No uploads
Recognition runs locally with FunASR Paraformer. Your voice, drafts, and surrounding text never need to leave the device.
The desktop should listen locally
Voice input without a cloud detour.
Most voice typing tools are web services wrapped in a microphone button. VocoType-linux is a native desktop input tool: it listens, transcribes, and commits text through the platform input stack.
Works everywhere
Chat windows, editors, browsers, terminals, and AI tools receive text through the native platform input stack.
CPU-first
Designed for everyday Linux and Apple Silicon desktops and laptops, with CPU inference and no dedicated GPU requirement.
What’s new
V5.0.1 is available.
The v5.0.1 patch hardens microphone device resolution and keeps transient macOS development apps out of Spotlight.
V5.0.1 · microphone and macOS cleanup fixes
Saved stale audio-device indices can no longer hijack the resolved microphone, and transient macOS build apps stay out of Spotlight search results.
Open the release →Doctor, integrity checks, and feedback
Inspect runtime and installation health, compare versions, exercise the pipeline, and submit a privacy-safe support bundle through the official feedback flow.
Read the update →Voice editing on IBus and Fcitx 5
Use the same Ctrl+F9 commands to replace, insert, delete, navigate, rewrite, undo, and redo in supported applications.
Read the update →Native streaming ASR preview
Optionally update a mutable preedit while speaking, then commit the final result from the complete offline recognition pipeline.
Read the update →A bounded local pipeline
From keypress to committed text.
Each stage has a clear responsibility. Optional language-model polishing is downstream of speech recognition and can be disabled entirely.
Hold the key
Press F9 while speaking. Release it when the utterance is complete.
Capture + VAD
Local audio capture and voice-activity detection isolate the speech segment.
Local ASR
FunASR Paraformer transcribes Chinese and mixed Chinese–English speech on CPU.
Commit
InputMethodKit, IBus, or Fcitx 5 inserts the final text into the focused application.
Three interaction modes
One keyboard, three levels of assistance.
Use raw dictation for speed, optional SLM polishing for long-form writing, or voice commands to edit existing text.
Fast dictation
The shortest path from speech to text. No language-model post-processing and minimal latency.
ASR ONLYPolished long-form
Optionally routes longer utterances through a local or OpenAI-compatible SLM endpoint for punctuation and cleanup.
OPTIONAL SLMVoice editing
On IBus or Fcitx 5, commands can replace, insert, delete, navigate, rewrite, undo, and redo using the active field’s surrounding text.
MACOS + IBUS + FCITX 5Real desktop workflow
See voice typing become normal typing.
The demo shows VocoType operating inside ordinary desktop applications rather than a dedicated transcription window.
VocoType Linux demo · system-wide input64 seconds · local playback
From the community
What users are saying.
Comments from the public VocoType Linux discussion on Linux.do, translated from Chinese where needed.
“This is exactly the pain point Linux has been missing: an open-source voice input method.
“I had wanted to build this for a long time but never got it off the ground—then found you had already made it.
“It feels genuinely comfortable in daily use. Aside from WeChat, every other scenario has worked very well.
Desktop integration
Use the native stack your platform already provides.
The two front ends share the same recognition core while integrating with their native input-method protocols.
macOS
Native in V5For Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 13 or newer.
- InputMethodKit Palette Input Method
- Native AppKit settings center
- Drag-to-Applications install and automatic upgrades
IBus
Full supportBest suited to GNOME and distributions where IBus is the default input framework.
- Native C++ IBus engine + librime
- Fast and polished dictation
- Voice editing with surrounding text
Fcitx 5
Full supportDesigned for KDE and users who prefer the modular Fcitx 5 ecosystem.
- Global C++ Module + native Core
- Fast dictation and live ASR preview
- Voice editing with surrounding text
Native release assets
Drag on macOS. Install packages on Linux.
Native packages add the application and system integration. The settings center downloads and verifies models, configures audio, and installs or repairs IBus and Fcitx 5.
Native packagerecommended
# Debian / Ubuntu sudo apt install ./vocotype-linux_*.deb # Fedora / RHEL sudo dnf install ./vocotype-linux-*.rpm # Arch Linux sudo pacman -U ./vocotype-linux-*.pkg.tar.zstDownload from GitHub Releases →
Latest sourcesame graphical flow
$ git clone https://github.com/LeonardNJU/VocoType-linux.git $ cd VocoType-linux $ bash scripts/install/fcitx5/install.sh --install-system-deps --download-modelsOpen the installation guide →
macOS 13+ on Apple Silicon or mainstream Linux · 4 GB RAM minimum · CPU-only inference · no Python runtime