claude-voice-windows

Enable /voice in Claude Code on Windows.

The Problem

Claude Code's /voice command fails on Windows with:

Voice recording requires the native audio module, which could not be loaded.

This happens because:

1. The native audio-capture.node binary isn't shipped for Windows
2. The SoX fallback (which works on macOS/Linux) is explicitly blocked on Windows

Tracked issues: #30915, #31065, #32249

The Fix

This tool:

1. Installs SoX (Sound eXchange) for Windows audio capture
2. Patches cli.js to enable the SoX fallback on Windows using the waveaudio driver

No native compilation needed. No dependencies beyond SoX and Node.js.

Quick Start

Option A: One-click (recommended)

Double-click install.bat or run in PowerShell:

.\install.ps1

Option B: Manual

# 1. Install SoX
winget install ChrisBagwell.SoX

# 2. Restart your terminal (PATH update)

# 3. Run the patcher
.\install.ps1 -SkipSoX

Then restart Claude Code and run /voice.

What It Patches

Six targeted edits to cli.js (backup saved automatically):

#	Function	What	Why
1	checkRecordingAvailability	Remove win32 early-reject	Let it fall through to SoX check
2	checkVoiceDependencies	Remove win32 early-reject	Same
3	startRecording	Remove win32 early-return	Allow SoX recording path
4	m7z (SoX spawn)	rec → sox -t waveaudio default	Windows SoX uses waveaudio driver, not -d
5	b7z (dep check)	dl("rec") → dl("sox") on win32	Windows has sox.exe, not rec
6	u7z (avail check)	dl("rec") → dl("sox") on win32	Same

After Claude Code Updates

The patch is applied to cli.js which gets overwritten on update. Re-run:

.\install.ps1

Or if you want to automate it, add a post-install hook or alias.

Commands

.\install.ps1              # Full install (SoX + patch)
.\install.ps1 -SkipSoX     # Patch only (SoX already installed)
.\install.ps1 -Verify       # Check patch status and test audio
.\install.ps1 -Uninstall    # Restore original cli.js from backup

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• Claude Code installed via npm
• Node.js (comes with Claude Code)
• winget (pre-installed on Windows 11, available for Windows 10)
• A microphone

Compatibility

Tested on:

• Windows 11 Home 10.0.26200
• Claude Code v2.1.74
• SoX v14.4.2 (via winget)
• Node.js v24.x

The patch targets specific string patterns in the minified cli.js. If Anthropic refactors the voice module, the patch may need updating — open an issue.

How It Works

On macOS and Linux, when the native audio module fails to load, Claude Code falls back to the rec command (part of SoX) to capture audio:

rec -q --buffer 1024 -t raw -r 16000 -e signed -b 16 -c 1 -

On Windows this fallback is blocked. This patch:

• Removes the three if(process.platform==="win32") return ... blocks that prevent fallback
• Replaces the rec command with sox -t waveaudio default (Windows SoX doesn't include rec, and needs the waveaudio driver specified explicitly)
• Updates dependency checks to look for sox.exe instead of rec on Windows

Audio specs: 16kHz, mono, 16-bit signed PCM — matching what Claude Code's voice pipeline expects.

License

MIT