iOS Shortcut Setup for Agent CLI Transcription

This guide shows how to create an iOS Shortcut that records audio, sends it to your Agent CLI web service, and puts the cleaned transcription in your clipboard.

Prerequisites

Agent CLI Server Running: Your Agent CLI server must be running and accessible
FFmpeg Installed: For local ASR with audio conversion (iOS uses m4a format)
macOS: brew install ffmpeg
Linux: sudo apt-get install ffmpeg (Ubuntu/Debian)
Windows: Download from ffmpeg.org
OpenAI API Key: Configure your OpenAI API key in Agent CLI (if using OpenAI)
Network Access: Your iPhone needs network access to reach the server

Setup Agent CLI Server

Install dependencies:
```
pip install "agent-cli[server]"
```

Start the server:

agent-cli server transcribe-proxy --host 0.0.0.0 --port 61337

Test the server is working:

curl http://your-server-ip:61337/health

Create iOS Shortcut

Step 1: Open Shortcuts App

Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone
Tap the + button to create a new shortcut

Step 2: Add Actions

Action 1: Record Audio 1. Search for and add "Record Audio" action 2. Configure: - Start Recording: Immediately - Stop Recording: When shortcut is run again (or set a time limit) - Audio Quality: Choose based on your preference (Higher = Better quality, Larger files)

Action 2: Get Contents of URL 1. Search for and add "Get Contents of URL" action 2. Configure: - URL: http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:61337/transcribe - Method: POST - Headers: Leave empty - Request Body: Form

Action 3: Get Dictionary Value 1. Search for and add "Get Dictionary Value" action 2. Configure: - Dictionary: Output from Get Contents of URL - Get Value for: cleaned_transcript (or raw_transcript if you prefer unprocessed)

Action 4: Copy to Clipboard 1. Search for and add "Copy to Clipboard" action 2. Input: Use the text from the previous step

Action 5 (Optional): Show Notification 1. Search for and add "Show Notification" action 2. Configure: - Title: "Transcription Complete" - Body: Use the transcribed text

Step 3: Configure Request Details

In the Get Contents of URL action, tap "Show More" and configure:

Critical: Configure Form Data 1. In the Get Contents of URL action, tap "Show More" 2. Set Request Body to "Form" 3. Tap "Add new field" to add the audio file: - Key: audio (exactly, lowercase) - Value: Select the "Audio" output from your Record Audio action - Type: Make sure it's set to "File" (not "Text")

Optional Form Fields: Add these fields if needed by tapping "Add new field": - Key: cleanup, Value: true (enables AI text cleanup) - Key: extra_instructions, Value: Custom instructions for processing

⚠️ CRITICAL SETUP REQUIREMENTS:

The audio field name must be exactly audio (lowercase, case-sensitive)
Audio field type must be set to "File" (not "Text")
Form fields must be configured manually - iOS doesn't add them automatically

Common Issues:

❌ Field named "Audio" (uppercase) - won't work
❌ Field type set to "Text" - won't work
❌ No form fields configured - will give 422 error
✅ Field named "audio" with type "File" - works correctly

Step 4: Test the Shortcut

Name your shortcut (e.g., "Voice to Text")
Tap "Done" to save
Run the shortcut to test it
Grant microphone permissions when prompted

Step 5: Add to Home Screen or Control Center

Add to Home Screen:

Go to Settings > Shortcuts
Find your shortcut and tap the settings icon
Tap "Add to Home Screen"

Add to Control Center:

Go to Settings > Control Center
Add "Shortcuts" if not already added
Your shortcut will be available in Control Center

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Could not connect to server" - Verify server is running: curl http://your-server-ip:61337/health - Check firewall settings on server - Ensure iPhone and server are on same network (or server is publicly accessible)

"No audio recorded" - Grant microphone permissions to Shortcuts app - Check audio recording settings in the Record Audio action

"Get Contents of File not available" - This action was removed in newer iOS versions - The recorded audio is automatically passed between actions as a variable - Simply use the output from "Record Audio" directly in "Get Contents of URL"

"Transcription failed" - Verify OpenAI API key is configured in Agent CLI - Check server logs for error messages - Ensure audio file format is supported (wav, mp3, m4a, etc.)

"Empty response" - Check if the audio was too short or silent - Verify the Get Value from Dictionary action is looking for the right key

"422 Unprocessable Content" Error - This means the form fields are not configured correctly - Make sure you've added the audio field in the Request Body Form section - The audio field must be type "File" not "Text" - Field name must be exactly audio (lowercase) - Check server logs for specific error details

"FFmpeg not found" Error - Install FFmpeg on your system for local ASR with audio conversion - macOS: brew install ffmpeg - Linux: sudo apt-get install ffmpeg - Alternative: Use OpenAI ASR instead (set asr-provider = "openai" in config)

Server Configuration

Config File Example (~/.config/agent-cli/config.toml):

[defaults]
# For transcription with Wyoming/FasterWhisper (local)
asr-provider = "wyoming"
asr-wyoming-ip = "localhost"
asr-wyoming-port = 10300

# For LLM cleanup (can use Ollama, OpenAI, or Gemini)
llm-provider = "ollama"
llm-ollama-model = "llama3"
llm-ollama-host = "http://localhost:11434"

# If using OpenAI for transcription or LLM:
# openai-api-key = "your-api-key-here"

[transcribe]
llm = true
clipboard = false  # Disabled for web service
extra-instructions = "Your custom cleanup instructions here"

Advanced Shortcuts Features

Voice Activation:

Add shortcut to Siri by saying "Hey Siri, add to Siri" while viewing the shortcut
Record a custom phrase like "Transcribe this"

Conditional Processing:

Add "If" actions to handle different response cases
Show different notifications based on success/failure

Text Processing:

Add text manipulation actions after transcription
Format text, convert case, etc.

Alternative: Save Recording First If you want to save the audio file: 1. After "Record Audio", add "Save to Files" action - Choose location (e.g., iCloud Drive/Recordings/) - Name: Recording-{Current Date} 2. Add "Get File" action to retrieve the saved file 3. Use this file in "Get Contents of URL"

API Reference

Endpoint: POST /transcribe

Request:

Content-Type: multipart/form-data

audio: <audio file>
cleanup: true/false (optional, default: true)
extra_instructions: <string> (optional)

Response:

{
  "raw_transcript": "original transcription",
  "cleaned_transcript": "cleaned and formatted text",
  "success": true,
  "error": null
}

Health Check: GET /health

Response:

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Security Considerations

Network Security: Use HTTPS in production
API Key Protection: Keep OpenAI API key secure
Access Control: Consider adding authentication to your API
Firewall: Only expose necessary ports

Next Steps

Set up HTTPS with SSL certificates for production use
Add authentication to the API endpoint
Configure automatic server startup
Create multiple shortcuts for different transcription scenarios