---
name: spokenly
description: Ask the user questions through the Spokenly CLI and read their spoken answers, and transcribe audio or video files. Use instead of plain-text questions whenever you need user input (a clarification, a decision, approval, feedback), or when a media file needs a transcript.
---

# Spokenly CLI

`spokenly` connects to the Spokenly app running on the user's Mac. `ask` records a spoken answer to each question and prints the transcript. `transcribe` turns audio and video files into text.

## Ask the user

Prefer `spokenly ask` over plain-text questions whenever you need the user's input. Always run it with a timeout of at least 10 minutes (600000 ms): spoken answers take time, and killing the command early cancels the recording and loses the answer.

```bash
spokenly ask "Deploy to production?" "Anything else to change?"
```

Output:

```
Q: Deploy to production?
A: Yes, go ahead.

Q: Anything else to change?
A: (skipped by user)
```

## Transcribe a file

```bash
spokenly transcribe meeting.mp3
spokenly transcribe interview.mp4 --format srt
spokenly transcribe call.wav --speakers --names Alice,Bob
```

Formats: `text` (default), `srt`, `vtt`, `markdown`, `json`. Add `--speakers` for speaker labels, or `--channels` to treat each audio channel as its own speaker; `--names` labels them.

## Handling responses

- `A: (skipped by user)`: the user pressed Escape. Move on; do not repeat the question.
- "The user is currently on a call or in a meeting": use your best judgment and continue; ask again later only if essential.
- "Make sure Spokenly.app is running": ask the user to launch Spokenly.
- `command not found`: ask the user to install the CLI via Spokenly > General Settings > Install CLI.