How can we help?
Topics
Getting started
What is ShadowPilot?
Your first session, step by step
- Create your account and choose a plan.
- Download and install the desktop app for your operating system.
- Grant the microphone and system audio permissions the app asks for.
- Upload your resume so answers reflect your real experience.
- Run a test session and speak a practice question out loud to confirm the transcript appears and an answer generates.
- Position the ShadowPilot window where you can glance at it naturally.
Do this before your first real interview, not during it. The test session exists so audio routing and permissions are already sorted when it matters.
What is the test session for?
Every plan includes a short test session. It is there so you can confirm four things on your own equipment:
- The app installs and launches.
- Your microphone and system audio are being captured.
- The transcript keeps up with speech.
- Answers generate at a speed you are comfortable reading.
If something fails during the test session, contact us the same day. Compatibility problems are far easier to solve before an interview than after one.
Uploading your resume and context
Answers are only as good as what ShadowPilot knows about you. Upload your current resume, and add any extra context that matters for the specific role: the job description, projects you want to highlight, or details the resume leaves out.
Specific beats generic. A resume line that reads “improved system reliability” produces a vague answer. One that reads “cut p99 latency from 800ms to 120ms by rewriting the caching layer” produces an answer with something in it.
System requirements
ShadowPilot runs on current versions of Windows and macOS, and needs a stable internet connection because transcription and answer generation happen in the cloud.
The current supported operating system versions and minimum specifications are listed on our download page. Check them before purchasing. Devices outside those requirements are not covered by our Refund Policy.
A wired connection or strong Wi-Fi makes a visible difference to how fast answers appear.
Install and setup
Installing on Windows
- Download the Windows installer from your account dashboard.
- Run the installer. If Windows SmartScreen warns you about an unrecognized app, choose More info and then Run anyway.
- Sign in with the account you purchased with.
- Allow microphone access when prompted.
- Start a test session and confirm the transcript is moving.
If your work laptop is managed by an IT department, installation may be blocked by policy. Use a personal machine instead. Do not try to work around an employer’s device restrictions.
Installing on macOS
- Download the macOS build from your account dashboard and open it.
- Drag ShadowPilot into your Applications folder.
- On first launch, macOS may warn that the app was downloaded from the internet. Approve it in System Settings under Privacy and Security if it does not open.
- Grant Microphone permission when prompted.
- Grant Screen Recording permission, which macOS requires for screen analysis features.
- Quit and reopen the app so the new permissions take effect.
macOS permissions almost always need a restart of the app. If a feature is dead right after you granted permission, quit ShadowPilot fully and reopen it before anything else.
Which permissions are needed and why
- Microphone. Captures your side of the conversation so your own answers appear in the transcript and follow-ups make sense.
- System audio. Captures what the other person is saying, which is what question detection runs on.
- Screen recording (macOS). Required by the operating system for Screen Analyze. It is used only when you activate that feature.
Permissions are used only while a session you started is active. Nothing is captured in the background between sessions.
Desktop app or browser version
The desktop app runs at the system level, captures system audio directly, and is the version designed to stay out of screen shares and recordings.
The browser version gives you real-time answers with no install. It does not have the system-level behavior of the desktop app, so treat anything visible in your browser as visible.
Use the desktop app when the interview is on a platform you may be asked to share your screen in. Use the browser version when you cannot install software or just want a quick session.
Updating ShadowPilot
The desktop app checks for updates and installs them automatically. Updates matter more here than in most software, because meeting platforms and operating systems change their behavior regularly and each release keeps compatibility current.
Before an important interview, open the app once, let it finish any update, and restart it. Do not let an update run mid-interview.
Audio and devices
Do I need headphones?
Yes, use headphones. Wired headphones are the most reliable choice.
Without them, your speakers play the interviewer’s voice into the room, your microphone picks it back up, and the transcript ends up with echo and duplicated lines. Question detection gets noticeably worse.
Bluetooth headsets work but can switch your system into a low-quality call mode that degrades transcription. If your accuracy is poor on Bluetooth, try wired before changing anything else.
