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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that...
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that...
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4...
|
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ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4...
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
Bad response...
|
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. 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If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. 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The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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|
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740269503_m2.jpg...
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said....
|
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chat","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.2613032,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share conversation","depth":11,"bounds":{"left":0.27460107,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open menu for conversation actions.","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.28789893,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. 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The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. 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The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said....
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed...
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine....
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine....
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740275896_m1.jpg...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said....
|
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. 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Screenpipe — Archive
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Claude
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said....
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2026-05-14T06:31:15.896193+00:00
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740275896_m2.jpg...
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:...
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settings","depth":7,"bounds":{"left":0.29321808,"top":0.055067837,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Close","depth":7,"bounds":{"left":0.30518618,"top":0.055067837,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Google Account: Lukáš Koválik (kovaliklukas@gmail.com)","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.3025266,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Main menu","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.07280585,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"New chat","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.08610372,"top":0.10454908,"width":0.028590426,"height":0.030327214},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.0887633,"top":0.10973663,"width":0.021941489,"height":0.020351157},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"New chat","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.2613032,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share conversation","depth":11,"bounds":{"left":0.27460107,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open menu for conversation actions.","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.28789893,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:...
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2026-05-14T06:31:18.972501+00:00
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740278972_m1.jpg...
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Firefox
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app.screenpipe.lakylak.xyz
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Screenpipe — Archive
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Close tab
SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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New Tab
Customize sidebar
Close Google Gemini (⌃X)
Open history (⇧⌘H)
Open bookmarks (⌘B)
Bitwarden
AI Chat settings
Close
Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
Main menu
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Gemini
New chat
Share conversation
Open menu for conversation actions.
Conversation with Gemini
Conversation with Gemini
Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
Bad response...
|
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. 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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand...
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Screenpipe — Archive
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All docs Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that...
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(Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that...
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740280871_m2.jpg...
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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New Tab
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Open history (⇧⌘H)
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
Main menu
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Gemini
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Conversation with Gemini
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback...
|
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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Screenpipe — Archive
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback...
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Screenpipe — Archive
Screenpipe — Archive
All docs Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). 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Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. 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The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
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Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand...
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usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center","depth":4,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.28092578,"width":0.06881649,"height":0.032721467},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"tab","subrole":"AXTabButton","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center","depth":5,"bounds":{"left":0.013297873,"top":0.29209897,"width":0.1100399,"height":0.010774142},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXRadioButton","text":"2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search","depth":4,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.31364724,"width":0.06881649,"height":0.032721467},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"tab","subrole":"AXTabButton","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search","depth":5,"bounds":{"left":0.013297873,"top":0.32482043,"width":0.05668218,"height":0.010774142},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"New Tab","depth":4,"bounds":{"left":0.0028257978,"top":0.34796488,"width":0.06333112,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Customize sidebar","depth":6,"bounds":{"left":0.0028257978,"top":0.97007185,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Close Google Gemini (⌃X)","depth":6,"bounds":{"left":0.013796543,"top":0.97007185,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Open history (⇧⌘H)","depth":6,"bounds":{"left":0.024933511,"top":0.97007185,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Open bookmarks (⌘B)","depth":6,"bounds":{"left":0.036070477,"top":0.97007185,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bitwarden","depth":6,"bounds":{"left":0.04720745,"top":0.97007185,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"AI Chat settings","depth":7,"bounds":{"left":0.29321808,"top":0.055067837,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Close","depth":7,"bounds":{"left":0.30518618,"top":0.055067837,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Google Account: Lukáš Koválik (kovaliklukas@gmail.com)","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.3025266,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Main menu","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.07280585,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"New chat","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.08610372,"top":0.10454908,"width":0.028590426,"height":0.030327214},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.0887633,"top":0.10973663,"width":0.021941489,"height":0.020351157},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"New chat","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.2613032,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share conversation","depth":11,"bounds":{"left":0.27460107,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open menu for conversation actions.","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.28789893,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Screenpipe — Archive — Personal
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
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Share and export
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption....
