🎙️ swabble — Speech.framework wake-word hook daemon (macOS 26)

swabble is a Swift 6.2 wake-word hook daemon. The CLI targets macOS 26 (SpeechAnalyzer + SpeechTranscriber). The shared SwabbleKit target is multi-platform and exposes wake-word gating utilities for iOS/macOS apps.

• Local-only: Speech.framework on-device models; zero network usage.
• Wake word: Default clawd (aliases claude), optional --no-wake bypass.
• SwabbleKit: Shared wake gate utilities (gap-based gating when you provide speech segments).
• Hooks: Run any command with prefix/env, cooldown, min_chars, timeout.
• Services: launchd helper stubs for start/stop/install.
• File transcribe: TXT or SRT with time ranges (using AttributedString splits).

Quick start

# Install the repository-pinned Swift tools
../../scripts/install-swift-tools.sh .build/swift-tools
export PATH="$PWD/.build/swift-tools:$PATH"

# Build
swift build

# Write default config (~/.config/swabble/config.json)
swift run swabble setup

# Run foreground daemon
swift run swabble serve

# Test your hook
swift run swabble test-hook "hello world"

# Transcribe a file to SRT
swift run swabble transcribe /path/to/audio.m4a --format srt --output out.srt

Use as a library

Add swabble as a SwiftPM dependency and import the Swabble or SwabbleKit product:

// Package.swift
dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/steipete/swabble.git", branch: "main"),
],
targets: [
    .target(name: "MyApp", dependencies: [
        .product(name: "Swabble", package: "swabble"),     // Speech pipeline (macOS 26+ / iOS 26+)
        .product(name: "SwabbleKit", package: "swabble"),  // Wake-word gate utilities (iOS 17+ / macOS 15+)
    ]),
]

CLI

• serve — foreground loop (mic → wake → hook)
• transcribe <file> — offline transcription (txt|srt)
• test-hook "text" — invoke configured hook
• mic list|set <index> — enumerate/select input device
• setup — write default config JSON
• doctor — check Speech auth & device availability
• health — prints ok
• tail-log — last 10 transcripts
• status — show wake state + recent transcripts
• service install|uninstall|status — user launchd plist (stub: prints launchctl commands)
• start|stop|restart — placeholders until full launchd wiring

All commands accept Commander runtime flags (-v/--verbose, --json-output, --log-level), plus --config where applicable.

Config

~/.config/swabble/config.json (auto-created by setup):

{
  "audio": {"deviceName": "", "deviceIndex": -1, "sampleRate": 16000, "channels": 1},
  "wake": {"enabled": true, "word": "clawd", "aliases": ["claude"]},
  "hook": {
    "command": "",
    "args": [],
    "prefix": "Voice swabble from ${hostname}: ",
    "cooldownSeconds": 1,
    "minCharacters": 24,
    "timeoutSeconds": 5,
    "env": {}
  },
  "logging": {"level": "info", "format": "text"},
  "transcripts": {"enabled": true, "maxEntries": 50},
  "speech": {"localeIdentifier": "en_US", "etiquetteReplacements": false}
}

• Config path override: --config /path/to/config.json on relevant commands.
• Transcripts persist to ~/Library/Application Support/swabble/transcripts.log.

Hook protocol

When a wake-gated transcript passes min_chars & cooldown, swabble runs:

<command> <args...> "<prefix><text>"

Environment variables:

• SWABBLE_TEXT — stripped transcript (wake word removed)
• SWABBLE_PREFIX — rendered prefix (hostname substituted)
• plus any hook.env key/values

Speech pipeline

• AVAudioEngine tap → BufferConverter → AnalyzerInput → SpeechAnalyzer with a SpeechTranscriber module.
• Requests volatile + final results; the CLI uses text-only wake gating today.
• Authorization requested at first start; requires macOS 26 + new Speech.framework APIs.

Development

• Format: ./scripts/format.sh (uses the repository SwiftFormat policy)
• Lint: ./scripts/lint.sh (uses local .swiftlint.yml)
• Tests: swift test (uses swift-testing package)

Roadmap

• launchd control (load/bootout, PID + status socket)
• JSON logging + PII redaction toggle
• Stronger wake-word detection and control socket status/health

Source: apps/swabble/README.md