The transcript is empty or missing the interviewer
Work through these in order:
- Confirm the session is actually started, not just the app open.
- Check the input device selected in ShadowPilot matches the device you are actually using.
- Check your operating system’s sound settings and confirm the meeting platform is playing through the same output device ShadowPilot is capturing.
- Confirm microphone and system audio permissions are granted, then restart the app.
- If you changed headphones after starting the session, end it and start a new one.
If your own voice appears but the interviewer’s does not, the problem is system audio capture, not your microphone.
Transcription accuracy is poor
Accuracy depends on things partly outside our control: microphone quality, background noise, connection stability, accents, cross-talk, and industry jargon.
What reliably helps:
- A wired headset with a boom microphone rather than laptop speakers and built-in mic.
- A quiet room with the door closed.
- A wired internet connection, or sitting close to the router.
- Closing bandwidth-heavy apps and extra browser tabs before the call.
Expect names, acronyms, and specialist terms to be the least accurate part of any transcript.
Which languages are supported?
ShadowPilot supports 52 languages for live sessions. Set your session language before the interview starts rather than during it.
Accuracy varies by language and by accent within a language. If you are interviewing in a language you do not use daily, run a test session in that language first so you know what to expect.
Using ShadowPilot live
How to use it without sounding scripted
The most common mistake is reading the answer word for word. It creates long pauses, a flat delivery, and eyes that track across a screen.
What works better:
- Read the first line, then look away and talk.
- Treat the suggestion as a structure to follow, not a script to perform.
- Start speaking before you have read all of it. Buy time with a natural opener while you scan.
- Replace generic phrasing with your own specifics as you go. You know the details; the AI is guessing at them.
Practice with it first. Run mock sessions until glancing and talking feels natural. The tool helps far more when it is not the first time you have used it.
Where to position the window
Put the ShadowPilot window as close as possible to your webcam, directly under it if you can. The further your eyes travel from the camera, the more obvious the glance.
On a two-monitor setup, keep ShadowPilot on the same screen as the call. Looking at a second monitor is visible to anyone watching, no matter how good the software is.
Follow-ups and asking your own questions
Beyond automatic question detection, you can type your own request during a session and get an answer on the spot. This is useful when the interviewer asks something oddly phrased, or when you want a different angle on an answer that already appeared.
You can also select a line from the transcript and ask for an answer to that specific line, which helps when several questions arrive at once.
Mock interview practice
Mock practice runs the same pipeline against practice questions, so you can rehearse both your answers and the mechanics of using the tool.
Use it to find your reading rhythm, test your camera and window layout, and discover which parts of your resume produce weak answers so you can add better context before the real thing.
Coding and technical interviews
For technical interviews, Screen Analyze is usually more useful than audio alone, because the problem is on screen rather than spoken aloud.
Bear in mind that many technical interviews are explicitly about your reasoning process, not just the final answer. An answer you cannot explain is worse than a slower answer you can. Use the suggestion as a starting point and talk through it in your own words.
Proctored assessments are a different situation. Many testing platforms and employers prohibit outside assistance entirely. See the visibility section below.
Screen Analyze
What Screen Analyze does
Screen Analyze captures what is on your screen, or a region you select, and generates an answer based on it. It is built for content that is written rather than spoken: coding problems, written assessments, case questions, and documents shared during a call.
It runs only when you trigger it. It is not watching your screen continuously.
Getting better results from it
- Select just the question region rather than the whole screen. Less clutter means a more focused answer.
- Make sure the text is fully visible and not cut off mid-scroll.
- Increase the zoom on very small text before capturing.
- For multi-part problems, capture one part at a time.
Screen Analyze is not working on macOS
This is almost always the Screen Recording permission. macOS requires it for any app that reads screen content, and it does not take effect until the app restarts.
- Open System Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Screen Recording.
- Enable ShadowPilot.
- Quit ShadowPilot completely, including from the menu bar, then reopen it.
A macOS update can silently reset this permission, so check it again after any system update.
Visibility and detection
Is ShadowPilot visible in a screen share?
