TypeNo Voice Input macOS Skill

---
name: typeno-voice-input
description: TypeNo is a free, open source, privacy-first macOS menu bar app that captures voice via a Control key shortcut, transcribes locally using the coli speech engine, and pastes text into the active app.
triggers:
  - set up TypeNo voice input on macOS
  - add voice dictation to my Mac app
  - integrate TypeNo speech to text
  - build TypeNo from source
  - configure local voice transcription macOS
  - use TypeNo to paste voice input
  - fix TypeNo microphone or accessibility permissions
  - drag audio file to transcribe with TypeNo
---

# TypeNo Voice Input macOS Skill

> Skill by [ara.so](https://ara.so) — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

TypeNo is a minimal, privacy-first macOS menu bar app that records your voice on a Control key short-press, transcribes it locally via the [coli](https://github.com/marswaveai/coli) Node.js engine, and pastes the resulting text directly into whatever app is focused — no cloud, no accounts, no UI windows.

---

## What TypeNo Does

- **Global hotkey:** Short-press `Control` (< 300 ms, no modifier) → start/stop recording
- **Local transcription:** All speech processing runs on-device via the `coli` CLI
- **Auto-paste:** Transcribed text is typed into the active app and copied to the clipboard
- **Drag-to-transcribe:** Drop `.m4a`, `.mp3`, `.wav`, or `.aac` onto the menu bar icon
- **No preferences UI:** Zero configuration by design

---

## Installation

### 1. Install the coli speech engine

TypeNo shells out to `coli` for transcription. Install it globally:

npm install -g @marswave/coli

Verify:

coli --version

If `coli` is missing at launch, TypeNo shows an in-app prompt with the install command.

### 2a. Download the pre-built app

# Download latest release zip from GitHub

# https://github.com/marswaveai/TypeNo/releases/latest

# Download TypeNo.app.zip, unzip, move to /Applications

open /Applications/TypeNo.app

If macOS quarantines the app (not yet notarized):

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/TypeNo.app"

open /Applications/TypeNo.app

Or right-click → **Open** in Finder, then **Open Anyway** in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

### 2b. Build from source

git clone https://github.com/marswaveai/TypeNo.git

cd TypeNo

scripts/generate_icon.sh # generates app icon assets

scripts/build_app.sh # compiles and bundles to dist/TypeNo.app

cp -R dist/TypeNo.app /Applications/

open /Applications/TypeNo.app

### 3. Grant one-time permissions

On first launch TypeNo requests:
- **Microphone** — for audio capture
- **Accessibility** — to simulate paste (⌘V) into the active app

Grant both in **System Settings → Privacy & Security**.

---

## Usage

| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Start recording | Short-press `Control` (< 300 ms, no other keys held) |
| Stop recording & transcribe | Short-press `Control` again |
| Start/stop via menu | Menu bar icon → **Record** |
| Transcribe an audio file | Drag `.m4a` / `.mp3` / `.wav` / `.aac` onto the menu bar icon |
| Check for updates | Menu bar icon → **Check for Updates...** |
| Quit | Menu bar icon → **Quit** (`⌘Q`) |

After stopping, TypeNo:
1. Sends audio to `coli` for local transcription
2. Pastes result into the previously focused app
3. Copies result to the clipboard

---

## Project Structure (Swift source)

TypeNo/

├── AppDelegate.swift # NSApplicationDelegate, menu bar setup

├── AudioRecorder.swift # AVFoundation capture logic

├── TranscriptionService.swift # Shells out to `coli` CLI

├── PasteService.swift # Accessibility / CGEvent paste

├── HotkeyMonitor.swift # Global CGEventTap for Control key

├── StatusBarController.swift # NSStatusItem, menu construction

├── DragDropHandler.swift # Drag audio files onto status icon

└── assets/

└── hero.webp

scripts/

├── generate_icon.sh

└── build_app.sh

---

## Key Swift Patterns

### Global Control-key hotkey (CGEventTap)

// HotkeyMonitor.swift

import Cocoa

class HotkeyMonitor {

private var eventTap: CFMachPort?

private var pressStart: Date?

private let maxPressDuration: TimeInterval = 0.3 // 300 ms

func start(onToggle: @escaping () -> Void) {

let mask: CGEventMask = (1 << CGEventType.flagsChanged.rawValue)

eventTap = CGEvent.tapCreate(

tap: .cgSessionEventTap,

place: .headInsertEventTap,

options: .defaultTap,

eventsOfInterest: mask,

callback: { proxy, type, event, refcon in

let monitor = Unmanaged<HotkeyMonitor>

.fromOpaque(refcon!).takeUnretainedValue()

monitor.handle(event: event)

return Unmanaged.passUnretained(event)

