Voice Input Patch – Dual Mic Buttons

Patch OpenClaw Control UI to add dual voice input buttons (auto-send + continuous). Use when OpenClaw voice input needs patching, after OpenClaw updates (pat...

OpenClaw Voice Input Patch

Adds smart voice input to the Control UI chat — same one mic button, but with hold-to-activate.

What This Does

Before: One mic button. Speak → text appears → must press Enter manually.

After: Same one mic button — but smarter, with hold-to-activate:

• Short click → Auto-send: mic activates, speak, on pause text is sent automatically, mic turns off. If you say nothing for ~3 seconds, the mic auto-stops (browser SpeechRecognition timeout) — acts as a natural "misclick" safeguard.
• Hold 3 seconds → Continuous mode: mic stays on after each message. After every speech pause, text is sent and recognition restarts. Click again to stop.
• Live interim transcript shown above the input field while either mode is active.
• Tooltip adapts: "Voice (hold 3s for continuous)" when idle, "Stop voice auto" or "Stop voice continuous" when recording.

Note: If the browser shows "microphone denied" errors, the microphone=(self) Permissions-Policy fix is also needed. This was merged into OpenClaw on April 18, 2026 — if you're on version 2026.4.18+, it's already included. On older versions, see the Troubleshooting section.

Step 1: Find the file

There is exactly one file to patch. It's always at:

.../openclaw/dist/control-ui/assets/index-<hash>.js

The hash in the filename changes with every OpenClaw version. Find it with:

Linux / Mac:

find / -path "*/openclaw/dist/control-ui/assets/index-*.js" 2>/dev/null | head -1

Windows (PowerShell):

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Recurse -Filter "index-*.js" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.FullName -match "openclaw\\dist\\control-ui\\assets" } | Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty FullName

Quick alternative: Run npm root -g to find the global node_modules path, then look inside for openclaw/dist/control-ui/assets/index-*.js.

If you (the AI agent) cannot find or access the file, tell the user:

"I couldn't access the OpenClaw Control UI file. Can you help? Either:

1. Copy the file into my workspace so I can patch it, then copy it back after. Run this in your terminal: cp /path/to/openclaw/dist/control-ui/assets/index-*.js ~/.openclaw/workspace-allgemein/
2. Or give me write access: sudo chown -R $(whoami) /path/to/openclaw/dist/"

Keep it simple. Don't over-explain.

Step 2: Back up

cp <path-to-index-file> <path-to-index-file>.bak

Step 3: Verify compatibility

Before patching, confirm these patterns exist in the file. If any are missing, the OpenClaw version has changed — do NOT proceed. Instead, inspect the file and adapt, or wait for an updated version of this skill.

Pattern	What it is
function NC(e)	Speech recognition start function
sttRecording	Recording state variable
N.micOff	Mic-off icon reference
jC()	Speech recognition availability check

Step 4: Add sttRecordingCont state variable

Find this exact text:

sttRecording:!1,sttInterimText

Replace with:

sttRecording:!1,sttRecordingCont:!1,sttInterimText

This appears exactly once in the file.

Verify: Search for sttRecordingCont:!1 — must appear exactly once.

Step 5: Show interim text for both recording states

Find this exact text:

${X.sttRecording&&X.sttInterimText?i`<div class="agent-chat__stt-interim">${X.sttInterimText}</div>`:h}

Replace with:

${(X.sttRecording||X.sttRecordingCont)&&X.sttInterimText?i`<div class="agent-chat__stt-interim">${X.sttInterimText}</div>`:h}

This appears exactly once in the file.

Verify: Search for (X.sttRecording||X.sttRecordingCont) — must appear in the line containing stt-interim.

Step 6: Replace single mic button with hold-for-continuous button

This is the most complex patch. Replace the ENTIRE mic button block with a single button that supports both short-click (auto-send) and hold-3s (continuous) modes.

6.1 Find the block

Search for the text Stop recording or Voice input in the file. This is inside the mic button template.

The block to replace starts at ${jC()?i`` and ends at ``:h} — both on the same line as Stop recording/Voice input, or on the lines immediately surrounding it.

It contains exactly ONE <button> element with:

• class containing agent-chat__input-btn
• @click handler referencing X.sttRecording and NC({
• title with Stop recording / Voice input
• N.micOff and N.mic for the icon

6.2 Replace the entire block

Select everything from ${jC()?i`` through ``:h} inclusive and replace it with:

