Voice command fails on Windows CLI: native audio module not bundled
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Mar 12, 2026 by fortis22e Closed Mar 15, 2026
Description
The /voice command fails on Windows when using the npm-installed CLI (@anthropic-ai/claude-code) with the error:
Voice recording requires the native audio module, which could not be loaded.
Root Cause
The CLI expects a native binary at audio-capture/x64-win32/audio-capture.node inside the package directory, but this file is not included in the npm package. The audio-capture/ directory does not exist at all.
Additionally, unlike macOS/Linux which fall back to sox/arecord, the Windows code path has no fallback — it only supports the native module.
Steps to Reproduce
- Install Claude Code via npm on Windows:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code - Run
claude - Use the
/voicecommand - Error: "Voice recording requires the native audio module, which could not be loaded."
Environment
- OS: Windows 11 Pro (10.0.26200)
- Platform: x64-win32
- Claude Code version: npm CLI installation
- Shell: bash (Git Bash)
Expected Behavior
Either:
- Bundle
audio-capture.nodeforx64-win32in the npm package, or - Add a fallback recording method on Windows (e.g.,
sox), similar to macOS/Linux
Workaround
The AUDIO_CAPTURE_NODE_PATH environment variable can point to the binary if obtained separately, but there is no documented way to acquire it.
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