Give Recordstead permission to record

Recordstead needs two permissions from macOS, and it asks for each one at the moment it first needs it rather than all at once on first launch.

The microphone

macOS asks the first time Recordstead wants your voice.

If you are going through the setup window, the step that says macOS asks for the microphone next. is where it happens: pressing Continue on that step is what brings up the system prompt. If you skipped the setup window, the prompt arrives instead at your first recording.

You can say no. Recordstead keeps working, and your meetings will contain everyone's words except yours.

System Audio Recording

This is the permission that captures what the other people say, and macOS never asks for it in advance. It asks the first time Recordstead actually taps an app's audio, which means during your first real recording.

There is nothing to do beforehand, and nothing you can grant early.

Check both

Open Settings… (⌘,).
Select Advanced.
Read the Permissions section. There is one row for Microphone and one for System Audio Recording.

Each row says where it stands:

The row says	What it means
Granted	Nothing to do.
Will prompt on first recording	The microphone has not been asked for yet.
Required. macOS asks the first time you record a call.	System Audio Recording has not been asked for yet.
Denied. Click to open Settings.	You said no. Clicking the row opens the right pane in System Settings.
Not working. Toggle it off and on in System Settings.	macOS reports the permission as granted, but it is not working.

After changing anything in System Settings, press Refresh to re-read the state.

What Recordstead never asks for

Accessibility and Screen Recording are not requested and not used. Noticing that a call has started needs no permission at all: Recordstead watches which processes are using audio, not your screen and not other apps' windows.

Result

Both rows in Settings › Advanced › Permissions read Granted.