Add meeting capture with explicit start and stop (#253)

Maven can record a meeting when she is told to, transcribe it through the
STT she already has, and write a summary note. The audio lives in the blob
store #252 introduced, under the same retention loop.

Nothing here listens. Recorder.Append is the only way audio enters and it
refuses every frame unless someone explicitly started a session, so audio
arriving at an idle core is dropped rather than buffered. The plan document
asked for a keyword trigger ("maven record" heard in the room) and that is
refused: noticing a keyword means listening to the room, which is the one
behaviour this capability must not have.

Off unless configured twice over. No media block means nowhere to keep
audio, no capture block means no recorder, and in either case the four IPC
methods answer ErrUnknownMethod. On an unconfigured box there is no wire
path that begins a recording at all.

A forgotten session ends itself at max_minutes, checked on every append,
and the audio collected before the cap is kept. Stop with discard set is
what "забудь, не записывай" maps to and it leaves nothing behind. The
verbatim transcript is not saved unless save_transcript says so; the
summary is.

Long audio against n_ctx 4096 is handled by map-reduce over 3000-rune
windows rather than by truncation, because a truncated meeting summary
reads as complete and is not. Transcription is windowed at five minutes so
the whisper worker stays responsive to the voice path.

No second STT: internal/capture takes the stt.Transcriber the voice path
already holds. Capture with voice off is refused rather than degraded,
since hours of unreadable audio of other people is worse than no recording.

The three write methods are AuthWrite, not AuthStepUp: step-up needs a
passkey gesture the voice path cannot make, which would leave "запиши
встречу" impossible by voice. capture_status is AuthRead.

make build and make test both pass.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01TrVSBKe3RFDF4fGYKWYQnX

cmd/mavend/capture.go

@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+// mavend/capture.go — core's half of the meeting recorder (Vikunja #253,
+// docs/plans/08-hearing.md).
+//
+// The split: a client that has a microphone (mavenclient, or a phone on the PWA)
+// is told to start, streams frames over ipc.MethodCaptureAppend, and is told to
+// stop. Core keeps the PCM, stores it as a WAV blob under the same media store
+// and the same retention as images, transcribes it through the ONE STT Maven has
+// (mavsttd's whisper.cpp, reused — not a second engine), and summarises the
+// transcript on the resident model in windows that fit n_ctx 4096.
+//
+// # Off unless configured, twice over
+//
+// No `media` block ⇒ nowhere to keep audio ⇒ the four capture methods do not
+// exist. No `capture` block with enabled ⇒ they still do not exist. On an
+// unconfigured box there is no wire path that starts a recording, which is the
+// only guarantee worth making about a capability like this one.
+//
+// # What this file refuses to do
+//
+//   - Nothing listens. There is no VAD hook here, no wake-word branch, no
+//     "start when you hear a meeting". The plan document's keyword-triggered
+//     recorder is refused in internal/capture's package comment for the reason
+//     that applies here too: noticing a keyword requires listening, which is
+//     the behaviour this capability must not have.
+//   - No transcript note by default. The summary is written where he will read
+//     it; the verbatim record of what other people said takes a deliberate
+//     capture.save_transcript.
+//   - The transcript is never search input beyond this box, and the audio never
+//     leaves it at all.
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/capture"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/config"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/llm"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/phraser"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/router"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
+)
+
+// captureSummaryTimeout — the budget for one Stop, which is a map-reduce over
+// the whole meeting: one model call per transcript window plus a reduce, each of
+// which is seconds on this box. Forty windows is the configured ceiling, so the
+// budget has to be minutes, not the 60s the reply path uses.
+const captureSummaryTimeout = 20 * time.Minute
+
+// llmCompleter adapts *llm.Client to capture.Completer. The pure package names
+// the two strings it needs and stays free of the llm request struct; the client
+// itself is the swap-aware one from llmClientFor, so a model swap re-points it.
+type llmCompleter struct {
+	c         *llm.Client
+	maxTokens int
+}
+
+func (l llmCompleter) Complete(ctx context.Context, system, user string) (string, error) {
+	return l.c.Complete(ctx, llm.Req{System: system, User: user, MaxTokens: l.maxTokens})
+}
+
+// captureWiring — the recorder plus what it needs to write the result down.
+type captureWiring struct {
+	rec *capture.Recorder
+	st  *store.Store
+	emb router.Embedder
+	cfg *config.CaptureConfig
+	now func() time.Time
+}
+
+// newCaptureWiring returns nil when the recorder should not exist: no media
+// store, no capture block, capture disabled, or no STT to transcribe with.
+//
+// A missing llama-server is NOT a reason to return nil. Without one the
+// recording is still made, stored and transcribed, and the summary is simply
+// absent — the honest degradation, and much better than refusing to record a
+// meeting that is happening now.
+func newCaptureWiring(keeper *mediaKeeper, st *store.Store, voiceW *voiceWiring, phr phraser.Phraser, emb router.Embedder, cfg *config.Config) *captureWiring {
+	if keeper == nil || !cfg.Capture.Records() {
+		return nil
+	}
+	tr := transcriberOf(voiceW)
+	if tr == nil {
+		// Voice off ⇒ no STT client ⇒ nothing could turn the audio into words.
+		// Storing hours of unreadable audio of other people is worse than not
+		// recording, so this is a refusal, not a degradation.
+		log.Printf("capture: enabled but voice/stt is not wired — meeting capture disabled")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	cc := cfg.Capture
+	var sum *capture.Summarizer
+	if lp, ok := phr.(*phraser.LLMPhraser); ok {
+		client := llmClientFor(lp, captureSummaryTimeout)
+		sum = capture.NewSummarizer(
+			llmCompleter{c: client, maxTokens: 512},
+			cc.ChunkRunes, cc.MaxChunks, contextBlockFn(cfg, time.Now),
+		)
+	} else {
+		log.Printf("capture: no llama-server phraser — meetings are transcribed, not summarised")
+	}
+
+	rec, err := capture.New(keeper.store, tr, sum, capture.Config{
+		MaxDuration: cc.MaxDuration(),
+		STTWindow:   time.Duration(cc.STTWindow),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("capture: %v — meeting capture disabled", err)
+		return nil
+	}
+	log.Printf("capture: enabled, sessions capped at %s", rec.MaxDuration())
+	return &captureWiring{rec: rec, st: st, emb: emb, cfg: cc, now: time.Now}
+}
+
+// start handles ipc.MethodCaptureStart.
+func (c *captureWiring) start(_ context.Context, req ipc.CaptureStartReq) (ipc.CaptureStartResp, error) {
+	s, err := c.rec.Start(req.Label)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ipc.CaptureStartResp{}, err
+	}
+	// The label is logged; nothing that was said ever is.
+	log.Printf("capture: started %q", s.Label)
+	return ipc.CaptureStartResp{
+		Label:      s.Label,
+		Started:    s.Started,
+		MaxSeconds: int(c.rec.MaxDuration().Seconds()),
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// append handles ipc.MethodCaptureAppend. ErrExpired is reported as a successful
+// response with Expired set rather than an error: the cap firing is the designed
+// behaviour, and the client needs the flag to stop sending and call stop.
+func (c *captureWiring) append(_ context.Context, req ipc.CaptureAppendReq) (ipc.CaptureAppendResp, error) {
+	err := c.rec.Append(req.Audio)
+	st := c.rec.Status()
+	if errors.Is(err, capture.ErrExpired) {
+		log.Printf("capture: %q hit the %s cap — stopping", st.Label, c.rec.MaxDuration())
+		return ipc.CaptureAppendResp{Seconds: st.Duration.Seconds(), Expired: true}, nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return ipc.CaptureAppendResp{}, err
+	}
+	return ipc.CaptureAppendResp{Seconds: st.Duration.Seconds()}, nil
+}
+
+// stop handles ipc.MethodCaptureStop.
+//
+// The error handling here mirrors vision's, and for the same reason: the audio is
+// stored first, so a transcription or summary failure returns what exists rather
+// than nothing. A response can carry a blob id with no transcript (STT failed,
+// re-runnable), or a transcript with no summary (the model failed, the words are
+// kept) — both are degraded successes and neither is an error to the caller.
+func (c *captureWiring) stop(ctx context.Context, req ipc.CaptureStopReq) (ipc.CaptureStopResp, error) {
+	if req.Discard {
+		// "забудь, не записывай" — nothing is stored, transcribed or noted.
+		if !c.rec.Abort() {
+			return ipc.CaptureStopResp{}, capture.ErrNoSession
+		}
+		log.Printf("capture: session discarded on request")
+		return ipc.CaptureStopResp{Discarded: true}, nil
+	}
+
+	res, err := c.rec.Stop(ctx)
+	resp := ipc.CaptureStopResp{
+		BlobID:     res.BlobID,
+		Label:      res.Label,
+		Started:    res.Started,
+		Seconds:    res.Duration.Seconds(),
+		Transcript: res.Transcript,
+		Summary:    res.Summary,
+		Chunks:     res.Chunks,
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		if res.BlobID == "" && res.Transcript == "" {
+			// Nothing survived: no session, or an empty recording. There is
+			// nothing to hand back, so this is a real error.
+			return ipc.CaptureStopResp{}, err
+		}
+		log.Printf("capture: %q partially finished: %v", res.Label, err)
+	}
+
+	if id, werr := c.writeNotes(ctx, res); werr != nil {
+		log.Printf("capture: note write for %q failed: %v", res.Label, werr)
+	} else {
+		resp.NoteID = id
+	}
+	log.Printf("capture: finished %q — %s of audio, %d summary chunk(s)",
+		res.Label, res.Duration.Round(time.Second), res.Chunks)
+	return resp, nil
+}
+
+// writeNotes stores the summary as a note, and the transcript too when
+// capture.save_transcript is set. Returns the summary note's id, or 0 when there
+// was no summary to write.
+//
+// The note source carries the blob id, which is the only link back to the audio.
+// When retention prunes the blob the note remains — words about a meeting are a
+// far lighter thing to keep than a recording of it.
+func (c *captureWiring) writeNotes(ctx context.Context, res capture.Result) (int64, error) {
+	source := "capture:meeting"
+	if res.BlobID != "" {
+		source = "capture:meeting:" + res.BlobID[:12]
+	}
+	var id int64
+	if text := res.Summary; text != "" {
+		var err error
+		id, err = c.writeNote(ctx, text, source)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("summary note: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+	if c.cfg.SaveTranscript && res.Transcript != "" {
+		if _, err := c.writeNote(ctx, res.Transcript, source+":transcript"); err != nil {
+			return id, fmt.Errorf("transcript note: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+	return id, nil
+}
+
+func (c *captureWiring) writeNote(ctx context.Context, text, source string) (int64, error) {
+	var vec []float32
+	if c.emb != nil {
+		// EmbedPassage, not Embed: this is text being searched FOR, and the e5
+		// embedder is asymmetric. Backwards here makes the meeting unfindable by
+		// the question that should have matched it.
+		var err error
+		vec, err = router.EmbedPassage(ctx, c.emb, text)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("embed: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+	return c.st.WriteNote(ctx, c.now(), text, vec, source)
+}
+
+// status handles ipc.MethodCaptureStatus.
+func (c *captureWiring) status(_ context.Context) (ipc.CaptureStatusResp, error) {
+	st := c.rec.Status()
+	return ipc.CaptureStatusResp{
+		Running: st.Running,
+		Label:   st.Label,
+		Started: st.Started,
+		Seconds: st.Duration.Seconds(),
+		Bytes:   st.Bytes,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// wireCapture installs the four IPC hooks, or leaves them nil so every capture
+// method reports ErrUnknownMethod. Takes the media keeper wireVision already
+// opened: one blob store, one retention loop, images and audio side by side.
+func wireCapture(srv *ipc.Server, keeper *mediaKeeper, st *store.Store, voiceW *voiceWiring, phr phraser.Phraser, cfg *config.Config) {
+	cw := newCaptureWiring(keeper, st, voiceW, phr, embedderOf(voiceW), cfg)
+	if cw == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	srv.CaptureStartFn = cw.start
+	srv.CaptureAppendFn = cw.append
+	srv.CaptureStopFn = cw.stop
+	srv.CaptureStatusFn = cw.status
+}

cmd/mavend/feeds.go

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/router"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/rss"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/stt"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/webfetch"
 )
 
