Voice Mode

Install via: uvx voice-mode | pip install voice-mode | getvoicemode.com

Natural voice conversations for AI assistants. Voice Mode brings human-like voice interactions to Claude Code, AI code editors through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

🖥️ Compatibility

Runs on: Linux • macOS • Windows (WSL) • NixOS | Python: 3.10+

✨ Features

🎙️ Voice conversations with Claude - ask questions and hear responses
🔄 Multiple transports - local microphone or LiveKit room-based communication
🗣️ OpenAI-compatible - works with any STT/TTS service (local or cloud)
⚡ Real-time - low-latency voice interactions with automatic transport selection
🔧 MCP Integration - seamless with Claude Desktop and other MCP clients
🎯 Silence detection - automatically stops recording when you stop speaking (no more waiting!)

🎯 Simple Requirements

All you need to get started:

🎤 Computer with microphone and speakers OR ☁️ LiveKit server (LiveKit Cloud or self-hosted)
🔑 OpenAI API Key (optional) - Voice Mode can install free, open-source transcription and text-to-speech services locally

Optional for enhanced performance:

🍎 Xcode (macOS only) - Required for Core ML acceleration of Whisper models (2-3x faster inference). Install from Mac App Store then run sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Quick Start

📖 Using a different tool? See our Integration Guides for Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, and more!

Automatic Installation (Recommended)

Install Claude Code with Voice Mode configured and ready to run on Linux, macOS, and Windows WSL:

# Download and run the installer
curl -O https://getvoicemode.com/install.sh && bash install.sh

# While local voice services can be installed automatically, we recommend
# providing an OpenAI API key as a fallback in case local services are unavailable
export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-key  # Optional but recommended

# Start a voice conversation
claude /voicemode:converse

This installer will:

Install all system dependencies (Node.js, audio libraries, etc.)
Install Claude Code if not already installed
Configure Voice Mode as an MCP server
Set up your system for voice conversations
Offer to install free local STT/TTS services if no API key is provided

Manual Installation

For manual setup steps, see the Claude Code Integration Guide.

🎬 Demo

Watch Voice Mode in action with Claude Code:

Voice Mode with Gemini CLI

See Voice Mode working with Google's Gemini CLI (their implementation of Claude Code):

Example Usage

Once configured, try these prompts with Claude:

👨‍💻 Programming & Development

"Let's debug this error together" - Explain the issue verbally, paste code, and discuss solutions
"Walk me through this code" - Have Claude explain complex code while you ask questions
"Let's brainstorm the architecture" - Design systems through natural conversation
"Help me write tests for this function" - Describe requirements and iterate verbally

💡 General Productivity

"Let's do a daily standup" - Practice presentations or organize your thoughts
"Interview me about [topic]" - Prepare for interviews with back-and-forth Q&A
"Be my rubber duck" - Explain problems out loud to find solutions

🎯 Voice Control Features

"Read this error message" (Claude speaks, then waits for your response)
"Just give me a quick summary" (Claude speaks without waiting)
Use converse("message", wait_for_response=False) for one-way announcements

The converse function makes voice interactions natural - it automatically waits for your response by default, creating a real conversation flow.

Supported Tools

Voice Mode works with your favorite AI coding assistants:

🤖 Claude Code - Anthropic's official CLI
🖥️ Claude Desktop - Desktop application
🌟 Gemini CLI - Google's CLI tool
⚡ Cursor - AI-first code editor
💻 VS Code - With MCP preview support
🦘 Roo Code - AI dev team in VS Code
🔧 Cline - Autonomous coding agent
⚡ Zed - High-performance editor
🏄 Windsurf - Agentic IDE by Codeium
🔄 Continue - Open-source AI assistant

Installation

Prerequisites

Python >= 3.10
Astral UV - Package manager (install with curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh)
OpenAI API Key (or compatible service)

System Dependencies

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-dev libasound2-dev libasound2-plugins libportaudio2 portaudio19-dev ffmpeg pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils

Note for WSL2 users: WSL2 requires additional audio packages (pulseaudio, libasound2-plugins) for microphone access. See our WSL2 Microphone Access Guide if you encounter issues.

Fedora/RHEL

sudo dnf install python3-devel alsa-lib-devel portaudio-devel ffmpeg

macOS

# Install Homebrew if not already installed
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install dependencies
brew install portaudio ffmpeg cmake

Windows (WSL)

Follow the Ubuntu/Debian instructions above within WSL.

NixOS

Voice Mode includes a flake.nix with all required dependencies. You can either:

Use the development shell (temporary):

nix develop github:mbailey/voicemode

Install system-wide (see Installation section below)

Quick Install

# Using Claude Code (recommended)
claude mcp add --scope user voice-mode uvx voice-mode

# Using Claude Code with Nix (NixOS)
claude mcp add voice-mode nix run github:mbailey/voicemode

# Using UV
uvx voice-mode

# Using pip
pip install voice-mode

# Using Nix (NixOS)
nix run github:mbailey/voicemode

Configuration for AI Coding Assistants

📖 Looking for detailed setup instructions? Check our comprehensive Integration Guides for step-by-step instructions for each tool!

