# Pomvox

> Pomvox is free, open-source voice dictation for macOS. Hold a hotkey, talk, and let go:
> clean text lands at your cursor in any app, with filler words removed and punctuation fixed.
> Transcription and cleanup run on your Mac, so audio and transcripts never leave it.

## Key facts

- Platform: macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon (M1 or newer).
- Price: free and open source.
- How it works: hold the hotkey (fn by default) and speak. Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3 transcribes on
  the Apple Neural Engine. SimpleWords v3, a local model on the GPU, removes fillers, fixes
  punctuation and casing, and resolves self-corrections. The text is pasted at the cursor.
- Privacy: no network code in the transcription path. Works offline after a one-time model
  download. Anonymous usage stats are opt-in and cannot carry audio or text.
- Promise: "I write down what you said. Never what you didn't." When cleanup cannot produce an
  accepted result, Pomvox keeps the transcript as spoken instead of guessing.
- Mascot: Pom, a fuzzy microphone windscreen who eats your ums.
- Version when this file was generated: 0.2.8.

## Install

- Homebrew: `brew install --cask pomvox/pomvox/pomvox`
- Notarized .dmg: https://github.com/pomvox/pomvox/releases/latest/download/Pomvox.dmg

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.pomvox.ai/): what Pomvox is, a live demo, FAQ.
- [Cleanup Engine](https://www.pomvox.ai/engine): the Swift SDK behind the cleanup (developer preview).
- [Docs](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs): guides for the app and the engine.
- [Blog](https://www.pomvox.ai/blog): notes on on-device speech inference.

## The notebook (blog)

- Field notes from the Pomvox team are coming soon at https://www.pomvox.ai/blog

## Using Pomvox

- [Install Pomvox](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/install): Requirements, the DMG or Homebrew, and first setup.
- [Your first dictation](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/first-dictation): Place the cursor, hold the key, talk, let go.
- [Permissions & privacy](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/permissions): Microphone, Accessibility, and what stays local.
- [Using cleanup](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/cleanup): What cleanup changes, and what it never does.
- [Troubleshooting](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/troubleshooting): Nothing recorded, no text, slow first run.

## Building with the Cleanup Engine

- [Engine overview](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/engine-overview): What it provides, requirements, licensing.
- [Local quick start](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/engine-quick-start): Add the package, prepare a pack, clean text, apply edits.
- [Behavior & lifecycle](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/engine-contract): The contract: what the engine promises and refuses.
- [Model packs](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/engine-packs): What a pack is and how it is verified.
- [Explicit cloud transport](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/engine-cloud): The separate cloud client: payloads and failure semantics.
- [Testing & release gates](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/engine-testing): Test suites and what must pass before release.
- [Validation & limits](https://www.pomvox.ai/docs/engine-validation): What the developer preview has measured, what it hasn’t yet, and the limits that still apply.

## Links

- Source code: https://github.com/pomvox/pomvox
- Releases: https://github.com/pomvox/pomvox/releases
- Cleanup model weights (SimpleWords v3): https://huggingface.co/ReFyneLabs/simplewords-dictation-cleanup-v3
- Full text of the FAQ and every guide: https://www.pomvox.ai/llms-full.txt

## Contact

- General: hello@pomvox.ai
- Security: security@pomvox.ai (see https://www.pomvox.ai/.well-known/security.txt)