Core Audio process tap
The macOS 14.2+ API that lets an app subscribe to another running app's audio output stream, with user permission.
Process tap is a Core Audio API introduced in macOS 14.2 that allows an entitled application to subscribe to the audio output of another process. It is the cleanest path on a modern Mac to record what your Zoom or Meet client is playing without routing through a virtual audio device.
Mac Note Taker layers ScreenCaptureKit (for broad system-audio capture) with process tap (for per-process capture and clean per-source channels) so that the resulting recording arrives with mic and remote audio on separate tracks. This separation makes diarization more accurate because the model is not trying to untangle two channels that have already been summed.
Related terms
- ScreenCaptureKit ↗Apple's modern macOS API for capturing screen video and system audio without a kernel extension or a virtual audio cable.
- BlackHole ↗An open-source virtual audio driver that routes Mac audio between apps. The old answer to capturing system audio, largely replaced by ScreenCaptureKit.