@@ -116,6 +117,17 @@ func embedderOf(w *voiceWiring) router.Embedder {
 	return w.embedder
 }
 
+// transcriberOf — the STT the voice path is using, or nil when voice is off.
+// The meeting recorder reuses it rather than dialling mavsttd a second time:
+// Maven has one speech-to-text engine and adding a second would mean two
+// whisper contexts competing for the same iGPU.
+func transcriberOf(w *voiceWiring) stt.Transcriber {
+	if w == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return w.transcriber
+}
+
 // feedFetcher adapts webfetch to rss.Fetcher — the pure package names the two
 // fields it needs and stays free of net/http.
 type feedFetcher struct{ f *webfetch.Fetcher }

cmd/mavend/main.go

@@ -335,7 +335,11 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 		wireModelSwap(srv, phr, cfg)
 		// Vision + the media blob store (Vikunja #252). Both stay dark without a
 		// media block; MethodDescribeImage answers ErrUnknownMethod then.
-		wireVision(ctx, srv, st, embedderOf(voiceW), cfg)
+		keeper := wireVision(ctx, srv, st, embedderOf(voiceW), cfg)
+		// The meeting recorder (Vikunja #253) shares that blob store and its
+		// retention loop. Off unless a capture block enables it, in which case
+		// all four capture methods answer ErrUnknownMethod.
+		wireCapture(srv, keeper, st, voiceW, phr, cfg)
 	}
 
 	// WrapKeyFn — wraps the env key with a passkey credential public key and
@@ -479,7 +483,8 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 			srv.Check = (&auth.Gate{Enrollment: auth.NewFloorEnrollment(), Session: passkeySess}).Check
 			wireMailIntake(srv, st, phr, cfg)
 			wireModelSwap(srv, phr, cfg)
-			wireVision(ctx, srv, st, embedderOf(voiceW), cfg)
+			keeper := wireVision(ctx, srv, st, embedderOf(voiceW), cfg)
+			wireCapture(srv, keeper, st, voiceW, phr, cfg)
 
 			// Start voice server.
 			if voiceW != nil {

cmd/mavend/vision.go

@@ -236,16 +236,22 @@ func sourceOrDefault(s string) string {
 // hook nil so ipc.MethodDescribeImage reports ErrUnknownMethod. Called on both
 // startup paths (unlocked boot and passkey unlock) so vision behaves the same
 // either way.
-func wireVision(ctx context.Context, srv *ipc.Server, st *store.Store, emb router.Embedder, cfg *config.Config) {
+//
+// Returns the media keeper so the meeting recorder can share it: one blob store
+// with one retention loop holds both the images and the audio, which is the
+// whole point of internal/media being a shared package. nil ⇒ no media block,
+// and neither capability exists.
+func wireVision(ctx context.Context, srv *ipc.Server, st *store.Store, emb router.Embedder, cfg *config.Config) *mediaKeeper {
 	keeper := openMediaStore(cfg)
 	if keeper == nil {
-		return
+		return nil
 	}
 	go keeper.runPrune(ctx)
 
 	vi := newVisionIntake(keeper, st, emb, cfg)
 	if vi == nil {
-		return
+		return keeper
 	}
 	srv.DescribeImageFn = vi.describe
+	return keeper
 }

cmd/mavend/voicewire.go

@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ type voiceWiring struct {
 	// mavsttd / mavttsd don't keep a stale conn into a restarting daemon.
 	sttClient *worker.Client
 	ttsClient *worker.Client
+	// transcriber — the STT in use, exposed so the meeting recorder
+	// (cmd/mavend/capture.go) can reuse it. Maven has exactly one STT and does
+	// not grow a second one for capture: this is the same whisper.cpp worker the
+	// voice path talks to.
+	transcriber stt.Transcriber
 	// mcp — the MCP client, nil unless the `mcp` block configures an enabled
 	// server (Vikunja #251). Its tools land in the same allowlist as every
 	// other act, so nothing else here has to know about it.
@@ -92,6 +97,7 @@ func wireVoice(cfg *config.Config, coreAPI ipc.CoreAPI, phr phraser.Phraser, mem
 	} else {
 		transcriber = stt.NewStub()
 	}
+	w.transcriber = transcriber
 
 	// ----- tts (Stub in-process OR Remote) -----
 	var synthesizer tts.Synthesizer

docs/plans/08-hearing.md

@@ -1,28 +1,121 @@
-# Plan: Hearing — Audio Stream Monitoring & Meeting Summarization
+# Plan: Hearing — Meeting Capture & Summarisation
 
-**Goal:** Maven can "hear" ambient audio from workpc — microphone input during meetings, system audio — and on demand (or on trigger) produce transcripts, summaries, or extract action items. A typical use case: "Maven, запиши встречу" starts capture, "хватит" stops it, and Maven writes a summary note.
+**Goal:** "Maven, запиши встречу" starts a recording, "хватит" stops it, and she writes a
+summary note. The audio stays on the box, is pruned by retention, and nothing is recorded that
+nobody asked for.
 
-**Done when:**
-- `internal/audio/capture.go` — remote microphone capture client (receives PCM stream from workpc over WebSocket or the existing voice TCP protocol)
-- `internal/stt/` — streaming transcription (uses existing `stt.Transcriber` interface, extended with streaming support)
-- Meeting capture triggered by voice command (IntentCapture) or configurable keyword ("maven record")
-- Raw audio is either streamed to STT in real-time or saved to a WAV file and transcribed after capture ends
-- Transcription + LLM summary is written as a note (`source:capture:meeting`) through `ipc.CoreAPI`
-- New `mavheary` module (`cmd/mavheard/`) — the workpc-side agent that captures mic/speaker audio and streams it to mavend
+**Status (2026-08-01):** the recorder, the storage, the chunked transcription, the map-reduce
+summariser, the config seam and the four IPC methods are shipped and tested. What is not
+shipped is the workpc-side microphone agent and the router intent — see "Still open".
 
-**Scope:**
-- New `cmd/mavheard/` — workpc-side agent: captures microphone (PortAudio or ALSA `arecord`), streams over WebSocket to mavend
-- `internal/audio/` extended with capture types: `MicCapture`, `SystemCapture`, `FileCapture`
-- `internal/stt/stt.go` extended with `StreamingTranscriber` interface (or reuse existing with chunked input)
-- Router: new `IntentCapture` intent for start/stop commands
-- Reuses `internal/llm.Client` for summarization
-- Reuses `internal/voice/server.go` TCP protocol for streaming audio
+## What shipped
 
-**Steps:**
-1. Create `cmd/mavheard/main.go` — workpc-side daemon: captures microphone via `arecord` pipe or PortAudio, opens WebSocket or TCP connection to mavend, streams PCM frames
-2. Create `internal/audio/capture.go` — `Capture` interface: `Start()`, `Stop()`, `AudioCh <-chan Audio`; implement `MicCapture` (reads from `mavheard` stream) and `FileCapture` (reads WAV)
-3. Extend `internal/stt/stt.go` — add `TranscribeStream(ctx, audio <-chan Audio) (string, error)` to `Transcriber` interface; `Stub` returns empty; `Remote` forwards chunks to worker socket
-4. Add `IntentCapture` to `internal/router/intent.go` — slots: `Action` ("start"/"stop"/"status"), `Duration`
-5. Wire capture handler in `cmd/mavend/voice.go:reactiveHandler` — start = spawn goroutine receiving audio, stream to STT; stop = finalize, send to LLM for summarization, write note via `WriteNote`
-6. Add capture config to `voice` block in `config.Config` — `{capture_enabled, capture_timeout}`
-7. Test with a recorded WAV file — simulate a meeting, verify transcription + summary note is created
+| Piece | Where |
+|---|---|
+| Session state machine: start / append / stop / abort / status | `internal/capture/capture.go` |
+| Map-reduce summarisation against `n_ctx` 4096 | `internal/capture/summarize.go` |
+| Audio blobs in the shared store, pruned by `media.retention` | `internal/media` (from #252) |
+| Config block `capture`, off by default | `internal/config/config.go` |
+| IPC `capture_start` / `capture_append` / `capture_stop` / `capture_status` | `internal/ipc/{wire,api,client,server}.go` |
+| Authority: the three write methods `AuthWrite`, status `AuthRead` | `internal/auth/policy.go` |
+| Daemon wiring, note write, STT reuse | `cmd/mavend/capture.go` |
+
+The audio lands in the same content-addressed blob store as images, under the same retention
+loop, because #252 and #253 have the same intake problem and solving it twice would mean two
+directories to remember to prune.
+
+## The refusals, and why
+
+**Nothing listens.** The original step 8 called for capture "triggered by voice command
+(IntentCapture) **or configurable keyword ('maven record')**". The keyword half is refused.
+Noticing a keyword requires listening to the room continuously, which is precisely the
+behaviour this capability must not have, and the refusal is in the code rather than in a
+comment: `Recorder.Append` is the only way audio enters, and it returns `ErrNoSession` unless
+someone explicitly started a session. Audio arriving at an idle core is dropped, not buffered
+"just in case".
+
+**Off unless configured, twice over.** No `media` block ⇒ nowhere to keep audio ⇒ the four
+methods do not exist. No `capture` block with `enabled: true` ⇒ they still do not exist. On an
+unconfigured box there is no wire path at all that begins a recording. That is the only
+guarantee worth making here, and it is the reason the hooks use the nil-hook ⇒
+`ErrUnknownMethod` pattern rather than an in-handler check.
+
+**A forgotten session ends itself.** `max_minutes` defaults to 120 and is checked on every
+append, not on a timer that could be missed. Past the cap `Append` returns `ErrExpired`
+permanently, so a client that ignores the error cannot grow the recording; the audio collected
+before the cap is kept and `Stop` still works.
+
+**"Забудь, не записывай" leaves nothing behind.** `capture_stop` with `discard: true` throws
+the session away without storing, transcribing or summarising anything — not a blob with a note
+saying it was abandoned. Nothing.
+
+**The transcript is not saved by default.** The summary is written where he will read it; the
+verbatim record of what other people said in a room is a heavier thing to keep and takes a
+deliberate `save_transcript: true`. The audio blob is pruned by `media.retention` either way.
+
+**No second STT.** Step 3 of the original plan extended the `Transcriber` interface with
+streaming. Not needed and not done: whisper.cpp already runs as `mavsttd`, and `internal/capture`
+takes the ordinary `stt.Transcriber` the voice path already holds (exposed as
+`voiceWiring.transcriber`). Long recordings are handed over in five-minute windows —
+`chunkAudio`, cut on sample boundaries — for the same reason whisper itself works in 30-second
+windows: an hour of PCM in one call either times out or blocks the voice path for minutes.
+Capture with voice off is refused rather than degraded, because storing hours of unreadable
+audio of other people is worse than not recording.
+
+**Not `AuthStepUp`.** Recording people is invasive enough to argue for the top rung, and it is
+still wrong: step-up needs a passkey gesture, which the voice path cannot make, so
+"запиши встречу" could never work by voice — the only way he will actually use this. `AuthWrite`
+plus the off-unless-configured gate is the honest combination.
+
+## Long audio against a 4096-token context
+
+The resident model is a Thinking variant at `n_ctx` 4096, so an hour of transcript does not fit
+in one prompt and never will. `summarize.go` does map-reduce and nothing cleverer: split the
+transcript on sentence boundaries into 3000-rune windows (about 1100 Qwen tokens of Russian,
+leaving room for the persona block, the reasoning and the answer), summarise each, then
+summarise the summaries. A transcript that fits in one window skips the reduce step.
+
+Truncation was the alternative and is rejected: a truncated meeting summary reads as complete
+and is not, and he would act on it. Past `max_chunks` (40, roughly the two-hour cap) the
+transcript *is* cut, and the summary says so in the note.
+
+Two degradations are deliberate and both are reported rather than hidden:
+
+- No llama-server ⇒ transcript, no summary. The words exist.
+- The reduce call fails ⇒ the per-chunk summaries are returned joined. Real work, not thrown
+  away over the last call.
+
+The map and reduce prompts contain no first person at all, so the persona's feminine-form rules
+have nothing to get wrong in them; the reply she actually gives him is phrased by the ordinary
+replier, which does carry the persona.
+
+## Config
+
+```json
+"media": { "dir": "media", "retention": "168h" },
+"capture": {
+  "enabled": true,
+  "max_minutes": 120,
+  "stt_window": "5m",
+  "chunk_runes": 3000,
+  "max_chunks": 40,
+  "save_transcript": false
+}
+```
+
+Both absent by default. `capture` alone does nothing without `media`.
+
+## Still open
+
+- **`cmd/mavheard`** — the workpc-side microphone agent. Deferred, not refused: the core half
+  is the part with the invariants in it, and a mic client is straightforward once there is a
+  stable wire to stream at. It should be an explicit-start process, not a resident one, for the
+  same reason the recorder has no keyword trigger. The four IPC methods are the wire it will
+  use; `mavenclient` already has the mic plumbing to borrow.
+- **Router intent.** "запиши встречу" / "хватит" does not route anywhere yet. It needs the
+  `system` intent plus slots, and it needs care: "хватит" is also how someone tells her to stop
+  talking, so the recorder's stop and the speech barge-in must not collide.
+- **A `/dash` panel** showing a running session, so a recording is visible on a surface and not
+  only in a log line.
+- **Speaker attribution** — who said what — is #255 and is blocked on a model; see
+  `docs/plans/10-speaker-recognition.md`.