${jC()?i`
                  <button
                    class="agent-chat__input-btn ${(X.sttRecording||X.sttRecordingCont)?`agent-chat__input-btn--recording`:``}"
                    @mousedown=${(t)=>{if(X.sttRecording||X.sttRecordingCont)return;t.preventDefault();X._holdTimer=setTimeout(()=>{X._holdTimer=null;X._holdTriggered=!0;NC({onTranscript:(t,n)=>{if(n){let n=_(),r=n&&!n.endsWith(` `)?` `:``;e.onDraftChange(n+r+t),X.sttInterimText=``,e.onSend()}else X.sttInterimText=t;g()},onStart:()=>{X.sttRecordingCont=!0;window.__sttCont=MC;g()},onEnd:()=>{if(X.sttRecordingCont){let r=window.__sttCont;if(r){try{r.start()}catch(e){}}X.sttInterimText=``,g()}else{X.sttInterimText=``,g()}},onError:()=>{X.sttRecordingCont=!1,X.sttInterimText=``,g()}})&&(X.sttRecordingCont=!0,g())},3000)}}
                    @mouseup=${(t)=>{if(X._holdTimer){clearTimeout(X._holdTimer);X._holdTimer=null;if(!X._holdTriggered){NC({onTranscript:(t,n)=>{if(n){let n=_(),r=n&&!n.endsWith(` `)?` `:``;e.onDraftChange(n+r+t),X.sttInterimText=``,e.onSend(),PC(),X.sttRecording=!1}else X.sttInterimText=t;g()},onStart:()=>{X.sttRecording=!0;if(MC)MC.continuous=!1;g()},onEnd:()=>{X.sttRecording=!1,X.sttInterimText=``,g();const d=_();if(d&&d.trim())e.onSend()},onError:()=>{X.sttRecording=!1,X.sttInterimText=``,g()}})&&(X.sttRecording=!0,g())}}X._holdTriggered=!1}}
                    @click=${()=>{if(X.sttRecordingCont){PC(),X.sttRecordingCont=!1,window.__sttCont=null,X.sttInterimText=``,g()}}}
                    title=${X.sttRecordingCont?`Stop voice continuous`:(X.sttRecording?`Stop voice auto`:`Voice (hold 3s for continuous)`)}
                    ?disabled=${!e.connected}
                  >
                    ${(X.sttRecording||X.sttRecordingCont)?N.micOff:N.mic}
                  </button>
                `:h}

Do NOT replace individual pieces. Replace the ENTIRE block as a single unit.

Note for the edit tool: Escape < → \u003c, > → \u003e, & → \u0026 in the replacement text.

6.3 How it works

mousedown starts a 3-second timer:

• If mouseup before 3s → timer cancelled, short click → auto-send mode starts (one-shot, continuous=false, auto-send + auto-stop on final transcript or silence)
• If timer fires after 3s → continuous mode starts (mic stays on, onEnd restarts recognition via window.__sttCont.start(), text auto-sent after each pause)

click (separate from mousedown/mouseup): If already in continuous mode, stops it (PC() + clear window.__sttCont).

Auto-send mode also auto-stops if the user says nothing for ~3 seconds — the browser's SpeechRecognition fires onEnd after silence when continuous=false, which acts as a natural "misclick" safeguard.

6.4 Verify

Search the file for ALL of these strings — every single one must be present:

• sttRecordingCont — appears multiple times
• _holdTimer — hold timer variable
• _holdTriggered — hold flag
• Voice (hold 3s for continuous) — idle tooltip
• Stop voice auto — auto-send active tooltip
• Stop voice continuous — continuous active tooltip
• window.__sttCont — continuous restart mechanism
• MC.continuous=!1 — one-shot mode flag

If any are missing, restore from backup and retry from step 6.2.

Step 7: Restart and verify

Tell the user:

1. Restart the gateway (e.g. openclaw gateway restart)
2. Hard-refresh the browser with Ctrl+Shift+R (normal refresh is NOT sufficient — the browser caches the old JS file)

After the user has done both, verify:

1. One mic button with tooltip "Voice (hold 3s for continuous)"
2. Short click → speak → pause → message sent automatically → mic off
3. Short click → say nothing → mic auto-stops after ~3 seconds
4. Hold button 3 seconds → continuous mode activates (tooltip changes to "Stop voice continuous")
5. In continuous mode: speak → pause → message sent → mic stays on → speak again → sent → ...
6. Click button in continuous mode → mic stops
7. Live transcript appears above input field while mic is active

Rollback

If anything goes wrong: cp <path-to-index-file>.bak <path-to-index-file> and tell the user to restart the gateway.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely Cause	Fix
No mic button at all	Browser doesn't support Web Speech API	Use Chrome or Edge
Button appears but does nothing on click	Step 6 not applied or partial	Restore backup, re-apply Step 6
Short click starts mic but doesn't auto-send	e.onSend() missing in @mouseup handler	Restore backup, re-apply Step 6
Short click mic stays on after pause	PC() or sttRecording=!1 missing	Restore backup, re-apply Step 6
Hold 3s doesn't start continuous mode	_holdTimer / _holdTriggered not working	Restore backup, re-apply Step 6
Continuous mode stops after silence	onEnd restart logic not working	Check window.__sttCont and __sttCont.start() in Step 6 replacement
Live transcript not showing	Step 5 not applied	Apply Step 5
"Microphone denied" in browser	Permissions-Policy blocks mic	Fix microphone=() → microphone=(self) in the HTTP utils file (included in OpenClaw 2026.4.18+)
After OpenClaw update	Patches overwritten	Re-apply ALL steps (filename hash changes!)