The desktop app is designed so it does not appear in screen shares, screen recordings, the dock, or the task manager on supported operating systems and supported meeting platforms. We test this against widely used platforms and update the app as they change.
What we cannot promise is that it stays that way in every configuration, on every device, on every version of every platform, or under every form of monitoring. Operating systems and meeting platforms change without notice and are outside our control.
Being detected is not a refundable event. Our Refund Policy covers a technical fault that stopped the app running, not third-party detection behavior.
Proctored exams and monitored assessments
Proctoring software, lockdown browsers, and monitored assessments are a different category from a normal video interview. Many use hardware-level monitoring, secondary cameras, eye tracking, or human observers, none of which any software can hide from.
Separately, most testing providers, employers, and schools prohibit outside assistance in these settings regardless of whether it is detectable. Using ShadowPilot there can mean disqualification, a withdrawn offer, or academic penalties. That risk sits with you.
Is it legal to use ShadowPilot?
ShadowPilot captures and transcribes audio from your device. Recording laws vary by country and by state. Some places require the consent of every party to a conversation, others only one.
You are responsible for obtaining any consent the law requires where you are, and for making sure your use does not breach an employment agreement, honor code, testing rule, or company policy that applies to you. We cannot give legal advice or tell you what applies in your situation.
The full allocation of responsibility is in Section 7 of the Terms of Service.
Does ShadowPilot join my meeting?
No. It does not join as a participant and does not appear on the attendee list. There is no bot in the call and nothing for other participants to see in the meeting interface.
Plans, minutes and billing
How do interview minutes work?
Each plan includes a monthly allowance of interview minutes, which are consumed while a session is active. Minutes are counted on session time, not on how many answers are generated.
Included minutes reset at the start of each billing cycle and do not carry over to the next one.
End sessions when you finish. Leaving a session running after a call has ended consumes minutes for nothing.
Which plan should I choose?
Pick based on how many interviews you expect this month, allowing roughly 30 minutes per interview.
- Starter Copilot, $29.50 per month, 90 minutes, around 3 interviews.
- Pro Copilot, $59 per month, 240 minutes, around 8 interviews.
- Ultimate Copilot, $88.50 per month, 450 minutes, around 15 interviews, with priority support.
All plans include the live copilot, mock practice, coding and behavioral interviews, streaming transcription, and 52 languages. If you are mid-search with several processes running at once, the middle tier is usually the realistic choice. You can always top up.
Buying extra minutes
You can buy additional minutes at any time from your dashboard, in 30-minute increments, starting at $9.99 for 30 minutes. Larger packs and a custom amount are available.
Top-up minutes are added immediately and stay available while your subscription is active. Once any part of a top-up has been used, that purchase is final.
When am I billed, and how do I change plans?
Subscriptions bill monthly on the date you first subscribed and renew automatically at the current rate until you cancel. Your renewal date is shown in your billing dashboard.
You can upgrade or downgrade from the same place. Changes take effect according to the terms shown at checkout.
I do not recognize the charge on my statement
ShadowPilot is operated by RoboApply LLC, and billing runs through our shared platform. Your card statement may therefore show a descriptor other than the word ShadowPilot.
If a charge still looks wrong, contact us before filing a dispute. Genuine billing errors, including duplicate charges and charges after a confirmed cancellation, are corrected regardless of any refund window.
Refunds and cancellation
Can I get a refund?
Fees are non-refundable, with one exception: a technical fault that prevented ShadowPilot from running on your computer, reported with video evidence within 24 hours of the charge, and approved after review.
Meeting those requirements makes a request eligible for review. It does not guarantee a refund.
The full terms are in the Refund Policy.
What does the refund video need to show?
A screen recording made on the machine where the problem happens, showing:
- ShadowPilot open, with the failure happening on camera.
- Any error message or crash in full, not cropped.
- Enough of the session to see what you did and how the app responded.
- Your operating system version and the app version.
Screenshots alone are not enough, and neither is a phone recording where the interface is not legible.
What is not refundable
- Changing your mind, or deciding the product is not for you.