internal/auth/auth_test.go

@@ -416,3 +416,29 @@ func TestRequirement_SwapModel(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("SwapModel with no asserted step-up = %v; want ErrForbidden", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestRequirement_Capture — recording other people is a write, not a read: it
+// puts audio of them on disk. The read side, "что ты записываешь?", is not.
+//
+// It is deliberately NOT AuthStepUp. Step-up needs a passkey gesture, which the
+// voice path cannot make, so putting it there would mean "запиши встречу" could
+// never work by voice. The real gate on this capability is that the methods do
+// not exist at all unless the operator enabled a capture block.
+func TestRequirement_Capture(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, m := range []ipc.Method{
+		ipc.MethodCaptureStart, ipc.MethodCaptureAppend, ipc.MethodCaptureStop,
+	} {
+		if got := Requirement(m); got != AuthWrite {
+			t.Errorf("%s authority = %v; want AuthWrite", m, got)
+		}
+	}
+	if got := Requirement(ipc.MethodCaptureStatus); got != AuthRead {
+		t.Errorf("CaptureStatus authority = %v; want AuthRead", got)
+	}
+	// Voice can start one: it is the surface he will actually use to say
+	// "запиши встречу", and it carries AuthWrite.
+	voice := Scope{Surface: SurfaceVoice, Module: "voice", SourceScope: []string{"*"}}
+	if err := Can(ipc.MethodCaptureStart, voice, nil); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("voice starting a capture = %v; want allowed", err)
+	}
+}

internal/auth/policy.go

@@ -60,6 +60,21 @@ func Requirement(m ipc.Method) Authority {
 		// and for the same reason: nothing Maven says or does may reach it.
 		// MethodModelStatus is only the read side, so it stays at AuthRead.
 		return AuthStepUp
+	case ipc.MethodCaptureStart, ipc.MethodCaptureAppend, ipc.MethodCaptureStop:
+		// Recording a meeting (Vikunja #253). AuthWrite, not AuthRead: it puts
+		// audio of other people on disk, which is a heavier thing than reading a
+		// fact, and it is not something a read-only surface should be able to
+		// begin. Append and Stop sit on the same rung as Start deliberately —
+		// a surface that may not start a recording has no business feeding or
+		// harvesting one either.
+		//
+		// Not AuthStepUp, and this is the interesting line: step-up needs a
+		// passkey gesture, which the voice path cannot make. Putting it here
+		// would mean "запиши встречу" could never work by voice, and the real
+		// gate on this capability is elsewhere and stronger — the methods do not
+		// exist at all unless the operator enabled a capture block, and no
+		// recording can begin without someone saying so.
+		return AuthWrite
 	case ipc.MethodWriteFact:
 		return AuthWrite
 	case ipc.MethodAssertStepUp:
@@ -95,6 +110,9 @@ func Requirement(m ipc.Method) Authority {
 		// the box, which internal/vision enforces by refusing a non-private
 		// endpoint.
 		ipc.MethodDescribeImage,
+		// "что ты записываешь?" — the read side of the recorder. It reports a
+		// label, a start time and a byte count, begins nothing and keeps nothing.
+		ipc.MethodCaptureStatus,
 		// The read side of the model swap: which model is resident, which ones are
 		// allowlisted. It loads nothing and changes nothing.
 		ipc.MethodModelStatus:

internal/capture/capture.go

@@ -0,0 +1,404 @@
+// Package capture is Maven's meeting recorder (Vikunja #253,
+// docs/plans/08-hearing.md).
+//
+// One session at a time, with an explicit start and an explicit stop:
+//
+//	Start("встреча")  → audio frames appended → Stop() → transcript → summary
+//
+// # Nothing here listens
+//
+// This is the most invasive capability in the backlog and the design is
+// constrained accordingly. The constraints are the code, not a preamble:
+//
+//   - There is no ambient path. `Session.Append` is the only way audio enters,
+//     and it only accepts frames while a session someone started is running.
+//     A keyword-triggered recorder ("maven record" heard in the room) was in the
+//     plan document and is refused: it requires listening in order to notice the
+//     keyword, which is the exact behaviour this capability must not have.
+//   - A session that is not stopped stops itself. MaxDuration is a hard cap
+//     checked on every Append, not a suggestion; a forgotten recording is a
+//     recording that ends, not one that runs until the disk is full.
+//   - Audio is stored under internal/media, which means retention prunes it and
+//     it never leaves the box. Both the audio blob and the transcript stay
+//     local; only the summary is written where he will read it.
+//   - The transcript is never search input for anything outside this box. It is
+//     text about a conversation with other people in it.
+//
+// # Long audio against a 4096-token context
+//
+// The resident model is a Thinking variant at n_ctx 4096, so an hour of meeting
+// transcript does not fit in one prompt and never will. summarize.go does the
+// obvious map-reduce: split the transcript on sentence boundaries into windows
+// that fit, summarise each, then summarise the summaries. That is handled
+// explicitly rather than by truncation, because a truncated meeting summary is
+// worse than none — it looks complete and is not.
+//
+// # Transcription
+//
+// There is exactly one STT in Maven and this package does not add a second: it
+// takes an stt.Transcriber, which in deploy is the whisper.cpp worker behind
+// cmd/mavsttd. Long audio is transcribed in windows too (see chunkAudio), for
+// the same reason whisper itself works in 30s windows — handing a worker an hour
+// of PCM in one call is a request that either times out or blocks everything
+// else for minutes.
+package capture
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/audio"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/media"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/stt"
+)
+
+// DefaultMaxDuration — how long one capture may run before it stops itself.
+// Two hours covers a long meeting and bounds the damage of a forgotten session:
+// at 16 kHz mono that is about 230 MB of PCM, which is over media's default
+// per-blob cap, so a session at the limit is stored truncated rather than
+// refused. That trade is deliberate — a partial recording of a meeting he asked
+// for beats an error after two hours.
+const DefaultMaxDuration = 2 * time.Hour
+
+// DefaultSTTWindow — how much audio goes to the transcriber in one call. Five
+// minutes of 16 kHz mono is under 10 MB, transcribes in well under whisper's
+// own timeout on this box, and keeps the worker responsive to the voice path
+// between windows.
+const DefaultSTTWindow = 5 * time.Minute
+
+// Errors callers distinguish.
+var (
+	// ErrDisabled — capture is not configured. A capability is off unless
+	// configured, and a recorder most of all.
+	ErrDisabled = errors.New("capture: not configured")
+	// ErrBusy — a session is already running. One at a time: two concurrent
+	// recordings would make "хватит" ambiguous.
+	ErrBusy = errors.New("capture: a session is already running")
+	// ErrNoSession — stop or append with nothing running.
+	ErrNoSession = errors.New("capture: nothing is being recorded")
+	// ErrBadFormat — a frame is not the canonical 16 kHz mono PCM shape.
+	ErrBadFormat = errors.New("capture: audio format not supported")
+	// ErrEmptyCapture — the session ended with no audio in it.
+	ErrEmptyCapture = errors.New("capture: nothing was recorded")
+	// ErrExpired — the session hit MaxDuration and was closed. Returned from
+	// Append so the caller stops sending; the audio collected so far is kept.
+	ErrExpired = errors.New("capture: session reached its time limit")
+)
+
+// Session — one recording in progress. Not created directly; Recorder.Start
+// makes it. Guarded by a mutex because frames arrive from a network goroutine
+// while a status call may read from another.
+type Session struct {
+	Label   string
+	Started time.Time
+
+	mu      sync.Mutex
+	pcm     []byte
+	format  audio.Format
+	expired bool
+}
+
+// Duration is how much audio has been collected, from the bytes rather than the
+// wall clock: a stream that dropped frames should report the audio that exists,
+// not the time that passed.
+func (s *Session) Duration() time.Duration {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	return s.duration()
+}
+
+func (s *Session) duration() time.Duration {
+	a := audio.Audio{Format: s.format, Bytes: s.pcm}
+	return time.Duration(a.Duration() * float64(time.Second))
+}
+
+// Bytes is how much PCM has been collected. For a status line.
+func (s *Session) Bytes() int {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	return len(s.pcm)
+}
+
+// Status — what a "что записываешь?" answer needs, and what /dash shows. It is
+// the read side of a running session and is safe to ask for at any time.
+type Status struct {
+	Running  bool          `json:"running"`
+	Label    string        `json:"label,omitempty"`
+	Started  time.Time     `json:"started,omitempty"`
+	Duration time.Duration `json:"duration,omitempty"`
+	Bytes    int           `json:"bytes,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Recorder owns the single session slot, the blob store and the two models a
+// finished capture needs. Build it with New; a zero Recorder is not usable.
+type Recorder struct {
+	blobs       *media.Store
+	tr          stt.Transcriber
+	sum         *Summarizer
+	maxDuration time.Duration
+	sttWindow   time.Duration
+	now         func() time.Time
+
+	mu      sync.Mutex
+	current *Session
+}
+
+// Config — the recorder's knobs, built from config.CaptureConfig by the daemon.
+type Config struct {
+	// MaxDuration — hard cap on one session. 0 ⇒ DefaultMaxDuration.
+	MaxDuration time.Duration
+	// STTWindow — audio per transcription call. 0 ⇒ DefaultSTTWindow.
+	STTWindow time.Duration
+}
+
+// New builds a Recorder. blobs and tr are required — a recorder with nowhere to
+// put the audio, or nothing to transcribe it with, is not a recorder. sum may be
+// nil: the transcript is still produced and stored, and the summary is simply
+// absent, which is the honest degradation when there is no llama-server.
+func New(blobs *media.Store, tr stt.Transcriber, sum *Summarizer, cfg Config) (*Recorder, error) {
+	if blobs == nil {
+		return nil, errors.New("capture: no blob store")
+	}
+	if tr == nil {
+		return nil, errors.New("capture: no transcriber")
+	}
+	maxDur := cfg.MaxDuration
+	if maxDur <= 0 {
+		maxDur = DefaultMaxDuration
+	}
+	window := cfg.STTWindow
+	if window <= 0 {
+		window = DefaultSTTWindow
+	}
+	return &Recorder{
+		blobs:       blobs,
+		tr:          tr,
+		sum:         sum,
+		maxDuration: maxDur,
+		sttWindow:   window,
+		now:         time.Now,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// MaxDuration is the configured hard cap. For the reply that tells him how long
+// she will keep going if he forgets to say "хватит".
+func (r *Recorder) MaxDuration() time.Duration { return r.maxDuration }
+
+// Start opens a session. label is what the meeting is called ("встреча с
+// подрядчиком"); it ends up in the summary note so the note is findable.
+// ErrBusy if one is already running — the caller says so rather than silently
+// discarding the first recording.
+func (r *Recorder) Start(label string) (*Session, error) {
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	defer r.mu.Unlock()
+	if r.current != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %q since %s", ErrBusy, r.current.Label,
+			r.current.Started.Format(time.Kitchen))
+	}
+	s := &Session{
+		Label:   strings.TrimSpace(label),
+		Started: r.now().UTC(),
+		format:  audio.PCM16kMono,
+	}
+	r.current = s
+	return s, nil
+}
+
+// Append adds one frame to the running session. ErrNoSession when nothing is
+// running, which is the guard that makes an ambient path impossible: a stream
+// arriving at a Recorder nobody started is refused frame by frame.
+//
+// ErrExpired once the session is at MaxDuration. The audio collected so far is
+// kept and Stop still works — the cap ends the recording, it does not throw it
+// away.
+func (r *Recorder) Append(a audio.Audio) error {
+	if !a.Format.IsValid() {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %+v", ErrBadFormat, a.Format)
+	}
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	s := r.current
+	r.mu.Unlock()
+	if s == nil {
+		return ErrNoSession
+	}
+
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	if s.expired {
+		return ErrExpired
+	}
+	s.pcm = append(s.pcm, a.Bytes...)
+	if s.duration() >= r.maxDuration {
+		s.expired = true
+		return ErrExpired
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Status reports the running session, or Running=false.
+func (r *Recorder) Status() Status {
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	s := r.current
+	r.mu.Unlock()
+	if s == nil {
+		return Status{}
+	}
+	return Status{
+		Running:  true,
+		Label:    s.Label,
+		Started:  s.Started,
+		Duration: s.Duration(),
+		Bytes:    s.Bytes(),
+	}
+}
+
+// Result — a finished capture.
+type Result struct {
+	// BlobID — the stored audio, content-addressed. Empty only if storing failed.
+	BlobID string
+	// Label / Started / Duration — what was recorded and when.
+	Label    string
+	Started  time.Time
+	Duration time.Duration
+	// Transcript — the full text, joined across STT windows.
+	Transcript string
+	// Summary — the map-reduced summary, or empty when no summarizer was wired
+	// or the model failed. Empty summary with a non-empty transcript is a
+	// degraded success, not a failure: the words are there.
+	Summary string
+	// Chunks — how many windows the transcript was summarised in. 1 means it fit
+	// in one prompt. Reported so a suspiciously vague summary can be explained.
+	Chunks int
+}
+
+// Stop ends the session and produces the result: store the audio, transcribe it
+// in windows, summarise it in windows. The session slot is freed before any of
+// the slow work starts, so a stuck model cannot block the next recording.
+//
+// The order matters and is the same as vision's: the audio is stored FIRST. If
+// transcription or summarisation fails, the recording is still on disk and can
+// be run again; a meeting that happened once must not be lost to a model error.
+func (r *Recorder) Stop(ctx context.Context) (Result, error) {
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	s := r.current
+	r.current = nil
+	r.mu.Unlock()
+	if s == nil {
+		return Result{}, ErrNoSession
+	}
+
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	pcm := s.pcm
+	format := s.format
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+
+	res := Result{Label: s.Label, Started: s.Started}
+	if len(pcm) == 0 {
+		return res, ErrEmptyCapture
+	}
+	full := audio.Audio{Format: format, Bytes: pcm}
+	res.Duration = time.Duration(full.Duration() * float64(time.Second))
+
+	// Stored as WAV, not headerless PCM: a blob on disk that `aplay` and whisper
+	// can both open without being told the format is worth 44 bytes.
+	wav, err := audio.WAVFromPCM(format, pcm)
+	if err != nil {
+		return res, fmt.Errorf("capture: wav: %w", err)
+	}
+	blob, err := r.blobs.Put(media.KindAudio, "audio/wav", "capture:meeting", wav)
+	if err != nil {
+		// Over the per-blob cap is the expected case for a very long meeting.
+		// Report it and keep going: a transcript without the audio still beats
+		// nothing, and the words are what he will read.
+		return res, fmt.Errorf("capture: store audio: %w", err)
+	}
+	res.BlobID = blob.ID
+
+	text, err := r.transcribe(ctx, full)
+	if err != nil {
+		return res, fmt.Errorf("capture: transcribe: %w", err)
+	}
+	res.Transcript = text
+	if strings.TrimSpace(text) == "" {
+		return res, ErrEmptyCapture
+	}
+
+	if r.sum == nil {
+		return res, nil
+	}
+	summary, chunks, err := r.sum.Summarize(ctx, s.Label, text)
+	res.Chunks = chunks
+	if err != nil {
+		// Degraded success: the transcript is real and stored, only the summary
+		// is missing. The caller writes the transcript note and says so.
+		return res, fmt.Errorf("capture: summarize: %w", err)
+	}
+	res.Summary = summary
+	return res, nil
+}
+
+// Abort throws the running session away without transcribing or storing it.
+// This is what "забудь, не записывай" must map to: a recording someone changed
+// their mind about leaves nothing behind, not a blob with a note saying it was
+// abandoned. Returns whether anything was running.
+func (r *Recorder) Abort() bool {
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	defer r.mu.Unlock()
+	if r.current == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	r.current = nil
+	return true
+}
+
+// transcribe runs the transcriber over the audio in windows and joins the text.
+// A window that fails is fatal: a summary of a meeting with a silent hole in the
+// middle is a summary that misleads.
+func (r *Recorder) transcribe(ctx context.Context, a audio.Audio) (string, error) {
+	windows := chunkAudio(a, r.sttWindow)
+	parts := make([]string, 0, len(windows))
+	for i, w := range windows {
+		text, _, err := r.tr.Transcribe(ctx, w)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("window %d/%d: %w", i+1, len(windows), err)
+		}
+		if t := strings.TrimSpace(text); t != "" {
+			parts = append(parts, t)
+		}
+	}
+	return strings.Join(parts, " "), nil
+}
+
+// chunkAudio splits audio into windows of at most window duration, cut on
+// sample boundaries. A window shorter than one sample is impossible; audio
+// shorter than one window comes back as a single element, so the caller never
+// special-cases the short case.
+func chunkAudio(a audio.Audio, window time.Duration) []audio.Audio {
+	bytesPerSample := a.Format.SampleBits / 8 * a.Format.Channels
+	if bytesPerSample <= 0 || a.Format.SampleRate <= 0 || window <= 0 {
+		return []audio.Audio{a}
+	}
+	per := int(window.Seconds()) * a.Format.SampleRate * bytesPerSample
+	if per <= 0 || len(a.Bytes) <= per {
+		return []audio.Audio{a}
+	}
+	var out []audio.Audio
+	for off := 0; off < len(a.Bytes); off += per {
+		end := off + per
+		if end > len(a.Bytes) {
+			end = len(a.Bytes)
+		}
+		// Never cut mid-sample: a split inside an int16 shifts every following
+		// sample by a byte and turns the tail of the window into noise.
+		end -= (end - off) % bytesPerSample
+		if end <= off {
+			break
+		}
+		out = append(out, audio.Audio{Format: a.Format, Bytes: a.Bytes[off:end]})
+	}
+	return out
+}