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Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption....
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually...
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. 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Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
Bad response...
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? 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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. 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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)...
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). 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If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. 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When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.0,"width":0.134375,"height":0.020555556},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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Claude
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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Screenpipe — Archive
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen...
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2026-05-14T06:31:23.967102+00:00
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740283967_m1.jpg...
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Screenpipe — Archive — Personal
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app.screenpipe.lakylak.xyz
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monitor_1
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Screenpipe — Archive
Screenpipe — Archive
All docs Screenpipe — Archive
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All docs · AFFiNE
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DXP4800PLUS-B5F8
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Close tab
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language...
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). 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If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. 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When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Share and export
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language...
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SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
Main menu
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them...
|
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. 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Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them...
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740287029_m1.jpg...
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Screenpipe — Archive — Personal
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app.screenpipe.lakylak.xyz
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Screenpipe — Archive
Screenpipe — Archive
All docs Screenpipe — Archive
Screenpipe — Archive
All docs · AFFiNE
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Close tab
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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New Tab
Customize sidebar
Close Google Gemini (⌃X)
Open history (⇧⌘H)
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
Main menu
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Gemini
New chat
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Conversation with Gemini
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4...
|
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
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Screenpipe — Archive
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All docs Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said...
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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click
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accessibility
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Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said...
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2026-05-14T06:31:27.881372+00:00
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740287881_m1.jpg...
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Firefox
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Screenpipe — Archive — Personal
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app.screenpipe.lakylak.xyz
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monitor_1
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Screenpipe — Archive
Screenpipe — Archive
All docs Screenpipe — Archive
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All docs · AFFiNE
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DXP4800PLUS-B5F8
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Close tab
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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New Tab
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Close Google Gemini (⌃X)
Open history (⇧⌘H)
Open bookmarks (⌘B)
Bitwarden
AI Chat settings
Close
Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
Main menu
New chat
Gemini
New chat
Share conversation
Open menu for conversation actions.
Conversation with Gemini
Conversation with Gemini
Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the...
|
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. 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Screenpipe — Archive
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the...
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources...
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources...
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2026-05-14T06:31:28.330004+00:00
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740288330_m1.jpg...
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Firefox
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Screenpipe — Archive — Personal
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app.screenpipe.lakylak.xyz
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.0,"width":0.134375,"height":0.020555556},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Redo","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXTextArea","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":20,"on_screen":true,"value":"Ask Gemini","help_text":"","role_description":"text entry area","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS....
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Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. 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Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS....
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Screenpipe — Archive
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DXP4800PLUS-B5F8
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Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? 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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. 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Screenpipe — Archive
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand...
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2026-05-14T06:31:29.300469+00:00
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740289300_m1.jpg...
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Firefox
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Screenpipe — Archive — Personal
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app.screenpipe.lakylak.xyz
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monitor_1
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Screenpipe — Archive
Screenpipe — Archive
All docs Screenpipe — Archive
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All docs · AFFiNE
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DXP4800PLUS-B5F8
DXP4800PLUS-B5F8
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Close tab
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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New Tab
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Open history (⇧⌘H)
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
Main menu
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
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Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
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Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). 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If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. 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When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.0,"width":0.134375,"height":0.020555556},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Redo","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXTextArea","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":20,"on_screen":true,"value":"Ask Gemini","help_text":"","role_description":"text entry area","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open upload file menu","depth":20,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Tools","depth":18,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open mode picker","depth":20,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Pro","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Microphone","depth":19,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Send message","depth":19,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":false,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
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Copy
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Screenpipe — Archive
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? 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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. 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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). 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Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.0,"width":0.134375,"height":0.020555556},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Redo","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXTextArea","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":20,"on_screen":true,"value":"Ask Gemini","help_text":"","role_description":"text entry area","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open upload file menu","depth":20,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Tools","depth":18,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false}]...
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions...
|
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions...
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a...
|
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a...
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like...
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Share and export
Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like...
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740297255_m1.jpg...
