Does Cluely Work with Zoom?

If you are checking Cluely before a Zoom interview, you need to know whether it can actually hear the interviewer. Following the audio path explains how desktop capture works and which permissions and device requirements to check.

Zoom receives the remote speaker's audio and plays it through your computer's selected output device. A desktop assistant using system audio capture can receive that sound through the computer's audio facilities, without needing Zoom to supply a transcript.

This architecture makes Zoom compatibility possible, but it does not establish support for every operating system, audio configuration, or managed device. Confirm the supported operating systems and capture requirements for your installed Cluely release before relying on it.

To compare Cluely with SubcueAI for interview use, see the Cluely alternative guide.

Use a permitted practice call to check the actual audio path. Hearing someone through your headphones proves that Zoom playback works; it does not prove that another app receives the same sound.

• Where the call audio plays: If you join audio by phone, speech played only on that phone is outside your laptop's system audio.
• Zoom's output device: Check the selected speaker or headphones. Repeat the capture test after changing a headset, Bluetooth connection, or docking station.
• The assistant's permissions: Check the capture permissions requested by your Cluely release. Giving Zoom microphone access does not give another app permission to capture audio.
• Which voices are captured: Have a practice partner speak, then speak yourself. Check what the assistant receives from each side; system audio and microphone input are separate sources.

For example, consider a backend engineer preparing for an L5 interview at a public cloud vendor. They open Zoom on their laptop but join the practice call's audio through their phone. The interviewer sounds clear on the phone, yet the laptop has no interviewer speech in its system audio. Moving the call audio to the laptop gives them an audio path they can test.

SubcueAI has two live-assist surfaces. Choose between them according to where your Zoom call runs and which side of the conversation you need captured.

• Native desktop app: The flagship macOS and Windows app works with desktop meeting clients, including Zoom. It captures system audio and your microphone, with assistance displayed in a floating local overlay.
• Browser extension: The Side Panel provides live interview assistance in Chrome and Edge when the call runs in a browser tab. It captures only the meeting tab's audio, meaning the interviewer's side, never your microphone. It does not transcribe the candidate or capture the separate Zoom desktop client's audio.
• Firefox: The Firefox extension supports mock practice only, without live interview assistance.

Neither SubcueAI surface sends a meeting bot into the call or injects a content script into the meeting page. Those facts describe how the assistant connects to the meeting; they do not guarantee invisibility during screen capture.

Follow the SubcueAI tutorial for setup instructions for your chosen surface.

Audio compatibility and screen visibility are separate questions. A shared display or screen recording can include an assistant window. Recording the meeting itself and recording the entire desktop capture different content, so the word 'recorded' alone does not tell you whether the interface is visible.

Screen sharing, screen recording, proctored interviews, and company-managed devices are outside any general assurance that an assistant remains unseen. Device policies can restrict software or monitor activity. Interview rules can also prohibit live assistance even when the audio setup works.

Review the detectability guidance to understand these visibility limits before using live assistance.