Recording a Session

Kolab can record your session to the cloud and hand you a downloadable MP4 when you're done. Recording follows one person's point of view—so the video captures the canvas, video, and audio exactly as they experienced it. You can follow yourself or another host or facilitator.

Quick links: Starting a Capture | Stopping a Capture | Past Sessions

Note: Recording requires a Pro plan or higher. Transcription doesn't have a plan requirement, so teams on Kolab Essentials can still transcribe a session—just not record video. See Plans & Billing for what's included at each tier.

How It Works

Recording and transcription both live in the Session Capture panel, open to hosts and facilitators only. They're independent captures that happen to share one panel—start either one, both together, or add the second one partway through, in any order.

1. A facilitator opens Session Capture and turns on Record video, Transcribe audio, or both
2. Kolab dispatches a recorder that follows the person you choose, and/or a transcription agent that listens to the room's audio
3. Everyone in the space sees a status chip confirming what's active
4. When you stop, each capture is processed and lands in Past Sessions as a downloadable file

Starting a Capture

1. Click the More settings menu (⋯) in the bottom-left
2. Click Capture → Session Capture
3. Turn on Record video, Transcribe audio, or both—they're independent toggle cards
4. If you're recording, use Follow participant to choose whose view the recording follows
5. Click the start button

The button's label adapts to what you toggled on:

Why "Request"? Recording that follows someone other than yourself needs their approval, so the button reads Request to Record or Request to Capture until they accept. Transcription never needs approval—it isn't tied to any one participant's view.

Once something starts, everyone in the space sees a notice and the status chip updates.

Add a Capture Mid-Session

Recording and transcription don't have to start together. Kick off transcription at the top of your session, then add recording later if the conversation turns into something worth a video—or start recording first and layer in transcription partway through. Starting the second one doesn't interrupt the first; each keeps running independently.

Following a Participant

Recording is "view-following": it shows the canvas from the perspective of one host or facilitator, panning and zooming as they move. This keeps the recording focused on the action instead of a fixed, lifeless frame.

• Switch who you follow from the Recording lane once recording is active. If no approval is needed, it's a one-click Switch; if the new person needs to accept first, it sends a Request switch.
• If the person you're following leaves for more than a couple of minutes, the recorder stops automatically.
• If the space empties out (one or fewer people for about five minutes), the recorder stops on its own.

What Gets Recorded

Because the recorder follows one person, it captures their full experience:

Maximum length: A single recording can run up to 3 hours. You can stop and start a new one at any time.

Stopping a Capture

Once Session Capture is running, the panel reorganizes into two lanes—Recording and Transcription—each showing its own status and its own Stop button.

1. Open More settings (⋯) → Capture → Session Capture
2. Click Stop in the lane you want to end

Stopping one lane doesn't touch the other—stop just the recording and keep transcribing, or the reverse. If both are running, a Stop everything link appears below the two lanes so you can end both at once.

After you stop a lane, it enters a Processing state while Kolab finalizes the file. This can take a few minutes depending on length.

Status Indicator

While a capture is active, everyone in the space sees a compact status chip in the top-right of the screen with separate REC and TXN indicators—so anyone can tell at a glance whether recording, transcription, or both are running. This is visible to the whole space, not just the host.

Past Sessions

Once processing finishes, your captures appear in the Past Sessions list inside Session Capture:

1. Open More settings (⋯) → Capture → Session Capture
2. Find the session in Past Sessions (labeled by number, time, and duration)
3. Download what you need:

Both transcript formats open with the AI-generated summary as their first section, so you don't have to scroll to get the gist. Click View on any session to open its transcript directly in Kolab.

Learn more: Summaries, visual recaps, and the live transcript panel are covered in Live Transcription.

A Note on Privacy

If a facilitator turns on Capture side conversations in space settings—available only for spaces using zone-based audio—transcripts start picking up private zone conversations too, not just the main room. Kolab tells everyone in the space when this is on, so nobody's caught off guard mid-conversation.

Learn more: Live Transcription covers exactly what's captured, and how the notice works.

Tips for Great Recordings

• Pick the right person to follow before you start—switching mid-session works fine, but a steady view reads better.
• Tell participants at the top: "Heads up, I'm recording this session—the video will be available afterward."
• Mind the modes. The recording follows your chosen participant through spatial, zoned, and breakout audio—what they hear is what the recording captures.
• Keep it under 3 hours. For longer events, stop and start a fresh recording between segments.

Troubleshooting

"I can't find Session Capture"

• Only hosts and facilitators see Capture in the More settings menu
• Confirm you have host or facilitator permissions for the space

"I don't see a Start Recording button"

• Recording requires a Pro plan or higher—check Plans & Billing
• Transcription doesn't have this requirement, so it stays available even on Kolab Essentials

"The recording stopped on its own"

• The person you were following may have left for more than a couple of minutes
• The recorder also stops when the space sits at one or fewer people for about five minutes

"My recording is stuck on Processing"

• Processing can take several minutes for longer sessions
• If it's been much longer, check for an Error status in Past Sessions

Related Guides

• Live Transcription - Transcripts, AI summaries, visual recaps, and live captions
• Captures Dashboard - Every recording and transcript across your team
• Plans & Billing - What's included at each plan tier
• Screen Sharing - Share your screen into the canvas
• Sharing & Permissions - Who can record
• System Check - Verify your setup