Voice input
Speak to your agent with the dictation already built into your computer. No install, no coding needed.
You don't have to type to your agent. Your computer already turns speech into text in any text box, and the agent's chat box in the terminal is one of them. Click into it, press one key, talk, and your words appear as if you'd typed them.
This works with Claude Code and Codex alike, because the agent only ever sees the finished text.
Set it up once
- Open Apple menu → System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
- Find Dictation and turn it on. If a box pops up, click Enable.
- Next to Shortcut, check which key starts dictation. If your keyboard has a key with a microphone on it (F5 on recent Mac keyboards), that key works. Otherwise pick a shortcut from the list, such as Press Fn (Function) Key Twice.
- Next to Languages, click Edit to add any other language you speak.
The text under Dictation tells you whether your speech is processed on your Mac or sent to Apple.
Talk to your agent
- Click inside the terminal window where your agent is running, so the cursor is in the chat box.
- Press the microphone key (F5), or your dictation shortcut. A small microphone appears by the cursor and pulses while it listens.
- Speak normally. Commas, periods and question marks are added for you.
- Press the microphone key again to stop.
- Read what it wrote, fix anything it misheard, then press Return to send.
Dictation also stops by itself after 30 seconds of silence. You can type while it listens, to correct a word as you go.
Always stop dictation before you press Return or Enter. That way the whole sentence is in the box before it's sent.
Tips
- Talk like you'd brief a person. "Look at my calendar for next week and tell me which days are free in the afternoon" works better spoken than typed, because you naturally give more detail.
- Long requests are fine. Ramble, then read it over before sending. The agent copes with spoken grammar.
- Spell out names it gets wrong. Unusual names, product names and code terms often come out wrong. Fix them by typing before you send.
If something's off
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Pressing F5 does nothing (Mac) | Dictation is off, or the shortcut is set to something else. Check System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation |
| Pressing F5 changes brightness or does something else (Mac) | Your keyboard has no microphone key. Pick a different shortcut under Dictation → Shortcut |
| Holding the microphone key opens Siri (Mac) | Press and let go quickly. Holding it calls Siri |
| The words land in another window | Click inside the agent's terminal window first, then start dictating |
| Nothing is heard | Check the microphone in System Settings → Sound → Input (Mac) or Settings → System → Sound → Input (Windows) |
| Windows key + H does nothing | Check you're online. Voice typing needs the internet |
| Words come out in the wrong language | Add your language under Dictation → Languages (Mac), or switch your keyboard language with Windows key + Space (Windows), since voice typing follows it |