Comu Importer

Bring your Comu recordings into Obsidian. Each recording becomes a note with the AI summary, the insights, the action items as tasks, a chapter list and the full transcript with speakers and timestamps. You can save the audio next to the note too.

The plugin uses Comu's official developer API with an API key you create in the Comu app. It only reads: it cannot change, rename or delete anything in your Comu account.

This is a community plugin. It is not made or endorsed by Comu.

Comu's API cannot tell a real change to a recording from someone viewing it, and it limits each key to 1,000 requests a day. The plugin works around both; see Comu API limitations and workarounds for what that means for you.

Contents

• What it does
• What it will not do
• Requirements
• Installation
• Connect your Comu account
• Importing
• Automatic sync
• Renaming a recording
• What a note looks like
• Settings
• Comu API limitations and workarounds
• Troubleshooting
• Privacy
• Community
• License

What it does

• Lists your Comu recordings in an import window, each marked New, Imported, Update available or Not processed yet.
• Checks new and changed recordings for you, so one click imports what you are missing.
• Writes one note per recording with:
  • frontmatter: comu-id, comu-url, date, start and end time, duration, speakers;
  • a link that opens the recording in Comu;
  • the Summary and the Insights Comu wrote;
  • Action items as Obsidian tasks (- [ ]), with the person each one belongs to;
  • the Transcript, with a clickable chapter list from Comu's outline.
• Optionally downloads the audio into a -assets folder next to the note and embeds it.
• Files notes into folders and names them from templates you build with insert buttons and a live preview.
• Syncs new and changed recordings in the background, if you turn it on.
• Renames an imported note together with its -assets folder.
• Works on desktop and mobile.

What it will not do

• It never writes to Comu. Comu's API is read-only, and the plugin calls only its query endpoints.
• It never overwrites a note it did not write. If a note with the same name exists and was not imported by this plugin, the new note is saved beside it with " 2" added to the name.
• It keeps your own writing. The note body the plugin writes sits between two hidden markers. Text you add above or below them stays when you import the recording again. The plugin's own frontmatter properties (comu-id, date, speakers and the rest) are rewritten on each import; properties you add yourself are kept.
• It writes only into its output folder. Notes and audio go into the folder you choose. Notes you move out of that folder count as imported and are left where you put them: imports and sync do not re-create or update them. The one exception is renaming: if you rename a note you moved, its -assets folder moves with it.
• It does not phone home. No telemetry, no analytics. The only server it talks to is Comu's.

Requirements

• Obsidian 1.13.2 or later.
• A Comu account with a Premium or Elite membership. Comu gives API access (Comu app → Me → Developers) to these plans, including trial and gifted memberships. The Starter plan has no API access, so the plugin cannot work with it.

Installation

From Community plugins

Open the Comu Importer listing and click Install, or inside Obsidian:

1. Open Settings → Community plugins and turn off Restricted mode if it is on.
2. Click Browse and search for Comu Importer.
3. Click Install, then Enable.

Via BRAT

1. Install the BRAT plugin.
2. In BRAT, choose Add beta plugin and enter https://github.com/ckelsoe/obsidian-comu-importer.
3. Enable Comu Importer under Settings → Community plugins.

Manual install

1. Download main.js, manifest.json and styles.css from the latest release.
2. Put them in a folder named comu-importer inside your vault's .obsidian/plugins/ folder.
3. Reload Obsidian and enable Comu Importer under Settings → Community plugins.

Connect your Comu account

1. In the Comu app, open Me → Developers → API Keys and create a key. Copy it; it starts with kb_.
2. In Obsidian, open Settings → Comu Importer.
3. Paste the key into API key and click Save.

The plugin checks the key with Comu before keeping it. The status then reads API key saved, with a Test connection button. The key is stored in Obsidian's secret storage on your device, not in the plugin's settings file, so it is not copied with your vault's settings.

To disconnect, click Remove key. To revoke the key everywhere, delete it in the Comu app.

Importing

Click the ribbon button (a vocal mic by default; its tooltip reads Comu importer: import recordings), or run Comu Importer: Import recordings from the command palette.

