Connect a Zoom app

Reuse an existing Zoom app or create one, configure its Public Client ID and check permissions.

A Zoom app tells Zoom which permissions a program can request. Connect an existing app to zm, or create a user-managed app for your own account. By the end you will have the Public Client ID, redirect settings and scopes needed for browser login. This registration does not install a bot inside meetings or make recordings for you. You do not download a credentials file or create a separate OAuth client outside the app: enable Public Client OAuth inside it and copy the displayed ID.

Use an app you already created

Sign in to Zoom App Marketplace and open Developer → Created apps. Select your existing app; do not create a duplicate.
Select the environment you use: Development for your development app, or Production for an app distributed to users. The credentials and OAuth settings belong to that environment.
Under Basic Information → App Credentials, enable Use Public Client OAuth and copy the Public Client ID. Zoom may also show a regular Client ID and a Client Secret; zm uses neither.
Check the redirect, allow list and required scopes below.
Configure that ID and start a new login:

zm config set zoom.clientId <public-client-id>
zm config set source api
zm login

Replace the placeholder without angle brackets. Sign in as the Zoom user whose meetings you want, review the consent and approve. Wait for loggedIn: true in the terminal. If browser approval leaves it waiting, follow finish the browser callback.

Use a WireCat or team app

If the app owner has made an existing WireCat or team app available to your Zoom user, use the Public Client ID supplied by that owner with the same commands above. You do not need to create another app or obtain its secret. The owner maintains redirect settings and requested permissions; you authorize your own account.

An app in development is not automatically available to users in another Zoom account. Check access with its owner; a company administrator may also need to approve it. A Marketplace authorization link by itself does not configure zm or complete its login: start zm login so its current callback and verification key exist. If you cannot authorize the shared app, create your own with the steps below.

Create your own app

Sign in to Zoom App Marketplace. Open Developer, then on Created apps choose Develop → Build an app. Select General app and Create. If Developer is missing, ask the account administrator for the Zoom developer role.
Name it, for example My meeting archive, and choose User-managed. This lets each signed-in user authorize their own data. Server-to-Server OAuth is a different app type and does not match this tool's browser login.
Work in Development for your own initial setup. In Basic Information → App Credentials, turn on Use Public Client OAuth and copy the Public Client ID.
In OAuth Information, set both fields below and save/continue:

Field	Value
OAuth Redirect URL	`https://wirecat.dev/zoom-callback`
OAuth Allow Lists	`https://wirecat.dev/zoom-callback`

Use that exact URL, without an extra trailing slash. zm currently sends this registered redirect; a different callback URL requires a code change, not a config setting. Zoom also supports loopback redirects for eligible public clients, but that is not the redirect this tool sends.

Open Scopes → Add Scopes, search each name in the table below, select the user-managed scopes and save. Explain their use if Zoom asks for a scope description. Add recording or write permissions only if you need those tasks.
Check Local Test for app installation/access and any account approval requirement. Zoom's Add App Now can authorize a development app, but return to the terminal and run zm login to establish this tool's session. Other-account distribution has a separate Zoom review process.
Return to installation's first run with the Public Client ID.

The official app creation guide, OAuth settings and Public Client OAuth instructions explain the Marketplace fields.

Create it from the manifest

The optional starter manifest is an app-creation template, not a credentials file. It contains callback URLs and disabled in-client features. If Marketplace offers creation from an app manifest, save that JSON file and import it when creating the General app.

The manifest does not include scopes or enable Public Client OAuth. Complete steps 3–6 above manually after import. Do not assume that a successful import made the app ready for zm login. Manual creation is the complete path when the import option is unavailable.

Permissions for hosted meetings

These are the permissions to add manually for hosted-meeting ingestion. A scope is one named permission; a granted scope authorizes an API call, not the existence of the requested data.

Scope	Use
`meeting:read:list_meetings`	Find your hosted meeting records and list upcoming meetings
`meeting:read:list_past_instances`	Retrieve separate occurrences of recurring meetings
`cloud_recording:read:meeting_transcript`	Retrieve an available meeting transcript
`meeting:read:list_past_participants`	Read participant records and their join/leave sessions
`meeting:read:summary`	Retrieve an available Zoom AI summary

Configure all five for zm pull: it reads these parts during ingestion, even though transcript or summary content may be absent. Zoom's plan, host settings and retention determine which parts exist. For a schedule-only workflow, meeting listing needs just its list scope.

Add archive or management access

The app owner adds the required scope in Scopes, saves it, then the user runs zm login again. Already issued tokens do not acquire new permissions automatically. Check actual granted scopes with zm session status --json.

Scope	Feature
`cloud_recording:read:list_user_recordings`	Discover your cloud recording occurrences
`cloud_recording:read:list_recording_files`	Inspect and download available recording assets
`user:read:user`	Verify the remote session with `zm session status --check`
`meeting:read:meeting`	Show a remote meeting
`meeting:read:invitation`	Retrieve its invitation text
`meeting:write:meeting`	Create a remote meeting
`meeting:update:meeting`	Update a remote meeting
`meeting:delete:meeting`	Cancel a remote meeting

Archiving does not require meeting write permissions. Changes preview by default; --yes applies one request. See recording archives or meeting management after granting the corresponding permissions.

Before your first `zm pull`

A transcript must have been generated and retained in Zoom. In your Zoom web settings, find Meeting → In Meeting (Advanced) → Meeting transcript and enable the relevant generation and retention controls. Administrators can lock these controls. Existing accounts can also show Allow hosts to retain transcripts for meeting-summary transcripts. See Zoom's transcript settings for the current plan and permission requirements.

For cloud recording audio transcripts, check the separate cloud recording transcription settings. A recording, live captions and a retained meeting transcript are different outputs. Enabling a setting today does not recreate transcripts that were never saved or have expired.

The API path uses the authenticated host's meetings. For a meeting you only attended, ask the host for a transcript or download one if Zoom permits it, then import the VTT file. Attendance alone does not guarantee download access.

If your company manages your Zoom account

Ask the administrator to allow app creation or installation and the specific permissions needed. If API authorization is unavailable, authorized transcript files can still be imported without an app. Once login succeeds, pull your first period and check which meetings and transcripts actually arrived.

Use an app you already createdCopy Anchor Link

Use a WireCat or team appCopy Anchor Link

Create your own appCopy Anchor Link

Create it from the manifestCopy Anchor Link

Permissions for hosted meetingsCopy Anchor Link

Add archive or management accessCopy Anchor Link

Before your first zm pullCopy Anchor Link

If your company manages your Zoom accountCopy Anchor Link