Bolo

Open source macOS dictation

Bolo

Open source push-to-talk dictation for macOS. No subscription.

Install Bolo View source
188 ms average menu-ready startup 715 ms fastest recent release-to-paste
Notes Bolo
Voice draft

Bolo turns short spoken thoughts into clean text in the app you are already using.

Dictating
Rust runtime Faster launch

Recent local logs show menu-ready startup averaging 188 ms.

Native helpers Feels more like macOS

Menu bar app, AppKit hotkey listener, and a smaller status HUD.

Telnyx AI Cloud STT with cleanup

Nova 3 transcription, fallback handling, vocabulary, and optional LLM cleanup.

Why it exists

A free Wispr Flow alternative you can inspect.

01

No always-on microphone

Bolo captures audio only while Right Option is held.

02

No subscription

Bring a Telnyx API key and run the app locally.

03

Plain app behavior

Dictate in Slack, Notion, Gmail, VS Code, terminals, and browsers.

04

Readable internals

Rust core, Python AppKit helpers, local cleanup, and open logs.

How it works

⌥
Hold Right Option

HUD appears. Bolo is listening.

→
Speak naturally

Audio captured only while held.

→
Release

Audio sent, transcript cleaned.

→
Text at cursor

Pasted into any app, instantly.

How it works

Fast local control, cloud transcription.

Bolo runs as a menu bar-only macOS app. It records only while the hotkey is held, sends audio to Telnyx APIs for transcription, then discards the audio. No dictation history is retained by Bolo.

RuntimeRust 1.88+
Hotkey and HUDNative AppKit helpers
Speech-to-textTelnyx AI
CleanupLocal by default, LLM optional

Install

Run Bolo on macOS.

Requires macOS 12+, Rust, Python 3, and a Telnyx API key.

git clone https://github.com/a692570/bolo.git
cd bolo
./install.sh