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Developer Mode is not available in the HyperWhisper app that ships today. This page describes a feature that the current release does not have. Use this page for reference only. You cannot turn on Developer Mode today.
Developer Mode adds @ mentions to the AI post-processing of HyperWhisper. You can speak a reference to a file in your codebase. Say “at app.swift” or “at components/button” while you record. HyperWhisper then puts the correct file path in your transcript as a tag. The tag gives context to AI coding assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor.

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How It Works

When you record with AI post-processing on, HyperWhisper does these four steps:
  1. Detects your active developer tool – HyperWhisper finds which developer tool is in front (Xcode, VS Code, Cursor, IntelliJ, and more).
  2. Identifies the active project – HyperWhisper finds which of your project directories you work in.
  3. Indexes relevant files – HyperWhisper reads the file paths and keeps them in a cache for fast fuzzy matching.
  4. Resolves @ mentions – HyperWhisper changes a spoken file reference such as “at app swift” into a tag such as @app.swift.
HyperWhisper keeps your last active project for 30 minutes. When you change the project or the developer tool, HyperWhisper changes the context automatically.

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Setup

  1. Go to Settings → Beta Features. Then turn on “Enable Developer Mode”.
  2. Click ”+ Add Directory”. Then select the root folder of your project. For a monorepo or for separate projects, add more than one directory.
  3. HyperWhisper indexes the files automatically. The status indicator shows the active project and the number of files that you can tag.
If you need a non-standard type such as .proto or .graphql, change the indexed file extensions in Settings → Beta Features.

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Using @ Mentions

Turn on AI post-processing and Developer Mode. Then you can speak these mentions:
  • Say “at [filename]” while you record: “at main.swift, refactor the auth logic to use async await”
  • Use path hints for nested files: “at components/button, update the border radius”
  • Multiple files: “at app.swift and at utils.ts, check the date formatting”
HyperWhisper uses fuzzy matching for partial names and path fragments. It gives priority to exact substring matches and to word boundaries. Example:
  • Voice: “At components button and at components input, make the border radius consistent”
  • Output: @components/button.tsx and @components/input.tsx, make the border radius consistent

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Status Indicators

  • Blue checkmark + project name – The developer tool is active and HyperWhisper found the project.
  • “Files indexed: X” – The number of files that you can tag.
  • “Recent Activity” – HyperWhisper found the project from the last 30 minutes. The confidence is lower.
  • “No tool detected” – No supported developer tool is active.

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Supported Developer Tools

Xcode, VS Code, Cursor, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, Android Studio, Sublime Text, Nova, BBEdit, TextMate, and Zed.

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Troubleshooting

  • “No tool detected” when your developer tool is open → Click into the window of the developer tool. Or wait 2 seconds for the automatic refresh.
  • File not found during transcription → Click “Reindex Files” in the Developer view. Or make sure that you added the project directory.
  • @ mentions do not appear → Make sure that Developer Mode is on. Make sure that HyperWhisper indexed the project. Make sure that AI post-processing is on. Then say “at [filename]” clearly.

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Privacy & Security

  • HyperWhisper indexes the file paths on your machine. The paths never leave your machine.
  • HyperWhisper reads only the filenames and the paths. It does not read the content of a file.
  • HyperWhisper indexes files only when Developer Mode is on.