Voice mode in Claude Code (VS Code, macOS)

Claude Code has a built-in voice mode: hold space, talk, it transcribes into your prompt. Here's how to get it running in the VS Code integrated terminal on macOS — including the one step that breaks it for everyone.

1. Install the backend

Voice mode records via sox. No sox, no audio.

brew install sox
sox --version   # sanity check

2. Turn it on

In the Claude Code prompt:

/voice

Hold space to record, release to stop.

3. Grant the mic — to VS Code, not the terminal

Claude Code runs inside VS Code, so macOS attributes the mic request to Visual Studio Code.

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone. If VS Code isn't listed, it never requested access yet — and there's no "+" to add it manually. Force the prompt:

1. ⌘Q to fully quit VS Code (closing the window keeps the process alive — not enough).
2. Reopen it.
3. Trigger a recording. macOS pops "Visual Studio Code would like to access the microphone" → Allow.

macOS only re-reads mic permissions at app launch. A VS Code instance that was already running when you flipped the toggle keeps getting fed silence until you restart it.

4. Verify you're capturing real audio

The nasty failure: recording "works" but is pure silence (permission denied → all zeros).

rec -q /tmp/mictest.wav trim 0 2          # records 2s — say something
sox /tmp/mictest.wav -n stat 2>&1 | grep "Maximum amplitude"

• 0.000000 → still silent. Recheck the toggle, restart VS Code.
• non-zero (e.g. 0.17) → working. RMS around 0.01 is a normal talking level.

Gotchas

Toggle off with /voice. Change dictation language with /config.