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Share and export
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
Bad response...
|
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. 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You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. 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Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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Copy
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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Screenpipe — Archive
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.02642952,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22041224,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.18035239,"top":0.0,"width":0.015292553,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.075465426,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08610372,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.09674202,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.107380316,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.11801862,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.12566489,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.14029256,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.100159615,"width":0.15026596,"height":0.03830806},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.1009577,"width":0.019946808,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.10175578,"width":0.12849069,"height":0.035514764},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.3025266,"top":0.17039107,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.09208777,"top":0.17278531,"width":0.030917553,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.08976064,"top":0.21428572,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08976064,"top":0.21628092,"width":0.04105718,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.21747805,"width":0.23088431,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.10920878,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.18799867,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.06333112,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.20994017,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.3499601,"width":0.234375,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.35155627,"width":0.12549867,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.072972074,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.15176196,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.07047872,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.23321144,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.08510638,"top":0.39864326,"width":0.032247342,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.11735372,"top":0.39864326,"width":0.0013297872,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.42817238,"width":0.23038563,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.47845173,"width":0.040724736,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.47845173,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.5494813,"width":0.038896278,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.5494813,"width":0.20744681,"height":0.09936153},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.67318434,"width":0.234375,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.67478055,"width":0.08759973,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.70111734,"width":0.2278923,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.7721468,"width":0.09275266,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.801676,"width":0.07347074,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.038231384,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.12965426,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.014960106,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14461437,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.0078125,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.15242687,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.041888297,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.19431517,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.02044548,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.030585106,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.12200798,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.04837101,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.17037898,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.0078125,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.17819148,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.061502658,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.23969415,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.027260639,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8902634,"width":0.20079787,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.92378294,"width":0.116023935,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.9445331,"width":0.15159574,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.23238032,"top":0.94573027,"width":0.064328454,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.9445331,"width":0.234375,"height":0.05546689},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.020777926,"height":-0.015562654},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.027925532,"height":-0.04509175},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.02244016,"height":-0.07462096},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Redo","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXTextArea","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":20,"bounds":{"left":0.08211436,"top":0.83439744,"width":0.22573139,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"value":"Ask Gemini","help_text":"","role_description":"text entry area","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.08211436,"top":0.8347965,"width":0.030086435,"height":0.018355945},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open upload file menu","depth":20,"bounds":{"left":0.078125,"top":0.87031126,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Tools","depth":18,"bounds":{"left":0.094082445,"top":0.87031126,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open mode picker","depth":20,"bounds":{"left":0.27044547,"top":0.867917,"width":0.026097074,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Pro","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.2757646,"top":0.87669593,"width":0.007480053,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Microphone","depth":19,"bounds":{"left":0.29853722,"top":0.867917,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Send message","depth":19,"bounds":{"left":0.30485374,"top":0.8671189,"width":0.013962766,"height":0.033519555},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":false,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini is AI and can make mistakes, including about people.","depth":17,"bounds":{"left":0.11702128,"top":0.92178774,"width":0.11170213,"height":0.012370312},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXLink","text":"Your privacy and Gemini Opens in a new window","depth":17,"bounds":{"left":0.2287234,"top":0.92178774,"width":0.044215426,"height":0.012370312},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"link","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Your privacy and Gemini","depth":18,"bounds":{"left":0.2287234,"top":0.92178774,"width":0.044215426,"height":0.012370312},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Opens in a new window","depth":19,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.92098963,"width":0.043218084,"height":0.012370312},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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SYS: and tozy. · 10:31
Screenpipe — Archive
Scree SYS: and tozy. · 10:31
Screenpipe — Archive
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
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Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen...
|
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chat","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.2613032,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share conversation","depth":11,"bounds":{"left":0.27460107,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open menu for conversation actions.","depth":12,"bounds":{"left":0.28789893,"top":0.103751,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.02642952,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22041224,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.18035239,"top":0.0,"width":0.015292553,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.075465426,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08610372,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.09674202,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.107380316,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.11801862,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.12566489,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.14029256,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.100159615,"width":0.15026596,"height":0.03830806},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.1009577,"width":0.019946808,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.10175578,"width":0.12849069,"height":0.035514764},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.3025266,"top":0.17039107,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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8488711466102975445
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|
accessibility
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SYS: and tozy. · 10:31
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen...
