Step-by-step scenarios

Each scenario is a common task in order: the commands to run, why each one runs and what to look at in the answer. The same scenarios are in the terminal: zm guide lists them and zm guide <name> prints one.

Keep a daily, checked archive of cloud recordingsCopy Anchor Link

Download Zoom cloud recordings to a folder every day and confirm every file arrived whole.

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   zm recordings list --since-time 2026-10-01

   the cloud recordings Zoom holds for that range, before you download anything

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   zm recordings schedule create --name daily --output-dir /srv/zoom-archive --at 03:00 --timezone Europe/Madrid --since-time 2026-10-01

   previews a daily job and its timer; run it again with --yes to install it

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   zm recordings schedule run daily

   one run now, so you see the job work before the timer does

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   zm recordings archive check /srv/zoom-archive

   checks the size and checksum of every archived file, without Zoom or the store

What to look at:

• files whose checksum or size does not match; download them again
• the job's last result in schedule show, and whether the timer is enabled
• zm recordings archive import adds the archived transcripts to the store

The archive keeps checksums and sizes, never signed URLs or tokens.

In the terminal: zm guide archive-recordings

Catch up on recent meetingsCopy Anchor Link

Bring the last few days of meetings into the store and read what each one decided.

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   zm meetings sync --since-time 2026-10-01 --lookback-days 3

   fetches new meetings, transcripts and summaries, and revisits recent ones whose transcript came late

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   zm meetings list "started_at:[2026-10-01 TO 2026-10-08]"

   the stored meetings in that window, newest first, with their local ids

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   zm meetings summary 12

   Zoom's own summary of one meeting; overview, sections and next steps

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   zm meetings transcript 12

   the transcript behind the summary, when a claim needs the exact words

What to look at:

• the sync's counts of meetings, transcripts and summaries added, and any it skipped
• next_steps in each summary, which are the follow-ups
• a meeting with no transcript yet; sync again later with --lookback-days

A summary is Zoom's paraphrase. Check anything you will act on against the transcript.

In the terminal: zm guide catch-up

Find what was said, with its lineCopy Anchor Link

Find where a topic came up across every meeting and read the exact lines around it.

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   zm search meetings "budget review" --limit 20 --json=ref,excerpt,source.title,source.started_at

   words across every stored transcript and summary; each hit keeps the reference of its line

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   zm meetings passage meeting:1/12/3/140 --before-n 3 --after-n 3

   the cited line with three lines either side, speakers and times included

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   zm meetings evidence meeting:1/12

   the stored lines, chat or summary behind a meeting reference, for a hit that is not a transcript line

What to look at:

• ref on each hit; quote it next to any claim you make
• an empty result is not proof the words were never said; try another form of the name or word
• meta.complete and the page cursor when there are more hits

Pass the ref from a hit to meetings passage as it is. Summary and chat hits have meeting references; read them with meetings evidence or meetings show.

In the terminal: zm guide find-quote

What meetings say about one personCopy Anchor Link

Find a person among meeting participants and read what past meetings say about them.

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   zm meetings people "Alice Example"

   participants matching a name or email, with the identity ids and any linked person

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   zm meetings context person:7 --meetings 5 --cues 40

   the meetings that person attended through linked identities, with the lines that mention them

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   zm search meetings "Alice" --person-id 7 --limit 20

   words in meetings that person attended, when you want a topic and not everything

What to look at:

• more than one identity for the same name; a name alone does not prove who it is
• a participant is not the speaker of every line in that meeting
• for the same person across messages, mail and notes, use memo guide person-brief

Link a participant to a person with zm meetings link (it previews; --yes applies). Context follows only those links.

In the terminal: zm guide person-in-meetings

Prepare for an upcoming meetingCopy Anchor Link

Get a briefing with sources for the next meeting of a series, from its past meetings.

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   zm meetings scheduled --json

   the series coming up in the next seven days, with their series ids

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   zm meetings prepare 8123456789 --meetings 3 --cues 10

   the last three meetings of that series and the lines that matter, each with its reference

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   zm meetings passage meeting:1/12/3/140 --before-n 5 --after-n 5

   more context around one cited line before you rely on it

What to look at:

• the prior occurrences the briefing used, and how many it left out
• open questions and promises from last time, with their references
• communications coverage when selected message or mail sources are configured

meetings prepare reads Zoom for the schedule and the store for history. It changes nothing.

In the terminal: zm guide prepare-meeting

Works with other toolsCopy Anchor Link

These Memo scenarios also use zm:

• One person across every tool: memo guide person-brief