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innovatorved/sayitdev

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

0SwiftAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

A Mac command line tool that runs Apple Intelligence locally for text to speech, transcription, and chat, plus an OpenAI compatible local server.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Speaks text aloud
      Transcribes audio
      Chats with local LLM
      Serves OpenAI style API
    Tech stack
      Swift
      Apple Intelligence
      Homebrew
    Use cases
      Offline voice transcription
      Private local chat
      Local API for other apps
    Audience
      Mac developers
      Privacy focused users
    Setup
      Install via Homebrew
      Requires Apple Silicon Mac

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Transcribe an audio recording to text fully on-device without uploading it anywhere.

USE CASE 2

Run a local OpenAI compatible chat server for other apps to connect to privately.

USE CASE 3

Convert written text to spoken audio from the command line.

USE CASE 4

Get live transcripts from your microphone for notes or dictation.

What is it built with?

SwiftApple IntelligenceHomebrew

How does it compare?

innovatorved/sayitdevaiduckman/claudeusage_latest_may2026arnabau/thermalpulse
Stars000
LanguageSwiftSwiftSwift
Setup difficultymoderateeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/53/5
Audiencedevelopervibe coderdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires macOS 26+ on Apple Silicon with Apple Intelligence enabled for chat and server features.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

SayItDev is a command line tool for Mac called dev that runs Apple's on-device Apple Intelligence features locally, covering text to speech, speech to text, live microphone transcription, chat with a local language model, and an OpenAI compatible server, all without sending anything to the cloud or requiring an API key. The tool offers a handful of simple commands. Running dev with the speak flag converts typed text to spoken audio. The listen flag captures microphone input and returns a transcript, while the transcribe flag does the same for an existing audio file, entirely on the device. Typing a plain prompt after dev sends it to the on-device language model for a response, and the serve flag starts a local HTTP server on port 11434 that exposes OpenAI compatible endpoints for chat completions, text to speech, and transcription, so other apps on the same machine can talk to it like they would talk to a cloud AI service. Because everything runs locally through Apple Intelligence, it requires macOS 26 or later on an Apple Silicon Mac, with Apple Intelligence enabled for the chat and server features. Installation is done through Homebrew with a short tap and install command, or by building from source with make. Using the microphone or speech recognition features requires granting Terminal.app permission in System Settings, though the transcribe and speak commands only need speech access and no microphone. SayItDev is a fork of an existing project called apfel, extended by its author to add the voice features. It is aimed at developers who want private, offline AI text and voice tools on their Mac without paying for or depending on a cloud API. It is released under the MIT license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Help me install SayItDev with Homebrew and confirm my Mac meets the macOS and Apple Silicon requirements.
Prompt 2
Show me how to grant Terminal microphone and speech recognition permissions so dev --listen works.
Prompt 3
Explain how to start dev --serve and connect an app to its OpenAI compatible chat completions endpoint.
Prompt 4
Walk me through transcribing an existing WAV file with dev --transcribe and adding timestamps.

Frequently asked questions

What is sayitdev?

A Mac command line tool that runs Apple Intelligence locally for text to speech, transcription, and chat, plus an OpenAI compatible local server.

What language is sayitdev written in?

Mainly Swift. The stack also includes Swift, Apple Intelligence, Homebrew.

What license does sayitdev use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is sayitdev to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is sayitdev for?

Mainly developer.

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