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/Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778 /Users/lukas/.screenpipe/data/data/2026-05-14/1778740303809_m2.jpg...
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Screenpipe — Archive
Screenpipe — Archive
All docs Screenpipe — Archive
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All docs · AFFiNE
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Close tab
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: archive.db
SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
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2 TB in 25 MB/s - Google Search
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Google Account: Lukáš Koválik ([EMAIL])
Main menu
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Gemini
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Conversation with Gemini
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Copy prompt
You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
Good response
Bad response
Share and export
Copy
Show more options
Copy prompt
Edit
You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Gemini","depth":15,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.14764565,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Conversation with Gemini","depth":16,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.15003991,"width":0.1200133,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. 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The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. 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The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.02642952,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22041224,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.18035239,"top":0.0,"width":0.015292553,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.075465426,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08610372,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.09674202,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.107380316,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.11801862,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.12566489,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.14029256,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.100159615,"width":0.15026596,"height":0.03830806},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.1009577,"width":0.019946808,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.10175578,"width":0.12849069,"height":0.035514764},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.3025266,"top":0.17039107,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.09208777,"top":0.17278531,"width":0.030917553,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.08976064,"top":0.21428572,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08976064,"top":0.21628092,"width":0.04105718,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.21747805,"width":0.23088431,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.10920878,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.18799867,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.06333112,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.20994017,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.3499601,"width":0.234375,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.35155627,"width":0.12549867,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.072972074,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.15176196,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.07047872,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.23321144,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.08510638,"top":0.39864326,"width":0.032247342,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.11735372,"top":0.39864326,"width":0.0013297872,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.42817238,"width":0.23038563,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.47845173,"width":0.040724736,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.47845173,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.5494813,"width":0.038896278,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.5494813,"width":0.20744681,"height":0.09936153},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.67318434,"width":0.234375,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.67478055,"width":0.08759973,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.70111734,"width":0.2278923,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.7721468,"width":0.09275266,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.801676,"width":0.07347074,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.038231384,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.12965426,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.014960106,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14461437,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.0078125,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.15242687,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.041888297,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.19431517,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.02044548,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.030585106,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.12200798,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.04837101,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.17037898,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.0078125,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.17819148,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.061502658,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.23969415,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.027260639,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8902634,"width":0.20079787,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.92378294,"width":0.116023935,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.9445331,"width":0.15159574,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.23238032,"top":0.94573027,"width":0.064328454,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.9445331,"width":0.234375,"height":0.05546689},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.020777926,"height":-0.015562654},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.027925532,"height":-0.04509175},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.02244016,"height":-0.07462096},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Redo","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXTextArea","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":20,"bounds":{"left":0.08211436,"top":0.83439744,"width":0.22573139,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"value":"Ask Gemini","help_text":"","role_description":"text entry area","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Ask Gemini","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.08211436,"top":0.8347965,"width":0.030086435,"height":0.018355945},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open upload file menu","depth":20,"bounds":{"left":0.078125,"top":0.87031126,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Tools","depth":18,"bounds":{"left":0.094082445,"top":0.87031126,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Open mode picker","depth":20,"bounds":{"left":0.27044547,"top":0.867917,"width":0.026097074,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Pro","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.2757646,"top":0.87669593,"width":0.007480053,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Microphone","depth":19,"bounds":{"left":0.29853722,"top":0.867917,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Send message","depth":19,"bounds":{"left":0.30485374,"top":0.8671189,"width":0.013962766,"height":0.033519555},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":false,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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9209071893599628253
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accessibility
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. 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The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. 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The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. 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Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. 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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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JY-20891 add support for secondary email by LakyLak · Pull Request #12073 · jiminny/app
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[SRD-6848] Sidekick SMS issue - Jira
[SRD-6848] Sidekick SMS issue - Jira
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JY-19957 | Remove abanded sympfony debug, compose upgrade by nikolaybiaivanov · Pull Request #12022 · jiminny/app
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JY-20891 add support for secondary email by LakyLak · Pull Request #12073 · jiminny/app
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[SRD-6848] Sidekick SMS issue - Jira
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JY-19957 | Remove abanded sympfony debug, compose upgrade by nikolaybiaivanov · Pull Request #12022 · jiminny/app
JY-19957 | Remove abanded sympfony debug, compose upgrade by nikolaybiaivanov · Pull Request #12022 · jiminny/app
TypeError: League\Flysystem\Filesystem::has(): Argument #1 ($location) must be of type string, null given, called in /home/jiminny/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/FilesystemAdapter.php on line 218 — jiminny — app
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
Good response
Bad response...