},

userInfo: Unmanaged.passUnretained(self).toOpaque()

)

guard let tap = eventTap else { return }

let loop = CFMachPortCreateRunLoopSource(nil, tap, 0)

CFRunLoopAddSource(CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), loop, .commonModes)

CGEvent.tapEnable(tap: tap, enable: true)

}

private func handle(event: CGEvent) {

let flags = event.flags

let onlyControl = flags.contains(.maskControl) &&

!flags.contains(.maskCommand) &&

!flags.contains(.maskAlternate) &&

!flags.contains(.maskShift)

if onlyControl {

pressStart = Date()

} else if let start = pressStart {

let duration = Date().timeIntervalSince(start)

pressStart = nil

if duration < maxPressDuration {

DispatchQueue.main.async { self.onToggle?() }

}

}

}

var onToggle: (() -> Void)?

}

### Audio recording with AVFoundation

// AudioRecorder.swift

import AVFoundation

class AudioRecorder: NSObject {

private var engine = AVAudioEngine()

private var file: AVAudioFile?

private(set) var outputURL: URL?

func startRecording() throws {

let dir = FileManager.default.temporaryDirectory

let url = dir.appendingPathComponent(UUID().uuidString + ".wav")

outputURL = url

let input = engine.inputNode

let format = input.outputFormat(forBus: 0)

file = try AVAudioFile(forWriting: url,

settings: format.settings)

input.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 4096, format: format) { [weak self] buffer, _ in

try? self?.file?.write(from: buffer)

}

try engine.start()

}

func stopRecording() -> URL? {

engine.inputNode.removeTap(onBus: 0)

engine.stop()

file = nil

return outputURL

}

}

### Transcription via coli CLI

// TranscriptionService.swift

import Foundation

class TranscriptionService {

/// Transcribe a local audio file using the coli CLI.

/// - Parameter url: Path to .wav / .m4a / .mp3 / .aac file

/// - Returns: Transcribed string, or nil on failure

func transcribe(url: URL) async throws -> String {

return try await withCheckedThrowingContinuation { continuation in

let process = Process()

process.executableURL = coliExecutableURL()

process.arguments = ["transcribe", url.path]

let pipe = Pipe()

process.standardOutput = pipe

process.standardError = Pipe()

process.terminationHandler = { _ in

let data = pipe.fileHandleForReading.readDataToEndOfFile()

let result = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)?

.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines) ?? ""

if result.isEmpty {

continuation.resume(throwing: TranscriptionError.emptyResult)

} else {

continuation.resume(returning: result)

}

}

do {

try process.run()

} catch {

continuation.resume(throwing: error)

}

}

}

private func coliExecutableURL() -> URL {

// Check common npm global bin locations

let candidates = [

"/usr/local/bin/coli",

"/opt/homebrew/bin/coli",

(ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["HOME"] ?? "") + "/.npm-global/bin/coli"

]

for path in candidates {

if FileManager.default.isExecutableFile(atPath: path) {

return URL(fileURLWithPath: path)

}

}

return URL(fileURLWithPath: "/usr/local/bin/coli") // fallback

}

}

enum TranscriptionError: Error {

case emptyResult

case coliNotFound

}

### Pasting text via Accessibility

// PasteService.swift

import AppKit

class PasteService {

func paste(text: String) {

// 1. Write to clipboard

NSPasteboard.general.clearContents()

NSPasteboard.general.setString(text, forType: .string)

// 2. Simulate ⌘V in the previously active app

DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.05) {

let source = CGEventSource(stateID: .combinedSessionState)

let vKeyCode: CGKeyCode = 0x09 // kVK_ANSI_V

let keyDown = CGEvent(keyboardEventSource: source,

virtualKey: vKeyCode, keyDown: true)

let keyUp = CGEvent(keyboardEventSource: source,

virtualKey: vKeyCode, keyDown: false)

keyDown?.flags = .maskCommand

keyUp?.flags = .maskCommand

keyDown?.post(tap: .cgAnnotatedSessionEventTap)

keyUp?.post(tap: .cgAnnotatedSessionEventTap)

