Whisnap

whisnap

Use whisnap for transcribing audio/video files from the terminal. Requires the Whisnap macOS app with at least one model downloaded. Setup (once) Open Whisnap app → Settings → Advanced → Enable CLI (creates /usr/local/bin/whisnap symlink) Download at least one Whisper model in the app Common commands Transcribe audio: whisnap recording.wav Transcribe video: whisnap meeting.mp4 Cloud transcription: whisnap recording.wav --cloud JSON output with timestamps: whisnap lecture.m4a --json Specific model: whisnap interview.wav -m small-q5_1 Cloud + JSON: whisnap recording.wav --cloud --json List downloaded models: whisnap --list-models Verbose diagnostics: whisnap recording.wav -v Supported formats Audio: WAV, MP3, FLAC, M4A, OGG Video: MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM Flags -c, --cloud — Use Whisnap Cloud instead of local model (requires sign-in) -m, --model <ID> — Override model (e.g., small-q5_1). Defaults to app's selected model. -j, --json — Structured JSON output with text, segments, timestamps, model info -v, --verbose — Print progress and diagnostics to stderr --list-models — List available models and exit JSON output format { "text": "transcribed text", "segments": [{ "start_ms": 0, "end_ms": 1000, "text": "segment" }], "model": "small-q5_1", "backend": "whisper", "processing_time_ms": 5000 } Notes The CLI reuses models and settings from the Whisnap app (~/Library/Application Support/com.whisnap.desktop/). Cloud mode requires authentication — sign in via the app first. For scripting, use --json and pipe stdout. Diagnostics go to stderr. Exit code 0 = success, 1 = error. Only Whisper models are supported in CLI mode (not Parakeet). Confirm the file path exists before transcribing — the CLI validates but does not search.