At the top of the import window, choose what to import: Summary, insights, action items, Transcript, Audio. The starting choice comes from What to import in the settings.

The list shows your recordings, newest first:

• Hide filters: imported, updates, ignored. Your choice is remembered.
• The eye button on a row ignores a recording, or stops ignoring it.
• Select new and updated, Select all and Select none set the checkboxes.

Comu also marks a recording as changed when someone only views it, so when the window opens it checks the content of each recording Comu marks as changed, and only real changes keep the Update available badge. See No reliable "changed" signal.

Click Import. When a recording was imported before, the plugin follows When a note already exists: ask each time, update it, or skip it. Updating rewrites the part between the markers and the plugin's own frontmatter properties.

When the import finishes, the window shows what happened: how many notes are new, updated or skipped, every failure with its reason, any placeholders, and why the import stopped early if it did. Copy details copies all of it, for an issue report. After an import with no failures, the results close on their own after a countdown (you can turn that off). Closing the window stops the import after the recording in progress.

Automatic sync

Turn on Sync automatically and pick an interval. In the background, the plugin imports new recordings and updates the notes of recordings that changed in Comu, using your What to import choices. It never asks, and it compares content before updating, so a recording that was only viewed in Comu leaves its note untouched (only its stored change time is refreshed). It skips ignored recordings, recordings Comu has not processed yet, and notes you moved out of the output folder. It imports at most 25 recordings per run, and waits while the plugin has sent 600 or more requests in the last 24 hours (see Daily request allowance). Comu Importer: Sync new and changed recordings now runs it on demand.

If Comu refuses the API key, sync pauses until you save a working key.

Renaming a recording

Run Comu Importer: Rename recording on an imported note, or right-click it and choose Rename imported recording. The note and its -assets folder are renamed together. Renaming the note any other way in Obsidian also moves its -assets folder. The title in Comu does not change: Comu's API cannot rename recordings.

What a note looks like

---
comu-id: "4d4b0c1e-0000-4000-8000-000000000001"
comu-url: "https://web.comu.com/all-files/note/4d4b0c1e-0000-4000-8000-000000000001"
date: 2026-11-03
start-time: "2026-11-03T19:57:21+00:00"
end-time: "2026-11-03T20:33:57+00:00"
duration-seconds: 2196
duration: "37m"
speakers: [Alex, Sam]
source: comu
---

# 2026-11-03 Weekly planning

[Open in Comu →](https://web.comu.com/all-files/note/4d4b0c1e-0000-4000-8000-000000000001)

## Summary
...

## Insights
...

## Action items

- [ ] Send the agenda (Sam)
- [x] Book the room

---

#### Transcript

##### Chapters
- [[#00:01 Opening|**[00:01]** Opening]]
...

Settings

Connection

Output

Tokens use Moment formats in double braces, for example {{YYYY}}, {{MM}}, {{MMMM}}, {{DD}}, {{dddd}}, {{WW}}, {{Q}}, plus {{title}}.

What to import: summary, insights and action items; transcript; audio. These are the starting choice in the import window and what automatic sync imports.

Transcript: layout (under a heading, in a collapsed callout, or in a separate Transcript.md, embedded or linked), fold the transcript when a note is written, and the transcript heading level.

Tags: your own comma-separated tags, or none.

Import window: placeholder notes for unprocessed recordings, closing the results automatically and the countdown, and showing trashed recordings.

Automatic sync: on or off, and the interval (30 minutes to once a day).

Appearance: show or hide the ribbon button, and pick its icon.

Troubleshooting: debug logging to the developer console. Your API key is never logged.

Comu API limitations and workarounds

Comu's developer API is new and has gaps that affect an importer. Here is each one, and what the plugin does about it for now. If Comu closes a gap, the workaround goes away.

No reliable "changed" signal

The limitation. Comu reports a change time for each recording, but it also moves when the recording is only viewed: the first time anyone opens its summary, in the Comu app or through the API, the change time jumps even though nothing in the recording changed. The API has no other field that changes only when content does. On its own, the change time would mark recordings as Update available after you merely looked at them, and automatic sync would re-import them again and again.

