This guide compares programmatic approaches to capturing Google Meet transcripts, from Google APIs to headless browser bots and third-party APIs.
What you’ll learn:
Who it’s for: Software engineers, product managers, and technical leads building SaaS applications that need meeting transcript functionality. Whether you’re adding CRM intelligence, building training platforms, or developing collaboration tools, this article helps you evaluate transcript capture methods based on development complexity and scalability requirements.
We learned that 89% of SaaS companies with the potential to build meeting intelligence are prioritizing these features within the next 12 months. But Google Meet’s specific constraints compared to Zoom’s more open ecosystem makes it difficult for product builders to accommodate Google Meet (which is the second most used video conferencing platform globally, behind Zoom).
The problem is that Google Meet’s transcript infrastructure creates developer roadblocks that don’t exist elsewhere. For starters, there are invisible failure points that developers have to account for with Google Drive storage and organization-level access restrictions to files. It’s also important to note that transcription can only be triggered manually through the Google Meet UI, with no native API control or workarounds like what exists in Zoom.
This blog explores all ways to get transcripts when you record a Google Meet meeting, from your most basic transcription within the Meet platform to programmatic meeting bots for customer-facing applications.
Yes. While the feature exists, it’s designed for individual use rather than to be integrated into business applications. Here’s how Google Meet’s built-in transcription works:
Google Meet’s built in transcription works fine if you’re using those files for quick productivity wins and internal use cases. But it’s not built for developers to automatically retrieve and process Google Meet conversations at scale. If you’re looking to build AI products on top of meeting data or integrate transcription capabilities into an existing software, you’ll run into these limitations:
Google Meet has no API to programmatically start transcription. You’ll need someone to click the UI button every time.
Transcripts can take more than 45 minutes to generate after post-meeting, impacting the reliability of use cases that require immediate transcripts. Even simple post-meeting automation becomes unpredictable if processing delays can happen at any time.
Transcripts require sufficient Google Drive storage and proper permissions. Only specific users get access to transcription files post-meeting:
Following this permission model, developers can only access transcripts for meetings where their users have explicit Drive file permissions. This creates more invisible failure points that need to be detected.
You wouldn’t be able to modify consent flows, branding, integration points for your application. The transcript experience remains locked within Google’s ecosystem.
If you’re looking to capture meeting transcripts automatically, you can use one of these methods.
This API lets you access transcripts after meetings end. This is Google’s primary developer-facing solution for systematic transcript access, designed for organizations building internal applications that integrate with existing Google Workspace environments.
The REST API provides structured access to transcript data with timestamps and metadata after the meeting is concluded and processed. This method is best for internal Google Workspace applications that may require an official integration with the rest of your Google tools.
Pros:
Cons:
Browser bots
evelopers can use browser automation tools like Puppeteer or Selenium to programmatically control web browsers that join Google Meet sessions. This approach works when you need to automate UI interactions that Google Meet’s official APIs don’t support, such as clicking interface elements or extracting visual information from meeting pages.
Browser automation scripts navigate to Google Meet URLs, handle authentication flows (typically through OAuth tokens or session cookies), and interact with the web interface to capture meeting data through DOM scraping and WebRTC API access. This method is best for automating meeting interactions when you have valid account permissions and want to extract data from Google Meet’s interface.
Pros:
Cons:
Teams can use Chrome extensions that operate within existing Google Meet tabs to capture meeting data through direct page access. This method works well for applications where users are already participating in meetings and can grant permission for transcript capture.
Extensions inject content scripts into Google Meet pages, providing access to meeting audio streams and interface elements without requiring separate browser automation infrastructure.
Pros:
Cons:
Developers can use dedicated transcription services like AssemblyAI, Deepgram, or OpenAI Whisper to process audio programmatically captured from Google Meet through browser bots, Chrome extensions, or the Google Meet REST API.
These APIs provide the most accurate transcription with additional features like speaker diarization, confidence scores, and custom vocabulary support. If you’re building an application that requires high transcription accuracy, multi-language support, or integration with existing audio capture systems, then you’ll want to use a transcription API on top of the other methods discussed in this blog.
Pros:
Cons:
Nylas is a single API that handles Google Meet’s calendar integration complexity while providing transcripts that work across Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Developers get programmatic access to meeting video, audio, and transcription files. Nylas partners with AssemblyAI for more accurate transcriptions and speaker diarization capabilities, within the same integration — no extra partnership management required on your end.
The Notetaker API is particularly valuable for Google Meet because of the platform’s tight integration with Google Calendar. Managing Google Calendar events and conference records creates complex mapping challenges that Nylas handles automatically with its native Calendar API. The Notetaker API is best for production applications that need reliable meeting intelligence across Google Meet and other platforms, with enterprise compliance requirements.
Pros:
Cons:
Before you start building with the Nylas Notetaker, make sure you have:
Create a Nylas account for free to record up to 5 hours of meetings free! Start your 14-day free trial of the Nylas Notetaker to start building in our sandbox.
Set up your development environment with the necessary credentials.
