Agent skill

Use Local Whisper

A skill your agent uses when the user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API.

MITAuto-check: notesAI & LLM Engineering

Install Use Local Whisper

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sbusso/claudeclaw use-local-whisper --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/use-local-whisper .claude/skills/use-local-whisper && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "use-local-whisper" agent skill from https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw/tree/main/skills/use-local-whisper into .claude/skills/use-local-whisper/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "use-local-whisper", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw/tree/main/skills/use-local-whisper

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sbusso/claudeclaw use-local-whisper --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/use-local-whisper .agents/skills/use-local-whisper && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "use-local-whisper" agent skill from https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw/tree/main/skills/use-local-whisper into .agents/skills/use-local-whisper/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "use-local-whisper", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sbusso/claudeclaw use-local-whisper --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/use-local-whisper .cursor/skills/use-local-whisper && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "use-local-whisper" agent skill from https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw/tree/main/skills/use-local-whisper into .cursor/skills/use-local-whisper/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "use-local-whisper", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git --path skills/use-local-whisper

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sbusso/claudeclaw use-local-whisper --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/use-local-whisper .gemini/skills/use-local-whisper && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "use-local-whisper" agent skill from https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw/tree/main/skills/use-local-whisper into .gemini/skills/use-local-whisper/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "use-local-whisper", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sbusso/claudeclaw use-local-whisper

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/use-local-whisper .github/skills/use-local-whisper && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "use-local-whisper" agent skill from https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw/tree/main/skills/use-local-whisper into .github/skills/use-local-whisper/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "use-local-whisper", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sbusso/claudeclaw use-local-whisper --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/use-local-whisper .opencode/skills/use-local-whisper && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "use-local-whisper" agent skill from https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw/tree/main/skills/use-local-whisper into .opencode/skills/use-local-whisper/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "use-local-whisper", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: use-local-whisper
GitHub stars: 194
Token cost: ~1.3k tokens
SKILL.md length: 445 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 23
Repo updated: Aug 12, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

A skill your agent uses when the user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API.

Works in 3 steps: Pre-flight → Apply Code Changes → Verify
The user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API
SKILL.md covers Prerequisites, Phase 1: Pre-flight, Phase 2: Apply Code Changes and Phase 3: Verify, plus 2 more sections
Calls git, brew and ffmpeg; reaches huggingface.co and github.com

What it does

Use Local Whisper is an agent skill from sbusso/claudeclaw. Use when the user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API. Switches to whisper.cpp running on Apple Silicon. WhatsApp only for now. Requires voice-transcription skill to be applied first.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.3k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in AI & LLM Engineering, covering Speech recognition and synthesis and Transcription. It works with Whisper, WhatsApp, Homebrew and FFmpeg. The repository describes itself as: Use Claude to orchestrate agents like OpenClaw. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

The user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API
Tasks that involve Speech recognition and synthesis
Tasks that involve Transcription

Example prompts

“/use-local-whisper”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

Pre-flight
Apply Code Changes
Verify

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1395af4. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- git
- brew
- ffmpeg
- npm
- curl
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:
- huggingface.co
- github.com
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Use Local Whisper loads about 1.3k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 57 tokens; SKILL.md has 445 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~57
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.3k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:135

Environment variables (optional, set in `.env`):

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from sbusso/claudeclaw at commit 1395af4, republished under its MIT licence (© sbusso). 445 words, ~1,275 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/use-local-whisper/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: use-local-whisper
description: Use when the user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API. Switches to whisper.cpp running on Apple Silicon. WhatsApp only for now. Requires voice-transcription skill to be applied first.

Use Local Whisper

Switches voice transcription from OpenAI's Whisper API to local whisper.cpp. Runs entirely on-device — no API key, no network, no cost.

Channel support: Currently WhatsApp only. The transcription module (src/transcription.ts) uses Baileys types for audio download. Other channels (Telegram, Discord, etc.) would need their own audio-download logic before this skill can serve them.

Note: The Homebrew package is whisper-cpp, but the CLI binary it installs is whisper-cli.

Prerequisites

voice-transcription skill must be applied first (WhatsApp channel)
macOS with Apple Silicon (M1+) recommended
whisper-cpp installed: brew install whisper-cpp (provides the whisper-cli binary)
ffmpeg installed: brew install ffmpeg
A GGML model file downloaded to data/models/

Phase 1: Pre-flight

Check if already applied

Check if src/transcription.ts already uses whisper-cli:

bash

grep 'whisper-cli' src/transcription.ts && echo "Already applied" || echo "Not applied"

If already applied, skip to Phase 3 (Verify).

Check dependencies are installed

bash

whisper-cli --help >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "WHISPER_OK" || echo "WHISPER_MISSING"
ffmpeg -version >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "FFMPEG_OK" || echo "FFMPEG_MISSING"

If missing, install via Homebrew:

bash

brew install whisper-cpp ffmpeg

Check for model file

bash

ls data/models/ggml-*.bin 2>/dev/null || echo "NO_MODEL"

If no model exists, download the base model (148MB, good balance of speed and accuracy):

bash

mkdir -p data/models
curl -L -o data/models/ggml-base.bin "https://huggingface.co/ggerganov/whisper.cpp/resolve/main/ggml-base.bin"

For better accuracy at the cost of speed, use ggml-small.bin (466MB) or ggml-medium.bin (1.5GB).

Phase 2: Apply Code Changes

Ensure WhatsApp fork remote

bash

git remote -v

If whatsapp is missing, add it:

bash

git remote add whatsapp https://github.com/qwibitai/claudeclaw-whatsapp.git

Merge the skill branch

bash

git fetch whatsapp skill/local-whisper
git merge whatsapp/skill/local-whisper || {
  git checkout --theirs package-lock.json
  git add package-lock.json
  git merge --continue
}

This modifies src/transcription.ts to use the whisper-cli binary instead of the OpenAI API.

