Voice Input for the Xcode Coding Assistant on Mac
By Kiran Jd
Published
To dictate a prompt into Xcode's coding assistant, press Command-0, click the message text field at the bottom of the conversation and use your dictation shortcut. Read the text before you press Return, because Return submits the prompt and an agent may then edit and build your project. Xcode has no microphone button of its own in the coding assistant, so the voice part comes from macOS or a dictation app such as Speakmac.
The coding assistant is the chat and agent panel built into Xcode itself, part of what Apple calls coding intelligence. It is separate from the GitHub Copilot for Xcode extension and from running Claude Code or Codex in Terminal. You turn on providers in Xcode → Settings → Intelligence: agents such as Claude Agent and OpenAI Codex, and chat models such as ChatGPT in Xcode and Claude Sonnet & Opus. Speakmac supplies the text; the agent or model you picked handles the request.
Where does the prompt go in Xcode?
There are several places to type a prompt in Xcode 27, and dictation works the same way in each:
- Coding assistant. Click the Coding Assistant button or press
Command-0, then click New Conversation and choose an agent or a chat model. The prompt goes in the message text field at the bottom of the transcript. Its placeholder shows which agent or model is active. - Coding tools in the source editor. Select code and choose Show Coding Tools… (
Option-Command-0in Xcode 27.0's default key bindings). Type in the popover's message field, or use buttons such as Explain. - Annotations. In the artifacts pane, hover over a line number, click the
@that appears and write a note for that line. Xcode adds it to the message field with the file and line reference. - External agents in Terminal. If you connect Claude Code or Codex to Xcode with
xcrun mcpbridge, you type the prompt in Terminal instead. See Apple's setup guide.
How do you dictate a prompt into Xcode?
- Install Speakmac, grant microphone and Accessibility access and choose a dictation model.
- In Xcode, follow Apple's coding intelligence setup to turn on an agent or chat provider and sign in.
- Press
Command-0, start or select a conversation and click the message text field. - Hold your Speakmac Push to Talk shortcut, or use Hands-Free for a longer brief. Say the goal, the current behaviour, the constraints and how you will check the result.
- Type
@and pick the files or symbols you mean, then fix any misheard type names. - Press
Returnonly when the prompt is right. Leave Send After Dictation off here.
What is a useful voice prompt?
Speak the intent and let Xcode's pickers handle exact references. For an agent, start with a plan:
/plan Add pull to refresh to the recipe list. Keep the current loading spinner for the first load, show the system refresh control for later loads, and don't change the networking layer. Tell me which files you would touch before editing anything.
Apple's docs say /plan puts the agent in plan mode without modifying code. Type / in the field to see the other skills. For a bug, describe the trigger and the check:
When I rotate the iPad on the settings screen, the selected row is lost. Keep the selection across size changes, add a UI test that rotates and checks the row, and build to confirm it passes.
These are example prompts, not results we have tested. Review the diff in the artifacts pane; the conversation's History can roll changes back if the project uses Git.
What should you type instead?
| Speak it | Type or attach it |
|---|---|
| What you want and why | @ references to files and symbols |
| Behaviour you saw and expected | Build errors, crash logs and console output |
| Constraints and things to leave alone | Exact API names, keys and bundle IDs |
| How you will check it | Slash commands such as /plan |
Add Swift and framework names you use often to Words & Text → Custom words in Speakmac so they come out spelled correctly. See custom words.
Speakmac transcribes on your Mac, but once you send the prompt, the provider you chose in Xcode handles it under its own terms. Xcode's Intelligence settings link to About Intelligence in Xcode & Privacy… for what is shared. Our privacy page covers Speakmac's part. Don't dictate secrets or customer data into a prompt.
What if text does not appear?
Click back into the message field and try one short sentence. The coding tools popover is small, so check it still has focus before you speak. If Speakmac shows a transcript but nothing landed, use Copy Last Transcript and paste it into the field, or Paste Last Transcript once the field has focus.
If there is no transcript at all, check the microphone, model and shortcut in the Help Center. That is a Speakmac problem, not an Xcode one.
Does Xcode have its own voice input?
Not in the coding assistant. Apple's coding intelligence docs describe typed prompts, suggested prompts and attachments only. In our check of the Xcode 27.0 app bundle, Xcode's own microphone permission text refers to previewing Core ML models with live audio, not to prompting.
macOS does give you two built-in options. Apple Dictation works in the message field: press the Microphone key, your Dictation shortcut, or choose Edit → Start Dictation. Voice Control has a Swift mode for writing Swift by voice, which suits fully hands-free coding. Apple notes that when Voice Control is on, standard Dictation isn't available.
Apple Dictation is enough for an occasional short prompt. A dictation app helps when you prompt all day: one shortcut in Xcode, Terminal and your browser, custom words for your types and frameworks, and on-device transcription.
Try Speakmac for Mac, or read about voice dictation in Claude Code and voice prompting in Codex.