|
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ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.02642952,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22041224,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.18035239,"top":0.0,"width":0.015292553,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.075465426,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08610372,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.09674202,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.107380316,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.11801862,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.12566489,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.14029256,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.100159615,"width":0.15026596,"height":0.03830806},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.068484046,"top":0.1009577,"width":0.019946808,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.16023937,"top":0.10175578,"width":0.12849069,"height":0.035514764},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.3025266,"top":0.17039107,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.09208777,"top":0.17278531,"width":0.030917553,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.08976064,"top":0.21428572,"width":0.0003324468,"height":0.0007980846},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08976064,"top":0.21628092,"width":0.04105718,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.21747805,"width":0.23088431,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.10920878,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.18799867,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.06333112,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.28850758,"width":0.20994017,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.3499601,"width":0.234375,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.35155627,"width":0.12549867,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.072972074,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.15176196,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.07047872,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.37789306,"width":0.23321144,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.08510638,"top":0.39864326,"width":0.032247342,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.11735372,"top":0.39864326,"width":0.0013297872,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.42817238,"width":0.23038563,"height":0.037110932},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.47845173,"width":0.040724736,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.47845173,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.5494813,"width":0.038896278,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.5494813,"width":0.20744681,"height":0.09936153},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.67318434,"width":0.234375,"height":0.01915403},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.67478055,"width":0.08759973,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.70111734,"width":0.2278923,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.7721468,"width":0.09275266,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.801676,"width":0.07347074,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.038231384,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.12965426,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.014960106,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14461437,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.0078125,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.15242687,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.041888297,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.19431517,"top":0.8312051,"width":0.02044548,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.030585106,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.12200798,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.04837101,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.17037898,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.0078125,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.17819148,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.061502658,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.23969415,"top":0.8607342,"width":0.027260639,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.8902634,"width":0.20079787,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.92378294,"width":0.116023935,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.9445331,"width":0.15159574,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.23238032,"top":0.94573027,"width":0.064328454,"height":0.014764565},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"bounds":{"left":0.0787899,"top":0.9445331,"width":0.234375,"height":0.05546689},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.020777926,"height":-0.015562654},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.027925532,"height":-0.04509175},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.14012633,"top":1.0,"width":0.02244016,"height":-0.07462096},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)...
|
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. 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The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.0,"width":0.134375,"height":0.020555556},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
Sources
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)...
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Screenpipe — Archive
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Claude
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like...
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. 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Screenpipe — Archive
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). 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Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. 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Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. 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Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Edit","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":21,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As for setting up languages for transcription,","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"yes, you can configure it","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":", but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Transcription Engine Handles Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses a","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"multilingual Whisper model","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and sets the language configuration to","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-Detect","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Advantage:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Drawback:","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":26,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How to Force a Specific Language","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are using the Desktop App UI:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Open the ScreenPipe settings.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Navigate to the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"AI/Transcription","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"section.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Look for the","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Transcription Language","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"dropdown.","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Change it from \"Auto\" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).","depth":29,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/pipe.json","depth":28,"bounds":{"left":0.0,"top":0.0,"width":0.134375,"height":0.020555556},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:","depth":27,"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Slovak)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(Bulgarian)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"(English)","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Redo","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false,"is_expanded":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":22,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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You said yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
You said
yes I will do that. Is there a way to setup languages to transcription?
