The fastest way to turn a consultation into a clinical note is to record it as it happens. The New Consult panel is the first thing you see when you open Whippet Notes: fill in a couple of details, hit record, and when you stop, Whippet transcribes the audio and starts drafting your note live.
Before you record
Two fields are required before you can save a recording, and you can fill them in at any point — even after you've finished recording:
Patient — the patient's name.
Template — click Select a template to choose the structure your notes will follow. Templates are grouped by type (for example Practice, Small Animals, Equine), and Whippet pre-selects one when it can. To build or change templates, see Creating and editing templates.
There's also an optional Additional context for AI box — anything typed here is passed to the AI alongside the audio (for example "12-year-old DSH, recheck following dental"). There's no separate "Owner" field on this panel.
Choosing your microphone
A microphone selector to the right of the New Consult heading shows the device in use. Click it to pick a different microphone; Whippet remembers your choice. You can't switch while a recording is in progress or paused. A newly connected headset or USB mic should appear automatically — if you see No microphones available or an error, see Connecting a microphone.
Setting a maximum recording time
Next to the timer is a maximum-time selector. Recording automatically stops at this limit, so you never accidentally leave it running. Choose 15, 30, or 45 minutes, 1 hour, 1 hr 15 min, or 1 hr 30 min (the default); your choice is remembered between consults.
How to record a consult
Open your dashboard — the New Consult panel loads with its status badge reading READY.
Enter the Patient name and confirm the Template (now or after recording).
Click Start recording. The timer counts up and a live waveform confirms your microphone is picking up sound.
Use Pause if you need a break — pausing and resuming keeps everything in one recording. Click Resume to carry on.
To finish, pause the recording, then click Stop & review. You need at least 20 seconds of audio.
Click Upload & draft note to send the recording for processing.
The consult then opens automatically and your note drafts live as the AI works through the transcript — see Viewing and navigating a consult. If you change your mind at any point, Discard clears the recording so you can start over.
The badge at the top-left tracks where you are: READY, RECORDING, PAUSED, READY TO SAVE (stopped, ready to upload), or ERROR if something went wrong with the microphone or recorder.
Uploading a file instead
If your consultation is already recorded as an audio file, click Upload audio file next to Start recording. Whippet accepts .mp3, .m4a, .mp4, .wav, .webm, .ogg, .flac, .aac, .opus files up to 500 MB — full details in Uploading an audio file.
If a recording is interrupted
If your tab closes, your network drops, or an upload fails partway, your recording isn't lost — Whippet saves it on your device first. A Pending uploads panel appears below New Consult, listing each stuck recording with its patient name, length, file size, and upload attempts. Click Retry to send it again, or the bin icon (Discard recording) to delete it — you'll be asked to confirm, because the audio will be permanently lost.
If something goes wrong
Start recording is greyed out. Whippet is still getting ready, or no microphone is available. Check the microphone selector; see Connecting a microphone.
Stop & review won't enable. You need at least 20 seconds of audio, and the recording must be paused first.
Upload & draft note is greyed out. You're missing a required field. Add the Patient name and select a Template — the template field shows Please select a template in red when empty.
A red microphone message appears. Whippet couldn't access your mic. The message tells you what to try — for example, allowing microphone access from the icon in your browser's address bar, or closing another app that's using the microphone.
An upload fails. The recording moves to Pending uploads so you can Retry it without re-recording.
What this doesn't do (yet)
Show a live transcript while you record. You see the waveform and timer; the transcript and note appear after you upload, on the consult screen.
Work on mobile. This guide covers the web dashboard. The mobile app has its own recording flow.
Capture an Owner as a separate field. Only the patient name, template, and optional AI context are collected.