​
Testing Audio Capture on Cluely

To test if transcription is set up correctly:
  1. Open the Cluely desktop app
  2. Click “Start Cluely”
  3. You should see a dancing waveform at the top of the widget
  4. Click these to open the transcription window, and you should see text appearing
  5. Start speaking: you should see more transcription from your own voice in blue
If this isn’t working or you are seeing an audio alert, this usually means permissions were not fully enabled. Sometimes different operating systems can block audio permissions.

​
Common fixes

​
1. Restart Cluely

Click the Cluely ‘g’ icon in your Mac’s top menu bar Click “Quit Cluely Completely” Reopen Cluely This resets the connection to our transcription provider and often resolves connection issues. Try testing again using the above steps.

​
2. Check System Audio Settings

Cluely uses your system audio, so in System Settings > Sound > Audio, input and output need to be properly selected to the microphone you’re using. Compare these settings with what’s working in your calls to make sure they match.

​
3. Check Audio Permissions

Make sure Cluely has permission to access your system audio:
  • Open System Settings
  • Go to Privacy & Security > Microphone
  • Find Cluely in the list and make sure it’s toggled on
  • Repeat for Screen & System Audio recording

​
4. Restart Cluely Onboarding

Sometimes users skip permissions during onboarding. This can cause issues with audio capture, since the system may block audio events by default.

​
Network troubleshooting

If you’re still having issues getting Cluely to transcribe, this may be due to your networking set-up.

​
1. DNS Resolution Issues

For some users, Cluely cannot resolve the domain name for our transcription API. Try using 8.8.8.8 as your DNS server.

​
2. TLS Connection Issues

For some users, Cluely cannot establish a TLS connection to our APIs. Things we have seen that work:
  • Turn off your VPN
  • Remove untrusted certificates from Keychain (macOS) or Certificate Store (Windows)

​
3. Firewall and Network Whitelisting

Whitelist the following domains in your firewall and network security settings: Core Cluely Services:
  • platform.cluely.com
  • service.transcribe.cluely.com
  • app.cluely.com
  • desktop.cluely.com
  • desktop.app.cluely.com
  • flags.cluely.com
  • img.cluely.com

​
4. Connection Timeout Issues

For some users, some connections are dropped or time out. Try adjusting or removing your firewall rules that might be blocking WebSocket connections.

​
5. Corporate Network Considerations

If you’re on a corporate network, you may need to:
  • Contact your IT administrator to whitelist the above domains
  • Ensure WebSocket connections (wss://) are allowed
  • Check if your corporate proxy is interfering with real-time connections