Agent skill · software engineering · sundial-org
whisper-mlx-local
Free local speech-to-text for Telegram and WhatsApp using MLX Whisper on Apple Silicon. Private, no API costs.
Why this skill is useful
Adds a local speech-to-text capability using Whisper with executable scripts for transcription that the AI cannot generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires python3 installed locally. About 2k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-03-07. 639 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Local Whisper Transcribe voice messages for free on Telegram and WhatsApp. No API keys. No costs. Runs on your Mac. The Problem Voice transcription APIs cost money: OpenAI Whisper: $0.006/minute Groq: $0.001/minute AssemblyAI: $0.01/minute If you transcribe a lot of Telegram voice messages, it adds up. The Solution This skill runs Whisper locally on your Mac. Same quality, zero cost. ✅ Free forever ✅ Private (audio never leaves your Mac) ✅ Fast (~1 second per message) ✅ Works offline ⚠️ Important Notes First run downloads ~1.5GB model — be patient, this only happens once First transcription is slow — model loads into memory (~10-30 seconds), then it's instant Already using OpenAI API for transcription? Replace your existing tools.media.audio config with the one below Quick Start 1. Install dependencies 2. Start the daemon First run will download the Whisper model (~1.5GB). Wait for "Ready" message. 3. Add to OpenClaw config Add this to your ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json: 4. Restart gateway Now voice messages from Telegram, WhatsApp, etc. will be transcribed locally for free! Manual test Use Case: Telegram Voice Messages Instead of paying for OpenAI API to transcribe incoming voice messages, point OpenClaw to this local daemon. Free transcription forever. Auto-Start on Login API Daemon runs at localhost:8787: Translation Any language → English: Requirements macOS with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Python 3.9+ License MIT
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills sundial-org/whisper-mlx-local