Below are quick configuration snippets. For full installation and setup instructions, see the integration guides above.

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add voice-mode -- uvx voice-mode

Or with environment variables:

claude mcp add voice-mode --env OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-key -- uvx voice-mode

Claude Desktop

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["voice-mode"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cline

Add to your Cline MCP settings:

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "uvx", "voice-mode"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

macOS/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["voice-mode"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Continue

Add to your .continue/config.json:

{
  "experimental": {
    "modelContextProtocolServers": [
      {
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "uvx",
          "args": ["voice-mode"],
          "env": {
            "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["voice-mode"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to your VS Code MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["voice-mode"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["voice-mode"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Zed

Add to your Zed settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": {
        "path": "uvx",
        "args": ["voice-mode"],
        "env": {
          "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Roo Code

Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl/Cmd + ,)
Search for "roo" in the settings search bar
Find "Roo-veterinaryinc.roo-cline → settings → Mcp_settings.json"
Click "Edit in settings.json"
Add Voice Mode configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-mode": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["voice-mode"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-openai-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative Installation Options

Using Docker

docker run -it --rm \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-key \
  --device /dev/snd \
  -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix \
  -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY \
  ghcr.io/mbailey/voicemode:latest

Using pipx

pipx install voice-mode

From source

git clone https://github.com/mbailey/voicemode.git
cd voicemode
pip install -e .

NixOS Installation Options

1. Install with nix profile (user-wide):

nix profile install github:mbailey/voicemode

2. Add to NixOS configuration (system-wide):

# In /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
environment.systemPackages = [
  (builtins.getFlake "github:mbailey/voicemode").packages.${pkgs.system}.default
];

3. Add to home-manager:

# In home-manager configuration
home.packages = [
  (builtins.getFlake "github:mbailey/voicemode").packages.${pkgs.system}.default
];

4. Run without installing:

nix run github:mbailey/voicemode

Tools

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`converse`	Have a voice conversation - speak and optionally listen	`message`, `wait_for_response` (default: true), `listen_duration` (default: 30s), `transport` (auto/local/livekit)
`listen_for_speech`	Listen for speech and convert to text	`duration` (default: 5s)
`check_room_status`	Check LiveKit room status and participants	None
`check_audio_devices`	List available audio input/output devices	None
`start_kokoro`	Start the Kokoro TTS service	`models_dir` (optional, defaults to ~/Models/kokoro)
`stop_kokoro`	Stop the Kokoro TTS service	None
`kokoro_status`	Check the status of Kokoro TTS service	None
`install_whisper_cpp`	Install whisper.cpp for local STT	`install_dir`, `model` (default: base.en), `use_gpu` (auto-detect)
`install_kokoro_fastapi`	Install kokoro-fastapi for local TTS	`install_dir`, `port` (default: 8880), `auto_start` (default: true)

Note: The converse tool is the primary interface for voice interactions, combining speaking and listening in a natural flow.

New: The install_whisper_cpp and install_kokoro_fastapi tools help you set up free, private, open-source voice services locally. See Installation Tools Documentation for detailed usage.

Configuration

📖 Integration Guides - Step-by-step setup for each tool
🔧 Configuration Reference - All environment variables
📁 Config Examples - Ready-to-use configuration files

Quick Setup

The only required configuration is your OpenAI API key:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"

Optional Settings

# Custom STT/TTS services (OpenAI-compatible)
export STT_BASE_URL="http://127.0.0.1:2022/v1"  # Local Whisper
export TTS_BASE_URL="http://127.0.0.1:8880/v1"  # Local TTS
export TTS_VOICE="alloy"                        # Voice selection

# Or use voice preference files (see Configuration docs)
# Project: /your-project/voices.txt or /your-project/.voicemode/voices.txt
# User: ~/voices.txt or ~/.voicemode/voices.txt

# LiveKit (for room-based communication)
# See docs/livekit/ for setup guide
export LIVEKIT_URL="wss://your-app.livekit.cloud"
export LIVEKIT_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export LIVEKIT_API_SECRET="your-api-secret"

# Debug mode
export VOICEMODE_DEBUG="true"

# Save all audio (TTS output and STT input)
export VOICEMODE_SAVE_AUDIO="true"

# Audio format configuration (default: pcm)
export VOICEMODE_AUDIO_FORMAT="pcm"         # Options: pcm, mp3, wav, flac, aac, opus
export VOICEMODE_TTS_AUDIO_FORMAT="pcm"     # Override for TTS only (default: pcm)
export VOICEMODE_STT_AUDIO_FORMAT="mp3"     # Override for STT upload

# Format-specific quality settings
export VOICEMODE_OPUS_BITRATE="32000"       # Opus bitrate (default: 32kbps)
export VOICEMODE_MP3_BITRATE="64k"          # MP3 bitrate (default: 64k)

Audio Format Configuration

Voice Mode uses PCM audio format by default for TTS streaming for optimal real-time performance:

PCM (default for TTS): Zero latency, best streaming performance, uncompressed
MP3: Wide compatibility, good compression for uploads
WAV: Uncompressed, good for local processing
FLAC: Lossless compression, good for archival
AAC: Good compression, Apple ecosystem
Opus: Small files but NOT recommended for streaming (quality issues)

The audio format is automatically validated against provider capabilities and will fallback to a supported format if needed.

