docs
murmur docs
Everything murmur does, written as answers to the questions people ask. New here? Start with the quickstart: install to first dictation in about five minutes.
murmur quickstart
Install murmur and make your first dictation in about five minutes: download it, paste a free Groq key, grant permissions, pick a hotkey, and speak.
Downloading and installing murmur
Download murmur for Mac or Windows, install it, get past the Windows protected your PC screen, and check which Macs and PCs murmur runs on.
murmur settings, explained
Every murmur setting explained: hotkeys, hold to talk or toggle, insert modes, formatting levels, Smart lists, the dictionary, history, sounds, and more.
- What is the home view?
- How is the settings tab organized, and how do I find a setting?
- How long is my history kept, and where?
- What happens on first launch?
- What do "all set" and the Finish setup card mean?
- How do I set my API key?
- How do I change the hotkey?
- How do I paste my last dictation again?
- How do I speak a note instead of pasting it?
- How do I rewrite selected text by speaking?
- What is the difference between hold to talk and toggle?
- What do the insert modes do?
- What do the formatting levels mean?
- What is Smart lists, and how do I dictate a list?
- What does the analytics tab show, and how is the cost estimated?
- How does the custom dictionary work?
- How do text expansions work?
- What are the waveform styles?
- How do I make the overlay smaller or less intrusive?
- How do recaps and the wrap-up work?
- What is the time back milestone notification, and how do I turn it off?
- How does murmur calculate time earned back?
- Which macOS permissions does murmur need, and why?
- What do the sound cues mean?
- Does murmur start automatically at login?
- What happens if murmur crashes?
- Why does silence never insert anything?
- Where does my data live?
- What is the "getting active" grid on the analytics page?
- Can my accent color change the rest of the app?
- Why don't I see murmur notifications on my Mac?
- Where do I see what changed in an update?
- What is the Price refresh setting?
- What is the cleanup connection?
- What are provider profiles?
Connecting murmur to a provider
Connect murmur to Groq, OpenAI, Mistral, a local Whisper server, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint: base URLs, keys, models, costs, and fixes.
- Do I need to re-enter my key when I switch providers?
- Which connection speaks which protocol?
- How do I use TypeSafe (a decision model) for sorting?
- Can I use one provider for speech and a different one for cleanup?
- What do murmur's cost estimates mean, and where do the rates come from?
- How do I use Groq with murmur? (default)
- How do I use OpenAI with murmur?
- How do I use Mistral with murmur?
- Which providers work for the cleanup connection only?
- Can I run murmur against a local or self-hosted server?
- What about other AI labs and gateways?
Notes: speak a thought into your vault
murmur can send a dictation to a markdown file instead of your cursor. Hold a second chord, talk, release: the words land in a file inside a folder you pick…
- How do I speak a note instead of pasting it?
- Does this work with Obsidian?
- Where does the note go?
- Can I change the file name, the folder layout, or how each note looks?
- What happens if my template is wrong?
- Does a note go through cleanup like a dictation?
- What if my notes folder is unreachable?
- How do I open today's inbox?
- Do notes count toward my belts and history?
- Can murmur sort my notes into tasks and ideas?
- Can the headings say what a note was about?
- How does sorting work without rewording anything?
- Why do my list items sit under a line like "I need to buy:"?
- What happens when a sort is rejected or fails?
- Which model does the sorting, and can I change it?
- Can I sort with a decision model instead of a chat model?
- Why did a line stay in the inbox after a sort?
- What happens when I say something that is already on my list?
- Is Tick it safe?
- I keep raw notes for my own tools. Can I turn sorting off?
- Can murmur remind me what is still open?
Transform: speak an edit to selected text
murmur can rewrite text you have selected, in any app, from a sentence you speak. Select a paragraph, hold the transform chord, say what you want ("turn…
- How do I transform selected text?
- How do I get the original back?
- What gets sent, and where?
- Can text inside my selection take control of the model?
- What happens when a transform fails?
- Is there a limit on how much text I can transform?
- Does my clipboard survive a transform?
- Can transforms use a different model than cleanup?
- Are transforms kept in my history, and can I turn that off?
- Do transforms count toward my words, belt, or stats?
The journey: belts, achievements, and unlocks
murmur tracks your dictation practice the way Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tracks time on the mat. Nothing here is purchasable and nothing gates features: rank is…
murmur Pro
A one-time purchase that supports murmur's development. The free app is complete and stays complete: dictation, formatting, the journey, every provider. Pro…
Troubleshooting
Fix murmur problems fast: send diagnostics, retry a failed dictation, and get the microphone back when murmur hears nothing or stops after sleep.