Installation

Download

Pre-built installers are produced by the CI pipeline. Download the appropriate installer for your operating system from the releases page.

| Platform | Installer format | |----------|-----------------| | Windows 10 / 11 | .exe (Squirrel installer) | | macOS 10.15+ | .dmg or .zip |

Windows installation

1. Run the .exe installer.
2. Windows SmartScreen may show a warning for unsigned builds — click More info then Run anyway.
3. The app installs to %LocalAppData%\voice-assistant and launches automatically after setup.
4. A shortcut is added to the Start Menu.

macOS installation

1. Open the .dmg file and drag Voice Recorder Forge into your Applications folder.
2. On first launch, macOS Gatekeeper may block the app. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
3. Grant microphone access when prompted.

Note: macOS support is currently partial. System-wide text insertion is not yet available. See macOS Setup for details.

Building from source

If you prefer to build the app yourself:

# Prerequisites: Node.js 20+, npm 11+
git clone https://github.com/wolvigrrl/Voice-Recorder-Forge
cd Voice-Recorder-Forge
npm install
npm start          # development mode
npm run make       # produce installer

First-launch setup

After installing, open the app and navigate to the Settings tab. You must enter a valid OpenAI API key before recording or transcription will work. See API Keys for instructions on obtaining a key.