How to Dictate in Linear on Mac with Hearsy
Dictate Linear tickets and comments by voice
Writing good tickets takes time. Describing the bug, explaining the expected behavior, adding context for whoever picks it up. Most developers and PMs end up writing shorter tickets than they should because typing it all out feels like a chore. Hearsy lets you dictate directly into Linear's text fields. Speak the full description, add a comment, or file a bug report in a fraction of the time it would take to type.
Step-by-step setup
- 1
Open Linear on your Mac
Launch the Linear desktop app or open Linear in your browser. Navigate to the project, team, or inbox where you want to create or update an issue.
- 2
Click the text field you want to fill
Place your cursor in the issue title, description, comment box, or any other text field. Hearsy pastes text wherever your cursor is active.
- 3
Press your Hearsy hotkey
Trigger recording with your configured keyboard shortcut (default: Fn twice or a custom hotkey). The menu bar indicator shows that Hearsy is listening.
- 4
Describe the issue or update
Speak naturally. Explain the bug, describe the feature request, or give your sprint update. Talk as if you were explaining it to a teammate sitting next to you.
- 5
Press the hotkey again to finish
Tap the hotkey once more. Hearsy transcribes your speech locally, applies AI enhancement if enabled, and pastes the result into Linear's text field. Review and submit.
Works in Every App on Your Mac
Hearsy pastes transcribed text wherever your cursor is — Gmail, Cursor, Claude, Slack, and hundreds more.
Why use Hearsy for Linear?
Linear is designed for speed, but the bottleneck is usually the person writing the ticket. You know what needs to be done. You can explain it clearly if someone asks. But translating that explanation into a well-written issue description is slow and tedious. Dictation removes this bottleneck. You speak the way you'd explain the issue to a colleague, and Hearsy converts that into text.
The AI enhancement feature is where this really pays off for issue tracking. Raw spoken text tends to be informal and loosely structured. AI enhancement reformats it into clean, organized text with proper punctuation and sentence structure. A rambling verbal explanation becomes a readable ticket description that your team can actually work from.
Everything runs locally on your Mac. Your issue titles, bug descriptions, internal project names, and sprint commentary stay on your machine. No audio or text is sent to external servers during transcription.
When to use voice dictation in Linear
Writing ticket descriptions
The most common use case. Speak the full context of an issue, including what's broken, what should happen, and any relevant details. AI enhancement formats it into a clear, well-structured description.
Filing bug reports
When you hit a bug, you want to capture it immediately before the details fade. Dictating the problem, steps to reproduce, and expected behavior takes 30 seconds instead of five minutes of typing.
Adding comments and updates
Quick status updates, questions, and context additions to existing tickets are perfect for dictation. A spoken comment takes a few seconds and keeps the conversation moving.
Sprint planning notes
During planning sessions, dictate your thoughts on scope, priorities, and blockers directly into Linear. Capturing decisions as they happen prevents the 'what did we agree on' problem later.
Feature requests
Feature ideas are often easier to explain out loud than to write. Dictate the user problem, proposed solution, and any constraints. AI enhancement turns your verbal pitch into a structured proposal.
Tips for better results
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Always enable AI enhancement when writing ticket descriptions. It turns conversational speech into structured, readable text that other developers can immediately act on.
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Dictate the title and description separately. Click the title field, dictate a brief summary, then click the description field and dictate the full details.
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For bug reports, speak through the reproduction steps as if you're walking someone through them. AI enhancement will format them into clear, sequential text.
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Use dictation for quick comments on existing issues. Clicking into a comment field and speaking a two-sentence update is much faster than typing it.
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Dictate sprint retro notes and planning comments in real time during meetings. Hearsy captures your thoughts as you have them instead of forcing you to remember and type later.
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For multilingual teams, switch Hearsy's language before dictating. Parakeet supports 25 languages, Whisper supports 99+.
Frequently asked questions
Does Linear have built-in voice dictation?
No. Linear has no native voice input feature on desktop. You can use macOS system dictation, but it's slower and less accurate than Hearsy. Hearsy transcribes in about 200ms and offers AI enhancement to clean up your text.
Do I need to install a Linear integration?
No. Hearsy works at the macOS system level and pastes text into whatever app has focus. It doesn't interact with Linear's API, doesn't need workspace admin approval, and doesn't appear as an integration in your Linear settings.
Is my issue content sent to any server?
No. Hearsy processes all audio locally on your Mac. Your ticket descriptions, bug reports, project names, and internal discussions never leave your computer during transcription. This applies to both the Parakeet and Whisper engines.
Can I dictate into any text field in Linear?
Yes. Hearsy pastes into wherever your cursor is placed. That includes issue titles, descriptions, comments, project descriptions, initiative fields, and the search bar. If you can type in it, you can dictate into it.
How does AI enhancement help with ticket writing?
Spoken text is usually informal and loosely structured. AI enhancement reformats it with proper punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure. A rambling verbal description becomes a clean, professional ticket that your team can understand and act on immediately.
Does it work with Linear in the browser and the desktop app?
Yes. Hearsy operates at the operating system level and works with both. Whether you use Linear's native Mac app or access it through Safari, Chrome, or any other browser, Hearsy pastes dictated text into any active text field.
More workflows
Ready to Try Voice Dictation?
Hearsy is free to download. No signup, no credit card. Just install and start dictating.
Download Hearsy for MacmacOS 14+ · Apple Silicon · Free tier available