The workaround. Each note records a fingerprint of what it was built from, in the comu-content-hash property. When Comu's change time for a recording is newer than its note's, the plugin reads that recording again and compares fingerprints:

• Same content: the note is left alone. Only its stored change time (comu-version-ms) is updated, so the recording is not checked again until Comu's time moves once more.
• Different content: it is a real change. The window shows Update available, and sync updates the note, reusing the content it just read.

What it costs you.

• Each check reads the recording, about five requests, so viewing many recordings in the Comu app makes the next check use more of the daily allowance below. The import window shows "Checking N recordings…" while it does this.
• Notes imported before version 0.1.1 have no fingerprint, so the next time Comu marks one changed it counts as changed. Automatic sync then updates it, which records a fingerprint. In the import window it follows When a note already exists; if you skip it, it stays without a fingerprint and is marked again next time.
• The import window checks at most 20 recordings each time it opens, newest first. Any others Comu marks as changed keep Update available; they can still be imported, and the next opening checks them.
• If an audio download fails, the note keeps no fingerprint, so a later check retries it.
• The fingerprint also covers the recording's title, start time and length, and what you chose under What to import. After you change that choice, a recording checked later counts as changed once and is re-imported with the new choice.
• A recording that cannot be checked (for example a Comu error) keeps Update available and is checked again next time; the others are still checked.

Daily request allowance

The limitation. Comu allows 1,000 requests per rolling 24 hours per API key. Importing one recording takes about five (six with audio), and listing takes one per 100 recordings, which is the most Comu returns per request.

The workaround. The plugin counts the requests it sends while Obsidian is running (the count starts again when Obsidian restarts). Before each automatic sync it checks that count, and if 600 or more were sent in the last 24 hours, the sync waits; a sync that starts below 600 can go somewhat past it. Each sync imports at most 25 recordings. This leaves most of the rest of the allowance for imports you start. A very large first import may need to be spread over more than one day; requests Comu refuses for the limit appear as failures with Comu's reason. Requests made from another device or tool with the same key also count toward Comu's limit but are not visible to the plugin.

Errors under load

The limitation. Comu's gateway answers some requests with an HTTP 502 error when several arrive at the same time.

The workaround. The plugin sends one request at a time and retries a 502, 503 or 504 twice (after half a second, then after 1.5 seconds), the bound Comu's documentation gives for read requests. A recording that still fails is listed in the import results with the reason, and nothing is written for it.

Read-only

The limitation. The API has no way to change anything in your account.

The workaround. None needed for importing. It does mean Rename recording renames only the note and its -assets folder; the title in Comu stays as it is.

Other gaps

• Time zone. Comu does not report the time zone a recording was made in, so times are written in the zone set under Time zone, or your computer's.
• Membership. API keys need a Premium or Elite membership. The Starter plan cannot use the plugin.
• Permissions. A key needs note and action-item access. Save refuses a key without action-item access and says so, because importing without action items would remove the ones a note already has.
• Not imported yet: your own notes typed in the Comu app, Comu's folders, the visual summary, and contacts.

Troubleshooting

• "Comu rejected the API key": the key was mistyped, revoked, or your plan no longer includes Developers access. Create a new key in the Comu app and save it again.
• "Comu could not check your membership just now": a temporary problem on Comu's side. Try again in a few minutes.
• A recording shows "Not processed yet": Comu is still transcribing or summarizing it.
• An import shows failures: the results list the reason for each one. Copy details copies them.
• Something else: turn on Debug logging, open the developer console (Ctrl+Shift+I, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac); every error is logged there with its details. Please include them in an issue, with your API key removed.

Privacy

The plugin talks only to Comu's API (openapi-api.comu.com) and, when Download audio is on, to the temporary audio link Comu returns. Your key stays on your device. Nothing is sent to the plugin's author or anyone else. See PRIVACY.md.

Community

Questions, ideas, and general discussion happen on Discord. For anything that needs tracking, a GitHub issue is still the better home.

License

MIT