Zoom Meeting SDK - Linux Development

Expert guidance for building headless meeting bots with the Zoom Meeting SDK on Linux. This SDK enables server-side meeting participation, raw media capture, transcription, and AI-powered meeting automation.

Current public changelog release: 7.1.0 (verified 2026-07-10). It includes breaking changes plus I420 Limited/Full, breakout-room summaries, face ROI in raw video, and on-demand avatar download. Verify the downloaded headers before using new symbols; existing examples can reflect an older package snapshot.

How to Build a Meeting Bot That Automatically Joins and Records

Use this skill when the requirement is:

• visible bot joins a real Zoom meeting
• the bot records raw media itself
• or the bot triggers a Zoom-managed cloud-recording workflow after join

Skill chain:

• primary: meeting-sdk/linux
• add zoom-rest-api for OBF/ZAK lookup, scheduling, or cloud-recording settings
• add zoom-webhooks when post-meeting cloud recording retrieval is required

Minimal raw-recording flow:

JoinParam join_param;
join_param.userType = SDK_UT_WITHOUT_LOGIN;
auto& params = join_param.param.withoutloginuserJoin;
params.meetingNumber = meeting_number;
params.userName = "Recording Bot";
params.psw = meeting_password.c_str();
params.app_privilege_token = obf_token.c_str();

SDKError join_err = meeting_service->Join(join_param);
if (join_err != SDKERR_SUCCESS) {
    throw std::runtime_error("join_failed");
}

// In MEETING_STATUS_INMEETING callback:
auto* record_ctrl = meeting_service->GetMeetingRecordingController();
if (!record_ctrl) {
    throw std::runtime_error("recording_controller_unavailable");
}

if (record_ctrl->CanStartRawRecording() != SDKERR_SUCCESS) {
    throw std::runtime_error("raw_recording_not_permitted");
}

SDKError record_err = record_ctrl->StartRawRecording();
if (record_err != SDKERR_SUCCESS) {
    throw std::runtime_error("start_raw_recording_failed");
}

GetAudioRawdataHelper()->subscribe(new MyAudioDelegate());

Use raw recording when the bot must own PCM/YUV media or feed an AI pipeline directly.
Use cloud recording + webhooks when the requirement is Zoom-managed MP4/M4A/transcript assets after the meeting.

Official Documentation: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/meeting-sdk/linux/
API Reference: https://marketplacefront.zoom.us/sdk/meeting/linux/
Sample Repository (Raw Recording): https://github.com/zoom/meetingsdk-linux-raw-recording-sample
Sample Repository (Headless): https://github.com/zoom/meetingsdk-headless-linux-sample

Quick Links

New to Meeting SDK Linux? Follow this path:

1. linux.md - Quick start guide with complete workflow
2. concepts/high-level-scenarios.md - Production bot architectures
3. meeting-sdk-bot.md - Resilient bot with retry logic
4. references/linux-reference.md - Dependencies, Docker, CMake

Common Use Cases:

• Transcription Bot → high-level-scenarios.md#scenario-1-transcription-bot
• Recording Bot → high-level-scenarios.md#scenario-2-recording-bot
• AI Meeting Assistant → high-level-scenarios.md#scenario-3-ai-meeting-assistant
• Quality Monitoring → high-level-scenarios.md#scenario-4-monitoring-quality-bot
• Auto-Join + Recording Bot → meeting-sdk-bot.md for raw recording orchestration, retry, and cloud-recording handoff

Having issues?

• Docker audio issues → references/linux-reference.md#pulseaudio-setup
• Raw recording permission denied → meeting-sdk-bot.md#raw-recording-permission-denied
• Build errors → references/linux-reference.md#troubleshooting

Routing Rule for Bots

If the user asks to build a bot that automatically joins a Zoom meeting and records it, start with meeting-sdk-bot.md.

• Use Meeting SDK Linux for the visible participant, join flow, and raw recording control.
• Chain zoom-rest-api when the bot must fetch OBF/ZAK tokens, schedule meetings, or enable account-side recording settings.
• Chain zoom-webhooks when the requirement is Zoom cloud recording retrieval after meeting end.

