Granola Data Handling Skill

Granola Data Handling

Overview

Manage data lifecycle for Granola meeting data: export, retention policies, GDPR/CCPA compliance, and long-term archival. Covers individual data rights, organizational policies, and automated archival workflows.

Prerequisites

Granola admin access (for retention policies)
Understanding of applicable regulations (GDPR, CCPA, SOC 2)
Export destination prepared (cloud storage, Notion, local)

Instructions

Step 1 — Understand Data Types and Sensitivity

| Data Type | What It Contains | Sensitivity | Storage | |-----------|-----------------|-------------|---------| | Meeting Notes | Your typed notes + AI-enhanced output | Medium | Granola cloud + local cache | | Transcripts | Full text transcription of audio | High (verbatim speech) | Granola cloud + local cache | | Audio | Raw meeting audio | Critical | Deleted after transcription (not stored) | | Attendee Info | Names, emails from calendar events | PII | Granola cloud (People & Companies) | | Calendar Metadata | Event titles, times, attendee lists | Low-Medium | Synced from Google/Outlook |

Key fact: Granola does not store raw audio after transcription. This is a significant privacy advantage — there is no audio file to leak, export, or subpoena.

Step 2 — Export Meeting Data

Individual note export:

Open the meeting note in Granola
Click the ... menu > Copy (copies as Markdown)
Paste into your target: Notion, Google Doc, text editor

Important limitation: Granola does not currently support bulk export, PDF export, or structured file download (JSON/CSV). The available options are:

Copy individual notes as text/Markdown
Share to Notion (one note at a time via native integration)
Share to Slack (one note at a time)
Enterprise API (read-only access to workspace notes)

Workaround for bulk access — local cache:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Export Granola meetings from local cache to Markdown files."""
import json
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime

CACHE_PATH = Path.home() / "Library/Application Support/Granola/cache-v3.json"
OUTPUT_DIR = Path.home() / "Desktop/granola-export"
OUTPUT_DIR.mkdir(exist_ok=True)

def export_from_cache():
    raw = json.loads(CACHE_PATH.read_text())
    state = json.loads(raw) if isinstance(raw, str) else raw
    data = state.get("state", state)
    docs = data.get("documents", {})

    exported = 0
    for doc_id, doc in docs.items():
        title = doc.get("title", "Untitled").replace("/", "-")
        created = doc.get("created_at", "unknown")[:10]
        content = doc.get("last_viewed_panel", {})

        # Extract text from ProseMirror content (simplified)
        text_parts = []
        if isinstance(content, dict):
            for node in content.get("content", []):
                if node.get("type") == "paragraph":
                    for child in node.get("content", []):
                        text_parts.append(child.get("text", ""))
                elif node.get("type") == "heading":
                    level = node.get("attrs", {}).get("level", 1)
                    prefix = "#" * level
                    for child in node.get("content", []):
                        text_parts.append(f"\n{prefix} {child.get('text', '')}\n")

        filename = f"{created}_{title[:60]}.md"
        filepath = OUTPUT_DIR / filename
        filepath.write_text(f"# {title}\n\nDate: {created}\n\n{''.join(text_parts)}")
        exported += 1

    print(f"Exported {exported} meetings to {OUTPUT_DIR}")

export_from_cache()

Enterprise API export:

# List all accessible notes (Enterprise plan required)
curl -s "https://api.granola.ai/v0/notes" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GRANOLA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" | python3 -c "
import json, sys
notes = json.load(sys.stdin).get('notes', [])
for note in notes[:10]:
    print(f\"{note.get('id', 'N/A')}: {note.get('title', 'Untitled')} ({note.get('created_at', 'N/A')})\")
print(f'Total accessible notes: {len(notes)}')
"

Step 3 — Configure Retention Policies

Settings > Data Retention (Business/Enterprise):

| Data Type | Recommended Retention | Rationale | |-----------|----------------------|-----------| | Meeting notes | 1-2 years | Long-term reference value | | Transcripts | 90 days | Storage efficiency, lower PII risk | | Audio | Deleted after processing | Granola default, not configurable | | Attendee info | Retained with notes | Needed for People & Companies CRM |

Per-workspace overrides (Enterprise):

HR workspace: 90-day notes, 30-day transcripts
Executive workspace: Custom (legal hold capable)
Sales workspace: 1-year notes, 90-day transcripts
Engineering workspace: 2-year notes, 90-day transcripts

Step 4 — GDPR Compliance

Required controls:

| GDPR Right | Granola Implementation | |-----------|----------------------| | Right of Access (Art. 15) | Export user's data via Settings > Data > Export or Enterprise API | | Right to Erasure (Art. 17) | Delete individual notes; request account deletion from Granola | | Right to Data Portability (Art. 20) | Copy notes as text, or use local cache export | | Right to Object (Art. 21) | AI training opt-out (Business/Enterprise) | | Lawful Basis | Consent (recording notice) or Legitimate Interest (employer's business ops) |

Subject Access Request (SAR) handling:

## SAR Response Procedure

1. Receive SAR from data subject (30-day response deadline)
2. Verify identity of the requester
3. Search Granola for all notes containing the requester
   - People view: search by name/email
   - Enterprise API: query notes by attendee email
4. Export relevant notes (copy as text)
5. Redact third-party PII from the export
6. Deliver export to requester within 30 days
7. Document the SAR and response in compliance log

Data Processing Agreement:

Request DPA from Granola at security@granola.ai or via Settings
Required for any organization processing EU personal data
DPA covers Granola as a Data Processor

Step 5 — CCPA Compliance

For California consumer data:

Disclosure: Update your privacy policy to mention Granola as a meeting recording tool
Opt-out: Provide mechanism for meeting participants to opt out of recording
Deletion: Honor deletion requests by removing notes containing the individual

Step 6 — Archival Workflow

For long-term retention beyond Granola:

# Monthly archival via Zapier
Trigger: Schedule by Zapier — 1st of month

Step 1 — Granola: List notes from past month
  (via Enterprise API or folder trigger accumulation)

Step 2 — Google Drive: Create folder
  Name: "Meeting Archives / YYYY-MM"

Step 3 — Google Drive: Upload files
  Content: Note markdown for each meeting

Step 4 — Slack: Notify admin
  Message: "Monthly meeting archive created: X notes archived"

Alternative: local cache backup

# Backup local cache monthly
BACKUP_DIR="$HOME/backups/granola"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
cp "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Granola/cache-v3.json" \
   "$BACKUP_DIR/cache-v3-$(date +%Y%m%d).json"
echo "Granola cache backed up"

Output

Data export procedures documented and tested
Retention policies configured per workspace and data type
GDPR/CCPA compliance controls implemented
SAR handling procedure established
Archival workflow automated (monthly)

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Fix | |-------|-------|-----| | Cannot export notes | No bulk export feature | Use local cache export script or Enterprise API | | SAR deadline at risk | No process owner | Assign dedicated compliance contact | | Retention policy not applied | Enterprise feature required | Upgrade to Enterprise, or manually manage | | Archive missing notes | Cache didn't contain all notes | Use Enterprise API for complete workspace data | | Deletion incomplete | Backup retention period | Allow 30 days for Granola to purge from all backups |

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to granola-enterprise-rbac for role-based access control configuration.

Agent Skills: Granola Data Handling

Install this agent skill to your local

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