Circleback Platform Help
Step 1 — Gather context
If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.
- What's your primary goal?
- A) Set up Circleback for my team (initial config, plan selection) - B) Configure automations and webhooks to push meeting data downstream - C) Connect Circleback to my CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio) - D) Use the MCP server with Claude, Cursor, or Raycast - E) Compare Circleback to alternatives for my use case - F) Troubleshoot a specific issue (transcription, bot, billing)
- What meeting platforms do you use?
- A) Zoom - B) Google Meet - C) Microsoft Teams - D) Slack huddles - E) In-person meetings - F) Multiple
- What plan are you on (or considering)?
- A) 7-day free trial - B) Individual ($20.83-$25/mo) - C) Team ($25-$30/user/mo) - D) Enterprise (custom) - E) Not sure yet
Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.
Step 2 — Route or answer directly
| Problem domain | Route to |
|---|---|
| Comparing many note-taker platforms broadly | /sales-note-taker {user's question} |
| Reviewing a specific call for coaching | /sales-call-review {user's question} |
| Building a coaching program | /sales-coaching {user's question} |
| General CRM-to-tool integration (Zapier, webhooks, iPaaS) | /sales-integration {user's question} |
When routing, provide the exact command: "This is a {problem domain} question — run: /sales-{skill} {user's original question}"
Otherwise, answer directly below.
Step 3 — Circleback platform reference
Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — modules, pricing, integrations, webhook data model, workflows.
If the question involves the webhook API or MCP server, also read references/circleback-api-reference.md.
Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.
Step 4 — Actionable guidance
You no longer need the platform guide — focus on the user's specific situation.
Plan selection:
- Solo professional → Individual ($20.83/mo annual, $25/mo monthly)
- Small team wanting shared meetings + team automations → Team ($25/mo annual, $30/mo monthly)
- Enterprise with security/onboarding needs → Enterprise (custom)
Bot vs botless decision:
- Bot-based: works across all platforms, most reliable, visible to participants
- Botless: less intrusive, but check platform compatibility and limitations
Automation setup:
- Open Automations → Create automation
- Set conditions to filter which meetings trigger it
- Choose "Send webhook request" and enter your endpoint URL
- Select meeting outcomes to include (notes, action items, transcript, etc.)
- Test with most recent meeting before going live
If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.
Gotchas
*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.*
- No free tier — only a 7-day trial requiring credit card. Unlike Fathom or tl;dv, there's no ongoing free plan. Cancel before trial ends to avoid charges.
- No customizable note templates. Notes use a generic format — you can't define custom sections, headers, or output structure.
- Recurring meetings may need manual approval. The bot doesn't always auto-join recurring meetings — you may need to tick off individual occurrences.
- Speaker identification degrades with overlapping speakers or conference room audio. Best with individual headsets/mics.
- Recording URL expires after 24 hours. Webhook payloads include a
recordingUrlthat's only valid for 24h — download immediately if archiving. - Slack huddles support is Team plan only. Individual plan doesn't include Slack huddle recording.
- Cancellation can be slow. Multiple users report delayed support responses for billing/cancellation issues.
- MCP server uses OAuth, not API key. Requires OAuth flow through app.circleback.ai — not a simple token.
Related skills
/sales-note-taker— Comparing AI meeting note-takers and conversation intelligence platforms (Fathom, Fireflies, Gong, etc.)/sales-call-review— Review a specific call for coaching/sales-coaching— Build coaching programs that consume call data/sales-integration— General CRM/tool integration patterns (Zapier, webhooks, iPaaS)/sales-do— Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install:npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do
Examples
Example 1: Setting up Circleback for a sales team with HubSpot
User says: "I want to auto-log meeting notes and action items from Circleback into HubSpot deals after every sales call." Skill does:
- Recommends Team plan for shared meeting access across reps
- Walks through native HubSpot integration setup (connect via Settings → Integrations)
- For custom field mapping beyond native sync, sets up a webhook automation that POSTs meeting data to a middleware (Zapier/Make) which maps notes + action items to HubSpot deal properties
- Notes: native integration handles basic sync; webhook + Zapier gives full control over field mapping Result: Working pipeline from Circleback meetings to HubSpot deal records.
Example 2: Comparing Circleback vs Granola for a privacy-conscious team
User says: "We don't want a bot joining our calls. Should we use Circleback or Granola?" Skill does:
- Notes Circleback offers botless mode but it's secondary to bot-based; Granola is bot-free by design
- Compares: Granola ($14/user/mo Business) vs Circleback Team ($25/user/mo) — Granola is cheaper
- Granola strengths: bot-free always, AI-enhanced notes you co-author, HubSpot/Attio/Affinity CRM sync
- Circleback strengths: cross-meeting search, action item tracking, webhook automations, broader CRM support (HubSpot + Salesforce + Attio)
- Recommends Granola for strict bot-free requirement; Circleback if they need automations and broader integrations Result: Clear decision framework based on bot-free priority vs automation needs.
Example 3: Webhook automation not sending data
User says: "I set up a Circleback webhook but nothing is arriving at my endpoint." Skill does:
- Checks: did you test with the most recent meeting? The test button sends a real payload
- Verifies endpoint is publicly accessible HTTPS
- Checks webhook conditions — are they filtering out the meetings you expect?
- Verifies x-signature validation isn't rejecting payloads (check HMAC-SHA256 against signing secret with
whsec_prefix) - Suggests checking Circleback automation logs for delivery status Result: Systematic debugging of webhook delivery issues.
Troubleshooting
Speaker labels are wrong or mixed up
Symptom: Transcript attributes speech to the wrong person, especially in group calls Cause: Circleback's speaker identification struggles with overlapping speakers, shared microphones, or conference room setups Solution: Use individual headsets/mics for each participant. Ensure calendar invites have attendee emails (helps Circleback match speakers). For conference rooms, consider a dedicated speaker-tracking microphone. After the meeting, you can manually correct speaker labels in the Circleback editor.
Bot joins unwanted meetings
Symptom: Circleback bot shows up in personal calls, internal 1:1s, or meetings you didn't want recorded Cause: Auto-join is enabled broadly, and recurring meeting approval doesn't always stick Solution: Review your meeting filter settings (Settings → Meeting Preferences). Exclude specific calendar event types or keywords. For recurring meetings, manually approve/deny individual occurrences. Consider using the botless option for sensitive meetings.
Webhook payload missing transcript or action items
Symptom: Webhook fires but transcript array or actionItems array is empty Cause: You may not have selected those outcomes when creating the automation, or the meeting was too short for AI to generate them Solution: Edit the automation and ensure "Transcript" and "Action items" are selected in the outcomes step. For very short meetings (<2 min), Circleback may not generate full notes. Also check that notes field isn't empty — if it is, the meeting may not have been processed yet. Add a retry with 60-second delay to catch late processing.