# Using Chitmonk

Open it and start. Say what the meeting is about, add who is in the room, press **Start meeting**. Nothing needs an account.

## During a meeting

Lines appear a moment after each pause in speech. The first time a voice is heard, say who it is: press that person's number. After that Chitmonk suggests the name, with a dashed outline and a question mark, and you confirm or correct it. A name is only ever solid when a person put it there.

| Key | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `1` to `9` | Assign the current line (or the selected one) to that person |
| `0` | Mark as unassigned |
| `+` | Add a person |
| `Space` | Pause or resume |
| `C` | Captions on or off |
| `↑` `↓` | Move between transcript lines |
| `Enter` | Edit the selected line |
| `N` | Add a side note to the selected line |
| `Esc` | Close captions or a dialog |
| `?` | Show this list |
| `Cmd/Ctrl` `K` | Open the library and search |

Shortcuts are off while you are typing.

**Captions** fill the screen with large text, the last few lines only, for anyone in the room who reads better than they hear.

**Side notes** are yours, not the room's. They sit beside a line, never inside it, and are exported in their own section.

## Afterwards

Ending a meeting prints its receipt: who talked for how long, the action items and decisions that were spotted, and what still needs a speaker. Action items and decisions are found by plain phrase rules, in English only, and each one is a suggestion until you accept it.

**Export** gives you Markdown, plain text, Word, or a `.chit` bundle. The bundle is the only one that loses nothing: [what is in it](/chit/). The others are for reading: [what they look like](/exports/).

## Languages

English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Polish. Leave the language on auto-detect and the receipt says which ones it heard. Other languages will not transcribe well.

## Where meetings are kept

In this browser, on this device, and nowhere else. That has consequences worth knowing:

- **Another browser or another laptop does not have them.** Move a meeting by exporting a `.chit` and importing it there (the library drawer, then **Import**).
- **The browser can clear its storage**, and so can you. Export a bundle now and then as a backup. **Export all** in the library drawer writes every meeting into one file.
- **Passcode protection** (Settings, Privacy) encrypts saved history on the device. It protects stored meetings, not a laptop that is already unlocked and open. A forgotten passcode cannot be recovered.
- **Shared device** (in a meeting's options) never saves the meeting at all. When you close it, it is gone unless you exported it first.
- **Audio is not kept** unless you switch on "Keep the audio" for a meeting. Then it is stored on the device, about 14 MB per hour, and can be included in a bundle.

## Offline

After the one download of the speech engine (33 MB, plus 28 MB if you want speaker suggestions), Chitmonk works with the network switched off. Your browser's install option keeps it as an app.

## Browsers

| Browser | Status |
| --- | --- |
| Chrome, and Edge by shared engine | Works, fully tested |
| Safari | Tested on Safari's engine. Keeping audio is unavailable there, and the app says so |
| Firefox | Not verified |
| Phones | Not tested |

A browser that cannot transcribe can still open, search, import and export meetings.

## What to know before you rely on it

- The speech model is small (17 MB) and makes mistakes, more on short phrases, names and distant voices. Every line is editable for that reason, and "words to listen for" nudges spelling.
- Speaker suggestions are always tentative. They were measured on clean recordings, not real rooms.
- Talk time is an estimate from the length of transcribed lines.
- One laptop, one browser. There is no sync between devices.