internal/capture/capture_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,363 @@
+package capture
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/audio"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/media"
+)
+
+// fakeTranscriber returns a fixed phrase per call so a windowed transcription is
+// visible in the joined output.
+type fakeTranscriber struct {
+	calls  int
+	err    error
+	phrase string
+}
+
+func (f *fakeTranscriber) Transcribe(_ context.Context, a audio.Audio) (string, float64, error) {
+	f.calls++
+	if f.err != nil {
+		return "", 0, f.err
+	}
+	p := f.phrase
+	if p == "" {
+		p = "окно"
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%d", p, f.calls), 1.0, nil
+}
+
+// fakeCompleter records prompts and replies from a script.
+type fakeCompleter struct {
+	replies []string
+	systems []string
+	users   []string
+	err     error
+}
+
+func (f *fakeCompleter) Complete(_ context.Context, system, user string) (string, error) {
+	f.systems = append(f.systems, system)
+	f.users = append(f.users, user)
+	if f.err != nil {
+		return "", f.err
+	}
+	if len(f.replies) == 0 {
+		return "итог", nil
+	}
+	r := f.replies[0]
+	f.replies = f.replies[1:]
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// frame builds n seconds of silence in the canonical format.
+func frame(seconds float64) audio.Audio {
+	n := int(seconds*16000) * 2
+	return audio.Audio{Format: audio.PCM16kMono, Bytes: make([]byte, n)}
+}
+
+func testRecorder(t *testing.T, tr *fakeTranscriber, sum *Summarizer, cfg Config) (*Recorder, *media.Store) {
+	t.Helper()
+	blobs, err := media.Open(t.TempDir(), 0, 0)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	r, err := New(blobs, tr, sum, cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return r, blobs
+}
+
+func TestNewRequiresStoreAndTranscriber(t *testing.T) {
+	blobs, err := media.Open(t.TempDir(), 0, 0)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := New(nil, &fakeTranscriber{}, nil, Config{}); err == nil {
+		t.Error("recorder built with no blob store")
+	}
+	if _, err := New(blobs, nil, nil, Config{}); err == nil {
+		t.Error("recorder built with no transcriber")
+	}
+}
+
+// The invariant that matters most: audio arriving at a recorder nobody started
+// is refused. There is no ambient path in.
+func TestAppendWithoutStartIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, &fakeTranscriber{}, nil, Config{})
+	if err := r.Append(frame(1)); !errors.Is(err, ErrNoSession) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrNoSession", err)
+	}
+	if r.Status().Running {
+		t.Error("a refused frame started a session")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestStopWithoutStartIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, &fakeTranscriber{}, nil, Config{})
+	if _, err := r.Stop(context.Background()); !errors.Is(err, ErrNoSession) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrNoSession", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOneSessionAtATime(t *testing.T) {
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, &fakeTranscriber{}, nil, Config{})
+	if _, err := r.Start("встреча"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := r.Start("вторая"); !errors.Is(err, ErrBusy) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrBusy", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := r.Stop(context.Background()); !errors.Is(err, ErrEmptyCapture) {
+		t.Fatalf("empty stop: %v", err)
+	}
+	// The slot is free again after a stop, even a failed one.
+	if _, err := r.Start("третья"); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("slot not released: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRoundTripStoresAudioTranscriptAndSummary(t *testing.T) {
+	tr := &fakeTranscriber{phrase: "совещание"}
+	sum := NewSummarizer(&fakeCompleter{replies: []string{"— решили купить насос"}}, 0, 0, nil)
+	r, blobs := testRecorder(t, tr, sum, Config{})
+
+	if _, err := r.Start("встреча с подрядчиком"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		if err := r.Append(frame(2)); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	res, err := r.Stop(context.Background())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("stop: %v", err)
+	}
+	if res.BlobID == "" {
+		t.Error("no audio blob stored")
+	}
+	blob, data, err := blobs.Read(res.BlobID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("blob unreadable: %v", err)
+	}
+	if blob.Kind != media.KindAudio || blob.Source != "capture:meeting" {
+		t.Errorf("blob metadata = %+v", blob)
+	}
+	if string(data[:4]) != "RIFF" {
+		t.Error("audio was not stored as a playable WAV")
+	}
+	if res.Transcript == "" {
+		t.Error("no transcript")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(res.Summary, "насос") {
+		t.Errorf("summary = %q", res.Summary)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(res.Summary, "встреча с подрядчиком") {
+		t.Errorf("label missing from summary: %q", res.Summary)
+	}
+	if res.Duration != 6*time.Second {
+		t.Errorf("duration = %v, want 6s", res.Duration)
+	}
+}
+
+// A forgotten session stops itself, and the audio collected before the cap is
+// kept rather than thrown away.
+func TestMaxDurationEndsTheSessionAndKeepsAudio(t *testing.T) {
+	tr := &fakeTranscriber{}
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, tr, nil, Config{MaxDuration: 4 * time.Second})
+	if _, err := r.Start("длинная"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(3)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("first frame: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(3)); !errors.Is(err, ErrExpired) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrExpired", err)
+	}
+	// Further frames keep being refused, so a client that ignores the error
+	// cannot grow the recording past the cap.
+	if err := r.Append(frame(3)); !errors.Is(err, ErrExpired) {
+		t.Fatalf("post-expiry frame: %v", err)
+	}
+	res, err := r.Stop(context.Background())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("stop after expiry: %v", err)
+	}
+	if res.Duration != 6*time.Second {
+		t.Errorf("duration = %v, want the 6s collected before the cap", res.Duration)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAppendRejectsWrongFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, &fakeTranscriber{}, nil, Config{})
+	if _, err := r.Start("x"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	bad := audio.Audio{Format: audio.Format{SampleRate: 44100, Channels: 2, SampleBits: 16, Encoding: "pcm_s16le"}, Bytes: make([]byte, 100)}
+	if err := r.Append(bad); !errors.Is(err, ErrBadFormat) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrBadFormat", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// "забудь, не записывай" must leave nothing behind — no blob, no transcript.
+func TestAbortLeavesNothing(t *testing.T) {
+	tr := &fakeTranscriber{}
+	r, blobs := testRecorder(t, tr, nil, Config{})
+	if _, err := r.Start("зря начали"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(5)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !r.Abort() {
+		t.Fatal("Abort reported nothing running")
+	}
+	if r.Status().Running {
+		t.Error("session survived Abort")
+	}
+	list, err := blobs.List(media.KindAudio)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(list) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("Abort stored %d blob(s)", len(list))
+	}
+	if tr.calls != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("Abort transcribed anyway (%d calls)", tr.calls)
+	}
+	if r.Abort() {
+		t.Error("second Abort reported a session")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestStatusReportsTheRunningSession(t *testing.T) {
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, &fakeTranscriber{}, nil, Config{})
+	if got := r.Status(); got.Running {
+		t.Error("idle recorder reports running")
+	}
+	if _, err := r.Start("планёрка"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(10)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	st := r.Status()
+	if !st.Running || st.Label != "планёрка" {
+		t.Fatalf("status = %+v", st)
+	}
+	if st.Duration != 10*time.Second {
+		t.Errorf("duration = %v", st.Duration)
+	}
+	if st.Bytes != 10*16000*2 {
+		t.Errorf("bytes = %d", st.Bytes)
+	}
+}
+
+// Long audio goes to the transcriber in windows: handing a whisper worker an
+// hour of PCM in one call blocks the voice path for minutes.
+func TestLongAudioIsTranscribedInWindows(t *testing.T) {
+	tr := &fakeTranscriber{}
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, tr, nil, Config{STTWindow: 2 * time.Second})
+	if _, err := r.Start("длинная"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(9)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	res, err := r.Stop(context.Background())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("stop: %v", err)
+	}
+	if tr.calls != 5 { // 2+2+2+2+1
+		t.Errorf("transcriber called %d times, want 5", tr.calls)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(res.Transcript, "окно5") {
+		t.Errorf("last window missing from transcript: %q", res.Transcript)
+	}
+}
+
+// A hole in the middle of a meeting summary would mislead, so a failed window is
+// fatal — but the audio is already stored and re-runnable.
+func TestTranscriptionFailureKeepsTheAudio(t *testing.T) {
+	tr := &fakeTranscriber{err: errors.New("whisper is down")}
+	r, blobs := testRecorder(t, tr, nil, Config{})
+	if _, err := r.Start("встреча"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(2)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	res, err := r.Stop(context.Background())
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("transcription failure was not reported")
+	}
+	if res.BlobID == "" {
+		t.Fatal("no blob id to retry with")
+	}
+	if _, _, err := blobs.Read(res.BlobID); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("audio was not kept: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// No llama-server ⇒ transcript only. That is the honest degradation, not an
+// error.
+func TestNoSummarizerStillProducesATranscript(t *testing.T) {
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, &fakeTranscriber{}, nil, Config{})
+	if _, err := r.Start("встреча"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(1)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	res, err := r.Stop(context.Background())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("stop: %v", err)
+	}
+	if res.Transcript == "" {
+		t.Error("no transcript")
+	}
+	if res.Summary != "" {
+		t.Errorf("summary appeared from nowhere: %q", res.Summary)
+	}
+}
+
+// A summariser failure is a degraded success: the words exist and are returned.
+func TestSummaryFailureStillReturnsTheTranscript(t *testing.T) {
+	sum := NewSummarizer(&fakeCompleter{err: errors.New("llama is down")}, 0, 0, nil)
+	r, _ := testRecorder(t, &fakeTranscriber{}, sum, Config{})
+	if _, err := r.Start("встреча"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := r.Append(frame(1)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	res, err := r.Stop(context.Background())
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("summary failure was not reported")
+	}
+	if res.Transcript == "" {
+		t.Error("transcript lost to a summary failure")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestChunkAudioNeverCutsMidSample(t *testing.T) {
+	a := audio.Audio{Format: audio.PCM16kMono, Bytes: make([]byte, 16000*2*5+1)}
+	for _, w := range chunkAudio(a, 2*time.Second) {
+		if len(w.Bytes)%2 != 0 {
+			t.Fatalf("window of %d bytes cuts an int16 in half", len(w.Bytes))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestChunkAudioShortInputIsOneWindow(t *testing.T) {
+	a := frame(1)
+	if got := chunkAudio(a, time.Minute); len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("got %d windows, want 1", len(got))
+	}
+}

