> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.syntheo.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The Syntheo spirit

> Why tea: what the Japanese tea gathering explains about Syntheo's choices.

Syntheo carries tea in its name: Syn·thé·o (*thé* is French for tea), what you gather around tea. In Japan, a *chakai* (茶会) brings together a host and their guests for a carefully prepared moment. A participant then keeps its *kaiki* (会記): their own record of the gathering.

A Syntheo note follows this flow. **備 Prepare**: before the meeting, you choose its type and add the participants. **聴 Listen**: you take your notes, the transcript scrolls in the margin. **結 Synthesis**: Syntheo completes your notes into a summary, and the 記 seal marks the note as finished. Your notes stay in green, Syntheo's text in ink.

A meeting cannot be replayed (一期一会, *ichi-go ichi-e*, "one encounter, one time only"): Syntheo never keeps the audio, only the note remains. And what is said there does not leave your premises: transcription and synthesis go only through your servers, with no account and no telemetry.

## The three steps

| Step | In the tea gathering | In Syntheo |
| - | - | - |
| 備 Prepare | The host prepares the room and the water, and thinks of their guests. | The card: meeting type, participants, listening sources. |
| 聴 Listen | The moment itself, lived with full presence. | You take your notes; the transcript scrolls in the margin. |
| 結 Synthesis | The moment is closed and recorded (結 means "to tie"). | Syntheo completes your notes into a summary, marked with the 記 seal. |

The full flow is in [Record a meeting](https://docs.syntheo.studio/en/meetings.md).

## What the ritual explains

**The summary starts from your notes.** A *kaiki* is the notebook of someone who was there, not the official minutes of an institution. Syntheo does not replace your notes with a summary: it completes them with the transcript. Your notes stay in green and the text Syntheo adds in ink, so you can see who wrote what.

**The audio is never kept.** A moment cannot be replayed; that is what makes it worth recording. Syntheo keeps the note and the transcript, never the recording: the audio lives in memory long enough to be transcribed, then disappears. See [Data and privacy](https://docs.syntheo.studio/en/data-and-privacy.md).

**What is said stays between you.** A *chakai* is held in a closed room, among those invited. Your transcription and synthesis servers are like the people who bring the tea from outside the room: you are the one who invites them. Syntheo only talks to the servers you configure, has no account, and sends nothing to its publisher.

**Preparing is part of the meeting.** For the host, preparation is not a formality: it is already attention paid to the guests. That is why a Syntheo note starts before listening, with the meeting type and the participants.

## The Japanese words

| Term | Meaning |
| - | - |
| 茶会 *chakai* | Tea gathering: a host receives their guests. |
| 会記 *kaiki* | Record of a *chakai*: guests, utensils, meal. The oldest ones, such as the *Matsuya kaiki* (1533-1650), were kept by merchants who noted the gatherings they attended. |
| 一期一会 *ichi-go ichi-e* | "One encounter, one time only". The idea goes back to the disciples of Sen no Rikyū; the phrase was set down by Ii Naosuke in the *Chanoyu ichie shū* (around 1857). |
| 記 | "To record", the same character as in *kaiki*. It is the seal placed on a finished note. |

The kanji in the app are ornaments: they carry no information. The labels stay in your language.


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