Turning a recording into a write-up

Scribe turns a recording into a finished document. Record a board meeting, a sermon, or a Bible study — Scribe transcribes it and writes it up as clean minutes, sermon notes, or a summary, always with a full transcript underneath. It's part of the Community and Growth plans, and it's admin-only.

Open Scribe in the admin sidebar. There are two ways in:

• Record now — record the meeting right here in your browser. This is the way we recommend.
• Upload a recording — for a recording you already have.

Recording a meeting

Choose Record now. The recording screen fills the window so nothing else gets in the way (Full screen hides the rest of your browser too — press Esc to leave it).

1. Get ready. Choose Turn on the microphone, and allow your browser to use it the first time it asks. Say a few words: the bars should move. If your computer has more than one microphone, pick the one you're using. If nothing moves, check that the microphone isn't muted, or pick another one.
2. Say what it is — a meeting, a sermon, a Bible study, or something else — and check the title. We fill it in for you ("Meeting — October 6"). Everything else is optional and can be added any time before you write it up, even while you record: More details has the date, who was there, and anything else Scribe should know.
3. Start recording. A large timer counts up, and a strip of bars shows the sound coming in. Pause and Resume as the meeting does. When it's over, press Stop recording.

While you record:

• Your screen stays on, and the screen tells you so. Plug the laptop in if you can, and keep the lid open — closing it pauses the recording.
• A copy is saved on your computer as you record, a few seconds at a time. If the browser crashes, the battery runs out or the tab closes, what was recorded is still there — see Finishing a recording below.
• If nothing has been heard for 30 seconds, or the microphone is sending silence (it may be muted), Scribe tells you so you can check it. A long quiet moment, like silent prayer, never stops anything.
• If the computer goes to sleep, or the microphone stops (unplugged, or taken by another app), Scribe stops at that point and asks: Continue recording carries on as a new part, and Finish stops there. It never carries on by itself.
• A recording can run for up to 4 hours. Scribe tells you ten minutes before, and stops by itself at 4 hours with everything saved.
• Delete recording always asks first.

On a phone or tablet? Recording works, with one catch: a phone stops recording when its screen locks or you switch to another app. Keep Psalmly open and the screen on until you press Stop recording.

Losing the internet? Open the recording screen while you're still connected. After that, recording carries on without a connection, and the upload waits until you're back online.

Ready to write it up

After Stop recording, Scribe uploads the recording and shows the details once more — check them (Edit changes anything), then choose Write it up. If the upload doesn't go through, Scribe tries again on its own; if it still can't, choose Try again, or Save a copy to keep the recording on your computer as a file. Save a copy is always there. If your church is out of credits, the recording stays saved on your computer while you add credits from Subscription & billing.

Finishing a recording

A recording that hasn't been written up stays on the computer it was made on for 7 days, and only you can see it. Scribe reminds you on the admin dashboard, the Scribe library and the upload page — choose Finish it to pick up where you left off. If it was cut off mid-meeting, you can Continue recording or Finish. It's removed from your computer once the write-up starts, when you delete it, after 7 days, or when you sign out.

Uploading a recording you already have

Choose Upload a recording. You'll go through four quick steps.

1. Add your recording. Drag a file onto the box, or click to choose one. Scribe accepts MP3, M4A, WAV, MP4 and more, and handles recordings up to about 4 hours long. Very large files can be turned away by the server — if that happens, a shorter recording or a lower-quality export will fit. If the upload doesn't go through, Scribe tries again on its own, and then offers Try again.

   Split across several files? Add them all — up to 6 parts — and Scribe joins them in order into one write-up. Files you add together go in by name, the way your folder lists them. Use the up and down arrows to change the order, and remove any file you didn't mean to add. (If a write-up still comes out in the wrong order, you can fix it afterwards — see Reviewing, editing, and sharing a write-up.)

2. Tell Scribe what it is. This decides the document Scribe writes:

   • Meeting → minutes with decisions and action items, attributed by name.
   • Sermon → sermon notes with the theme, scripture, main points, and application.
   • Bible study → a summary of the key points.
   • Other (anything else) → a clean summary and transcript.

3. Add a few details. The more Scribe knows, the better the write-up. Give it a title and, if you like, the date. Depending on the type you'll see a couple of helpful extras — the body or committee and who was there for a meeting (so decisions are attributed correctly), or the speaker, scripture, and series for a sermon. The "anything else" box is the place for a tricky name spelling, an acronym, or the meeting's purpose.

4. Confirm and write it up. The last step shows about how many AI credits this recording will use and how many you have left, then Write it up sends it off. If you added several parts, it also lists them in the order Scribe will join them — give it a last look, and use Change the order if anything is out of place.

Until you press Write it up, the files you've added live only on this page — so if you try to leave before then, with a link, your browser's Back button, or by closing the tab, Scribe asks first.

Either way, by default Scribe deletes your audio once the write-up is done and keeps only the documents — check the box before Write it up if you'd rather keep the original audio.

What happens next

Scribe transcribes the audio and drafts your document. This usually takes about a minute for each hour of audio, so you can leave the page and come back — you'll get a note in your Updates when it's ready (see Your updates inbox). When it's done, open it to read, edit, and share it — see Reviewing, editing, and sharing a write-up.

If a write-up doesn't go through, your recording is safe and you won't be charged — Scribe returns the credits and lets you try again without re-uploading.

If Scribe couldn't hear anyone in the recording, it doesn't write anything up and you aren't charged. That usually means the microphone was off or muted, or the wrong file was chosen. Check the microphone (or the file), then record or upload it again.

Plans, credits, and privacy

• Scribe is part of the Community and Growth plans. On the free plan you'll see an upgrade prompt instead. See Managing your plan and billing.
• Scribe draws on your church's monthly AI credits, the same pool shared with the assistant and AI drafts. Longer recordings use more. Recording itself doesn't use any — credits are counted when you choose Write it up. If you're running low, you can add credits or upgrade for a larger monthly allowance — Psalmly shows a heads-up before you run out. See Your church's AI assistant for how credits work.
• Scribe is admin-only, and your audio is deleted after each write-up unless you choose to keep it. A recording saved on your computer is only ever shown to you. The finished documents stay in Scribe until you delete them.