Voice Recording

HepBoat can sit in a voice channel and record it. A moderator runs one command, the bot joins, and everything said in that channel is captured until somebody stops it or the channel empties. When it finishes you get two files: a single mixed recording anyone can play, and a second file holding each speaker on their own track for editing.

Everyone in the channel can see it is happening: for as long as a recording runs, the voice channel's status says so.

Setup checklist

1. Open Setup - Voice Recording and make sure recording is allowed. The block appearing in your config is what switches the feature on.
2. Check the bot's permissions in the voice channels you care about. It needs Connect, and it needs Set Voice Channel Status - the invite asks for Administrator, which covers both. Without the status permission the bot refuses to record at all, because the status is how the channel knows.
3. Make sure the bot is not server deafened. A deafened bot is sent no audio at all, so a recording would come out silent.
4. Decide how long recordings may run and how long they are kept. The defaults are 2 hours and 7 days.
5. Optionally list the voice channels moderators are allowed to record. Leave it empty and any voice channel is fair game.
6. Test it: join a quiet voice channel, run record, say something for thirty seconds, and press Stop recording on the panel.
7. Open Recordings on the dashboard and download both files. Confirm the audio is there and the speaker names look right.

Recording

Join the voice channel you want recorded and run record. The bot joins and posts a panel showing who started it, how many speakers it has captured, and when it will stop on its own. Stop recording on that panel ends it.

A recording also stops by itself when everyone leaves the channel, or when it reaches the time limit. You can only have one recording at a time per server.

While a recording is running the bot will not play music, and music commands say so. If music is already playing when a recording starts, the bot leaves the music session first. One bot can only be in one voice channel at a time, and staff recording a conversation takes priority.

Getting the audio

Open Recordings on the dashboard. Every recording is listed with its length, size, who started it, the speakers it captured, and when it will be deleted. Two downloads are offered:

• Audio - everyone mixed together as one MP3. This is the one to send to somebody.
• Per speaker - one track per person in a single file, so an editor can mute or adjust people individually.

Download links are created fresh each time you click and stop working after a few minutes, so a link that gets forwarded is not a permanent back door into your server's audio.

The panel in Discord links to this page rather than to the file, for the same reason.

How long recordings are kept

Recordings are deleted automatically. The default is 7 days, and you can set anything shorter. When the time is up the audio is removed from storage for good, and the recording disappears from the list. There is no recycle bin.

You can also delete a recording yourself from the dashboard at any time, which removes the audio immediately. Both kinds of deletion are written to your mod log, along with who did it.

Limits

Every server can record for up to 2 hours at a time and keep recordings for 7 days. With VOICE_RECORDING_PRO that becomes 8 hours and up to 30 days.

If a server loses the paid tier, nothing breaks and no settings are lost - recordings simply go back to the shorter limits.

Who can do what

Starting, stopping, downloading and deleting a recording all need moderator level (50), the same as the record command. Changing the settings needs editor level (100), like every other configuration form.

Configuration

Settings live under plugins.recording in your config, so every change is kept in your config history and can be restored.

• enabled - turn recording off without removing your settings.
• channels - the voice channels moderators may record. Empty means all of them.
• max_minutes - how long a recording may run before it stops itself.
• retention_days - how long a finished recording is kept.
• auto_stop_when_empty - stop as soon as the bot is alone in the channel.

Troubleshooting

• The bot refuses to start and mentions the channel status. It is missing Set Voice Channel Status in that channel. The status is the notice that a recording is running, so the bot will not record without it.
• The recording is silent. The bot was deafened. A server deafened bot receives no audio, and there is no way for it to override that from its side.
• The panel says processing and stays there. Mixing a long recording with many speakers takes a few minutes. If it has been much longer than that, the recording will be retried automatically.
• Nothing was captured. If nobody spoke, there is no audio to save. The recording is still listed, with no download.
• A recording stopped early. Check the reason on the dashboard. The common ones are the channel emptying, the time limit, and somebody moving or deafening the bot.
• Music commands say the bot is recording. That is intended. They start working again the moment the recording stops.

Commands

Arguments in {curly braces} are required. Arguments in [square brackets] are optional. Level is the built-in command level: 0 everyone, 10 trusted, 50 moderator, 100 admin. Your commands.overrides can change it - see Permissions.

Command	Level	What it does
/record	50 (moderator)	Record this voice channel - opens the recording panel.