# Voice Mode > A two-way spoken conversation with one running agent. - Area: Desktop app - Plans: All plans - Last checked against the product: 2026-09-08 - Web page: https://agentsroom.dev/docs/voice-mode ## What it does A two-way spoken conversation with one running agent. You speak, the turn is transcribed and sent, the agent works, and its reply is read back in a natural voice. In hands-free mode the microphone re-arms as soon as the reply ends, so the exchange flows like a phone call. The panel keeps a rolling log of the last turns so you can read what was understood, and the keyboard composer stays available: you choose message by message between voice and typing. The engine runs at the app level, so switching tabs never cuts the mic or the playback; a floating dock follows you when the agent's tab is not in front. ## Where to find it - Composer toolbar of an agent: the **Voice Mode** button ("Talk to this agent and hear its replies"). The voice panel stacks above the composer; a floating dock appears elsewhere. - Panel gear: **Voice settings** (hands-free, language, reply voice, pause tolerance, waiting cue, barge-in, speak new answers). - Settings > Composer > **Voice push-to-talk**: the system-wide shortcut, bound only while Voice Mode is open. ## How to use it 1. Open Voice Mode on the agent you want to talk to and click **Start talking** (or press Space, the headset/media key, or the global shortcut). 2. Speak. When you pause longer than the pause tolerance, the turn is sent. Clicking the button while listening also means **Stop and send**. 3. The agent works (an optional soft beep plays every few seconds), then its answer is spoken. With **Hands-free** on, the mic reopens right after; off, it waits for you. 4. **Barge-in** (on by default): the mic stays armed while the agent works or speaks. Start talking during playback to interrupt and open a new turn; talk while it works to add a correction mid-turn. 5. Close the panel to release the mic and every shortcut. ## Settings - `voiceModeAutoSend` (panel: Hands-free): re-arm the mic after each reply. Default on. - `voiceModeVoice` (panel: Reply voice): text-to-speech voice, with a preview. Shared with Read Aloud. - `voiceModeLanguage` (panel: Language): spoken language, `auto` by default. - `voiceModeSilenceMs` (panel: Pause tolerance): 1000 ms for fast dictation up to 4000 ms for thinking out loud. - `voiceModeBargeIn` (panel): keep the mic armed while the agent works or speaks. Default on. - `voiceModeSpeakUnprompted` (panel: Speak new answers): read out an answer you did not ask for (a peer message, a turn the agent takes on its own). Off by default. - `voiceThinkingBeep` (panel: Waiting cue): the soft beep while the agent works. - `voiceModeShortcutEnabled`, `voiceModeShortcut` (global, Settings > Composer > Voice push-to-talk): system-wide key, default `Alt+Shift+V`, active only while Voice Mode is open. - `stopMusicWhenReading` (global, Settings > Composer): pause the media player while a reply is spoken. ## Agent tools (MCP) None. The agent only sees text: a spoken preamble with the first message asks for short, prose replies, and a light reminder every few messages keeps it there. ## Providers All providers: turns are sent as text and the end of a turn is detected from the agent's status. What gets spoken comes, in order of preference, from the agent's conversation transcript (Claude Code and Codex today), from a dedicated reply field every CLI can write in its session file, or from the agent's last notification as a fallback. ## Mobile Not available on the mobile companion. The phone offers one-way dictation and Read Aloud of the last answer instead. ## Limits - Needs a signed-in account and a running agent. Not available in the web demo. - Billed in voice credits, shared with dictation and Read Aloud: a small starting balance on every account, a monthly top-up for Pro, one-time packs otherwise. The balance is checked before each call; when it is empty the panel offers **Top up**. Your own OpenAI key removes the spend, see [Bring Your Own OpenAI Key](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/bring-your-own-openai-key.md). - Spoken replies are trimmed of markdown, code, tables and paths and capped to roughly 900 characters. - Starting a Read Aloud closes Voice Mode (one voice at a time, and an open mic would hear the synthetic voice). - On loudspeakers, an echo of the synthetic voice can occasionally be picked up; a guard drops transcripts that match what was just read. ## Common questions - **How is it different from voice dictation?** Dictation is one way (speech into the draft). Voice Mode is a live back-and-forth with spoken replies. - **Is hands-free a push-to-talk?** No. In both positions the end of your sentence is detected and sent on silence; hands-free only decides whether the mic reopens by itself after the reply. - **Can I talk to the agent while I am in another app?** Yes: the media/headset key and the global shortcut work while Voice Mode is open, without bringing the window forward. - **The agent read a useless one-line status.** Only the prose reply of the transcript is spoken once the turn settles; notifications are a last resort. If it happens with a provider without a readable transcript, the reply field fallback applies. - **Why did the mic stop when I opened a document reader?** Read Aloud takes the audio channel; reopen Voice Mode after. ## Related - [Voice Dictation](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/voice-dictation.md): the one-way input, same credits. - [Read Aloud](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/read-aloud.md): listen to a document or an answer with the same voice. - [Bring Your Own OpenAI Key](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/bring-your-own-openai-key.md): unlimited voice on your own key. - [Open Space](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/open-space.md): one agent you talk to about the others. - [Assistant (personal assistant)](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/assistant.md): the personal assistant, reachable by voice from the phone and the title bar, spoken with the same voice.