copilot-chat-transcribe

Convert Microsoft 365 Copilot chat sessions into clean, readable transcripts — a styled HTML file you can open in any browser, and a plain Markdown file for note-taking apps.

Two modes:

Mode	When to use
File mode	You already have a JSON export from the browser
--connect mode	Let the tool fetch the conversation live from your signed-in Edge browser

---

Installation

pip install copilot-chat-transcribe

For --connect mode (live browser download via Playwright):

pip install "copilot-chat-transcribe[connect]"
playwright install msedge

No-install option (uv / uvx)

# one-off run
uvx --from copilot-chat-transcribe copilot-chat-transcribe --help

# with --connect support
uvx --from "copilot-chat-transcribe[connect]" copilot-chat-transcribe --connect

---

Quick start

Mode 1 — convert a JSON file

copilot-chat-transcribe conversation.json

You will be asked for an output folder name (the filename stem is suggested as the default). Skip the prompt by passing -o:

copilot-chat-transcribe conversation.json -o my-chat

Three files are written into the folder:

my-chat/
├── transcript.html    ← open in any browser
├── transcript.md      ← paste into Obsidian, Notion, etc.
└── conversation.json  ← original export, archived alongside

Open the HTML automatically when done:

copilot-chat-transcribe conversation.json -o my-chat --open

---

Mode 2 — live download (--connect)

This mode connects to your already-running Microsoft Edge browser using its remote debugging interface, so it can read your signed-in Copilot session without you needing to copy any cookies or tokens.

copilot-chat-transcribe --connect

Step-by-step walkthrough:

1. The tool checks whether Edge is already listening on port 9222.
2. If not, it asks:

   MSEdge not found on port 9222. Start it now? [Y/n]
   

   Press Enter (or Y) to launch Edge automatically with remote debugging enabled.
3. Edge opens at chat.cloud.microsoft. Sign in if needed, then press Enter in the terminal.
4. The tool fetches your latest 10 conversations and shows a numbered list:

   Latest 10 conversations:
    1. Python data pipeline question  (2026-03-28 14:32)
    2. Draft email to team            (2026-03-27 09:11)
    ...
   Select conversation [1]: 
   

5. Press Enter to accept the default (most recent) or type a number.
6. The conversation is downloaded, parsed, and written to the output folder.

Specify the output folder and open immediately:

copilot-chat-transcribe --connect -o my-chat --open

Starting Edge manually instead

If you prefer to start Edge yourself before running the tool:

Windows:

& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222

macOS:

/Applications/Microsoft\ Edge.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft\ Edge --remote-debugging-port=9222

Then run copilot-chat-transcribe --connect as normal.

---

All options

copilot-chat-transcribe [-h] [--connect | input] [-o FOLDER] [--cdp-url URL] [--open] [--version]

Flag	Default	Description
input	(positional)	Path to a M365 Copilot JSON export file
--connect	—	Enable live browser download mode
-o / --output FOLDER	(prompted)	Output folder path
--cdp-url URL	http://localhost:9222	Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint
--open	off	Open transcript.html in the default browser when done
--version	—	Print version and exit

input and --connect are mutually exclusive — use one or the other.

---

Output format

transcript.html

• Self-contained — one file, no internet connection needed, works offline
• User messages — right-aligned blue speech bubbles
• Copilot responses — left-aligned, rendered Markdown (headings, tables, code blocks with syntax highlighting)
• Images — attached files embedded as inline base64 <img> tags
• Timestamps — stored as UTC in the HTML, converted to your local time by the browser

transcript.md

• ## You / ## Copilot headers separate each turn
• Copilot responses are reproduced in their original Markdown
• Images are not embedded (the filename is noted as a placeholder)
• Suitable for pasting into Obsidian, Notion, Confluence, or any Markdown editor

---

Where does the JSON come from? (File mode)

If you want to export a conversation yourself without --connect:

1. Open chat.cloud.microsoft in Edge or Chrome
2. Open DevTools → Network tab
3. Start a conversation or reload the page
4. Filter requests by conversation — look for a GET request to
   https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat/conversation/<uuid>
5. Right-click the request → Copy → Copy response
6. Paste into a .json file and run copilot-chat-transcribe that-file.json

---

Troubleshooting

Error: Playwright is required for --connect mode

Install the connect extra:

pip install "copilot-chat-transcribe[connect]"
playwright install msedge

Edge opens but the tool can't connect

Make sure Edge was launched with the debugging flag.
If Edge was already running before you ran the tool, close it fully (check the system tray) and let the tool start it, or start it manually with --remote-debugging-port=9222.

UnicodeEncodeError on Windows

Set the terminal encoding before running:

$env:PYTHONIOENCODING = "utf-8"
copilot-chat-transcribe conversation.json -o out

Or permanently in your PowerShell profile.

The conversation list is empty

The tool fetches the 10 most recent conversations from the Copilot nav pane API. Make sure you are signed in to chat.cloud.microsoft in the browser window that Edge opened.

---

Development

git clone https://github.com/your-org/copilot-chat-transcribe
cd copilot-chat-transcribe
uv venv
uv pip install -e ".[connect]"
playwright install msedge
copilot-chat-transcribe --help

Run against a sample file:

copilot-chat-transcribe path/to/export.json -o test-out --open

---

License

MIT