Feature Proposal: Unified Native Voice Input Architecture (Local-First)

[fayerman-source]

Context & Problem

There is significant community interest in Voice Input for Gemini CLI, currently fragmented across multiple discussions:

• Enhance Gemini CLI with voice interaction capabilities. #13798: Core feature request for STT/TTS (currently suggests "wrapper scripts").
• Audio input instead of typing #1982: General "Voice Mode" discussion (leans towards external MCP servers).
• MAJOR UPDATE ( I DID ) #16461: Requests for voice loops and complex backend overhauls.

Current Gap: The ecosystem lacks a lightweight, privacy-first, and native solution. Users currently have to choose between complex MCP setups, cloud-based dependencies (OpenAI API), or external wrapper scripts that break the CLI's native UX.

The Proposal

I propose adding a native Voice Input hook directly into the core CLI (packages/cli).

Architecture:

1. Local-First: Uses standard system binaries (sox on macOS, arecord on Linux) for capture.
2. Privacy: Transcription is handled by a local whisper binary (configurable path), ensuring no audio leaves the user's machine.
3. Integrated UX:
   • Toggles via Alt+V, Ctrl+Q, or /voice slash command.
   • Visual status indicator (🎤 Recording...) directly in the InputPrompt header.
   • Inserts text at cursor position (maintaining editability).

Implementation Status

I have fully implemented and verified this architecture.
My branch includes:

• ✅ useVoiceInput React hook for process management.
• ✅ VoiceContext for global state.
• ✅ Unit tests for recording logic and shortcut bindings.
• ✅ Optimized low-latency polling for transcription.

Request

I believe this implementation solves the core requirement of #13798 while adhering to the privacy and performance standards of the project.

Is the team open to a PR for this native integration? I am ready to push the branch immediately.

[fayerman-source]

/assign

[gemini-cli]

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