Local STT/TTS Services

For privacy-focused or offline usage, Voice Mode supports local speech services:

Whisper.cpp - Local speech-to-text with OpenAI-compatible API
Kokoro - Local text-to-speech with multiple voice options

These services provide the same API interface as OpenAI, allowing seamless switching between cloud and local processing.

OpenAI API Compatibility Benefits

By strictly adhering to OpenAI's API standard, Voice Mode enables powerful deployment flexibility:

🔀 Transparent Routing: Users can implement their own API proxies or gateways outside of Voice Mode to route requests to different providers based on custom logic (cost, latency, availability, etc.)
🎯 Model Selection: Deploy routing layers that select optimal models per request without modifying Voice Mode configuration
💰 Cost Optimization: Build intelligent routers that balance between expensive cloud APIs and free local models
🔧 No Lock-in: Switch providers by simply changing the BASE_URL - no code changes required

Example: Simply set OPENAI_BASE_URL to point to your custom router:

export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://router.example.com/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"
# Voice Mode now uses your router for all OpenAI API calls

The OpenAI SDK handles this automatically - no Voice Mode configuration needed!

Architecture

┌─────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────┐
│   Claude/LLM        │     │  LiveKit Server  │     │  Voice Frontend     │
│   (MCP Client)      │◄────►│  (Optional)     │◄───►│  (Optional)         │
└─────────────────────┘     └──────────────────┘     └─────────────────────┘
         │                            │
         │                            │
         ▼                            ▼
┌─────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐
│  Voice MCP Server   │     │   Audio Services │
│  • converse         │     │  • OpenAI APIs   │
│  • listen_for_speech│◄───►│  • Local Whisper │
│  • check_room_status│     │  • Local TTS     │
│  • check_audio_devices    └──────────────────┘
└─────────────────────┘

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

No microphone access: Check system permissions for terminal/application
- WSL2 Users: See WSL2 Microphone Access Guide
UV not found: Install with curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
OpenAI API error: Verify your OPENAI_API_KEY is set correctly
No audio output: Check system audio settings and available devices

Debug Mode

Enable detailed logging and audio file saving:

export VOICEMODE_DEBUG=true

Debug audio files are saved to: ~/voicemode_recordings/

Audio Diagnostics

Run the diagnostic script to check your audio setup:

python scripts/diagnose-wsl-audio.py

This will check for required packages, audio services, and provide specific recommendations.

Audio Saving

To save all audio files (both TTS output and STT input):

export VOICEMODE_SAVE_AUDIO=true

Audio files are saved to: ~/.voicemode/audio/YYYY/MM/ with timestamps in the filename.

Documentation

📚 Read the full documentation at voice-mode.readthedocs.io

Getting Started

Integration Guides - Step-by-step setup for all supported tools
Configuration Guide - Complete environment variable reference

Development

Using uv/uvx - Package management with uv and uvx
Local Development - Development setup guide
Audio Formats - Audio format configuration and migration
Statistics Dashboard - Performance monitoring and metrics

Service Guides

Whisper.cpp Setup - Local speech-to-text configuration
Kokoro Setup - Local text-to-speech configuration
Service Health Checks - Service readiness and health monitoring
LiveKit Integration - Real-time voice communication

Troubleshooting

WSL2 Microphone Access - WSL2 audio setup
Migration Guide - Upgrading from older versions

License

MIT - A Failmode Project

_{Project Statistics}

Voice Mode

Voice Mode

🖥️ Compatibility

✨ Features

🎯 Simple Requirements

Quick Start

Automatic Installation (Recommended)

Manual Installation

🎬 Demo

Voice Mode with Gemini CLI

Example Usage

👨‍💻 Programming & Development

💡 General Productivity

🎯 Voice Control Features

Supported Tools

Installation

Prerequisites

System Dependencies

Quick Install

Configuration for AI Coding Assistants

Alternative Installation Options

Tools

Configuration

Quick Setup

Optional Settings

Audio Format Configuration

Local STT/TTS Services

OpenAI API Compatibility Benefits

Architecture

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Mode

Audio Diagnostics

Audio Saving

Documentation

Getting Started

Development

Service Guides

Troubleshooting

Links

Community

See Also

License

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