# Scheduling and preparing

Schedule sessions ahead of time with reminders, auto-start and repeats, and prepare notes, documents, knowledge cards and open action items before they start.

Canonical URL: https://docs.talkbar.app/sessions/scheduling-and-preparing


Schedule a session to get a reminder before it starts, or have TalkBar start recording on its own. Then prepare for it: write an agenda, attach documents, pick the knowledge cards you want in front of you, and review what's still open from last time. When the session starts, all of it comes with it.

## Upcoming sessions

Open **Sessions → Upcoming** to see your scheduled sessions. The header has **Sessions**, **Series**, **Prepare** and **Schedule session**.




### Views

- **Upcoming** and **Past** tabs. **Past** shows missed, cancelled and recorded sessions from the last 90 days.
- **List** or **Week** layout. The week view has **Previous week**, **Next week**, **Today** and **Jump to week**, and can switch between **Working hours** and **All hours**. Click a block to start or open it; hover it for **Prepare**, **Edit schedule** and **Start**.
- **Sort** (list only): **Soonest first**, **Latest first** or **Recently changed**.
- **Filters**: series, project and **Start mode** (**Auto-start** or **Reminder**), plus search.

Set the week start, visible hours, weekends, slot size, default layout, week numbers, default duration and default reminders in **Settings → General → Calendar**. See [General settings](/settings/general).

### Statuses

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Planned** | Scheduled and not started yet. |
| **Started** / **Recording** | The session is being recorded. |
| **Completed** | It was recorded. |
| **Not recorded** | Nothing was recorded within 15 minutes of the start time. You can still **Record now**. |
| **Skipped** / **Cancelled** | You skipped or cancelled it. |
| **Moved** | It was rescheduled. |
| **Auto-start** | It will start recording by itself. |

### Row actions

Each row has a **Start** button (**Record now** once it's under way or missed). It opens the New session window with the session's prepared setup, so you can check it before recording. The **⋮** menu offers:

| Action | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Edit schedule** | Opens the Schedule window. |
| **Repeat…** | Makes a one-time session repeat. |
| **Add to series…** | Adds it to a [series](/sessions/series). |
| **Prepare** | Opens its prep page. |
| **Reschedule…** | Picks a new date and time. |
| **Open series** | Opens its series. |
| **Skip this one** | For a repeating session: skips this one, and the series continues. |
| **Cancel session** | Cancels it and removes its reminders. This can't be undone. |

For past sessions, the menu offers **Open session** and **Schedule again**.

## Schedule a session

Open the Schedule window from:

- **Schedule session** on the Upcoming page;
- **Schedule for later** in the [New session window](/sessions/starting-a-session) or on the recording screen;
- **Schedule follow-up** on a [session's details page](/sessions/session-details);
- the title bar's upcoming menu, or the tray menu.




The window is titled **Schedule for later**. Its first part, **Schedule**, sets when the session happens:

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Meeting title (optional)** | The session's name. |
| **Project** / **Series** | Where to file it. |
| **Date**, **Time start**, **Time end** | When it runs. Or click **Pick from calendar** to choose a free slot on a week view. |
| Duration | Quick choices from 15 minutes to 3 hours. A scheduled session can't be longer than 3 hours. |
| **Reminders** | One or more reminders: **At start**, 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes before, 1 hour before or 1 day before. **None** turns them off. |
| **Repeats** | **Does not repeat**, **Daily**, weekly on the chosen day, **Every weekday (Mon–Fri)**, monthly on the same date or weekday, or **Custom…** (see below). |
| **Auto-start recording** | Starts recording by itself after a countdown of 10, 30 or 60 seconds, instead of asking you. Off by default. |

The other parts — **Template**, **Prep & context** and **AI & privacy** — are the same as in the [New session window](/sessions/starting-a-session), so you can set up everything in advance. The session uses your computer's time zone.

If the new time overlaps another scheduled session, TalkBar warns you. Both can stay on the calendar, but only one can record at a time.

Click **Schedule session** to save, or **Schedule and prepare** to save and open its prep page.

