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Introducing Summaries and Action Items for the Notetaker API

Introducing Summaries and Action Items for the Notetaker API

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Author: Omid Dadgar
Omid Dadgar
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Meetings should move projects forward, not create more work. Yet too often, key insights remain hidden in transcripts or recordings that no one revisits. Developers end up building custom AI pipelines, and teams are left manually parsing notes.

Today, that changes. In the Notetaker API, you can now get Summaries and Action Items with a single API call. Build features that deliver concise recaps and a clear list of follow-ups after every meeting. No extra pipelines, no manual parsing. Just structured insights, ready to act on.

Why meetings need more than transcripts

Meeting transcripts and recordings are valuable, but they rarely drive action on their own. What teams really need are the takeaways: decisions made and who owns the next steps. Until now, that meant wiring up third-party AI tools or relying on raw transcripts and manual reviews. This workflow created friction, added cost, and slowed adoption.

Summaries and Action Items change the game by making meetings actionable out of the box.

From recordings to ready-to-use insights

With this release, Notetaker can now deliver:

  • A concise summary for every transcript and recording
  • Action items with clear ownership and next steps
  • Each recording produces exactly one summary and one set of action items
  • Seamless integration into CRMs, coaching tools, and collaboration platforms
  • Flexible prompts so developers can tailor outputs to specific frameworks (for example, MEDDPICC for sales calls)

Add Summaries and Action Items 

Developers can enable the feature with a simple POST /notetakers call:

POST /v3/grants/{GRANT_ID}/notetakers
POST /v3/notetakers

"meeting_settings": {
"summary": true,
"summary_settings": {
	"custom_instructions": "Use the MEDDPICC sales framework"
},
"action_items": true,
"action_items_settings": {
	"custom_instructions": "Attribute action items to specific speakers and timestamps"
}
}

Summaries and action items can also be enabled through the Notetaker’s calendar and event sync, so all of your user’s meetings are analyzed.

Calendar:
POST /v3/grants/{GRANT_ID}/calendars
PUT /v3/grants/{GRANT_ID}/calendars/{CALENDAR_ID}

Event:
POST /v3/grants/{GRANT_ID}/events
PUT /v3/grants/{GRANT_ID}/events/{EVENT_ID}

"notetaker": {
"meeting_settings": {
"action_items": true,
"action_items_settings": {
"custom_instructions": "Only return the 5 most important action items."
},
"audio_recording": true,
"summary": true,
"summary_settings": {
"custom_instructions": "Use the MEDDPICC sales methodology."
},
"transcription": true,
"video_recording": true
}
}

And when you request the media from the recording, you get a response body like this alongside the recordings, transcript, and video thumbnail:

"action_items": {
"created_at": 1703088000,
"expires_at": 1704297600,
"name": "meeting_action_items.json",
"size": 289,
"ttl": 3600,
"type": "application/json",
"url": "<ACTION_ITEMS_URL>"
},
"summary": {
"created_at": 1703088000,
"expires_at": 1704297600,
"name": "meeting_summary.json",
"size": 437,
"ttl": 3600,
"type": "application/json",
"url": "<SUMMARY_URL>"
}

And your application can receive a notetaker.media webhook that looks like this:

"media": {
"recording": "<RECORDING_URL>",
"recording_duration": "1800",
"thumbnail": "<THUMBNAIL_URL>",
"transcript": "<TRANSCRIPT_URL>",
"summary": "<SUMMARY_URL>",
"action_items": "<ACTION_ITEMS_URL>"
}

Once enabled:

  • Each recording automatically includes a summary and action items
  • Outputs appear in the /media endpoint
  • The media.updated webhook notifies your app as soon as the outputs are ready

No extra pipelines. No manual parsing. Just actionable outputs built into Notetaker.

Powering productivity across tools

  • CRMs and sales platforms: Automatically log call summaries and next steps into your deal workflow
  • Sales coaching tools: Provide managers with structured artifacts for performance reviews
  • Collaboration platforms: Turn meeting discussions into tasks inside your workflow tools

The Notetaker feature every team will use

Summaries and Action Items are the outputs that people engage with the most after a meeting. Few rewatch full recordings, but nearly everyone reads a summary and checks task lists. These outputs keep projects moving forward and make meetings actionable.

For developers, this means faster go to market for this functionality, lower maintenance, and a smoother end-user experience.
For teams, it means clearer accountability, fewer missed follow-ups, and more productive meetings.

Get started today

Summaries and Action Items are available now for all Nylas Notetaker users. Enable them with a single API call and start delivering actionable meeting intelligence in minutes.

👉 Want to try it out? Sign in to your Nylas account or create a free Sandbox account to get started.

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