How to install Momo Whisper

Download and unzip

Click Download (right here, or the button top right — it always gives you the newest version). Your browser saves a .zip file to your Downloads folder. Double-click that file to unzip it, and you'll get an app called Momo Whisper.

For Mac · macOS 13+

Why a zip? It keeps the app in one tidy package so it downloads quickly and arrives intact.

Move it into Applications

Drag Momo Whisper into your Applications folder. Not sure where that is? Open a Finder window (the blue smiley face in your Dock) and you'll see Applications in the sidebar on the left.

Why here? Applications is where your Mac keeps all its apps and expects to find them, so everything runs smoothly.

Open it the first time

The first time you open Momo Whisper, macOS shows a warning like “Apple could not verify Momo Whisper is free of malware.” Don't worry, nothing is wrong. macOS says this about every free indie app that hasn't paid Apple's notarization fee. You only need to get past it once. Pick whichever way feels comfortable:

Allow a few permissions

On first launch, Momo Whisper walks you through a few macOS permissions. Here's what each one is for:

• Microphone, so it can hear you when you dictate.
• Accessibility, so it can type the finished text into whatever app you're in.
• Speech Recognition (required), on-device transcription that also powers Local mode before you add a key; that audio stays on your Mac.

You can review or change these anytime in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Add your free Groq key (optional)

Momo uses Groq to turn your speech into text and to translate it. A Groq API key is optional (without one, Momo works in on-device Local mode), but it gives better accuracy and is needed for translation. It's like a free password that lets the app talk to Groq on your behalf.

It's free: create one at console.groq.com, copy it, and paste it into Momo's Settings. Your key is stored locally on your Mac, and Groq's free tier is generous for everyday dictation.

Start talking to your Mac

That's it! Hold Fn and speak to dictate, hold Fn⇧ to translate as you speak, or highlight any text and click the translate button. The menu-bar icon shows a live waveform while it listens.

Claude Desktop — one click

Download the connector and Claude Desktop installs it for you. No config file to edit.

Double-click the file, then Install. Needs Momo installed.

Any other AI app that supports local MCP

Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI and more. Momo ships a tiny MCP server inside the app. Add it once, in the AI app you use, with these two values. No arguments, no keys.

Needs Momo installed on this Mac. The connector ships inside the app, so finish the six steps above first.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "momo-whisper": {
      "command": "/Applications/Momo Whisper.app/Contents/MacOS/momo-mcp"
    }
  }
}

[mcp_servers.momo-whisper]
command = "/Applications/Momo Whisper.app/Contents/MacOS/momo-mcp"

{
  "servers": {
    "momo-whisper": { "type": "stdio", "command": "/Applications/Momo Whisper.app/Contents/MacOS/momo-mcp" }
  }
}

{
  "context_servers": {
    "momo-whisper": { "command": "/Applications/Momo Whisper.app/Contents/MacOS/momo-mcp", "args": [] }
  }
}

mcpServers:
  - name: momo-whisper
    type: stdio
    command: "/Applications/Momo Whisper.app/Contents/MacOS/momo-mcp"
    args: []

extensions:
  momo-whisper:
    name: Momo Whisper
    type: stdio
    cmd: "/Applications/Momo Whisper.app/Contents/MacOS/momo-mcp"
    args: []
    enabled: true
    timeout: 300

Works with apps that support local (stdio) MCP servers. The ChatGPT and Gemini web and desktop apps don't yet.

Then just ask

Talk to your AI like you normally do. Momo's history and dictionary are simply there for it to use.

What your AI can and can't do

It gets a small, fixed set of tools. Nothing more.