macbook-ai 0.1.3

Python interface to macOS AI capabilities

macbook-ai

Python interface to macOS AI capabilities — speech recognition, text-to-speech, and Apple Foundation Models.

All processing is on-device. No API keys, no network calls.

Requirements

• macOS 10.15 or later
• Python 3.10 or later

Installation

# speech-to-text only
pip install "macbook-ai[stt]"

# all extras
pip install "macbook-ai[all]"

With uv:

uv add "macbook-ai[stt]"

Speech-to-Text

Powered by the macOS SFSpeechRecognizer framework.

1. Grant permission

The first time you use recognition, macOS will prompt for access. You can trigger it explicitly:

from macbook_ai.stt import SpeechRecognizer

status = SpeechRecognizer.request_authorization()
# 'authorized' | 'denied' | 'restricted' | 'not_determined'

If running from Terminal, you may need to enable it manually: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Speech Recognition > Terminal

2. Transcribe a file

from macbook_ai.stt import SpeechRecognizer

recognizer = SpeechRecognizer()           # defaults to en-US
text = recognizer.recognize_file("recording.m4a")
print(text)

Async

import asyncio
from macbook_ai.stt import SpeechRecognizer

async def main():
    recognizer = SpeechRecognizer()
    text = await recognizer.recognize_file_async("recording.m4a")
    print(text)

asyncio.run(main())

Locales

recognizer = SpeechRecognizer(locale="fr-FR")
recognizer = SpeechRecognizer(locale="es-ES")
recognizer = SpeechRecognizer(locale="ja-JP")

Supported audio formats

Any format supported by AVFoundation: WAV, M4A, MP3, AIFF, CAF, FLAC, and more.

Error handling

from macbook_ai.stt import SpeechRecognizer
from macbook_ai._exceptions import AuthorizationError, RecognitionError

recognizer = SpeechRecognizer()

try:
    text = recognizer.recognize_file("recording.m4a")
except AuthorizationError:
    print("Grant Speech Recognition access in System Settings first.")
except RecognitionError as e:
    print(f"Recognition failed: {e}")
except TimeoutError:
    print("Recognition timed out — try a shorter clip or increase timeout.")

Roadmap

Module	Capability	Status
macbook-ai.stt	Speech-to-text via SFSpeechRecognizer	Available
macbook-ai.tts	Text-to-speech via AVSpeechSynthesizer	Coming soon
macbook-ai.foundation	On-device LLM via Apple Foundation Models (macOS 26+)	Coming soon

License

MIT