Open source voice-to-text for Linux and macOS

Features • Install • Quick Start • Processing • Docs

OSTT is a terminal-native speech-to-text tool. Record from a hotkey, transcribe with your chosen provider, then send the result to your clipboard, a file, stdout, an AI prompt, or any shell command. It does not assume one vendor, one subscription, or one app-specific workflow: bring your own API key and choose from OpenAI, Deepgram, Groq, DeepInfra, AssemblyAI, Berget, and ElevenLabs.

OSTT is built for people who treat the terminal as a normal place for voice input to land. You can print to stdout, copy to the clipboard, write to files, retry the same recording with another model, transcribe existing audio, and post-process text with AI prompts or shell commands. Voice becomes text that can move through the same tools as everything else.

• Linux-first voice input - Global hotkey setup for Omarchy/Hyprland, GNOME, KDE, and other Linux desktops, with macOS support too.
• Provider choice - Bring your own API key and switch between OpenAI, Deepgram, Groq, DeepInfra, AssemblyAI, Berget, and ElevenLabs.
• Terminal-native workflow - Use stdout, clipboard, files, aliases, shell completions, logs, and pipes.
• Scriptable post-processing - Transform transcripts with AI prompts or bash commands using ostt -p and ostt process.
• Retry without re-recording - Save recordings locally, then re-transcribe them with a different provider or model.
• File transcription and replay - Transcribe existing audio files and replay saved recordings from history.
• Keywords and custom vocabulary - Improve recognition for names, technical terms, and project-specific language.
• Open source, no subscription - Public code, local configuration, and no vendor lock-in beyond the providers you choose.

Full documentation is available at https://ostt.ai.

Start here:

• Getting Started
• Installation
• Commands
• Processing Actions
• Configuration
• Why OSTT?
• Platform Setup
• Providers and Models

curl -fsSL https://ostt.ai/install | bash

The installer detects your platform, installs supported runtime dependencies, downloads the latest release, verifies its checksum, and installs the ostt CLI.

If you prefer platform package managers, see the docs for Homebrew, AUR, .deb, and .rpm options.

ostt auth           # Choose provider/model and save API key
ostt                # Record, transcribe, print to stdout
ostt -c             # Record, transcribe, copy to clipboard
ostt launch -c      # Popup workflow for global hotkeys

By default, press Enter to stop and transcribe, Space to pause/resume, and Esc, q, or Ctrl+C to cancel.

Processing actions transform transcriptions after recording or from history.

ostt -p clean -c              # Record, transcribe, clean, copy
ostt launch -c -p clean       # Popup hotkey workflow with processing
ostt process                  # Process most recent history item, show picker
ostt process clean            # Process most recent history item with clean action
ostt process 3 clean -c       # Process history item #3 with clean action
ostt process --list           # List configured actions

Actions are configured in ~/.config/ostt/ostt.toml and can run either bash commands or AI CLI tools. See Processing Actions for examples.

ostt                         # Record audio, print transcription
ostt -c                      # Record audio, copy transcription
ostt -o notes.txt            # Record audio, write transcription to file
ostt launch -c               # Open popup recorder
ostt transcribe file.mp3     # Transcribe existing audio
ostt retry 2 -c              # Re-transcribe recording #2 and copy
ostt replay                  # Play most recent recording
ostt history                 # Browse transcription history
ostt keywords                # Manage transcription keywords
ostt config                  # Open config file
ostt list-devices            # List audio input devices
ostt logs                    # View recent logs
ostt completions zsh         # Generate shell completions
ostt completions bash --install  # Install completions system-wide
ostt --version               # Show version
ostt --help                  # Show help

Common aliases: r for record, t for transcribe, l for launch, p for process, a for auth, h for history, k for keywords, c for config, and rp for replay.

OSTT is bring-your-own-API-key and currently supports OpenAI, Deepgram, DeepInfra, Groq, AssemblyAI, Berget, and ElevenLabs transcription models.

Run ostt auth to select your provider/model and save credentials securely.

Suggested default keybindings:

Platform-specific setup notes are available in the docs:

• macOS
• Omarchy / Hyprland
• GNOME
• KDE Plasma

git clone https://github.com/kristoferlund/ostt.git
cd ostt
cargo build
cargo test --all-targets --all-features
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features

Release builds use the dist profile:

cargo build --profile dist --locked

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

Kristofer

Kristofer Claw

Pastilhas

kristofernoaccess

axo bot

MIT