- Forgetting to cancel before a renewal.
- Unused minutes, or using less than your plan includes.
- Being detected by screen-share software, proctoring tools, or an interviewer.
- Answer quality, accuracy, or relevance.
- Slow generation, latency, or transcription errors.
- Not getting an interview, an offer, or a job.
- Purchases for a device or operating system outside our stated requirements.
How do I cancel?
Cancel any time from your account settings. There are no cancellation fees.
Cancelling stops future renewals. It does not refund the current period, and there are no pro-rata refunds for partial periods. Your access continues until the end of the period you have already paid for.
How long does a refund take?
We aim to acknowledge requests within 48 hours. If we need more information, the review pauses until you reply. Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method within 5 to 7 business days, and your bank may take longer to post the credit.
Privacy and your data
What does ShadowPilot store?
Session transcripts, generated answers, session metadata, your resume and uploaded documents, and your account and billing records.
Raw session audio is processed in real time and is not kept as a recording after the session ends, apart from short-lived buffering needed to produce the transcript or to diagnose a fault you have reported.
Full detail is in the Privacy Policy.
When is it listening?
Only while a session you started is active. Capture begins when you start a session and stops when you end it or close the app. Nothing is captured in the background between sessions.
Is my data used to train AI models?
No. We do not sell personal information, and our AI providers are not permitted to use your interview transcripts, resumes, or screen captures to train their general-purpose models.
We use aggregated and de-identified data, which cannot reasonably be traced back to you, to measure and improve accuracy and speed.
Deleting your data
You can delete individual transcripts, uploaded documents, and session history from your account at any time.
To delete your account and everything associated with it, email support@shadowpilot.co from the address on your account. Backups are purged on a rolling schedule after deletion.
Access, correction, and privacy requests
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal information, to object to certain processing, and to withdraw consent.
Send requests to support@shadowpilot.co from your account email so we can verify you. We respond within the time applicable law requires.
Troubleshooting
The app will not launch
- Restart your computer. This resolves a surprising share of launch failures.
- Confirm your operating system version is supported.
- On macOS, approve the app in System Settings under Privacy and Security.
- On Windows, right-click the app and choose Run as administrator once.
- Temporarily disable any VPN or security software and try again, since these can block the app’s connection.
- Reinstall from a fresh download.
If none of that works, record what happens and send it to us. Include your operating system version and any error text.
Answers are slow to appear
Generation speed depends heavily on your connection. Before a call:
- Switch to a wired connection or move closer to the router.
- Close other bandwidth-heavy apps, downloads, and extra browser tabs.
- Turn off VPNs, which add latency on every request.
- Close other applications competing for memory and CPU.
Video calls are themselves bandwidth-heavy, so a connection that feels fine for browsing may not be fine for a call plus live transcription.
The app freezes or crashes mid-session
- End the session and start a new one. Your minutes are not lost for time you did not use.
- Quit and reopen the app.
- Check that an update is not running in the background.
- Restart your computer if it happens more than once.
If it is repeatable, capture it on video and send it to us. A recording of a reproducible crash is the fastest possible bug report.
Questions are not being detected
If the transcript is running but no questions are being picked up, the usual causes are:
- The interviewer’s audio is not being captured, only yours. Check system audio capture.
- Questions are phrased as statements, which are harder to detect. Type your own request instead, or select the transcript line and ask for an answer to it.
- Heavy cross-talk, so no single question is clearly formed.
Answers are generic or wrong about me
That usually means ShadowPilot does not have enough to work with. Check that your current resume is uploaded and that the session has context for the specific role.
Add the job description and a short note on the projects you want to bring up. Vague resume lines produce vague answers.
Remember that output is generated by an AI and can be wrong. Never state a fact about your own history because the screen said it.
I cannot log in
- Confirm you are using the same sign-in method you registered with. If you signed up with Google, use Google rather than a password.
- Reset your password from the login screen.
- Check for a typo in the email address, and check whether you have a second account under a different address.
- Confirm your subscription is active in the billing dashboard.
Still stuck? Contact us with the email address you registered with.