### Repeating sessions

A repeating session always belongs to a [series](/sessions/series). If you didn't pick one, TalkBar creates a series named after the session and tells you.

**Custom…** repeat options:

- **Every** 1 to 52 **days**, **weeks** or **months**.
- For weeks: **On** which weekdays. The scheduled day always stays on.
- For months: a day of the month, or a weekday such as *the second Tuesday*.
- **Ends**: **Never**, **On date**, or **After** a number of sessions.

When you edit a repeating session, **Apply changes to** asks whether the change is for **This session only**, **This and following**, or **All sessions in the series**. To change how it repeats, choose one of the last two.

When you reschedule a repeating session, TalkBar asks whether to move **This session only** or **This and all upcoming**. When you cancel one, you can **Skip this one** and keep the series, or **Cancel all upcoming** to end the series there.

## Reminders and auto-start

At reminder time, a panel appears in the corner of TalkBar with the session's title, time and template, and a desktop notification appears too.

| Button | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Start** | Starts recording now, with the prepared setup. Unavailable while another session is recording. |
| **Snooze 10m** | Reminds you again in 10 minutes. The arrow next to it offers 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or until 5 minutes before the start. |
| **Skip** | Skips this session. |
| **Dismiss** | Hides the panel. |

For an **Auto-start** session, the panel shows **Automatic recording** and counts down (**Recording starts in**). Recording starts when the countdown ends. **Snooze** turns this one session back into a reminder.

Auto-start becomes a normal reminder when:

- another session is already recording;
- TalkBar setup isn't finished;
- desktop notifications are off and TalkBar is in the background;
- on the Free plan, the workspace has reached its session limit.

A session scheduled in another workspace asks you to **Start within** a short time; starting it switches to that workspace.

## Preparing for a session

Open **Sessions → Prepare** to see the sessions you're preparing for.

- **Upcoming** lists scheduled sessions that have prep, plus preps without a time yet. **Past** shows the last 90 days.
- Sort by **Soonest first** or **Recently prepared**. Filter by series, project, or what the prep **Has**: **Action items**, **Notes**, **Documents**, **Knowledge cards** or **Drafts to review**.
- The **Not prepared yet** strip lists upcoming sessions with nothing prepared. Click **Prepare** on one to start.
- **Schedule and prepare** schedules a new session and opens its prep.

You can also prepare a session that isn't scheduled yet: click **Prepare** in the New session window. It appears as **Not scheduled** until you click **Schedule…**.

### The prep page




The header shows when the session starts, with **Session setup** (choose the template, audio and other options in advance) and **Start session**. Work through the four steps; each gets a check mark once it has content. Everything saves as you go.

| Step | What you do |
| --- | --- |
| **Prep notes** | Write the agenda, questions and what you want to learn. This note opens with the session when it starts. |
| **Action items** | Review what's still open **From earlier meetings** in the series, and add more with **Add action items**. Each item's menu can **Skip for this meeting**, **Stop carrying over**, **Remove from this meeting** or **Add to prep notes**. |
| **Documents** | **Upload files** or add documents **From the knowledge hub**. Up to 3 documents, such as a brief, a CV or a proposal. Click **Scan for cards** on a document to draft knowledge cards from it. |
| **Knowledge cards** | The facts, numbers, names and questions you want in front of you. Add a **New card**, **Scan for cards** or **Add from knowledge**. Review scan results in **Drafts to review**. |

**Done preparing** takes you back to the Prepare list. For a prep without a time, the menu also has **Discard prep**.

When the session starts, the prep comes with it: the prep note opens in the **Notes** panel, documents and cards are attached, and the action items show in the **Knowledge** panel. Once the session has started, the prep page says **This meeting has started. Its prep is now part of the session.** with a link to the session.

## Related

- [Session series](/sessions/series)
- [Starting a session](/sessions/starting-a-session)
- [Knowledge cards](/knowledge/knowledge-cards)
- [Action items](/knowledge/action-items)
- [Notifications](/sharing/notifications)