Voice Input Patch – Dual Mic Buttons

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:

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-.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  .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
${X.sttInterimText}:h}

Replace with:

${(X.sttRecording||X.sttRecordingCont)&&X.sttInterimText?i
${X.sttInterimText}: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 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
                  

:}" @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} :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:

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:

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 .bak 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!) |

| 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!) |