Dictate in any app · Code

Voice typing in iTerm2

iTerm is where Mac developers live, and the same terminal caution applies throughout. Typally puts your words into iTerm2 the moment you release the key, in whichever field you left the cursor.

From the people who build Typally. If iTerm2's own option covers your use, use it — this page will tell you when it does.
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In short

  • iTerm2's own dictation: None. It is a terminal emulator.
  • What Typally does instead: types into the focused window, so it works in iTerm2 and everywhere else you write.
  • Best used for: commit messages in your git editor

Does iTerm2 have built-in dictation?

None. It is a terminal emulator.

Why dictate in iTerm2 at all?

A terminal is the one place where inserted text is not text but instructions. Yet it is also where commit messages, here-documents and server notes get written, all of which are prose.

In practice people use it for: Commit messages in your git editor, here-documents, notes in a terminal editor, and SSH session documentation.

How to dictate in iTerm2

Setup happens once, outside iTerm2, and then applies to every program on the machine:

1

Install Typally

Windows or macOS, then sign in. No card for the free tier.

2

In iTerm2, click the field before you speak

Whatever has the cursor receives the text, so click the right place in iTerm2 before starting.

3

Hold the hotkey and talk

Say the whole thought, then let go. No time limit.

4

Read it before you move on

A dictated return at a shell prompt executes the line immediately. There is no undo and no confirmation.

What Typally adds in iTerm2

Typally works at the keyboard level, which is exactly why the discipline matters here — it cannot tell a shell prompt from a text field. Used inside the editor Git opens, it turns a one-line commit message into a real explanation without leaving the terminal.

What this looks like in practice

A developer sets an absolute rule: never speak at a prompt, only inside the editor Git opens. Commit history improves markedly and nothing has ever been executed by accident.

One habit that makes it work better

Restrict dictation to editors the terminal opens. That single rule makes the whole thing safe and still covers the writing you actually do there.

What to watch out for in iTerm2

A dictated return at a shell prompt executes the line immediately. There is no undo and no confirmation.

Frequently asked questions

Is dictation safe in iTerm2?

Only inside an editor the terminal opened. At a prompt, a return runs whatever it heard.

Can I dictate a commit message?

Yes, when your git editor opens — that is the safe and useful case.

Does iTerm2 have speech features?

No. It is a terminal emulator.

Try it in iTerm2

The free plan gives you 100 minutes a month without a card — enough to find out whether talking beats typing for you.

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Also dictate in: Terminal · Warp · Vim · see all apps