}

}

}

### Menu bar icon setup

// StatusBarController.swift

import AppKit

class StatusBarController {

private let statusItem = NSStatusBar.system.statusItem(

withLength: NSStatusItem.squareLength

)

init(recorder: AudioRecorder,

transcriber: TranscriptionService,

paster: PasteService) {

setupIcon(recording: false)

setupMenu(recorder: recorder, transcriber: transcriber, paster: paster)

}

func setupIcon(recording: Bool) {

let name = recording ? "mic.fill" : "mic"

statusItem.button?.image = NSImage(

systemSymbolName: name,

accessibilityDescription: recording ? "Recording" : "TypeNo"

)

}

private func setupMenu(recorder: AudioRecorder,

transcriber: TranscriptionService,

paster: PasteService) {

let menu = NSMenu()

menu.addItem(NSMenuItem(title: "Record",

action: #selector(toggleRecord),

keyEquivalent: ""))

menu.addItem(.separator())

menu.addItem(NSMenuItem(title: "Check for Updates...",

action: #selector(checkForUpdates),

keyEquivalent: ""))

menu.addItem(.separator())

menu.addItem(NSMenuItem(title: "Quit TypeNo",

action: #selector(NSApplication.terminate(_:)),

keyEquivalent: "q"))

statusItem.menu = menu

}

@objc private func toggleRecord() { /* delegate to AppDelegate */ }

@objc private func checkForUpdates() { /* open releases URL */ }

}

### Drag-and-drop audio file onto status icon

// DragDropHandler.swift — attach to the NSStatusItem button's window

import AppKit

class DragDropHandler: NSView {

var onFileDrop: ((URL) -> Void)?

private let accepted: [String] = ["m4a", "mp3", "wav", "aac"]

override func awakeFromNib() {

super.awakeFromNib()

registerForDraggedTypes([.fileURL])

}

override func draggingEntered(_ sender: NSDraggingInfo) -> NSDragOperation {

guard let url = url(from: sender), accepted.contains(url.pathExtension.lowercased()) else {

return []

}

return .copy

}

override func performDragOperation(_ sender: NSDraggingInfo) -> Bool {

guard let url = url(from: sender) else { return false }

onFileDrop?(url)

return true

}

private func url(from info: NSDraggingInfo) -> URL? {

info.draggingPasteboard

.readObjects(forClasses: [NSURL.self], options: nil)?

.first as? URL

}

}

---

## Building & Releasing

# Generate app icon from source PNG

scripts/generate_icon.sh

# Build release app bundle to dist/TypeNo.app

scripts/build_app.sh

# Move to Applications for stable Accessibility permissions

cp -R dist/TypeNo.app /Applications/

# Remove quarantine (for unsigned/non-notarized builds)

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/TypeNo.app

---

## Troubleshooting

### "coli: command not found" at runtime

TypeNo resolves `coli` from known npm bin paths. If your Node setup uses a custom prefix:

npm config get prefix # e.g. /Users/you/.npm-global

export PATH="$PATH:$(npm config get prefix)/bin"

# Add the above to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile

Then relaunch TypeNo.

### Microphone permission denied

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → enable TypeNo

If the toggle is missing, delete and reinstall from `/Applications`.

### Accessibility permission denied (paste doesn't work)

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → enable TypeNo

After toggling, quit and relaunch TypeNo. Accessibility permissions are cached per bundle path — always run from `/Applications/TypeNo.app`, not `dist/`.

### macOS says the app is damaged

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/TypeNo.app"

### Control key not triggering recording

- Ensure no other app has a global `Control` tap (e.g. Karabiner-Elements remapping)
- Check TypeNo has Accessibility permission — the CGEventTap requires it
- Short-press only: hold duration must be < 300 ms with no other modifier keys

### Audio file drag-drop not working

Accepted extensions: `.m4a`, `.mp3`, `.wav`, `.aac`. Other formats are silently rejected. Convert with:

ffmpeg -i input.ogg output.wav

---

## Key Design Constraints

- **No cloud:** All transcription is local via `coli`; no network calls are made
- **No preferences window:** The app is intentionally zero-config
- **No sandbox:** TypeNo uses `CGEvent.tapCreate` and Accessibility APIs that require a non-sandboxed entitlement — it cannot be distributed via the Mac App Store
- **GPL-3.0:** Any derivative work must also be GPL-3.0

---

## Links

- Homepage: [https://typeno.com](https://typeno.com)
- Releases: [https://github.com/marswaveai/TypeNo/releases](https://github.com/marswaveai/TypeNo/releases)
- coli engine: [https://github.com/marswaveai/coli](https://github.com/marswaveai/coli)
- License: GNU GPL v3.0