Convert Meeting Recordings to Structured Notes and Action Items

Meeting recording URL → AssemblyAI transcription → AI-generated notes → extract action items → log to Google Sheets

Who

Teams that need automated meeting documentation and action item tracking

You get

Automatically generate structured meeting notes and extract action items with owners and due dates when a recording is received, then append to Google Sheets

You need

n8n · google-sheets

Steps

1. Prepare credentials and accounts

   Sign up for AssemblyAI to get an API key; create a Google Service Account and share the target Google Sheet with it; prepare an OpenAI API key if using AI extraction. All keys should be configured in n8n credential management, not hardcoded in node parameters.

2. Configure workflow nodes

   After importing the template into n8n, configure these nodes in order: 1. Recording Ready Webhook: set path to meeting-recording-ready, configure the webhook URL in your meeting platform. 2. Workflow Configuration: enter the AssemblyAI API key reference (defaults from $env.ASSEMBLYAI_KEY), default due date days (7), and admin email. 3. AssemblyAI Transcription: configure HTTP Header Auth credential using the API key from Workflow Configuration. 4. Generate Meeting Notes & Extract Action Items: add OpenAI API credentials if required. 5. Log Meeting to Sheets: enter Google Sheets document ID and sheet name, configure Service Account credentials.

3. Receive webhook and transcribe audio

   When the meeting platform pushes a recording_url to the webhook, the workflow downloads the audio file via HTTP Request, then calls the AssemblyAI API (POST /v2/transcript with speaker_labels enabled) to get the full transcript. The transcript is passed to the next step.

4. Generate structured meeting notes

   Assemble meeting title, date, participants, and transcript into a JSON input for the AI Agent node, which calls an OpenAI model to generate structured notes. Output must conform to JSON Schema: title, date, participants (array), agenda (array), key_decisions (array), next_steps, executive_summary (array).

   Execution prompt · Source text。Generate Meeting Notes node text field (n8n expression)

   Copy prompt

   =Meeting Title: {{ $json.meetingTitle }}
   Date: {{ $json.meetingDate }}
   Participants: {{ $json.participants }}
   
   Transcript:
   {{ $json.transcript }}

   Execution prompt · Source text。Generate Meeting Notes node systemMessage field

   Copy prompt

   You are an expert meeting notes assistant. Your task is to analyze the meeting transcript and generate comprehensive, structured meeting notes.
   
   Generate meeting notes with the following structure:
   - title: Meeting title
   - date: Meeting date
   - participants: List of participants
   - agenda: Main topics discussed
   - key_decisions: Important decisions made
   - next_steps: Overview of next steps
   - executive_summary: 3-5 bullet points summarizing the meeting
   
   Be thorough, accurate, and professional. Extract all relevant information from the transcript.

5. Extract action items

   Using the generated meeting notes JSON and original transcript as input, a second AI Agent node extracts concrete action items. Each item includes description, owner, due date, priority (low/medium/high), and related topic. Output must conform to the Action Items Schema.

   Execution prompt · Source text。Extract Action Items node text field (n8n expression)

   Copy prompt

   =Meeting Notes:
   {{ JSON.stringify($json.output) }}
   
   Transcript:
   {{ $('Prepare Meeting Notes Input').first().json.transcript }}

   Execution prompt · Source text。Extract Action Items node systemMessage field

   Copy prompt

   You are an expert at extracting action items from meeting transcripts and notes.
   
   Analyze the meeting notes and transcript to identify all action items. For each action item, extract:
   - description: Clear description of the task
   - owner: Name or email of the person responsible (extract from transcript if mentioned)
   - due_date: Suggested due date (extract from transcript if mentioned, otherwise suggest based on priority)
   - priority: low, medium, or high
   - related_topic: Which agenda topic this relates to
   
   Return a list of action items. If no action items are found, return an empty array.

6. Validate, process, and log to spreadsheet

   The Code node Parse and Validate Action Items validates action items: unset due dates default to defaultDueDateDays from now, unset owners become Unassigned, and meeting_id and meeting_title are attached. If action items exist, they can be bulk-processed via Process All Action Items (currently placeholder logic; extendable to create Notion tasks or send emails). Finally, the Google Sheets node appends meeting metadata, notes summary, and action item count to the specified sheet.

You are an n8n workflow setup assistant. The user wants to replicate the "meeting recording to structured notes" template. First confirm they have: an n8n instance, AssemblyAI API key, Google Service Account credentials, and OpenAI API key (optional). Then guide them through configuring the webhook, credentials, and node parameters step by step. Remind them to test with a sample recording and verify Sheet output before going live.