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Full privacy — speech never leaves your Mac.

Quick Start

1

Requirements

  • macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon recommended)
  • Microphone permissions
2

Install voice service

pip install https://github.com/bithuman-product/examples/releases/download/v0.1/bithuman_voice-1.3.2-py3-none-any.whl
3

Start voice service

bithuman-voice serve --port 8091
macOS will ask for Speech permissions — approve this.
4

Install dependencies

pip install bithuman --upgrade livekit-agents openai livekit-plugins-silero
5

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
6

Run agent

View source code on GitHub
python examples/agent-livekit-apple-local.py dev

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

ProblemSolution
Voice service won’t startCheck microphone permissions, enable “Speech Recognition” in Privacy & Security
No speech recognitionRestart bithuman-voice service, test with built-in dictation
Permission errorsRun voice service from Terminal (not IDE)

Performance

Recommended specs:
  • M2+ Mac (M4 ideal)
  • 16GB+ RAM
  • macOS 13+

Next Steps