[BUG] Speech-to-Text Dictation Is Extremely Slow and Unusable in Claude VS Code Plugin

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

In VS Code, Speech-to-text works quickly in the Github Copilot extension— text appears as I speak. In Claude, dictation is extremely slow: there's a long delay before any text shows up at all, and then each word appears one at a time with a noticeable pause between them. It's slower than typing, so voice input--an extremely important feature-- isn't currently usable.

Claude Code VSCode extension version 2.1.277 (win32-x64).

What Should Happen?

Speech-to-text dictation should transcribe spoken words quickly and reliably, with little to no delay after speaking.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Enable the microphone in the plugin and speak.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.277

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_