Listen
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Gemini said
Gemini said
That is a solid plan. Offloading those older media files to your 4-drive RAID 5 setup (or even the secondary SSD-only Beelink NAS if you end up building it) will keep your local SSD lean while keeping your database searchable.
As for setting up languages for transcription,
yes, you can configure it
, but it helps to understand how ScreenPipe handles language natively first.
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
How the Transcription Engine Handles Language
By default, ScreenPipe uses a
multilingual Whisper model
and sets the language configuration to
Auto-Detect
.
When a new audio chunk comes in, the model listens to the first few seconds of audio, guesses the language, and transcribes the rest of that chunk using that assumption.
The Advantage:
If you are watching a tutorial in English, and then an hour later you are in a Zoom call speaking Bulgarian, ScreenPipe will automatically switch gears without you having to touch the settings.
The Drawback:
Auto-detect can sometimes guess wrong, especially if there is heavy background noise, if someone starts a sentence with a foreign loanword, or if you are rapidly code-switching between Slovak and English in the same conversation. When it guesses wrong, it might try to force Slovak words into English spelling, resulting in gibberish.
How to Force a Specific Language
How to Force a Specific Language
If you want to ensure maximum accuracy and you know you will primarily be recording in one language for a specific period, you can explicitly set the language. This also slightly speeds up the processing because the model skips the detection phase.
If you are using the Desktop App UI:
Open the ScreenPipe settings.
Navigate to the
Audio
or
AI/Transcription
section.
Look for the
Whisper Language
or
Transcription Language
dropdown.
Change it from "Auto" to your specific language (e.g., English, Bulgarian, or Slovak).
If you are running ScreenPipe via CLI/Config:
You can modify your underlying configuration (usually found in
~/.screenpipe/pipe.json
or by passing a flag when starting the daemon) to force a specific language code. You would use the standard ISO language codes:
(Slovak)
(Bulgarian)
(English)
If you find yourself frequently jumping between those three languages, your best bet is to leave it on Auto-Detect and perhaps run a slightly larger, more accurate Whisper model (like Whisper 'Small' or 'Base' instead of 'Tiny') if your hardware has the headroom for it.
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SQLite Web: archive.db
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SQLite Web: db.sqlite
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Claude
Claude
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
Manage extra usage for paid Claude plans | Claude Help Center
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"100% local, privacy-first","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"System Audio:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Microphone Input:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Everything you say into your mic.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the \"transfer\" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is the transcription pipeline:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The Engine:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"By default, ScreenPipe uses","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"OpenAI Whisper","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Diarization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs \"diarization\"—a technical term for speaker identification.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"View source details. Opens side panel.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Storage:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"SQLite database","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":". This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The \"Work in Progress\" (WIP) Stage","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"There is a slight bottleneck between","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"hearing","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the audio and","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"saving","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"the text, which acts as the WIP stage:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Buffering:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Processing Queue:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Finalization:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"4. Understanding the Folder Structure","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The SQLite Database (","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"):","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is \"done.\"","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"or","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folders:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Temp Files:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you see rapidly changing files, temporary","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"chunks, or locked database journals (like","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Sources","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Sources","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"You said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Expand","depth":21,"on_screen":false,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Listen","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Show thinking","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Gemini said","depth":23,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Gemini said","depth":24,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Yes, those","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"1. The \"Time Machine\" Playback","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"database along with","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"precise timestamps and file path references","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"How the Database Views Them","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you were to open up your","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"db.sqlite","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"and query the tables (e.g.,","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"audio_transcriptions","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"), you would see that the database treats the","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"~/.screenpipe/data/","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":".","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"What happens if you delete them?","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you manually","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"rm","depth":28,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a \"file not found\" error in the background logs.