transcription**: Live transcription during meetings using AssemblyAI's streaming API
* **Asynchronous Transcription**: Complete post-meeting transcription with advanced features
* **Flexible Audio Modes**:
  * Mixed stream (all participants combined)
  * Individual participant streams transcribed
* **Multichannel Audio Support**: Separate channels for different participants
* **Configurable Processing**: Enable/disable real-time or async transcription independently

## Setup

### Prerequisites

* Node.js 16+
* FFmpeg installed on your system
* Zoom RTMS Developer Preview access
* AssemblyAI API key
* ngrok (for local development and testing)

### Installation

1. **Clone the example repository and install dependencies**:

```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/zkleb-aai/assemblyai-zoom-rtms.git
cd assemblyai-zoom-rtms
npm install
```

2. **Configure environment variables**:

```bash theme={null}
cp .env.example .env
```

Fill in your `.env` file:

```env theme={null}
# Zoom Configuration
ZM_CLIENT_ID=your_zoom_client_id
ZM_CLIENT_SECRET=your_zoom_client_secret
ZOOM_SECRET_TOKEN=your_webhook_secret_token

# AssemblyAI Configuration
ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY=your_assemblyai_api_key

# Service Configuration
PORT=8080
REALTIME_ENABLED=true
REALTIME_MODE=mixed
ASYNC_ENABLED=true
AUDIO_CHANNELS=mono
AUDIO_SAMPLE_RATE=16000
TARGET_CHUNK_DURATION_MS=100
```

### Local development with ngrok

For testing and development, you can use ngrok to expose your local server to the internet:

1. **Install ngrok**: Download from [ngrok.com](https://ngrok.com/) or install via package manager:

   ```bash theme={null}
   # macOS
   brew install ngrok

   # Windows (chocolatey)
   choco install ngrok

   # Or download directly from ngrok.com
   ```

2. **Start your local server**:

   ```bash theme={null}
   npm start
   ```

3. **In a separate terminal, start ngrok**:

   ```bash theme={null}
   ngrok http 8080
   ```

4. **Copy the ngrok URL**: ngrok will display a forwarding URL like:

   ```
   Forwarding    https://example-abc123.ngrok-free.app -> http://localhost:8080
   ```

5. **Use the ngrok URL in your Zoom app webhook configuration**:
   ```
   https://example-abc123.ngrok-free.app/webhook
   ```

### Configuration options

#### Real-time transcription

* `REALTIME_ENABLED`: Enable/disable live transcription (default: `true`)
* `REALTIME_MODE`:
  * `mixed`: Single stream with all participants combined
  * `individual`: Separate streams per participant

#### Audio settings

* `AUDIO_CHANNELS`: `mono` or `multichannel`
* `AUDIO_SAMPLE_RATE`: Audio sample rate in Hz (default: `16000`)
* `TARGET_CHUNK_DURATION_MS`: Audio chunk duration for streaming (default: `100`)

#### Async transcription

* `ASYNC_ENABLED`: Enable/disable post-meeting transcription (default: `true`)

## Usage

### Start the service

```bash theme={null}
npm start
```

The service will start on the configured port (default: 8080) and display:

```
🎧 Zoom RTMS to AssemblyAI Transcription Service
📋 Configuration:
   Real-time: ✅ (mixed)
   Audio: mono @ 16000Hz
   Async: ✅
🚀 Server running on port 8080
📡 Webhook endpoint: http://localhost:8080/webhook
```

### Configure Zoom webhook

1. In your Zoom App configuration, set the webhook endpoint to:

   ```
   # For production
   https://your-domain.com/webhook

   # For local development with ngrok
   https://example-abc123.ngrok-free.app/webhook
   ```

2. Subscribe to these events:
   * `meeting.rtms_started`
   * `meeting.rtms_stopped`

### Testing with ngrok

When using ngrok for testing:

1. **Keep ngrok running**: The ngrok tunnel must remain active during testing
2. **Update webhook URL**: If you restart ngrok, you'll get a new URL that needs to be updated in your Zoom app configuration
3. **Monitor ngrok logs**: ngrok shows incoming webhook requests in its terminal output
4. **Free tier limitations**: The free ngrok tier has some limitations; consider upgrading for heavy testing

### Real-time output

During meetings, you'll see live transcription:

```
🚀 AssemblyAI session started: [abc12345]
🎙️ [abc12345] Hello everyone, welcome to the meeting
📝 [abc12345] FINAL: Hello everyone, welcome to the meeting.
```

### Post-meeting files

After each meeting, the service generates:

* `transcript_[meeting_uuid].json` - Full AssemblyAI response with metadata
* `transcript_[meeting_uuid].txt` - Plain text transcript

## Advanced configuration

### AssemblyAI features

Modify the `ASYNC_CONFIG` object in the code to enable additional features:

```javascript theme={null}
const ASYNC_CONFIG = {
  speaker_labels: true, // Speaker identification
  auto_chapters: true, // Automatic chapter detection
  sentiment_analysis: true, // Sentiment analysis
  entity_detection: true, // Named entity recognition
  redact_pii: true, // PII redaction
  summarization: true, // Auto-summarization
  auto_highlights: true, // Key highlights
};
```

See [AssemblyAI's API documentation](/api-reference/transcripts/submit) for all available options.

### Audio processing modes

#### Mixed mode (default)

* Single audio stream combining all participants
* Most efficient for general transcription
* Best for meetings with clear speakers

#### Individual mode

* Separate transcription stream per participant
* Better speaker attribution
* Higher resource usage

#### Multichannel audio

* Separate audio channels for different participants
* Enables advanced speaker separation
* Requires `AUDIO_CHANNELS=multichannel`

## API endpoints

### `POST` /webhook

Handles Zoom RTMS webhook events:

* URL validation
* Meeting start/stop events
* Automatic RTMS connection setup

## Error handling

The service includes comprehensive error handling:

* Automatic reconnection for dropped connections
* Graceful cleanup on meeting end
* Audio buffer flushing to prevent data loss
* Temporary file cleanup

## Monitoring

### Real-time logs

* Connection status updates
* Audio processing statistics
* Transcription progress
* Error notifications

### Example log output

```
📡 Connecting to Zoom signaling for meeting abc123
✅ Zoom signaling connected for meeting abc123
🎵 Connecting to Zoom media for meeting abc123
✅ Zoom media connected for meeting abc123
🚀 Started audio streaming for meeting abc123
🎵 [abc12345] 100 chunks, 32768 bytes, 10.2s
📝 [abc12345] FINAL: This is the final transcription.
```

### Development workflow

1. Start your local server: `npm start`
2. Start ngrok in another terminal: `ngrok http 8080`
3. Update your Zoom app webhook URL with the ngrok URL
4. Test with Zoom meetings
5. Monitor logs in both your app and ngrok terminals