Dictate prompts: talk to ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor
Good prompts are long. They explain the goal, the context and what has already been tried. Spoken, such a prompt is done faster than typed. inlaut writes it into the chat window, the editor or the terminal, and speech recognition runs on your Mac.
As of 20 October 2026, inlaut 0.5.1. This page is written by the developer of inlaut, a free dictation app for the Mac.
Why speak your prompts
When typing, people abbreviate. When speaking, they explain what it is about, which file they mean, what must not happen and what the result should look like. That context is what makes an AI assistant’s answer better. And most people speak much faster than they type.
How it works
- Put the cursor in the input field: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, the chat in Cursor or VS Code, or a terminal running Claude Code or Codex.
- Hold your key and speak. For longer prompts, tap 🌐 fn twice and dictate hands-free; another key press ends the recording.
- inlaut pastes the text at the cursor. You read it and send it yourself. inlaut never presses Return.
Change your mind mid-sentence
Prompts are often thought out while speaking. If you correct yourself, “Resolve self-corrections (beta)” deletes the part you took back:
SaidWrite a test for the login page, I mean, for the signup page.
In the text fieldWrite a test for the signup page.
Apple Intelligence checks on your Mac whether you really corrected yourself. The setting is off until you turn it on, as is “Tidy up dictations”, which drops filler sounds and words said twice. If you work in English and German, set the language to Deutsch + English and mix both freely.
Names of tools and libraries
If a name comes out wrong, add a replacement once: on the left what was recognised, on the right how it is spelled, for example “Next JS” → “Next.js”. From then on every dictation gets it right. For prompts you use often there are snippets: say a short phrase and inlaut inserts the stored text.
Tickets, commits and reviews
What works for prompts works for everything written in sentences: ticket descriptions, commit messages, code review comments or a reply in Slack. Code itself is better typed. inlaut has no commands for brackets, symbols or indentation.
What stays local and what does not
inlaut turns your voice into text on your Mac. Recordings and dictations are neither stored nor transmitted. To check self-corrections inlaut only uses Apple Intelligence’s model on the Mac, not Apple’s servers. Once you send the prompt, it goes to the provider of the AI assistant, just like a typed prompt. What you share there is up to you.
Limits
- English and German only.
- No commands for code syntax, Markdown or symbols.
- This page describes the Mac version for Apple Silicon with macOS 26 or later. The Windows beta has voice commands, replacements and snippets, but no tidying and no self-corrections.
More ways to use inlaut
- Dictate emailsGreeting, paragraphs and sign-off as you speak.
- Audio to textTranscribe interviews and recordings on your Mac.
- Dictation apps comparedTen Mac apps side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Does inlaut work in ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor?
Yes. inlaut pastes the text into any input field that accepts pasting: the ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini apps and websites, Cursor, VS Code, Xcode and the terminal, for example for Claude Code or Codex.
Does inlaut send the prompt?
No. inlaut only pastes the text. You send it yourself after reading it.
Can I mix English and German?
Yes. With the language set to Deutsch + English the speech model understands both, even within one sentence.
Can I dictate code with inlaut?
Only to a limited extent. inlaut has no commands for brackets, symbols or indentation. It is made for everything written in sentences: prompts, tickets, commit messages, comments and code reviews.
Notes
Product and company names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the products. inlaut is not affiliated with any of these companies.
Something out of date or missing? Write to hallo@inlaut.de.