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXHeading","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":26,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"heading","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Managing the Storage Footprint","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.","depth":27,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Built-in Garbage Collection:","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).","depth":29,"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"Archiving:","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.02642952,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable \"life log\" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22041224,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"older","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.18035239,"top":0.0,"width":0.015292553,"height":0.016360734},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXStaticText","text":"files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.","depth":29,"bounds":{"left":0.09142287,"top":0.0,"width":0.22174202,"height":0.057861134},"on_screen":false,"help_text":"","role_description":"text","subrole":"AXUnknown"},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Good response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.075465426,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXCheckBox","text":"Bad response","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.08610372,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"toggle button","subrole":"AXToggle","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Share and export","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.09674202,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy","depth":24,"bounds":{"left":0.107380316,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Show more options","depth":23,"bounds":{"left":0.11801862,"top":0.029928172,"width":0.010638298,"height":0.025538707},"on_screen":true,"role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false},{"role":"AXButton","text":"Copy prompt","depth":21,"bounds":{"left":0.12566489,"top":0.0905826,"width":0.013297873,"height":0.031923383},"on_screen":true,"help_text":"","role_description":"button","subrole":"AXUnknown","is_enabled":true,"is_focused":false,"is_selected":false}]...
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You said Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
You said
Exaplin me: how does the ScreenPipe audio recording work? Where did it start? How is it getting transferred and transcribed? Is there some work in progress stage? How can I see from the folder structure what has been done and what hasn't been done?
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Gemini said
Gemini said
Here is a breakdown of how ScreenPipe handles audio recording, from the moment it captures sound to how it organizes the data on your machine.
ScreenPipe is fundamentally designed to be a
100% local, privacy-first
application, meaning the vast majority of its processing happens directly on your hardware without relying on the cloud.
View source details. Opens side panel.
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
1. Where It Starts: The Capture Layer
The process begins locally by tapping directly into your operating system’s audio routing. ScreenPipe simultaneously captures two separate audio streams:
System Audio:
Everything your computer outputs (e.g., the voices of other people in a Zoom or Teams meeting, a YouTube video, or Spotify).
Microphone Input:
Everything you say into your mic.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Because ScreenPipe acts as a 24/7 background process, it continuously listens to these streams and breaks the continuous audio into manageable chunks to prepare them for the next stage.
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
2. How It Gets Transferred and Transcribed
Because ScreenPipe prioritizes local processing, the "transfer" step is incredibly short. The audio data never leaves your machine unless you explicitly set up a cloud plugin.
Here is the transcription pipeline:
The Engine:
The raw audio chunks are fed into a local speech-to-text model.
By default, ScreenPipe uses
OpenAI Whisper
running locally on your hardware. (Users can also configure it to use cloud providers like Deepgram if they need faster processing, but local Whisper is the standard).
View source details. Opens side panel.
Diarization:
As it transcribes the text, the engine also performs "diarization"—a technical term for speaker identification.
It analyzes the audio to distinguish between your voice and the voices of others, labeling who said what.
View source details. Opens side panel.
Storage:
The final transcribed text is then indexed into a local
SQLite database
. This database uses Full-Text Search (FTS5), which is what allows you to instantly search for a phrase you heard in a meeting three weeks ago.
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
3. The "Work in Progress" (WIP) Stage
There is a slight bottleneck between
hearing
the audio and
saving
the text, which acts as the WIP stage:
Buffering:
Audio is recorded into a temporary buffer in your system's RAM or written as temporary chunk files on your disk.
Processing Queue:
Whisper requires CPU/GPU resources to transcribe. If you are having a rapid, multi-person conversation, the raw audio chunks line up in a processing queue.
Finalization:
Once the AI finishes transcribing a chunk, the text is committed to the SQLite database alongside a timestamp, and the raw audio is compressed and saved so you can play it back later.
