Full privacy — speech never leaves your Mac.
Quick Start
Requirements
- macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon recommended)
- Microphone permissions
Install voice service
pip install https://github.com/bithuman-product/examples/releases/download/v0.1/bithuman_voice-1.3.2-py3-none-any.whl
Start voice service
bithuman-voice serve --port 8091
macOS will ask for Speech permissions — approve this.
Install dependencies
pip install bithuman --upgrade livekit-agents openai livekit-plugins-silero
Set environment
export BITHUMAN_API_SECRET="your_secret"
export BITHUMAN_MODEL_PATH="/path/to/model.imx"
export LIVEKIT_API_KEY="your_livekit_key"
export LIVEKIT_API_SECRET="your_livekit_secret"
export LIVEKIT_URL="wss://your-project.livekit.cloud"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_key" # Only for AI brain
What It Does
Stays on your Mac:
- Speech-to-text (Apple Speech Framework)
- Text-to-speech (Apple Voice Synthesis)
- Avatar animation (bitHuman)
- Voice activity detection (Silero)
Uses internet:
- Only AI conversation (OpenAI LLM)
Privacy benefits:
- Voice patterns never leave your device
- Apple’s hardware-accelerated speech processing
- Full control over your data
Make it 100% Private
For 100% local operation with no internet required, use the complete Docker setup:
Complete macOS Offline Example
What you get:
- Apple Speech Recognition — Local STT
- Apple Voices/Siri — Local TTS
- Ollama LLM — Local language models (Llama 3.2)
- bitHuman Avatar — Real-time facial animation
- LiveKit + Web UI — Complete conversation interface
- Zero Internet Dependency
git clone https://github.com/bithuman-product/examples.git
cd examples/integrations/macos-offline
pip install https://github.com/bithuman-product/examples/releases/download/v0.1/bithuman_voice-1.3.2-py3-none-any.whl
bithuman-voice serve --port 8000
ollama run llama3.2:1b
docker compose up
# Access at http://localhost:4202
Enterprise Offline Mode: Contact bitHuman for offline tokens to eliminate all internet requirements for authentication and metering.
Common Issues
| Problem | Solution |
|---|
| Voice service won’t start | Check microphone permissions, enable “Speech Recognition” in Privacy & Security |
| No speech recognition | Restart bithuman-voice service, test with built-in dictation |
| Permission errors | Run voice service from Terminal (not IDE) |
Recommended specs:
- M2+ Mac (M4 ideal)
- 16GB+ RAM
- macOS 13+
Next Steps