Session Notes: Lifecycle and Troubleshooting

This article walks through what happens to a session note after you finish a session, how to read the processing screen, and how to fix the most common problems: a note that is stuck, a wrong session time, a signature from the wrong staff member, a missing recording, and a note that landed on the wrong client. It also covers how to move a note to the correct client and how to export a note as a PDF.

What happens after you end a session

When you end a recording, Alpaca immediately starts building your session note. You do not need to stay on the screen while it works. The note runs through three steps, which you can watch on the processing screen:

• Processing Audio: preparing your session recording for analysis.

• Extracting Transcription: converting your audio to text.

• Analyzing Content: generating your compliant session note using Alpaca AI.

While this runs you'll see "Alpaca is working on your session!" The screen notes that this usually takes about 1 to 5 minutes. When it finishes it changes to "Alpaca has processed your session!" and the note is ready for you to review, edit, and sign.

You can safely start recording another session while one is still processing.

Where the note lives

Your note is tied to the client and to you as the recording staff member. You can find it from the client's profile under the Session Notes tab, and by opening the recording you just finished. Once you sign it, the note flows into billing and payroll, so it's important that the details are correct before you sign.

Note stuck "analyzing," or not generating

If the processing screen stays on Analyzing Content longer than expected, or the note never appears, you have a couple of options.

Re-run the analysis

On the processing screen, if things take longer than expected, click Retry to redo the analysis. Once a note has been generated, you can re-run it from the Actions menu using Redo Analysis. This opens a confirmation that explains it will regenerate the entire session note with the latest Alpaca AI analysis and replace your current content, then you confirm with Redo Analysis.

Important: redoing the analysis replaces the current note content, so copy anything you want to keep first (see below). Redo Analysis is only available while the note is still editable. It is not offered once a note has been signed or submitted for billing.

Use Copy All so you never lose your work

Every generated note has a Copy All button that copies the full note to your clipboard (the button briefly changes to Copied!). If a note looks wrong or you're about to re-run the analysis, use Copy All first so you can paste your content back in if needed.

Language considerations

Transcription quality depends on the language you selected when you started recording. When you set up a recording, the Language selector (shown as Transcribing:) lets you choose the language spoken in the session: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, or Vietnamese. If the transcript or note reads as though it misheard the session, check that the recording was set to the right language. Picking the correct language before you record gives the best result. A redo alone won't fix a session that was transcribed in the wrong language.

Fixing session times

Session start and end times drive billing units, so they need to be right before you sign. When you sign or modify a session, Alpaca pre-fills the start and end time based on the appointment or the recorded start and end time, and asks you to confirm they're correct. Review the Start and End fields there and adjust them if they don't match the actual session before you complete signing.

If a note has already been signed, use Modify Session from the Actions menu to reopen the signing flow and correct the times. Because signed notes feed billing and payroll, changing a signed note may require re-signing it.

Fixing a wrong-staff signature (note recorded by the wrong person)

If a note is attributed to the wrong staff member, open the note's Actions menu and choose Reassign to New User. In the Reassign Session Note dialog, search for the correct staff member, select them, and click Reassign. You'll see a "Session note reassigned successfully" confirmation.

Reassigning is only available while the note is still editable, so if the note was already signed by the wrong person you may first need to reopen it (for example via Modify Session) before it can be moved to the correct staff member. If you get stuck, contact your administrator or Alpaca support.

A missing recording

If you finished a session but no note or transcript shows up:

• Give it a few minutes. The note may still be processing. Reopen the recording and check the processing screen.

• If the screen shows an error or has been stuck a long time, click Retry (or Redo Analysis) to reprocess the audio.

• If Alpaca couldn't get usable audio, it will generate an empty note template for you to complete manually rather than leaving nothing. So an empty note is a sign the audio didn't come through, not that your work was lost.

• If you see "Something Went Wrong" or the page can't load the recording, try Refresh Page. If it still doesn't appear, use Contact Us to reach support.

If the note is genuinely not there at all, see the companion article "Why is my session note not there?"for a quick checklist of the most common causes.

Reassigning a note to the correct client

If a note was recorded against the wrong client, you can move it without re-recording. The recording and all of its content stay intact. It just gets re-filed under the right person.

1. Open the note and click the Actions menu (the gear button at the top of the note).

2. Choose Reassign to New Client.

3. In the Reassign Session Note dialog ("Select a client to reassign this session note to"), use the Search clients... box to find the correct client.

4. Select the client from the results, then click Reassign.

5. You'll see "Session note reassigned successfully."

Note: this option only appears while the note is still editable, that is, not yet signed or submitted for billing. If the note is already signed, reopen it first (for example via Modify Session) before reassigning. If you only want to jump to a client's full record rather than move the note, use Go to Client List from the same menu instead.

Exporting a session note to PDF

To share or save a note outside Alpaca, open the note's Actions menu and choose Export Session Note to PDF. This opens the export view where you can generate the PDF for the session note.