AI Note Taker

Why deploy AI Note Taker on Render?

Note Taker AI is an audio transcription and summarization application that uses AssemblyAI for speech-to-text and OpenAI for generating summaries. It solves the problem of manually transcribing and condensing audio recordings by automating both processes through a web interface with browser-based audio recording.

This template wires together a Next.js frontend and Flask backend with pre-configured service discovery, so the frontend automatically connects to the backend API without manual URL configuration. Instead of setting up CORS, environment variable passing between services, and deployment pipelines yourself, you get both services deployed and communicating with a single click—just add your AssemblyAI and OpenAI keys. Render's Blueprint handles the build ordering and service linking, meaning you skip the typical multi-service orchestration headaches and go straight to recording and transcribing audio.

Architecture

What you can build

After deploying, you'll have a working web app where you can record audio in the browser and get back both a transcription and an AI-generated summary with key points and action items. The frontend and backend services are automatically connected—just add your AssemblyAI and OpenAI API keys during setup and the app is ready to use immediately.

Key features

• AssemblyAI transcription: Integrates AssemblyAI speech-to-text API for converting audio recordings to text transcripts.
• OpenAI summarization: Uses OpenAI GPT models to generate summaries with key insights, important points, and action items from transcripts.
• Automatic text chunking: Handles transcriptions of any length by automatically splitting text into chunks to avoid context window overflow.
• Browser audio recording: Records audio directly in the browser using the Web Audio API without requiring downloads or external tools.
• Render blueprint deployment: Includes render.yaml configuration for one-click deployment with auto-linked frontend and backend services.

Use cases

• Product manager records standup meetings and extracts action items automatically
• Student transcribes lecture recordings to create searchable study notes
• Journalist converts interview audio into summarized key quotes quickly
• Consultant documents client calls with AI-generated meeting summaries

What's included

Prerequisites

• AssemblyAI API Key: API key for AssemblyAI's speech-to-text transcription service that converts your audio recordings into text.
• OpenAI API Key: API key for OpenAI's GPT models used to generate AI-powered summaries of your transcribed notes.

Next steps

1. Open the frontend URL and record a short audio clip using the browser recorder — You should see the recording controls respond and a waveform or timer indicating audio is being captured
2. Test the full transcription flow by recording 10-15 seconds of speech and submitting — You should see AssemblyAI transcribe your audio and OpenAI generate a summary with key points and action items within 30-60 seconds
3. Configure your OpenAI model preference by updating the OPENAI_MODEL environment variable in Render dashboard if needed — After redeploying, verify the change by checking the summary output style matches your chosen model (e.g., gpt-4o vs gpt-4o-mini)