Dictate in any app · Docs

Voice typing in Slab

Slab is a wiki that looks pleasant and still needs somebody to write in it. Hold a key and talk: Typally transcribes and types it into Slab without you touching the keyboard.

We make Typally, so treat this as a vendor's guide. Where Slab has a built-in option we say so, including when it is the better choice.
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In short

  • Slab's own dictation: None. The editor is typed.
  • What Typally does instead: types into the focused window, so it works in Slab and everywhere else you write.
  • Best used for: team documentation

Does Slab have built-in dictation?

None. The editor is typed.

Why dictate in Slab at all?

Every team that buys a wiki intends to document things. What defeats the intention is that a good page takes an hour to type and the person who knows the material has other work.

In practice people use it for: Team documentation, onboarding guides, decision records, meeting notes, and process descriptions.

How to dictate in Slab

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

1

Get Typally running

Install, sign in, and it waits in the tray.

2

Focus the Slab field you want the words in

Text goes wherever Slab has focus. One click first saves undoing a paragraph in the wrong box.

3

Talk while holding the key

The recording lasts exactly as long as you do.

4

Read it before you move on

The editor supports markdown shortcuts, so dictated punctuation can create formatting.

What Typally adds in Slab

Typally types into Slab's editor, which changes documentation from an hour of typing into a few minutes of explaining. Speaking also produces the right level of detail, because you naturally explain to a person rather than writing for a document.

What this looks like in practice

An engineer documents the deploy process by talking through it as if onboarding someone. The page exists by the end of a coffee break, having been a ticket for two quarters.

One habit that makes it work better

Write the onboarding guide by explaining the thing to an imaginary new starter out loud. That produces the right level of detail, which written attempts consistently miss.

What to watch out for in Slab

The editor supports markdown shortcuts, so dictated punctuation can create formatting.

Frequently asked questions

Does Slab have voice input?

No. Its editor is typed.

Why do wikis stay empty?

Because writing a good page is an hour of typing for someone whose job is something else.

Can I dictate meeting notes into Slab?

Yes, and notes written immediately are far more accurate than notes written later.

Try it in Slab

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: Confluence · Nuclino · Notion · see all apps