internal/capture/summarize.go

@@ -0,0 +1,261 @@
+package capture
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"unicode"
+)
+
+// DefaultChunkRunes — how much transcript goes into one summarisation prompt.
+//
+// The resident model runs at n_ctx 4096 and is a Thinking variant, so reasoning
+// tokens need room too. Russian runs roughly 2.5–3 characters per token on a
+// Qwen tokenizer, so 3000 runes is about 1100 tokens of transcript, leaving the
+// prompt, the persona block, the reasoning and the answer comfortable space.
+// This is the same reasoning internal/crawl used to land on 4000 runes, tightened
+// because a meeting transcript is denser in named entities than a web page and
+// the reduce step has to fit several summaries at once.
+const DefaultChunkRunes = 3000
+
+// DefaultMaxChunks — how many windows one meeting may be summarised in. Forty
+// chunks at 3000 runes is roughly a two-hour meeting, which is MaxDuration; past
+// that the transcript is truncated and the summary says so, because forty-one
+// sequential model calls on this box is half an hour of work nobody is waiting
+// through.
+const DefaultMaxChunks = 40
+
+// ErrNoSummary — the model returned nothing usable for every chunk.
+var ErrNoSummary = errors.New("capture: model produced no summary")
+
+// Completer is the one thing the summarizer needs from a model: text in, text
+// out. It is an interface rather than an *llm.Client so this package stays pure
+// and testable, and so the daemon can pass whatever it already has.
+type Completer interface {
+	Complete(ctx context.Context, system, user string) (string, error)
+}
+
+// Summarizer turns a transcript into something worth reading. It is map-reduce
+// and nothing cleverer: summarise each window, then summarise the summaries.
+//
+// Truncation was the alternative and is rejected. A truncated meeting summary
+// reads as complete and is not, which is worse than no summary at all — he would
+// act on it.
+type Summarizer struct {
+	llm        Completer
+	chunkRunes int
+	maxChunks  int
+	// context is the persona/context block the daemon prepends to every prompt,
+	// or empty. Passed in rather than built here so this package does not import
+	// internal/persona and the feminine self-reference rules stay in one place.
+	context func() string
+}
+
+// NewSummarizer wires a summarizer. llm nil ⇒ nil Summarizer, which Recorder
+// treats as "transcript only", the honest degradation with no llama-server.
+// chunkRunes ≤ 0 ⇒ DefaultChunkRunes; maxChunks ≤ 0 ⇒ DefaultMaxChunks.
+func NewSummarizer(llm Completer, chunkRunes, maxChunks int, contextBlock func() string) *Summarizer {
+	if llm == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if chunkRunes <= 0 {
+		chunkRunes = DefaultChunkRunes
+	}
+	if maxChunks <= 0 {
+		maxChunks = DefaultMaxChunks
+	}
+	if contextBlock == nil {
+		contextBlock = func() string { return "" }
+	}
+	return &Summarizer{llm: llm, chunkRunes: chunkRunes, maxChunks: maxChunks, context: contextBlock}
+}
+
+// chunkPrompt — the map step. Deliberately plain: this is not Maven speaking to
+// him, it is a model condensing text, so there is no first person in it at all
+// and therefore nothing for the persona's gender rules to get wrong. The reply
+// she gives him afterwards is phrased by the ordinary replier, which does carry
+// the persona.
+const chunkPrompt = `Ты обрабатываешь фрагмент расшифровки разговора.
+Сожми его до 2-4 пунктов: о чём говорили, какие решения приняли, какие задачи назвали.
+Без вступлений и выводов. Только по тексту — не придумывай того, чего в нём нет.
+Если во фрагменте нет ничего содержательного, ответь одним словом: пусто.`
+
+// reducePrompt — the reduce step. Same rules, over the chunk summaries.
+const reducePrompt = `Ниже — конспекты фрагментов одной встречи, по порядку.
+Собери из них один короткий итог: о чём была встреча, какие решения приняли, что кому делать.
+Не повторяйся, не придумывай, не добавляй вступлений.`
+
+// emptyMarker — what the map step answers for a chunk with nothing in it. Such
+// chunks are dropped before the reduce step rather than padding it with noise.
+const emptyMarker = "пусто"
+
+// Summarize returns the summary and the number of chunks the transcript was
+// split into. One chunk means it fit in a single prompt and the reduce step was
+// skipped, which is the common case for a short meeting and saves a model call.
+func (s *Summarizer) Summarize(ctx context.Context, label, transcript string) (string, int, error) {
+	if s == nil {
+		return "", 0, ErrDisabled
+	}
+	chunks := ChunkText(transcript, s.chunkRunes)
+	if len(chunks) == 0 {
+		return "", 0, ErrEmptyCapture
+	}
+	truncated := false
+	if len(chunks) > s.maxChunks {
+		chunks = chunks[:s.maxChunks]
+		truncated = true
+	}
+
+	system := s.context() + chunkPrompt
+	parts := make([]string, 0, len(chunks))
+	for i, c := range chunks {
+		out, err := s.llm.Complete(ctx, system, c)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", len(chunks), fmt.Errorf("chunk %d/%d: %w", i+1, len(chunks), err)
+		}
+		out = strings.TrimSpace(out)
+		if out == "" || strings.EqualFold(out, emptyMarker) {
+			continue
+		}
+		parts = append(parts, out)
+	}
+	if len(parts) == 0 {
+		return "", len(chunks), ErrNoSummary
+	}
+
+	summary := parts[0]
+	if len(parts) > 1 {
+		joined := strings.Join(parts, "\n\n")
+		reduced, err := s.llm.Complete(ctx, s.context()+reducePrompt, joined)
+		if err != nil {
+			// The per-chunk summaries are real work; hand them over rather than
+			// losing them to a failure in the last step.
+			return joined, len(chunks), fmt.Errorf("reduce: %w", err)
+		}
+		if r := strings.TrimSpace(reduced); r != "" {
+			summary = r
+		} else {
+			summary = joined
+		}
+	}
+	if label != "" {
+		summary = label + "\n\n" + summary
+	}
+	if truncated {
+		// Said in the note, not swallowed: a summary that silently covers the
+		// first hour of a three-hour meeting is the failure mode this guards.
+		summary += fmt.Sprintf("\n\n(расшифровка обрезана: обработано %d фрагментов из большего числа)", s.maxChunks)
+	}
+	return summary, len(chunks), nil
+}
+
+// ChunkText splits text into windows of at most maxRunes runes, cutting on
+// sentence boundaries where it can and on a word boundary otherwise. Exported
+// because it is the part worth testing on its own and the part a future
+// transcript viewer will want.
+//
+// A sentence longer than maxRunes (a transcript with no punctuation at all,
+// which whisper does produce) is cut on whitespace rather than dropped or run
+// past the limit.
+func ChunkText(text string, maxRunes int) []string {
+	text = strings.TrimSpace(text)
+	if text == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if maxRunes <= 0 {
+		maxRunes = DefaultChunkRunes
+	}
+	if len([]rune(text)) <= maxRunes {
+		return []string{text}
+	}
+
+	var out []string
+	var cur []rune
+	flush := func() {
+		if s := strings.TrimSpace(string(cur)); s != "" {
+			out = append(out, s)
+		}
+		cur = cur[:0]
+	}
+	for _, sent := range splitSentences(text) {
+		sr := []rune(sent)
+		if len(sr) > maxRunes {
+			// Oversized sentence: emit what is buffered, then cut this one on
+			// word boundaries.
+			flush()
+			for _, piece := range splitWords(sr, maxRunes) {
+				out = append(out, piece)
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		if len(cur)+len(sr) > maxRunes {
+			flush()
+		}
+		cur = append(cur, sr...)
+	}
+	flush()
+	return out
+}
+
+// splitSentences cuts on sentence-ending punctuation followed by a space,
+// keeping the punctuation with the sentence it ends. Good enough for a
+// transcript: whisper emits periods and question marks, and being wrong about an
+// abbreviation costs a slightly uneven chunk, nothing more.
+func splitSentences(text string) []string {
+	runes := []rune(text)
+	var out []string
+	start := 0
+	for i := 0; i < len(runes); i++ {
+		if runes[i] != '.' && runes[i] != '!' && runes[i] != '?' && runes[i] != '\n' {
+			continue
+		}
+		// Consume a run of punctuation ("?!", "...") so it stays together.
+		j := i
+		for j+1 < len(runes) && isSentenceEnd(runes[j+1]) {
+			j++
+		}
+		if j+1 < len(runes) && !unicode.IsSpace(runes[j+1]) {
+			i = j
+			continue
+		}
+		end := j + 1
+		for end < len(runes) && unicode.IsSpace(runes[end]) {
+			end++
+		}
+		out = append(out, string(runes[start:end]))
+		start = end
+		i = end - 1
+	}
+	if start < len(runes) {
+		out = append(out, string(runes[start:]))
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func isSentenceEnd(r rune) bool {
+	return r == '.' || r == '!' || r == '?'
+}
+
+// splitWords cuts an oversized run on whitespace, falling back to a hard cut
+// when a single "word" is itself longer than the limit.
+func splitWords(runes []rune, maxRunes int) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for len(runes) > maxRunes {
+		cut := maxRunes
+		for cut > 0 && !unicode.IsSpace(runes[cut]) {
+			cut--
+		}
+		if cut == 0 {
+			cut = maxRunes
+		}
+		if s := strings.TrimSpace(string(runes[:cut])); s != "" {
+			out = append(out, s)
+		}
+		runes = runes[cut:]
+	}
+	if s := strings.TrimSpace(string(runes)); s != "" {
+		out = append(out, s)
+	}
+	return out
+}

internal/capture/summarize_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+package capture
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestNilSummarizerWithoutAModel(t *testing.T) {
+	if s := NewSummarizer(nil, 0, 0, nil); s != nil {
+		t.Fatal("a summarizer with no model is not nil")
+	}
+	var s *Summarizer
+	if _, _, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "x", "текст"); !errors.Is(err, ErrDisabled) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrDisabled", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// The common case: a short meeting fits in one prompt, so there is exactly one
+// model call and no reduce step.
+func TestShortTranscriptSkipsTheReduceStep(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeCompleter{replies: []string{"— договорились о смете"}}
+	s := NewSummarizer(f, 0, 0, nil)
+	out, chunks, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "смета", "Обсудили смету. Решили подписать.")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if chunks != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("chunks = %d, want 1", chunks)
+	}
+	if len(f.users) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("%d model calls, want 1", len(f.users))
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out, "смете") || !strings.HasPrefix(out, "смета") {
+		t.Errorf("summary = %q", out)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLongTranscriptIsMappedThenReduced(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &roleCompleter{mapReply: "часть", reduceReply: "общий итог"}
+	s := NewSummarizer(f, 40, 0, nil)
+	long := strings.Repeat("Говорили про насос и трубы. ", 12)
+	out, chunks, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "", long)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if chunks < 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("chunks = %d, want the transcript split", chunks)
+	}
+	// One map call per chunk, then exactly one reduce.
+	if f.maps != chunks {
+		t.Errorf("%d map calls for %d chunks", f.maps, chunks)
+	}
+	if f.reduces != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("%d reduce calls, want 1", f.reduces)
+	}
+	if out != "общий итог" {
+		t.Errorf("summary = %q, want the reduced text", out)
+	}
+}
+
+// Losing every per-chunk summary because the last call failed would throw away
+// most of the work.
+func TestReduceFailureReturnsTheJoinedParts(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &roleCompleter{mapReply: "часть", reduceFails: true}
+	s := NewSummarizer(f, 40, 0, nil)
+	long := strings.Repeat("Говорили про насос и трубы. ", 12)
+	out, _, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "", long)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("reduce failure was not reported")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out, "часть1") || !strings.Contains(out, "часть2") {
+		t.Errorf("per-chunk work was lost: %q", out)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestChunkFailureIsReported(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeCompleter{err: errors.New("llama is down")}
+	s := NewSummarizer(f, 0, 0, nil)
+	if _, _, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "", "текст"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("chunk failure was not reported")
+	}
+}
+
+// "пусто" chunks are noise; they must not pad the reduce prompt, and a
+// transcript that is entirely empty chunks is an honest ErrNoSummary rather than
+// an invented summary.
+func TestEmptyChunksAreDropped(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &roleCompleter{mapReply: "пусто", literalMap: true, reduceReply: "не должно вызываться"}
+	s := NewSummarizer(f, 40, 0, nil)
+	long := strings.Repeat("Тишина в комнате. ", 12)
+	if _, _, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "", long); !errors.Is(err, ErrNoSummary) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrNoSummary", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEmptyTranscriptIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	s := NewSummarizer(&fakeCompleter{}, 0, 0, nil)
+	if _, _, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "", "   \n "); !errors.Is(err, ErrEmptyCapture) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v, want ErrEmptyCapture", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// A summary that silently covers the first fraction of a long meeting is the
+// failure mode; it has to say so.
+func TestTruncationIsStatedInTheSummary(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeCompleter{replies: []string{"a", "b", "итог"}}
+	s := NewSummarizer(f, 30, 2, nil)
+	long := strings.Repeat("Говорили про насос и про трубы. ", 20)
+	out, chunks, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "", long)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if chunks != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("chunks = %d, want the cap of 2", chunks)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out, "обрезана") {
+		t.Errorf("truncation not stated: %q", out)
+	}
+}
+
+// The persona block belongs to the daemon, not this package, and must reach the
+// model when it is supplied.
+func TestContextBlockIsPrependedToEveryPrompt(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeCompleter{replies: []string{"итог"}}
+	s := NewSummarizer(f, 0, 0, func() string { return "ПЕРСОНА\n\n" })
+	if _, _, err := s.Summarize(context.Background(), "", "Обсудили смету."); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for i, sys := range f.systems {
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(sys, "ПЕРСОНА") {
+			t.Errorf("call %d lost the context block: %q", i, sys)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// The map/reduce prompts must contain no first person at all: the persona's
+// feminine forms live in the replier, and a first-person instruction here is a
+// place for the model to write "я рад".
+func TestPromptsHaveNoFirstPerson(t *testing.T) {
+	for name, p := range map[string]string{"chunk": chunkPrompt, "reduce": reducePrompt} {
+		for _, bad := range []string{" я ", "рад", "поняла", "мне ", "вы ", "ваш"} {
+			if strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(" "+p+" "), bad) {
+				t.Errorf("%s prompt contains %q", name, bad)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestChunkTextSplitsOnSentenceBoundaries(t *testing.T) {
+	text := "Раз два три. Четыре пять шесть. Семь восемь девять."
+	got := ChunkText(text, 20)
+	if len(got) != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d chunks: %q", len(got), got)
+	}
+	for _, c := range got {
+		if !strings.HasSuffix(c, ".") {
+			t.Errorf("chunk does not end on a sentence: %q", c)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestChunkTextPacksSentencesUpToTheLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	text := "Раз. Два. Три. Четыре."
+	got := ChunkText(text, 12)
+	if len(got) < 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("nothing was split: %q", got)
+	}
+	for _, c := range got {
+		if n := len([]rune(c)); n > 12 {
+			t.Errorf("chunk of %d runes exceeds the limit: %q", n, c)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// whisper does emit long unpunctuated runs; those must be cut on whitespace, not
+// dropped and not run past the context limit.
+func TestChunkTextCutsUnpunctuatedRuns(t *testing.T) {
+	text := strings.TrimSpace(strings.Repeat("слово ", 50))
+	got := ChunkText(text, 30)
+	if len(got) < 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("unpunctuated run was not split: %d chunks", len(got))
+	}
+	total := 0
+	for _, c := range got {
+		if n := len([]rune(c)); n > 30 {
+			t.Errorf("chunk of %d runes exceeds the limit", n)
+		}
+		total += strings.Count(c, "слово")
+	}
+	if total != 50 {
+		t.Errorf("%d of 50 words survived chunking", total)
+	}
+}
+
+// A single token longer than the window must still come out, hard-cut.
+func TestChunkTextHandlesOneOversizedWord(t *testing.T) {
+	text := strings.Repeat("я", 70)
+	got := ChunkText(text, 20)
+	if len(got) != 4 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d chunks, want 4", len(got))
+	}
+	if joined := strings.Join(got, ""); len([]rune(joined)) != 70 {
+		t.Errorf("%d runes survived, want 70", len([]rune(joined)))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestChunkTextShortInputAndEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := ChunkText("коротко", 100); len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "коротко" {
+		t.Errorf("got %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := ChunkText("   ", 100); got != nil {
+		t.Errorf("blank text produced %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// roleCompleter answers by which prompt it was handed, so a test does not have
+// to predict how many chunks the text splits into. Map replies are numbered
+// ("часть1", "часть2", …) unless literalMap is set.
+type roleCompleter struct {
+	mapReply    string
+	literalMap  bool
+	reduceReply string
+	reduceFails bool
+	maps        int
+	reduces     int
+}
+
+func (f *roleCompleter) Complete(_ context.Context, system, _ string) (string, error) {
+	if strings.Contains(system, "конспекты фрагментов") {
+		f.reduces++
+		if f.reduceFails {
+			return "", errors.New("llama fell over")
+		}
+		return f.reduceReply, nil
+	}
+	f.maps++
+	if f.literalMap {
+		return f.mapReply, nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%d", f.mapReply, f.maps), nil
+}

internal/config/config.go

@@ -205,6 +205,13 @@ type Config struct {
 	// in this repo holds a recording only in memory. See MediaConfig.
 	Media *MediaConfig `json:"media,omitempty"`
 
