Advanced Settings
Fine-tune Intervu's behavior with advanced configuration options.
Overview
Advanced settings affect performance, accuracy, and generation behavior. Most users can leave these at defaults.
Audio Processing
Silence RMS Threshold
Audio below this level is treated as silence and not sent to STT.
- Default:
0.005 - Range:
0.001-0.1 - Effect: Lower = more audio sent, Higher = more filtering
When to adjust:
- Increase if you hear static/noise being transcribed
- Decrease if quiet speech is being ignored
Audio Chunk Duration
Length of audio chunks sent to STT endpoint.
- Default:
3seconds - Range:
1-10seconds - Effect:
- Lower = faster initial response, more API calls
- Higher = fewer API calls, slower response
Recommendation: Keep at default for real-time feel.
Transcript Processing
Hallucination Phrases
Whisper sometimes "hears" phrases in silence. These are filtered out.
- Default:
you,thank you,thanks,thanks for watching,thank you for watching,thanks for listening,thank you for listening,bye,goodbye,the end,so,okay,hmm,uh,um,oh,ah,i - Format: Comma-separated list
Adding custom phrases:
you,thank you,thanks,[your custom phrases here]When to modify:
- If you see recurring false transcriptions
- If certain phrases appear when no one is speaking
Click the Edit in new window button next to the label to open a larger editor for managing your phrase list.
LLM Generation
Max Tokens
Maximum tokens in generated answers.
- Default:
0(unlimited) - Range:
0-8192(model dependent) - Effect:
- Lower = shorter, more concise answers
- Higher = longer, more detailed answers
Recommendation: Keep at default. Use system prompt to control length.
LLM Debounce Seconds
Delay after interviewer speaks before generating an answer.
- Default:
2seconds - Range:
0-10seconds - Effect:
- Lower = faster response, may interrupt ongoing speech
- Higher = slower, but more complete questions
Recommendation: Increase if answers are generated before questions are complete.
LLM Thinking Mode
For models that support extended reasoning (Claude, some local models).
- Default: Off
- Effect: Model may emit thinking tokens before the answer
- Use case: Complex questions requiring reasoning
Queue Mode
Controls how multiple questions are handled.
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Off (Priority) | Cancel previous answer, generate for latest question |
| On (Queue) | Queue all questions, answer in order received |
- Default: Off (Priority mode)
- Use Queue mode when: You want answers to all questions in order
Show Queued Answers
When Queue mode is on, show cards for queued questions.
- Default: Off
- Effect: Shows placeholder cardsQuestions waiting for answers
- Use case: Visual feedback that questions are being processed
Speaker Diarization
Multi-speaker identification for panel interviews.
Enabling Diarization
Toggle Speaker Diarization in Advanced Settings. The system validates your STT backend supports diarization before enabling.
Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker Diarization | Enable multi-speaker detection | Off |
| Min Speakers | Minimum speakers to detect (2-6) | 2 |
| Remember Speakers | Save voice profiles across sessions | Off |
Min Speakers
Sets the minimum number of speakers the STT backend should look for:
- 2 — Standard interviews (default)
- 3-4 — Small panels
- 5-6 — Large panels or group interviews
Remember Speakers
When enabled, speaker voice embeddings are saved to speaker-profiles.json and restored on the next session. This enables cross-session speaker recognition — the same speaker will be identified consistently across multiple interviews.
Audio Chunk Duration
When diarization is enabled, audio chunk duration is automatically set to a minimum of 6 seconds for better speaker separation. The setting is locked in the UI with an explanatory note.
AI Speaker Naming
When diarization is enabled, the LLM can automatically detect speaker names from conversational cues (e.g., "Hi Anna", "John, what do you think?"). Suggestions appear as sparkle hints next to speaker labels.
See Speaker Diarization Usage for complete details.
Interview Timer
Track interview duration and speaking ratios.
Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Interview Timer | Enable timer display | On |
| Time Warnings | Show notifications at intervals | Off |
| Warning Minutes | Comma-separated minutes (e.g., "30,45,60") | 30,45,60 |
Time Warnings
Set intervals at which Intervu will show notifications:
30,45,60 — Notify at 30, 45, and 60 minutes
20,40 — Notify at 20 and 40 minutes
15,30,60 — Notify at 15, 30, and 60 minutesValidation: Must be comma-separated positive integers in ascending order, each under 1440 (24 hours).
Speaking Ratio
When the timer is enabled, hover over the timer display to see:
- You — Your speaking time and percentage
- Them — Interviewer(s) speaking time and percentage
This helps you balance participation in the interview.
See Interview Timer Usage for complete details.
Advanced Mode
Dual-LLM pipeline for intelligent question extraction.
What It Does
Normal mode generates answers whenever the interviewer speaks. Advanced mode:
- Captures interviewer speech
- Uses a second LLM to extract complete questions
- Only generates answers for actual questions
Configuration
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Advanced Mode | Enable/disable |
| Extractor System Prompt | LLM for question extraction (can use same as main LLM) |
| Extractor Model | Model for extraction |
| Extractor API Key | API key if required |
Click the Edit in new window button next to the Extractor System Prompt label to open a larger editor.
When to Use
- Enable when: Interviewer talks a lot between questions
- Disable when: You want answers for every statement
Contextual Answer Tips
Enable structured answer output with key points and confidence.
When Enabled
LLM outputs:
KEY POINTS:
- First key point
- Second key point
- Third key point
CONFIDENCE: 85
ANSWER:
[Full answer text]This is parsed and displayed as:
Bullet points above the answer
Confidence meter
Default: Off
Use case: When you want quick takeaways before reading full answer
FFmpeg Path
Custom FFmpeg binary location.
- Default (Windows): Bundled FFmpeg (automatically downloaded)
- Default (macOS): System FFmpeg (must be installed via Homebrew)
When to Change
- If bundled FFmpeg doesn't work on Windows
- If you have a custom FFmpeg build
- If Intervu can't find FFmpeg on macOS
Example Paths
Windows: C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe
macOS (Intel): /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg
macOS (Apple Silicon): /opt/homebrew/bin/ffmpeg
Linux: /usr/bin/ffmpegmacOS Installation
FFmpeg is not bundled on macOS. Install it manually:
brew install ffmpegSee macOS Setup for more details.
Settings Backup
Export Settings
Your settings are stored at:
Windows:
%APPDATA%/intervu/settings.jsonmacOS:
~/Library/Application Support/intervu/settings.jsonYou can back up this file to preserve your configuration.
Clear Ratings
In Advanced settings, click Clear Ratings to remove all rated answers (used for in-context learning).
Troubleshooting Advanced Settings
Too Much Noise Being Transcribed
- Increase Silence RMS Threshold
- Add noise patterns to Hallucination Phrases
Answers Generated Before Question is Complete
- Increase LLM Debounce Seconds
- Enable Advanced Mode for question extraction
Answers Too Long/Short
- Adjust Max Tokens
- Modify System Prompt to specify length requirements
Slack Responses
- Reduce Audio Chunk Duration
- Use a faster LLM model
- Check system resources