Lenses

What Are Lenses

A Lens is a structured AI prompt that you run against one or more meeting transcripts. Unlike a standard summary, which gives you a general overview, a Lens is purpose-built to answer a specific question or extract a specific type of insight.

For example, a "Competitor Mentions" Lens scans your meetings for any time a competitor is discussed, extracts the context, and produces a structured report. A "Budget & Pricing" Lens pulls out every financial figure, pricing discussion, and budget constraint mentioned in a call.

Karnyx ships with 25 built-in system Lenses covering the most common use cases, and you can create unlimited custom Lenses tailored to your exact workflow.

System Lenses Library

Karnyx includes 25 pre-built system Lenses organized into five categories. System Lenses cannot be edited, but you can duplicate any of them as a starting point for a custom Lens.

Sales & Revenue

Product & Engineering

Customer Success

Leadership & Strategy

Collaboration & People

Creating Custom Lenses

Custom Lenses let you define your own AI prompts for any use case not covered by the system library. Navigate to Settings > Lenses > Create Lens or use the Cmd+K command palette and type "New Lens".

1. Name your Lens: Choose a descriptive name like "Compliance Check" or "Interview Scorecard".
2. Write the prompt: Define exactly what you want the AI to extract or analyze. Use template variables (see below) to inject meeting data.
3. Set the category: Organize your Lens under a category for easy discovery in the command menu.
4. Choose the output format: Select between structured (JSON), markdown, or plain text output.
5. Preview against a real meeting: Test your Lens against any previously captured meeting before saving.

// Example custom Lens: Interview Scorecard
{
  "name": "Interview Scorecard",
  "category": "Recruiting",
  "output_format": "markdown",
  "prompt": "You are an interview evaluation assistant. Analyze this interview transcript and produce a structured scorecard.

MEETING: {{meeting_title}}
DATE: {{date}}
INTERVIEWER(S): {{participants}}
CANDIDATE: Identify from context

TRANSCRIPT:
{{transcript}}

INTERVIEWER NOTES:
{{notes}}

Produce the following:
1. **Candidate Overview** - Name, role applied for, interview stage
2. **Technical Assessment** (1-5) - Evaluate problem-solving and technical depth
3. **Communication** (1-5) - Clarity, conciseness, and articulation
4. **Culture Fit** (1-5) - Values alignment and team compatibility
5. **Key Strengths** - Top 3 standout qualities with examples
6. **Areas of Concern** - Any yellow or red flags observed
7. **Questions Asked by Candidate** - List and quality assessment
8. **Recommendation** - Strong Yes / Yes / Maybe / No with justification"
}

Lens Template Variables

Lenses use double-brace syntax to inject meeting data into your prompt. Karnyx replaces these variables with actual data when the Lens runs.

Running Lenses

You can run a Lens against a single meeting or across multiple meetings at once.

Single Meeting

1. Open a meeting from the dashboard.
2. Click the "Run Lens" button in the toolbar, or press / to open the command menu.
3. Select a Lens from the list. System Lenses appear first, followed by your custom Lenses.
4. The Lens runs in 5-15 seconds and the output appears in a new panel alongside the meeting.
5. Lens outputs are saved automatically and accessible from the meeting detail page under the Lenses tab.

Cross-Meeting (Multi-Select)

1. From the dashboard, select multiple meetings using Cmd+Click or the selection checkboxes.
2. Click "Run Lens" in the bulk action bar.
3. Select a Lens. Karnyx concatenates the meeting data and runs the prompt against all selected meetings simultaneously.
4. The output provides a unified analysis spanning all the selected meetings.

The "/" Command Menu

The fastest way to run a Lens is through the command menu. When viewing a meeting, press / to open the Lens command menu. Start typing to filter Lenses by name or category.

// Command menu examples
/                     → Opens full Lens list
/deal                 → Filters to "Deal Qualification"
/competitor           → Filters to "Competitor Mentions"
/interview            → Filters to your custom "Interview Scorecard" Lens
/health               → Filters to "Health Score"

// You can also use Cmd+K and type "Run Lens" for the same menu

Sharing Lenses with Your Workspace

Custom Lenses are private by default, visible only to you. You can share them with your entire workspace so that teammates can use them too.

1. Open Settings > Lenses and find the Lens you want to share.
2. Click the three-dot menu and select "Share with Workspace".
3. Choose the workspace(s) you want to share with. You must be a member of the workspace.
4. Shared Lenses appear for all workspace members in both the Lens list and the / command menu.

Tips for Writing Effective Lens Prompts

The quality of a Lens depends entirely on the quality of the prompt. Here are best practices for getting the most out of your custom Lenses.

• Be specific about the output format. Tell the AI exactly what sections, headings, or structure you want. Vague prompts produce vague results. Use numbered lists, heading names, and explicit field labels in your prompt.
• Give the AI a role. Start with a persona like "You are a sales coach analyzing a discovery call" or "You are a compliance officer reviewing a financial advisory meeting." This sets the right context and tone.
• Include scoring criteria when applicable. If you want ratings (1-5, pass/fail, red/yellow/green), define the criteria for each level. Without clear criteria, ratings are inconsistent between runs.
• Use all relevant variables. Include {{notes}} and {{highlights}} alongside {{transcript}} to give the AI your perspective, not just the raw conversation.
• Test iteratively. Write a first draft, preview it against 2-3 different meetings, and refine. Different meeting types may expose edge cases in your prompt.
• Keep prompts focused. A Lens that tries to do everything at once will produce mediocre results for each part. Create separate Lenses for separate analyses and run them independently.
• Use conditional instructions. Add lines like "If no competitor was mentioned, state that explicitly rather than guessing" to handle edge cases gracefully.