Development environment setup
#Install the Nylas SDK
npm install nylas dotenv
# Create .env file
echo "NYLAS_API_KEY=your_api_key_here" > .env
echo "NYLAS_GRANT_ID=your_grant_id_here" >> .env
Import packages and initialize Nylas SDK
import Nylas from 'nylas';
import 'dotenv/config';
// Initialize the Nylas client
const nylas = new Nylas({
apiKey: process.env.NYLAS_API_KEY,
});
const grantId = process.env.NYLAS_GRANT_ID;
If you don’t already have a Grant ID, you’ll need to authenticate a user and obtain one through Nylas’s OAuth flow.
Obtain Grant ID
"41009df5-bf11-4c97-aa18-b285b5f2e386"; // Example Grant ID
Deploy a meeting bot to join and record a specific Google Meet meeting.
Deploy a bot to get Zoom transcripts
// Create a notetaker for transcript capture from a Zoom meeting
async function createTranscriptBot(meetingLink, meetingTitle) {
try {
const notetaker = await nylas.notetakers.create({
identifier: grantId,
requestBody: {
meetingLink, // e.g., "https://zoom.us/j/123456789"
name: `Transcript Bot - ${meetingTitle}`,
settings: {
transcription: true, // Generate transcripts
speakerLabels: true, // Identify who said what
audioRecording: true, // Record audio for backup
videoRecording: false // Audio-only for transcripts
}
}
});
console.log(`Transcript bot created with ID: ${notetaker.data.id}`);
return notetaker.data.id;
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error creating transcript bot:', error);
}
}
// Example usage
const transcriptBotId = await createTranscriptBot(
"https://zoom.us/j/123456789",
"Sales Team Weekly Sync"
);
or
Use the Nylas Calendar Sync to automatically monitor your calendar and send a meeting bot to a Google Meet meeting based on rules you configure.
Deploy a meeting bot with Calendar sync
// Set up automatic transcript bot deployment for future calendar meetings
async function setupAutoTranscription() {
try {
const calendarSync = await nylas.calendars.update({
identifier: grantId,
calendarId: "primary",
requestBody: {
// Configuration for all auto-deployed transcript bots
notetaker: {
name: "Meeting Transcript Bot",
settings: {
transcription: true, // Generate transcripts
speakerLabels: true, // Identify speakers
audioRecording: true, // Record audio
videoRecording: false // Transcript-focused
}
}
}
});
console.log('Auto-transcription configured:', calendarSync.data);
return calendarSync.data.id;
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error setting up auto-transcription:', error);
}
}
Set up webhook handling to receive and process transcripts when they’re ready.
Receive transcript data
// Webhook notifications (recommended for real-time processing)
app.post('/webhooks/notetaker', async (req, res) => {
const webhookData = req.body;
// Check for transcript availability notification
if (webhookData.type === 'notetaker.media' &&
webhookData.data.object.state === 'available') {
const { data } = webhookData;
const notetakerId = data.object.id;
const mediaUrls = data.object.media;
console.log('Transcript URL:', mediaUrls.transcript);
console.log('Recording URL (if needed):', mediaUrls.recording);
// Download and process the transcript
await processTranscript(mediaUrls.transcript, notetakerId);
}
res.status(200).send('Webhook received');
});
Here’s what you can build with programmatic access to meeting transcripts and a fully functional calendar integration:
Method | Setup complexity | Customization | Data source | Pricing model |
---|---|---|---|---|
Google Meet REST API | High (Needs Google Cloud project setup OAuth, and weeks-long approval processes) | Low (Structured access to transcript data with timestamps and metadata only) | Google Meet only | Part of Google Workspace subscription |
Browser bots | Very high (Requires browser automation infrastructure, authentication flows, and ongoing maintenance for UI changes) | High (Full control over browser behavior, interface manipulation, and data extraction) | Multi-platform | Self-hosted infrastructure costs + development resources |
Browser extensions | Low (Users install extension from Chrome Web Store and grant permissions) | Low (Users install standalone software with predefined functionality and limited configuration options) | Multi-platform | Third-party service fees |
Transcription APIs | Medium (Custom data processing and vocabulary libraries) | Medium (Audio capture must be developed separately) | Any audio input | Usage-based pricing |
Nylas Notetaker API | Low (All bot infrastructure and partnerships with transcription APIs handled by Nylas.) | High (Integrate meeting bot infrastructure into existing application architecture, integrations, or custom AI models.) | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams | Usage-based pricing |
Choose Google Meet REST API if: You’re building internal-only tools for a single Google Workspace domain and post-meeting access meets your requirements. This works well for meeting archives, compliance documentation, and internal productivity tools where weeks-long OAuth approval doesn’t impact timelines.
Avoid building your own meeting bots unless: You can handle high maintenance overhead. The engineering cost of maintaining browser automation typically exceeds the value, unless you have very specific requirements that can’t be met otherwise.
When you need meeting transcript capabilities but want to avoid building complex infrastructure, Nylas Notetaker offers streamlined meeting bot development with built-in calendar synchronization across Google, Microsoft, and additional providers. This approach allows you to implement transcript bots, handle structured transcript data, and incorporate meeting intelligence into your application within weeks instead of months.