Voice mode references 'dictation language' in /config, but setting doesn't exist — support separate language settings

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Mar 14, 2026 by g-i-o-r-g-i-o Closed May 4, 2026

Bug

When enabling voice mode, the message says:

❯ /voice
⎿  Voice mode enabled. Hold Space to record. Dictation language: en (/config to change).

However, /config does not have a "dictation language" option — it only has a generic "language" setting, and it's unclear what that controls.

Request: three separate language settings

It would be very useful to have three distinct language settings:

  1. Interface language: the language of Claude Code's UI, menus, and messages. This should be possible to keep in English, since all bug reports, commands, tutorials, and documentation are in English.
  2. Chat/answers language: the language Claude uses to respond in conversation.
  3. Dictation language: the language used for speech-to-text transcription in voice mode.

Optionally, dictation and chat language could be unified into a single setting (since users who dictate in Italian likely want answers in Italian too). But it's important to be able to keep the interface in English independently.

Current situation

  • /voice tells users to go to /config to change the dictation language, but no such setting exists there
  • The existing "language" setting is ambiguous — it's not clear whether it affects the UI, Claude's responses, dictation, or all of them
  • Users who work in a non-English language but rely on English documentation and commands have no way to express this preference

Environment

  • Claude Code v2.1.76
  • Linux

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