Dictate in any app · Code

Voice typing in Windsurf

Agentic editors act on what you tell them, so a vague instruction costs more than a vague prompt. Typally types what you say straight into Windsurf — hold a key, talk, let go — so you can dictate anywhere Windsurf lets you type.

Written by the team behind Typally. Windsurf's own features are described as accurately as we can — check them yourself before switching anything.
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In short

  • Windsurf's own dictation: None. Instructions are typed into the chat panel.
  • What Typally does instead: works above the app rather than inside it — Windsurf sees ordinary typed text.
  • Best used for: agent instructions

Does Windsurf have built-in dictation?

None. Instructions are typed into the chat panel.

Why dictate in Windsurf at all?

When an AI editor takes multi-step actions, an underspecified instruction does not just give a poor answer — it edits files. Constraints stated up front are much cheaper than reverting a wrong run.

In practice people use it for: Agent instructions, describing a feature end to end, stating constraints and files not to touch, and reviewing what it did.

How to dictate in Windsurf

Typally runs in the background and types into whatever window has focus, so there is nothing to install inside Windsurf:

1

Get Typally running

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

2

Click into the right box in Windsurf first

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

3

Speak with the key held down

Push to talk, say your piece, release to transcribe.

4

Read it before you move on

A dictated return can submit an instruction before you have finished stating the constraints — which, with an agent, means it starts working from a half-instruction.

What Typally adds in Windsurf

Typally records until you release the key, so the full instruction — the goal, the files to change, the test that must keep passing, the module to leave alone — arrives as one clean prompt. With an agentic editor a missing constraint becomes an unwanted edit rather than just a weak answer, which makes the completeness worth more here than anywhere else.

What this looks like in practice

Before a refactor someone speaks the full instruction: the goal, the two files to change, the test that must keep passing, and the module to leave alone entirely. The run does what was asked, instead of helpfully modernising a file nobody wanted touched.

One habit that makes it work better

Say what must not change as well as what should. The unspoken constraint is the one an agent violates, and it is the sentence you skip when typing.

What to watch out for in Windsurf

A dictated return can submit an instruction before you have finished stating the constraints — which, with an agent, means it starts working from a half-instruction.

Frequently asked questions

Does Windsurf have voice input?

No. Instructions are typed into the chat panel.

Why does prompt length matter more with agentic editors?

Because the model acts on it. A missing constraint becomes an unwanted edit rather than just a weak answer.

Can I dictate long multi-step instructions?

Yes, and that is the point — spoken instructions are naturally more complete.

Try it in Windsurf

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Also dictate in: Cursor · Zed · VS Code · see all apps