+	// Capture — meeting recording and summarisation (Vikunja #253). nil /
+	// absent ⇒ the recorder does not exist: the start/stop methods are not
+	// served at all, so nothing on this box can begin a recording. This is the
+	// most invasive capability Maven has and it is the one most firmly off by
+	// default. See CaptureConfig.
+	Capture *CaptureConfig `json:"capture,omitempty"`
+
 	// MCP — Model Context Protocol servers Maven connects OUT to (Vikunja
 	// #251). nil / absent / no enabled server ⇒ no connection is made and no
 	// tool is discovered, like every other capability that reaches outside the
@@ -558,6 +565,60 @@ func (v *VisionConfig) LooksAtImages() bool {
 	return v != nil && v.Enabled && strings.TrimSpace(v.Endpoint) != ""
 }
 
+// CaptureConfig — the meeting recorder (internal/capture,
+// docs/plans/08-hearing.md).
+//
+// Absent, or enabled=false, ⇒ the recorder is not wired and the capture methods
+// return "unknown method", so no client can start a recording however it asks.
+// A media block is required too: audio is never held only in memory.
+//
+// There is deliberately no "auto", no keyword trigger and no duration default
+// long enough to be forgotten about. Recording other people is an explicit act
+// with a start, a stop, and a cap.
+type CaptureConfig struct {
+	// Enabled — may she record a meeting when asked. Default false.
+	Enabled bool `json:"enabled,omitempty"`
+
+	// MaxMinutes — hard cap on one session; it stops itself there. 0 ⇒
+	// capture.DefaultMaxDuration (120 minutes).
+	MaxMinutes int `json:"max_minutes,omitempty"`
+
+	// STTWindow — audio handed to whisper per call. 0 ⇒
+	// capture.DefaultSTTWindow (5m). Larger windows transcribe slightly better
+	// and block the STT worker for longer.
+	STTWindow Duration `json:"stt_window,omitempty"`
+
+	// ChunkRunes — transcript runes per summarisation prompt. 0 ⇒
+	// capture.DefaultChunkRunes (3000), sized for the resident model's n_ctx of
+	// 4096. Raise this only if the resident model's context grows.
+	ChunkRunes int `json:"chunk_runes,omitempty"`
+
+	// MaxChunks — how many windows one meeting may be summarised in before the
+	// transcript is truncated and the summary says so. 0 ⇒
+	// capture.DefaultMaxChunks (40).
+	MaxChunks int `json:"max_chunks,omitempty"`
+
+	// SaveTranscript — write the full transcript as a note alongside the
+	// summary. Default false: a verbatim record of what other people said in a
+	// room is a heavier thing to keep than a four-line summary, so it takes a
+	// deliberate yes. The audio blob is pruned by media.retention either way.
+	SaveTranscript bool `json:"save_transcript,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Records reports whether the recorder should be wired. Safe on a nil receiver.
+func (c *CaptureConfig) Records() bool {
+	return c != nil && c.Enabled
+}
+
+// MaxDuration is the configured session cap as a duration, or 0 for the
+// package default. Safe on a nil receiver.
+func (c *CaptureConfig) MaxDuration() time.Duration {
+	if c == nil || c.MaxMinutes <= 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+	return time.Duration(c.MaxMinutes) * time.Minute
+}
+
 // WeatherConfig configures the weather provider for voice queries.
 type WeatherConfig struct {
 	Provider        string `json:"provider,omitempty"`         // "open-meteo" or "" → stub

internal/config/senses_test.go

@@ -16,6 +16,70 @@ func TestSensesOffByDefault(t *testing.T) {
 	if cfg.Vision.LooksAtImages() {
 		t.Error("vision is on with no vision block")
 	}
+	if cfg.Capture.Records() {
+		t.Error("the recorder is on with no capture block")
+	}
+	if cfg.Capture.MaxDuration() != 0 {
+		t.Error("a nil capture block invented a duration")
+	}
+}
+
+// The recorder is the capability that most needs its default to be off, so it
+// gets its own test rather than a line in the one above.
+func TestCaptureIsOffUntilExplicitlyEnabled(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		c    *CaptureConfig
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"absent", nil, false},
+		{"present but not enabled", &CaptureConfig{MaxMinutes: 60}, false},
+		{"enabled", &CaptureConfig{Enabled: true}, true},
+	}
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		if got := c.c.Records(); got != c.want {
+			t.Errorf("%s: Records() = %v, want %v", c.name, got, c.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCaptureBlockParsesFromJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := `{"capture":{"enabled":true,"max_minutes":45,"stt_window":"2m",
+	  "chunk_runes":2000,"max_chunks":10,"save_transcript":true}}`
+	var cfg Config
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(raw), &cfg); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unmarshal: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !cfg.Capture.Records() {
+		t.Fatal("capture did not parse as enabled")
+	}
+	if cfg.Capture.MaxDuration() != 45*time.Minute {
+		t.Errorf("max duration = %v", cfg.Capture.MaxDuration())
+	}
+	if time.Duration(cfg.Capture.STTWindow) != 2*time.Minute {
+		t.Errorf("stt window = %v", time.Duration(cfg.Capture.STTWindow))
+	}
+	if cfg.Capture.ChunkRunes != 2000 || cfg.Capture.MaxChunks != 10 {
+		t.Errorf("summariser limits = %+v", cfg.Capture)
+	}
+	if !cfg.Capture.SaveTranscript {
+		t.Error("save_transcript did not parse")
+	}
+}
+
+// Keeping the verbatim record of what other people said is the heavier act, so
+// it is separately opt-in from recording at all.
+func TestTranscriptIsNotSavedByDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	var cfg Config
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(`{"capture":{"enabled":true}}`), &cfg); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if cfg.Capture.SaveTranscript {
+		t.Error("transcripts are saved without anyone asking")
+	}
+	if cfg.Capture.MaxDuration() != 0 {
+		t.Error("max_minutes defaulted in config instead of in the package")
+	}
 }
 
 // enabled with nothing to talk to is a misconfiguration, not a capability.

internal/ipc/api.go

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/audio"
 )
 
 // DTOs — wire-level data. Decoupled from internal/store so the protocol is
@@ -221,6 +223,84 @@ type DescribeImageResp struct {
 	NoteID      int64  `json:"note_id,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// CaptureStartReq — begin recording a meeting (Vikunja #253).
+//
+// Label is what the meeting is called ("встреча с подрядчиком"); it goes into
+// the summary note so the note is findable later. Empty is allowed.
+//
+// There is no "auto", no keyword and no schedule in this request, and there will
+// not be: the only way audio enters the recorder is a client that was told to
+// start, appending frames it was told to append. All four capture methods answer
+// ErrUnknownMethod unless the operator enabled a capture block, so a surface
+// cannot start a recording by asking nicely.
+type CaptureStartReq struct {
+	Label string `json:"label,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// CaptureStartResp — the session that opened. MaxSeconds is the hard cap after
+// which it stops itself; the caller tells him, so a forgotten recording is his
+// own informed choice rather than a surprise.
+type CaptureStartResp struct {
+	Label      string    `json:"label,omitempty"`
+	Started    time.Time `json:"started"`
+	MaxSeconds int       `json:"max_seconds"`
+}
+
+// CaptureAppendReq — one chunk of audio for the running session. Refused with
+// "nothing is being recorded" when no session is open, which is the guard that
+// makes an ambient path impossible: audio arriving at an idle core is dropped on
+// the floor, not buffered "just in case".
+type CaptureAppendReq struct {
+	Audio audio.Audio `json:"audio"`
+}
+
+// CaptureAppendResp — how much has been collected, so a client can show a timer
+// and notice the cap coming. Expired means the session hit its limit and closed;
+// stop sending and call capture_stop, the audio so far is kept.
+type CaptureAppendResp struct {
+	Seconds float64 `json:"seconds"`
+	Expired bool    `json:"expired,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// CaptureStopReq — end the running session.
+//
+// Discard throws the recording away without transcribing, storing or
+// summarising anything. This is what "забудь, не записывай" maps to, and it is a
+// flag rather than a separate method so the client that says "stop" and the
+// client that says "stop and forget" take the same path to the same session.
+type CaptureStopReq struct {
+	Discard bool `json:"discard,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// CaptureStopResp — the finished capture. BlobID is the stored WAV, kept under
+// media.retention like any other blob and pruned with it.
+//
+// A response with a Transcript and an empty Summary is a degraded success: the
+// words exist, only the model failed. A response with a BlobID and neither is
+// the audio surviving a transcription failure — the same id can be run again.
+// Discarded is true when nothing was kept.
+type CaptureStopResp struct {
+	BlobID     string    `json:"blob_id,omitempty"`
+	Label      string    `json:"label,omitempty"`
+	Started    time.Time `json:"started,omitempty"`
+	Seconds    float64   `json:"seconds,omitempty"`
+	Transcript string    `json:"transcript,omitempty"`
+	Summary    string    `json:"summary,omitempty"`
+	Chunks     int       `json:"chunks,omitempty"`
+	NoteID     int64     `json:"note_id,omitempty"`
+	Discarded  bool      `json:"discarded,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// CaptureStatusResp — what "что ты записываешь?" needs, and what /dash shows.
+// Running=false with everything else empty is the normal state.
+type CaptureStatusResp struct {
+	Running bool      `json:"running"`
+	Label   string    `json:"label,omitempty"`
+	Started time.Time `json:"started,omitempty"`
+	Seconds float64   `json:"seconds,omitempty"`
+	Bytes   int       `json:"bytes,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // SwapModelReq — load another resident model without restarting the daemon
 // (Vikunja #250). ModelPath must be one of the paths in phraser.swap_models;
 // anything else is ErrForbidden, and an unconfigured allowlist makes the whole

