LocalFlow
Download for Mac
YOUR VOICE. YOUR MAC. YOUR WORDS.

Think it. Say it.
There it is.

From the thought in your head to the words on your screen. Free, local dictation that keeps you in your flow.

Download for MacStar on GitHub
fnorright ⌥Hold. Speak. Release./macOS 14+ · Free & open source
One thought. A little less typing.Illustrative demo
YOU SAY

“um can you you send the notes before our call and flag anything that needs a decision”

A thought, spoken naturally
SENT WITH LOCALFLOW
#teamA channel for your team
L
Youjust now

Your words will land hereProcessed on your Mac
A little less between you and your words

For the way you actually work.

A quick reply, a longer train of thought, a fresh start. There’s a shortcut for that.

Dictate into Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, or Terminal. LocalFlow cleans the transcript while preserving paths, commands, identifiers, and technical terms. It does not automatically turn your words into a structured prompt.

normal dictation. technical details intact.

And every dictation is saved in your local history.

01 / LOCALFLOWFree. On your Mac.

Speak normally. Keep your exact intent.

NORMAL DICTATION · NO AUTOMATIC PROMPT MODE
YOU SAY

“um the login redirect keeps failing after refresh in src/auth.ts, trace the cause first, keep the public API unchanged, and tell me which tests prove the fix”

Speak naturally
Normal dictation plays automaticallyCodex and Claude Code receive readable plain text. Prompt generation only starts when you select text and press ⌥2.
Right at your fingertips

One familiar key.
A little more freedom.

Hold right Option to talk. Prefer Fn? Choose it in Settings. Release to insert, or double-tap to go hands-free.

fn Alternative in Settingssame keys. a whole new rhythm. ↗right ⌥ Default trigger
01 / HOLD TO TALK

Hold. Speak. Release.

02 / FREE HANDS-FREE

Double-tap. Talk. Press once.

03 / OPTION + 1 POLISH

Select your words. Tidy them up.

04 / OPTION + 2 PROMPT

Select rough notes. Build the brief.

A few everyday examples

A few words. So many uses.

Open an app, write a message, or capture a thought. Illustrative examples; formatting depends on your selected profile.

command mode

“lock it”

→ Your Mac locks.
slack

“can you review the deck”

Can you review the deck?
hands-free

“double-tap. talk it through.”

Press your trigger once to finish. Your hands are free until then.
⌥ + 1 polish

“we we should move the call to thursday”

We should move the call to Thursday.
⌥ + 2 prompt engineer

“review checkout tests and explain failures before editing”

Role: Senior engineer Objective: Review the checkout test failures…
command mode · Spotify

“play midnight city by m83 on spotify”

→ Spotify results open.
gmail

“can you review the deck”

Can you review the deck?

Drag every card upward to reveal LocalFlow.

Everything else

Everything else, at a glance.

Speech engines that run locally.

Apple Speech on macOS 26+, with downloadable Parakeet and Whisper options for supported Macs. Your recordings are processed on-device.

Open source, actually.

MIT-licensed. Read every line, fork it, ship your own build.
View LocalFlow on GitHub→

Custom vocabulary.

Teach it your names, jargon, and product terms.

History, searchable.

Every dictation, timestamped and searchable, whenever you need it back.

Your hotkey, your rules.

Use right Option, or enable Fn in Settings.

Download once. Talk locally.

Models download only what your Mac needs, when it needs it.
Setup

A few steps. Then just talk.

1
Download the DMG
2
Drag LocalFlow to Applications
3
If macOS blocks it, clear quarantine
4
Allow microphone & Accessibility
5
Start talking
Only if macOS says the app cannot be openedxattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/LocalFlow.app

Run this only for the LocalFlow copy you downloaded from our GitHub release. It removes the download quarantine flag; microphone and Accessibility permissions are still granted separately in System Settings.

Interactive preview

Catch the thought. Keep moving.

A quick idea should make it into your notes without breaking your stride.

Notes✎
Today at 10:42 AM

Quick thought

LOCALFLOWHold fn or right ⌥, then speak.
Hold, speak, release.

Scripted website illustration. No microphone access here; speech recognition happens in the Mac app.

Benefits

What that actually gets you.

Your voice, processed locally.
Speak, finish, and let an on-device speech engine turn your recording into text.
Less cleanup after dictation.
Local formatting handles speech details. Option + 1 meaningfully rewrites selected text with Apple’s on-device model.
No monthly bill.
Free, forever. It’s a project, not a business.
Nothing to sign up for.
Allow microphone and Accessibility access, prepare your speech engine, and start talking.
FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

Double-tap your selected trigger: right Option by default, or Fn if enabled in Settings. Speak without holding it, then press once to finish. Escape cancels the recording. Hands-free mode is free.

Say something. See where it goes.

Free. Open source. Nothing to sign up for.

Download for MacView on GitHub

macOS 14+ · Free & open source