Ask by voice, and hear the answers

When you're done, you can ask a question out loud and have the answer read to you. You get the same answers as when you type: see Ask Chirp Builder, the AI help assistant.

Who this is for: everyone who can use Ask Chirp Builder, and students in Ask for help. You need a microphone and a browser that can record sound (current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari can). Voice questions are in English for now.

Ask a question out loud

1. Open Ask Chirp Builder (in the menu, under Help) and click the microphone button beside the send button.

2. Before you ask by voice says what happens. Click Continue (or Not now). Once you've clicked Continue, this browser remembers it.

   

3. Your browser asks once whether Chirp Builder may use the microphone. Allow it.

4. Say your question. A timer shows how long you've talked, up to 30 seconds, and recording stops by itself at the limit. Click Done (1) when you've finished, or Cancel (2) to send nothing.

   

5. After "Turning your question into text…", what you said appears in the question box (1): "Here's what we heard. Check it, then send." Fix anything it heard wrong, then send it (2) as usual.

   

Hear the answer

After a question you asked by voice, the answer is read aloud by itself. Other answers from the last day have Listen under them.

• Pause (1) stops for a moment; Resume carries on.
• Replay starts this part again.
• Stop (2) ends the reading. Listen starts it again from the beginning.
• The speaker button mutes it, and the slider (3) sets the volume. iPhones and iPads have only the mute button: use the phone's own volume.
• A long answer is read a part at a time, about 30 seconds each. When a part ends with "There's more in the written answer.", the panel says "There's more to this answer. Choose Read more aloud to hear it." Click Read more aloud for the next part.
• If your browser waits for a click before it plays sound, click Play the answer.

The voice reads the steps and button names. It leaves out the [1] links, says "the link in the written answer" instead of a long web address, says "there's code in the written answer" for code, and never reads a key aloud. The written answer above keeps everything.

Starting a new recording or sending a new question stops the reading, and Listen is greyed out while you record.

Voice options

Voice options, under the question box, has two choices for this browser:

• Send what I say straight away: off at first, so what you say waits in the box for you to check.
• Read answers aloud: after you ask by voice. Switch it off to only hear answers when you click Listen.

Your voice and your privacy

• Recording starts only when you click the microphone (and Continue, the first time). It stops at Done, Cancel, 30 seconds, when you close the panel, or when you switch to another tab or app (then nothing is sent). Chirp Builder never listens in the background.
• Your recording goes to an AI service through OpenRouter to be turned into text, on Chirp Builder's own account. To read an answer aloud, its text goes to an AI voice service the same way. Chirp Builder doesn't save the recording or the spoken answer.
• What's kept: a record of each voice request, linked to your account, with how long the recording was or how much was read aloud, whether it worked and what it cost. Never the sound, and never the words. These records are deleted after 400 days. Once you send the question, it's kept like a typed one: see Ask Chirp Builder.
• It's free for you and never uses your OpenRouter key.

If it doesn't work

• "The microphone is blocked. You can type your question, or allow the microphone in your browser's site settings." You (or the browser) said no to the microphone. Allow it for chirpbuilder.com in the browser's site settings, or type instead.
• "We couldn't find a microphone. You can type your question instead." Connect or switch on a microphone.
• "The microphone couldn't start. Another app may be using it. You can type your question instead." Close the other app (a video call, for example) and try again. Without the second sentence, the microphone failed for another reason: try again, or type.
• "We didn't hear anything. Check your microphone and try again." Check that the right microphone is chosen and isn't muted.
• "Your recording couldn't be turned into text just now. You can still type your question." or "That recording couldn't be read. Please try again. You can still type your question." Try again in a moment, or type.
• "Connection lost. You can still type your question." Check your internet connection.
• "That recording is too long. Please keep it under 30 seconds." The panel stops at 30 seconds by itself, so this is rare: ask a shorter question, or type it.
• "Ask by voice doesn't work in this browser. Typing still works." Use a current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
• "The answer couldn't be read aloud just now. It's written above." Try Listen again later. "That answer can't be read aloud any more." means the answer is more than a day old.
• "Please sign in again. You can still type your question." Your sign-in ran out: sign in again.

Good to know

• Typing always works, whatever happens to the microphone or the sound.
• There's a limit on voice use. Each recording and each part read aloud counts: 6 a minute, 30 an hour and 80 a day per person (students 4, 15 and 40), up to about $0.25 of voice a day per person ($0.10 for a student), and all the students of one Academy together up to 150 a day. When you reach one, you see a message such as "That's a lot of voice questions in a minute. Please wait a moment. You can still type your question." or "You've used Ask by voice a lot today." Under the box it says "You've asked by voice a lot just now. Please try again later. Typing still works.", and the microphone, Listen and Voice options are hidden until it opens up again (it checks every minute).
• Voice can pause for everyone for the rest of the day or month: "Ask by voice has been used as much as it can today." (or "this month"), then "Ask by voice has been used as much as it can for now. Typing still works." under the box.
• Students have the same microphone and Listen in Ask for help, on My courses and the lesson pages.