internal/ipc/capture_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+package ipc
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/audio"
+)
+
+// The load-bearing default for the most invasive capability Maven has: on a core
+// that was never configured to record, there is no wire path that starts a
+// recording, feeds one, or harvests one. Every one of the four methods refuses.
+func TestCapture_OffUnlessConfigured(t *testing.T) {
+	_, _, cli, _ := newServerWithStore(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	if _, err := cli.CaptureStart(ctx, CaptureStartReq{Label: "встреча"}); !errors.Is(err, ErrUnknownMethod) {
+		t.Errorf("CaptureStart error = %v, want ErrUnknownMethod", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := cli.CaptureAppend(ctx, CaptureAppendReq{}); !errors.Is(err, ErrUnknownMethod) {
+		t.Errorf("CaptureAppend error = %v, want ErrUnknownMethod", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := cli.CaptureStop(ctx, CaptureStopReq{}); !errors.Is(err, ErrUnknownMethod) {
+		t.Errorf("CaptureStop error = %v, want ErrUnknownMethod", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := cli.CaptureStatus(ctx); !errors.Is(err, ErrUnknownMethod) {
+		t.Errorf("CaptureStatus error = %v, want ErrUnknownMethod", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// With the hooks wired, a whole session crosses the boundary intact: the label
+// out, the audio in, the summary back.
+func TestCapture_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
+	_, srv, cli, _ := newServerWithStore(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	started := time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second)
+	var gotLabel string
+	var gotBytes int
+	var gotDiscard bool
+
+	srv.CaptureStartFn = func(_ context.Context, req CaptureStartReq) (CaptureStartResp, error) {
+		gotLabel = req.Label
+		return CaptureStartResp{Label: req.Label, Started: started, MaxSeconds: 7200}, nil
+	}
+	srv.CaptureAppendFn = func(_ context.Context, req CaptureAppendReq) (CaptureAppendResp, error) {
+		gotBytes = len(req.Audio.Bytes)
+		return CaptureAppendResp{Seconds: 1.5}, nil
+	}
+	srv.CaptureStopFn = func(_ context.Context, req CaptureStopReq) (CaptureStopResp, error) {
+		gotDiscard = req.Discard
+		return CaptureStopResp{BlobID: "abc", Summary: "— решили купить насос", Chunks: 1}, nil
+	}
+	srv.CaptureStatusFn = func(context.Context) (CaptureStatusResp, error) {
+		return CaptureStatusResp{Running: true, Label: "встреча", Seconds: 1.5}, nil
+	}
+
+	start, err := cli.CaptureStart(ctx, CaptureStartReq{Label: "встреча с подрядчиком"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CaptureStart: %v", err)
+	}
+	if gotLabel != "встреча с подрядчиком" || start.MaxSeconds != 7200 {
+		t.Errorf("start = %+v (label seen: %q)", start, gotLabel)
+	}
+	if !start.Started.Equal(started) {
+		t.Errorf("started = %v, want %v", start.Started, started)
+	}
+
+	// Audio must survive the JSON round trip byte for byte — a base64 mistake
+	// here would be silence in the transcript, not a visible error.
+	pcm := []byte{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
+	ap, err := cli.CaptureAppend(ctx, CaptureAppendReq{
+		Audio: audio.Audio{Format: audio.PCM16kMono, Bytes: pcm},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CaptureAppend: %v", err)
+	}
+	if gotBytes != len(pcm) {
+		t.Errorf("%d bytes arrived, sent %d", gotBytes, len(pcm))
+	}
+	if ap.Seconds != 1.5 || ap.Expired {
+		t.Errorf("append resp = %+v", ap)
+	}
+
+	st, err := cli.CaptureStatus(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CaptureStatus: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !st.Running || st.Label != "встреча" {
+		t.Errorf("status = %+v", st)
+	}
+
+	stop, err := cli.CaptureStop(ctx, CaptureStopReq{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CaptureStop: %v", err)
+	}
+	if gotDiscard {
+		t.Error("a plain stop arrived as a discard")
+	}
+	if stop.BlobID != "abc" || stop.Summary == "" {
+		t.Errorf("stop = %+v", stop)
+	}
+}
+
+// "забудь, не записывай" has to reach core as a discard, not as an ordinary
+// stop that quietly keeps everything.
+func TestCapture_DiscardCrossesTheWire(t *testing.T) {
+	_, srv, cli, _ := newServerWithStore(t)
+	var gotDiscard bool
+	srv.CaptureStopFn = func(_ context.Context, req CaptureStopReq) (CaptureStopResp, error) {
+		gotDiscard = req.Discard
+		return CaptureStopResp{Discarded: req.Discard}, nil
+	}
+	resp, err := cli.CaptureStop(context.Background(), CaptureStopReq{Discard: true})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CaptureStop: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !gotDiscard || !resp.Discarded {
+		t.Errorf("discard lost: sent true, core saw %v, resp %+v", gotDiscard, resp)
+	}
+}

internal/ipc/client.go

@@ -473,6 +473,48 @@ func (c *Client) DescribeImage(ctx context.Context, req DescribeImageReq) (Descr
 	return r, nil
 }
 
+// CaptureStart begins recording a meeting (Vikunja #253). ErrUnknownMethod
+// means the operator has not enabled capture — the caller should say so and stop
+// asking, not retry.
+func (c *Client) CaptureStart(ctx context.Context, req CaptureStartReq) (CaptureStartResp, error) {
+	var r CaptureStartResp
+	if err := c.call(ctx, MethodCaptureStart, req, &r); err != nil {
+		return CaptureStartResp{}, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// CaptureAppend hands one chunk of audio to the running session. An error means
+// the frame was not kept: either nothing is being recorded, or the session hit
+// its time limit. Either way the client stops sending.
+func (c *Client) CaptureAppend(ctx context.Context, req CaptureAppendReq) (CaptureAppendResp, error) {
+	var r CaptureAppendResp
+	if err := c.call(ctx, MethodCaptureAppend, req, &r); err != nil {
+		return CaptureAppendResp{}, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// CaptureStop ends the session. Slow — it transcribes and summarises the whole
+// recording — so pass a context with room. Set Discard to throw the recording
+// away instead.
+func (c *Client) CaptureStop(ctx context.Context, req CaptureStopReq) (CaptureStopResp, error) {
+	var r CaptureStopResp
+	if err := c.call(ctx, MethodCaptureStop, req, &r); err != nil {
+		return CaptureStopResp{}, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// CaptureStatus reports the running session, if any.
+func (c *Client) CaptureStatus(ctx context.Context) (CaptureStatusResp, error) {
+	var r CaptureStatusResp
+	if err := c.call(ctx, MethodCaptureStatus, nil, &r); err != nil {
+		return CaptureStatusResp{}, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
 // SwapModel asks core to load another resident model (Vikunja #250).
 // ErrUnknownMethod means core has no phraser.swap_models allowlist configured;
 // ErrForbidden means the path is not on it, or step-up was not asserted. A

internal/ipc/server.go

@@ -459,6 +459,20 @@ type Server struct {
 	// other CoreAPI implementation should have to carry it.
 	DescribeImageFn DescribeImageFunc
 
+	// Capture* — the meeting recorder (Vikunja #253). Set by the daemon only
+	// when a media store is configured AND capture.enabled is true; nil ⇒ all
+	// four methods answer ErrUnknownMethod. That is the load-bearing default for
+	// this capability: on an unconfigured box there is no wire path that begins a
+	// recording, so nothing can be recorded by accident, by a bug in a surface,
+	// or by a model deciding it would be helpful.
+	//
+	// They bypass CoreAPI because a recorder needs a blob store, an STT worker
+	// and a llama-server, none of which is a store operation.
+	CaptureStartFn  CaptureStartFunc
+	CaptureAppendFn CaptureAppendFunc
+	CaptureStopFn   CaptureStopFunc
+	CaptureStatusFn CaptureStatusFunc
+
 	// UnlockFn — unwraps the store encryption key from the wrapped blob using
 	// the passkey credential public key, opens the encrypted store, and wires
 	// the rest of the daemon (voice, loop, delivery). Set by the daemon when
@@ -489,6 +503,13 @@ type IngestMailFunc func(ctx context.Context, req IngestMailReq) (IngestMailResp
 // DescribeImageFunc — core-side image intake + description.
 type DescribeImageFunc func(ctx context.Context, req DescribeImageReq) (DescribeImageResp, error)
 
+// CaptureStartFunc / CaptureAppendFunc / CaptureStopFunc / CaptureStatusFunc —
+// the four core-side halves of the meeting recorder.
+type CaptureStartFunc func(ctx context.Context, req CaptureStartReq) (CaptureStartResp, error)
+type CaptureAppendFunc func(ctx context.Context, req CaptureAppendReq) (CaptureAppendResp, error)
+type CaptureStopFunc func(ctx context.Context, req CaptureStopReq) (CaptureStopResp, error)
+type CaptureStatusFunc func(ctx context.Context) (CaptureStatusResp, error)
+
 // CheckFunc — the auth hook signature. Wired by the daemon (auth.Gate.Check
 // satisfies this); dispatch calls it once per request after param-unmarshal
 // independence (it gets the raw params, may unmarshal what it needs — ipc
@@ -657,10 +678,11 @@ func withoutParams[R any](fn func(ctx context.Context, api CoreAPI) (R, error))
 // is still honored on the very next request with no extra plumbing here.
 //
 // MethodAssertStepUp, MethodStoreEncryptionKey, MethodUnlock,
-// MethodIngestMail, MethodSwapModel, MethodModelStatus and
-// MethodDescribeImage are NOT in this table: they bypass CoreAPI entirely
-// (s.StepUp / s.WrapKeyFn / s.UnlockFn / s.IngestMailFn / s.DescribeImageFn),
-// so dispatch special-cases them before consulting the table.
+// MethodIngestMail, MethodSwapModel, MethodModelStatus,
+// MethodDescribeImage and the four MethodCapture* methods are NOT in this
+// table: they bypass CoreAPI entirely (s.StepUp / s.WrapKeyFn / s.UnlockFn /
+// s.IngestMailFn / s.DescribeImageFn / s.Capture*Fn), so dispatch
+// special-cases them before consulting the table.
 var methodTable = map[Method]handlerFunc{
 	MethodWriteFact: withParams(func(ctx context.Context, api CoreAPI, p WriteFactReq) (idResp, error) {
 		id, err := api.WriteFact(ctx, p)
@@ -950,6 +972,58 @@ func (s *Server) dispatch(ctx context.Context, req Request) (json.RawMessage, er
 		}
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrUnknownMethod, req.Method)
 
+	case MethodCaptureStart:
+		if s.CaptureStartFn != nil {
+			var p CaptureStartReq
+			if err := unmarshalParams(req.Params, &p); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			resp, err := s.CaptureStartFn(ctx, p)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			return marshalResult(resp), nil
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrUnknownMethod, req.Method)
+
+	case MethodCaptureAppend:
+		if s.CaptureAppendFn != nil {
+			var p CaptureAppendReq
+			if err := unmarshalParams(req.Params, &p); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			resp, err := s.CaptureAppendFn(ctx, p)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			return marshalResult(resp), nil
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrUnknownMethod, req.Method)
+
+	case MethodCaptureStop:
+		if s.CaptureStopFn != nil {
+			var p CaptureStopReq
+			if err := unmarshalParams(req.Params, &p); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			resp, err := s.CaptureStopFn(ctx, p)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			return marshalResult(resp), nil
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrUnknownMethod, req.Method)
+
+	case MethodCaptureStatus:
+		if s.CaptureStatusFn != nil {
+			resp, err := s.CaptureStatusFn(ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			return marshalResult(resp), nil
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrUnknownMethod, req.Method)
+
 	case MethodModelStatus:
 		if s.ModelStatusFn != nil {
 			resp, err := s.ModelStatusFn(ctx)

internal/ipc/wire.go

@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ const (
 	MethodSwapModel              Method = "swap_model"
 	MethodModelStatus            Method = "model_status"
 	MethodDescribeImage          Method = "describe_image"
+	MethodCaptureStart           Method = "capture_start"
+	MethodCaptureAppend          Method = "capture_append"
+	MethodCaptureStop            Method = "capture_stop"
+	MethodCaptureStatus          Method = "capture_status"
 )
 
 // Request — one frame from module to core. Params is the JSON-encoded argument