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
4. Understanding the Folder Structure
All of ScreenPipe's data lives locally on your machine (usually in a hidden directory like
~/.screenpipe
on Mac/Linux or in your AppData folder on Windows). You can determine what has been processed by looking at a few key areas in this directory:
The SQLite Database (
):
This is the master ledger. If text exists inside this database, it means the audio has been fully transcribed, diarized, and is "done."
The
or
folders:
This is where the compressed, raw audio files and JPEG screenshots are stored permanently. Think of this as the raw archive.
Temp Files:
If you see rapidly changing files, temporary
chunks, or locked database journals (like
), this indicates the system is actively processing a backlog of audio (the WIP stage). Once the engine catches up, these temporary chunk files are usually cleared out or moved to permanent storage, and the database updates.
Are you setting up ScreenPipe for a specific workflow (like summarizing meetings or tracking your daily tasks), or just exploring how the architecture works under the hood?
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You said I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
You said
I see the files in ~/.screenpipe/data/ as LakyLak bose qc35 II (input)_2026-05-12_06-49-17.mp4 or MacBook Pro Microphone (input)_2026-05-12_12-17-23.mp4 or soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4 or System Audio (output)_2026-05-11_06-17-14.mp4. Are these used for anything after transcribing and storing in sqlite db?
Expand
Listen
Show thinking
Gemini said
Gemini said
Yes, those
.mp4
files are absolutely still used after the transcription process is complete. They are not temporary processing chunks; they act as your permanent media archive.
Here is exactly what those files are doing sitting in your
~/.screenpipe/data/
directory and how they interact with the rest of the system.
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
1. The "Time Machine" Playback
The primary reason ScreenPipe keeps these files is for audio playback. When Whisper transcribes your meetings or ambient audio, it writes the text into the
db.sqlite
database along with
precise timestamps and file path references
.
When you search your ScreenPipe history for a specific conversation, the UI doesn't just show you the text—it uses the file path stored in the database to pull up that specific
.mp4
file and starts playing it at the exact second the keyword was spoken. Without these files, you get the transcript, but you lose the ability to actually listen to the context, tone, or nuance of the original conversation.
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
2. Re-processing and Model Upgrades
Local LLMs and transcription models are improving rapidly. Right now, your system might be using a quantized Whisper model to balance CPU load with accuracy. If you later decide to run a heavier, more accurate model—or if a radically better speaker diarization algorithm is released—having the raw
.mp4
files allows you to re-process historical audio. Without the raw input files, your data is permanently locked to the quality of the transcription model you were running on May 12th.
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
3. The Source of Truth for Hallucinations
Speech-to-text engines, even great ones, occasionally hallucinate or misinterpret technical jargon, overlapping voices, or background noise. If a database query returns a completely nonsensical sentence, that
.mp4
file is your fallback source of truth to verify what was actually said.
How the Database Views Them
How the Database Views Them
If you were to open up your
db.sqlite
and query the tables (e.g.,
audio_transcriptions
), you would see that the database treats the
~/.screenpipe/data/
folder essentially as a blob storage backend. The tables contain columns acting as soft foreign keys pointing to filenames like
soundcore AeroClip (input)_2026-05-12_07-40-48.mp4
.
What happens if you delete them?
If you manually
rm
those files to free up space on your Mac's SSD, ScreenPipe won't crash. The SQLite database will still hold all your searchable text. However, any attempt to play back the audio for those older transcripts will silently fail or throw a "file not found" error in the background logs.
Managing the Storage Footprint
Managing the Storage Footprint
Because ScreenPipe records continuously, this folder will inevitably grow over time.
Built-in Garbage Collection:
ScreenPipe usually handles this automatically based on retention settings (e.g., deleting media older than 30 days or when the folder hits a specific GB limit).
Archiving:
If you prefer to keep a permanent, searchable "life log" without eating up your local SSD space, you don't necessarily have to let ScreenPipe delete them. You could script a simple cron job to regularly
older
files to your massive 4-drive RAID 5 array, replacing the local files with symlinks. This would keep the database references intact while offloading the heavy media storage to your NAS.
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