Glossary
Cursorless
Cursorless is a spoken language for structural code editing that lets developers code by voice. Every command is an action performed on a target in the code, and it runs on Talon with a VS Code extension.
Updated October 17, 20263 cited facts, each traced to its source
Cursorless is a spoken language for editing code. A developer speaks a short command to select, move or change a piece of code, and the editor carries it out. The project describes it as a spoken language for structural code editing, which lets developers code by voice 1.
Every command is an action on a target
The Cursorless documentation states the basic grammar: every command consists of an action performed on a target 2. The action is what to do, and the target is the part of the code the action applies to.
The project's README shows this with example captions such as "Move arg air and each to after drum" and "Chuck tail red pipe slice past end of file" ( the README on GitHub). In the first, "move" is the action, the words after it name the code to move, and the last phrase says where it goes.
It runs on Talon, with an editor extension
Cursorless is not a speech engine of its own. The installation guide starts with installing Talon and a speech engine, then the community Talon commands and the VS Code extension 3. The README adds that the tool currently depends on Talon, though a keyboard version is planned.
Why it matters for dictation and typing
Dictation types what you say. Cursorless acts on code that already exists. You can dictate a new comment or a new name with a speech tool, but Cursorless is for moving through and changing the structure of code. That difference is why it is usually counted as voice coding rather than dictation.
It is not a replacement for dictation in email or documents. If you write mostly prose, the built-in tools in our guide to dictation in your apps are a better fit. If you edit code by voice for long sessions, the voice coding guide explains the setup, including the speech engine you need.
Related terms
- Talon Voice: the hands-free input software that Cursorless runs on.
- Voice coding: writing and editing code by speaking.
- Voice command: a spoken phrase that makes the software act instead of type.
Guides that cover it
Evidence
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Related terms
- Voice Typing in Google Docs, Word and Every Other AppThe topic this term belongs to
- Connected experiences (Microsoft 365)Connected experiences are Microsoft 365 features backed by cloud services, and Dictate is one of the experiences that analyze your content. You can turn them off in Manage Settings, but that setting also turns off other services.
- Dictate (Microsoft 365)Dictate is the speech-to-text feature in Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Outlook and PowerPoint. It needs a Microsoft 365 subscription, a microphone and a reliable internet connection.
- Dictation (ChromeOS)Dictation on ChromeOS is a built-in accessibility feature that types recognized speech into an editable field. You turn it on with Search + D or the microphone icon in the status tray.
- Site microphone permissionSite microphone permission is the browser's setting for each website that decides whether that site may use your microphone, usually chosen when the browser prompts you. It works alongside the operating system's own microphone setting, so both must allow the microphone before a site can listen.
- Talon VoiceTalon Voice, usually called Talon, is hands-free input software for writing, coding, browsing and gaming. It runs alongside a speech-recognition engine, and it is used for voice coding, often together with the Cursorless editing language.
- Text insertionText insertion is the step where dictation software places recognized words into the text field that has the cursor. It is done either by simulating keystrokes or by pasting the text from the clipboard.
- Transcribe (Microsoft 365)Transcribe is a Word for Microsoft 365 feature that turns an uploaded audio file into text in the Transcribe pane, rather than typing your speech into the document. Its monthly limits depend on your license.
- Vibe codingVibe coding is building software by describing what you want to an AI model and accepting the code it writes, without reviewing that code. Andrej Karpathy introduced the term, and the developer Simon Willison argues for a narrower meaning than the broad one now in use.
- Voice codingVoice coding, also called programming by voice or coding by voice, is writing and editing source code by speaking instead of typing. It needs a speech-recognition engine and a separate platform that turns spoken words into code editing actions.
- Voice typing (Google Docs)Voice typing in Google Docs is a built-in speech-to-text tool that types as you speak. You start it from the Tools menu in a supported browser, and the browser controls the speech-to-text service.
- WaylandWayland is the display system that Linux desktops are moving to in place of the X Window System, called X11. Its compositor delivers input to each app, so a typing tool that worked on X11 may not type on a Wayland desktop.
- Web Speech APIThe Web Speech API is a set of browser interfaces that let a web page start speech recognition and receive the recognized words as text, through an object called SpeechRecognition. Where the recognition runs, on your device or on a server, depends on the browser.