SDK Overview

The Zoom Meeting SDK for Linux is a C++ library optimized for headless server environments:

• Headless Operation: No GUI required, perfect for Docker/cloud
• Raw Data Access: YUV420 video, PCM audio at 32kHz
• GLib Event Loop: Async event handling for callbacks
• Docker-Ready: Pre-configured Dockerfiles for CentOS/Ubuntu
• PulseAudio Integration: Virtual audio devices for headless environments

Key Differences from Video SDK

Feature	Meeting SDK (Linux)	Video SDK
Primary Use	Join existing meetings as bot	Host custom video sessions
Visibility	Visible participant	Session participant
UI	Headless (no UI)	Optional custom UI
Authentication	JWT + OBF/ZAK for external meetings	JWT only
Recording Control	StartRawRecording() required	Direct raw data access
Platform	Linux only	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

Prerequisites

System Requirements

• OS: Ubuntu 22+, CentOS 8/9, Oracle Linux 8
• Architecture: x86_64
• Compiler: gcc/g++ with C++11 support
• Build Tools: cmake 3.16+

Development Dependencies

# Ubuntu
apt-get install -y build-essential cmake \
    libx11-xcb1 libxcb-xfixes0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 \
    libxcb-randr0 libxcb-image0 libxcb-keysyms1 libxcb-xtest0 \
    libglib2.0-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev pulseaudio

# CentOS
yum install -y cmake gcc gcc-c++ \
    libxcb-devel xcb-util-image xcb-util-keysyms \
    glib2-devel libcurl-devel pulseaudio

Required Credentials

1. Zoom Meeting SDK App (Client ID & Secret) → Create at Marketplace
2. JWT Token → Generate from Client ID/Secret
3. For External Meetings: OBF token OR ZAK token → Get via REST API
4. For Raw Recording: Meeting Recording Token (optional) → Get via API

Quick Start

1. Download & Extract SDK

# Download from https://marketplace.zoom.us/
tar xzf zoom-meeting-sdk-linux_x86_64-{version}.tar

# Organize files
mkdir -p demo/include/h demo/lib/zoom_meeting_sdk
cp -r h/* demo/include/h/
cp lib*.so demo/lib/zoom_meeting_sdk/
cp -r qt_libs demo/lib/zoom_meeting_sdk/
cp translation.json demo/lib/zoom_meeting_sdk/json/

# Create required symlink
cd demo/lib/zoom_meeting_sdk && ln -s libmeetingsdk.so libmeetingsdk.so.1

2. Initialize & Auth

#include "zoom_sdk.h"

USING_ZOOM_SDK_NAMESPACE

// Initialize SDK
InitParam init_params;
init_params.strWebDomain = "https://zoom.us";
init_params.enableLogByDefault = true;
init_params.rawdataOpts.audioRawDataMemoryMode = ZoomSDKRawDataMemoryModeHeap;
InitSDK(init_params);

// Authenticate with JWT
AuthContext auth_ctx;
auth_ctx.jwt_token = your_jwt_token;
CreateAuthService(&auth_service);
auth_service->SDKAuth(auth_ctx);

3. Join Meeting

// In onAuthenticationReturn callback
void onAuthenticationReturn(AuthResult ret) {
    if (ret == AUTHRET_SUCCESS) {
        JoinParam join_param;
        join_param.userType = SDK_UT_WITHOUT_LOGIN;
        
        auto& params = join_param.param.withoutloginuserJoin;
        params.meetingNumber = 1234567890;
        params.userName = "Bot";
        params.psw = "password";
        params.isVideoOff = true;
        params.isAudioOff = false;
        
        meeting_service->Join(join_param);
    }
}

4. Access Raw Data

// In onMeetingStatusChanged callback
void onMeetingStatusChanged(MeetingStatus status, int iResult) {
    if (status == MEETING_STATUS_INMEETING) {
        auto* record_ctrl = meeting_service->GetMeetingRecordingController();
        
        // Start raw recording (enables raw data access)
        if (record_ctrl->CanStartRawRecording() == SDKERR_SUCCESS) {
            record_ctrl->StartRawRecording();
            
            // Subscribe to audio
            auto* audio_helper = GetAudioRawdataHelper();
            audio_helper->subscribe(new MyAudioDelegate());
            
            // Subscribe to video
            IZoomSDKRenderer* video_renderer;
            createRenderer(&video_renderer, new MyVideoDelegate());
            video_renderer->setRawDataResolution(ZoomSDKResolution_720P);
            video_renderer->subscribe(user_id, RAW_DATA_TYPE_VIDEO);
        }
    }
}

Key Features

Feature	Description
Headless Operation	No GUI, perfect for Docker/server deployments
Raw Audio (PCM)	Capture mixed or per-user audio at 32kHz
Raw Video (YUV420)	Capture video frames in contiguous planar format
GLib Event Loop	Async callback handling
Docker Support	Pre-built Dockerfiles for CentOS/Ubuntu
PulseAudio Virtual Devices	Audio in headless environments
Breakout Rooms	Programmatic breakout room management
Chat	Send/receive in-meeting chat
Recording Control	Local, cloud, and raw recording

Critical Gotchas & Best Practices

⚠️ CRITICAL: PulseAudio for Docker/Headless

The #1 issue for raw audio in Docker:

Raw audio requires PulseAudio and a config file, even in headless environments.