Validate

bash

npm run build

Phase 3: Verify

Ensure launchd PATH includes Homebrew

The ClaudeClaw launchd service runs with a restricted PATH. whisper-cli and ffmpeg are in /opt/homebrew/bin/ (Apple Silicon) or /usr/local/bin/ (Intel), which may not be in the plist's PATH.

Service name: Derived from the directory name: com.claudeclaw.<dirname> (macOS) / claudeclaw-<dirname> (Linux). For example, if cwd is my-assistant, the service is com.claudeclaw.my-assistant. Determine the correct service name before running service commands below.

Check the current PATH:

bash

grep -A1 'PATH' ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.claudeclaw.plist

If /opt/homebrew/bin is missing, add it to the <string> value inside the PATH key in the plist. Then reload:

bash

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.claudeclaw.plist
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.claudeclaw.plist

Show full SKILL.md (154 more words)Show less

Build and restart

bash

npm run build
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.claudeclaw

Test

Send a voice note in any registered group. The agent should receive it as [Voice: <transcript>].

Check logs

bash

tail -f logs/claudeclaw.log | grep -i -E "voice|transcri|whisper"

Look for:

Transcribed voice message — successful transcription
whisper.cpp transcription failed — check model path, ffmpeg, or PATH

Configuration

Environment variables (optional, set in .env):

Variable	Default	Description
`WHISPER_BIN`	`whisper-cli`	Path to whisper.cpp binary
`WHISPER_MODEL`	`data/models/ggml-base.bin`	Path to GGML model file

Troubleshooting

"whisper.cpp transcription failed": Ensure both whisper-cli and ffmpeg are in PATH. The launchd service uses a restricted PATH — see Phase 3 above. Test manually:

bash

ffmpeg -f lavfi -i anullsrc=r=16000:cl=mono -t 1 -f wav /tmp/test.wav -y
whisper-cli -m data/models/ggml-base.bin -f /tmp/test.wav --no-timestamps -nt

Transcription works in dev but not as service: The launchd plist PATH likely doesn't include /opt/homebrew/bin. See "Ensure launchd PATH includes Homebrew" in Phase 3.

Slow transcription: The base model processes ~30s of audio in <1s on M1+. If slower, check CPU usage — another process may be competing.

Wrong language: whisper.cpp auto-detects language. To force a language, you can set WHISPER_LANG and modify src/transcription.ts to pass -l $WHISPER_LANG.

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/use-local-whisper of sbusso/claudeclaw.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1395af4

Compare with similar skills

Use Local Whisper next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Use Local Whisper compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Use Local Whisper this skillsbusso/claudeclaw	194	—	~1.3k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	1 mo ago
Transcribe Anythingswyxio/skills	176	—	~8.5k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	5 days ago
Watch Videocoreyhaines31/makerskills	851	—	~3.8k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	2 days ago
Bggg Tiktok Readvideobinggandata/bggg-skills	605	—	~1.6k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	1 mo ago
Openai Whisper APItrpc-group/trpc-agent-go	1.9k	12 repos	~288	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	today
Lecture To Notesysyecust/lecture-to-notes	273	—	~14k	Automated safety check: Notes	Custom licence	7 days ago

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Questions about Use Local Whisper

What does Use Local Whisper do?

A skill your agent uses when the user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API. Use Local Whisper is an agent skill from sbusso/claudeclaw. Use when the user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API.

When should I use Use Local Whisper?

Use Local Whisper fits situations like: the user wants local voice transcription instead of OpenAI Whisper API; tasks that involve Speech recognition and synthesis; tasks that involve Transcription.

How do I install Use Local Whisper in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/use-local-whisper in sbusso/claudeclaw) into .claude/skills/use-local-whisper in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Use Local Whisper in Codex?

Run `npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/use-local-whisper in sbusso/claudeclaw) into .agents/skills/use-local-whisper in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Use Local Whisper in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add sbusso/claudeclaw --skill use-local-whisper -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/use-local-whisper, .gemini/skills/use-local-whisper, .github/skills/use-local-whisper and .opencode/skills/use-local-whisper in your project.

What does Use Local Whisper need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Use Local Whisper needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git, brew, ffmpeg, npm and curl).

Does Use Local Whisper access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. In commands or code: huggingface.co and github.com; the agent is likely to contact these when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Use Local Whisper safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (mentions a .env file), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Use Local Whisper use?

Use Local Whisper is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Use Local Whisper use?

About 1.3k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.1k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Use Local Whisper?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Use Local Whisper: Transcribe Anything (swyxio/skills, 176 stars), Watch Video (coreyhaines31/makerskills, 851 stars), Bggg Tiktok Readvideo (binggandata/bggg-skills, 605 stars) and Openai Whisper API (trpc-group/trpc-agent-go, 1.9k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Use Local Whisper?

sbusso (a GitHub user) maintains it in sbusso/claudeclaw, which has 194 GitHub stars. The repository holds 23 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 12, 2026.

Source: sbusso/claudeclaw on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Use Local Whisper

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Use Local Whisper

Prerequisites

Phase 1: Pre-flight

Check if already applied

Check dependencies are installed

Check for model file

Phase 2: Apply Code Changes

Ensure WhatsApp fork remote

Merge the skill branch

Validate

Phase 3: Verify

Ensure launchd PATH includes Homebrew

Build and restart

Test

Check logs

Configuration

Troubleshooting

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from sbusso/claudeclaw

Related

Questions about Use Local Whisper