Speak, and get clean text back. Everything runs on your Mac: no account, no
cloud, no usage limits. A free, open-source alternative to Wispr Flow
(why).
[!NOTE]
Early days. mockingbird start once, then hold Fn anywhere, speak,
and the text is typed into whatever app you're in — no terminal open, and it
comes back at every login. History, custom vocabulary and the dashboard are
still to come.
🚀 Install
You need a Mac with Apple Silicon, Homebrew, and about 6 GB
of free space.
curl -fsSL https://github.com/NirjharBhattacharjee/mockingbird/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash
It's safe to run again. Prefer to do it by hand? See
manual install.
Or with Homebrew:
brew install nirjharbhattacharjee/mockingbird/mockingbird
mockingbird models pull
With a coding agent
Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or any agent that runs shell commands can set it up
for you. Paste this:
Set up mockingbird on this Mac by following
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NirjharBhattacharjee/mockingbird/main/docs/AGENT_INSTALL.md
It runs the installer, starts mockingbird, and tells you which permissions to
switch on. That part is always yours: macOS won't let any program grant them
to itself.
Updating
Run the same install command again, or brew upgrade mockingbird if you used
Homebrew. Either way you get the latest release, and mockingbird never checks
for updates on its own. After brew upgrade, run mockingbird restart.
To remove it, follow Uninstalling.
🎤 Use it
mockingbird start
Click into any app, hold Fn, speak, and let go. Your words are typed where
the cursor is. It keeps running in the background and comes back at every
login.
The first time, macOS asks for three permissions (Input Monitoring,
Accessibility, Microphone). Grant them to mockingbird, then run
mockingbird restart. mockingbird status shows what's still missing.
⌨️ Commands
| Command | Does |
|---|
mockingbird start | Run in the background, now and at every login |
mockingbird stop | Stop, and stay stopped across reboots |
mockingbird restart | Restart (do this after granting a permission) |
mockingbird status | Whether it's running, and which permissions it has |
mockingbird listen | Dictate live in a terminal, with a level meter |
mockingbird transcribe <file> | Turn a recording (mp3, m4a, wav…) into text |
mockingbird type --check | Check typing permission and the app in front |
| Key | Does |
|---|
| Fn (hold) | Record while held |
| Fn (double-tap) | Record hands-free until you press Fn again |
| Fn+R | Start or stop recording a meeting to a file (more) |
A rising tink means it's recording, a falling pop means it's
transcribing, and a low basso means it couldn't type the text.
Something not working? See troubleshooting.
📚 More
MIT. Use it, change it, share it.
