matthartman

matthartman / ghost-pepper

Public

Hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS. 100% local, powered by WhisperKit and local LLM cleanup. Hold Control to record, release to transcribe and paste.

19
1
100% credibility
Found Mar 23, 2026 at 19 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
Swift
AI Summary

Ghost Pepper is a macOS menu bar app that transcribes speech to text locally when you hold the Control key, cleans it up, and pastes it into any text field.

How It Works

1
🔍 Discover Ghost Pepper

You find this handy menu bar tool that lets you talk to type by holding a key on your Mac.

2
⬇️ Download and Install

Grab the app file, drag it to your Applications folder, and open it from the menu bar.

3
🔒 Grant Quick Permissions

Allow access to your microphone and keyboard so it can hear you and paste words anywhere.

4
🗣️ Hold Control and Speak

Press and hold the Control key, say your thoughts out loud, then release to instantly see clean text appear where you're typing.

5
⚙️ Tweak Your Preferences

Open settings to pick your mic, turn cleanup on or off, or edit how it polishes your words.

✨ Dictate Effortlessly Anywhere

Now you speak your ideas into emails, notes, or chats super fast, all privately on your Mac.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is ghost-pepper?

Ghost Pepper is a macOS menu bar app built in Swift that delivers hold-to-talk speech-to-text: hold Control to record, release to transcribe locally using WhisperKit, clean up with an LLM, and paste directly into any text field. It's 100% local—no cloud APIs, no data leaves your Mac—solving the privacy pitfalls of online dictation tools while keeping everything spicy fast on Apple Silicon. Download models once, then dictate notes, emails, or code snippets effortlessly.

Why is it gaining traction?

In a world of ghost-pepper-hot sauce cloud services, Ghost Pepper stands out with zero telemetry, automatic model downloads, and smart LLM cleanup that zaps fillers like "um" without summarizing. The hold-to-talk via Control key feels natural, with overlays for status and customizable prompts for cleanup—perfect for ghost-pepper AI fans dodging subscriptions. Menu bar minimalism plus auto-launch seals the deal for seamless daily use.

Who should use this?

Mac devs jotting commit messages or debugging notes mid-flow, podcasters transcribing riffs on ghost pepper scoville vs Carolina Reaper, or writers needing quick local paste-ins for docs. It's for Apple Silicon users tired of clunky system dictation or laggy web apps, especially in focus-heavy roles like solo coding or content creation.

Verdict

Grab it if local voice-to-text is your jam—builds easily from source, solid onboarding, but 1.0% credibility score and 19 stars signal early days with basic tests. Worth forking for tweaks; production-ready for personal use now.

(178 words)

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