Solution:

# Install PulseAudio
apt-get install -y pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils

# Create config file
mkdir -p ~/.config
cat > ~/.config/zoomus.conf << EOF
[General]
system.audio.type=default
EOF

# Start PulseAudio with virtual devices
pulseaudio --start --exit-idle-time=-1
pactl load-module module-null-sink sink_name=virtual_speaker
pactl load-module module-null-sink sink_name=virtual_mic

See: references/linux-reference.md#pulseaudio-setup

Raw Recording Permission Required

Unlike Video SDK, Meeting SDK requires explicit permission to access raw data:

// MUST call StartRawRecording() first
auto* record_ctrl = meeting_service->GetMeetingRecordingController();

SDKError can_record = record_ctrl->CanStartRawRecording();
if (can_record == SDKERR_SUCCESS) {
    record_ctrl->StartRawRecording();
    // NOW you can subscribe to audio/video
} else {
    // Need: host/co-host status OR recording token
}

Ways to get permission:

1. Bot is host/co-host
2. Host grants recording permission
3. Use recording_token parameter (get via REST API)
4. Use app_privilege_token (OBF) when joining

GLib Main Loop Required

SDK callbacks execute via GLib event loop:

#include <glib.h>

// Setup main loop
GMainLoop* loop = g_main_loop_new(NULL, FALSE);

// Add timeout for periodic tasks
g_timeout_add_seconds(10, check_meeting_status, NULL);

// Run loop (blocks until quit)
g_main_loop_run(loop);

Without GLib loop: Callbacks never fire, join hangs indefinitely.

Heap Memory Mode Recommended

Always use heap mode for raw data to avoid stack overflow with large frames:

init_params.rawdataOpts.videoRawDataMemoryMode = ZoomSDKRawDataMemoryModeHeap;
init_params.rawdataOpts.shareRawDataMemoryMode = ZoomSDKRawDataMemoryModeHeap;
init_params.rawdataOpts.audioRawDataMemoryMode = ZoomSDKRawDataMemoryModeHeap;

Thread Safety

SDK callbacks execute on SDK threads:

• Don't perform heavy operations in callbacks
• Don't call CleanUPSDK() from within callbacks
• Use thread-safe queues for data passing
• Use mutexes for shared state

Production Architectures

Transcription Bot

See: concepts/high-level-scenarios.md#scenario-1

Join Meeting → StartRawRecording → Subscribe Audio → 
Stream to AssemblyAI/Whisper → Generate Real-time Transcript

Recording Bot

See: concepts/high-level-scenarios.md#scenario-2

Join Meeting → StartRawRecording → Subscribe Audio+Video → 
Write YUV+PCM → FFmpeg Merge → Upload to Storage

AI Meeting Assistant

See: concepts/high-level-scenarios.md#scenario-3

Join Meeting → Real-time Transcription → AI Analysis → 
Extract Action Items → Generate Summary

Sample Applications

Official Repositories:

Sample	Description	Link
Raw Recording Sample	Traditional C++ approach with config.txt	GitHub
Headless Sample	Modern TOML-based with CLI, Docker Compose	GitHub

What Each Demonstrates:

• Raw Recording Sample: Complete raw data workflow, PulseAudio setup, Docker multi-distro support
• Headless Sample: AssemblyAI integration, Anthropic AI, production-ready config management

Documentation Library

Core Concepts

• linux.md - Quick start & core workflow
• concepts/high-level-scenarios.md - Production bot architectures
• meeting-sdk-bot.md - Resilient bot with retry logic

Platform Reference

• references/linux-reference.md - Dependencies, CMake, Docker, troubleshooting

Authentication

• ../references/authorization.md - SDK JWT generation
• ../references/bot-authentication.md - Bot token types (ZAK, OBF, JWT)

Advanced Features

• ../references/breakout-rooms.md - Programmatic breakout rooms
• ../references/ai-companion.md - AI Companion controls

Common Issues

Issue	Cause	Solution
No audio in Docker	Missing PulseAudio config	Create ~/.config/zoomus.conf
Raw recording denied	No permission	Use host/co-host OR recording token
Callbacks not firing	Missing GLib main loop	Add g_main_loop_run()
Build errors (XCB)	Missing X11 libraries	Install libxcb packages
Segfault on auth	OpenSSL version mismatch	Install libssl1.1

Complete troubleshooting: references/linux-reference.md#troubleshooting

Resources

• Official Docs: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/meeting-sdk/linux/
• API Reference: https://marketplacefront.zoom.us/sdk/meeting/linux/
• Dev Forum: https://devforum.zoom.us/
• GitHub Samples:
  • https://github.com/zoom/meetingsdk-linux-raw-recording-sample
  • https://github.com/zoom/meetingsdk-headless-linux-sample

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Need help? Start with linux.md for quick start, then explore high-level-scenarios.md for production patterns.

Operations

• RUNBOOK.md - 5-minute preflight and debugging checklist.