/tap2talk

Voice transcription at your fingertips - Instantly convert speech to text with a simple keyboard shortcut

Primary LanguageHTML

Tap2Talk

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Talk in ANY app, type nothing. Works everywhere you type - VSCode, Terminal, Slack, Browser, anywhere. Press a key, speak, and watch your words appear instantly where you're working.

"I believe talking to computers is the future. With AI getting smarter, why are we still typing everything? I built Tap2Talk for myself because I wanted to speak naturally in ANY application without switching tools. Now I'm sharing it with you." - @unclecode

Built by @unclecode, creator of Crawl4AI (50K+ stars).

Works Everywhere

✅ Code Editors - VSCode, Sublime, Vim, IntelliJ, any IDE
✅ Terminal - Dictate complex commands without typing
✅ Chat Apps - Slack, Discord, Teams, WhatsApp Web
✅ Browsers - Gmail, ChatGPT, Google Docs, anywhere on the web
✅ Note Taking - Notion, Obsidian, Apple Notes, OneNote
✅ Literally Anywhere - If you can type there, you can talk there

Features

  • One Shortcut for Everything: Press Ctrl+Space (double-tap Space) to start recording anywhere
  • Instant Paste: Your words appear right where your cursor is - no copy/paste needed
  • Powered by Groq Whisper: Fast and accurate transcription using state-of-the-art AI
  • Customizable Shortcuts: Set your own recording and abort shortcuts
  • Cross-Platform: Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux
  • Background Service: Runs quietly in the background, always ready
  • System Tray Integration: Clean interface with status indicators

Groq API Setup

Tap2Talk currently uses Groq's lightning-fast Whisper API for transcription. Support for OpenAI Whisper, local models, and other providers coming soon!

Why Groq?

  • ✅ Free tier available - Perfect for personal use (30 requests/min, 14,400 requests/day)
  • ✅ Blazing fast - Near-instant transcription
  • ✅ High accuracy - Powered by Whisper Large v3
  • ✅ No credit card required - Start immediately

Get Your API Key (2 minutes)

  1. Create Account: Visit console.groq.com and sign up with Google or GitHub
  2. Generate API Key: Navigate to "API Keys" → Click "Create API Key" → Name it "Tap2Talk"
  3. Copy Your Key: Copy the key (starts with gsk_) - Tap2Talk will ask for it on first run

The free tier includes 30 requests per minute and 14,400 requests per day - more than enough for regular use!

Coming Soon

  • OpenAI Whisper API support
  • Local Whisper models (no internet required)
  • Other transcription providers

Installation

npm install -g tap2talk

Quick Start

  1. Run interactively (recommended for first time):

    tap2talk

  2. Start as background service:

    tap2talk start

  3. Check status:

    tap2talk status

Commands

  • tap2talk - Interactive mode with menu
  • tap2talk start - Start as background service
  • tap2talk stop - Stop background service
  • tap2talk status - Check service status
  • tap2talk restart - Restart service
  • tap2talk logs - Show recent logs
  • tap2talk update - Check for updates

Setup

On first run, you'll need to:

  1. Get a free API key from Groq Console
  2. Enter it when prompted
  3. Grant accessibility permissions (macOS) for global shortcuts

Default Shortcuts

  • Start Recording: Ctrl+Space (hold Ctrl, double-tap Space)
  • Abort Recording: Double-tap Escape

Both shortcuts are fully customizable in Settings.

How It Works

  1. Press your recording shortcut
  2. Speak naturally
  3. Recording stops automatically or press shortcut again
  4. Text is transcribed and pasted instantly

Status Indicators

The system tray shows real-time status:

  • Tap - Ready
  • [*] REC - Recording
  • [~] PRO - Processing
  • [OK] DON - Done
  • [X] ERR - Error
  • [_] ABT - Aborted

Configuration

Settings are stored in ~/.tap2talk/config.json

Requirements

  • Node.js 14 or higher
  • Groq API key (free)
  • Microphone access

Privacy

  • Audio is processed via Groq API
  • No audio is stored locally after transcription
  • Settings and logs stay on your machine

Troubleshooting

Service won't start

tap2talk stop
tap2talk start

Permission issues (macOS)

Go to System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Accessibility Add and enable Terminal/iTerm

Check logs

tap2talk logs

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome at github.com/unclecode/tap2talk

License

MIT © unclecode

Built with inspiration from productivity needs and powered by Groq Whisper API.