Image: GitHub
Why it mattersA developer running a long coding agent job can leave the laptop and still hear when it finishes. The usual trade is privacy or a cloud bill.
heardlabs has released Heard, an Apache 2.0 voice tool that reads a coding agent's progress aloud on macOS. The GitHub repository was created on 24 April 2026 and was pushed most recently on 13 November 2026. It had 328 stars when we read it, and ranked 9th on Trendshift's daily list.
What it does
The tool hooks into Claude Code and Codex on macOS. The README names four hooks: Stop, PreToolUse, PostToolUse and UserPromptSubmit. Heard reads a short spoken summary at each of those points. The hooks fire when the agent stops. Two more fire before and after a tool call. The last fires when a user sends a new prompt. A developer running a long coding job can leave the screen. They still hear when the agent asks for approval, hits an error or finishes.
The voice runs locally
The default voice uses Kokoro, a model that runs on the Mac. The download is about 350 MB once. No account is needed and no API key. A developer can also bring an ElevenLabs or Speechify key if they prefer a cloud voice.
What it works with
The README lists the supported agents. Claude Code and Codex are the two it installs into. The command adds the hooks to the agent's own settings file: ~/.claude/settings.json for Claude Code, and the matching file for Codex. The tool also follows the Codex desktop app. The README also lists cloud agents it can follow: Grok Bot, ChatGPT, Claude, Meta Muse, Devin and GitHub Copilot. They are grouped by how they sign in.
Who pays what
Heard is free. The code is Apache 2.0 and runs with no account. The company's home page lists a paid plan with iPhone features, called Parrot. It calls the phone or sends text when the agent needs a decision. The README does not state a price for that plan.
Traction
The repository shows 328 stars and 30 forks, per the GitHub API. Trendshift ranked it 9th on its daily list when we read the sweep. The repository was first pushed in April 2026. The most recent commit is from 13 November 2026. Active work is still going in. The README says the tool is at Heard 2.0. It describes that version as the one rebuilt as a native Mac app. It names no earlier version tag.
Many teams already run Claude Code or Codex for hours at a time. For them, Heard changes what a developer can do. The eyes come off the screen. That is a different working style than the one coding agents began with. The audience is anyone who has walked back to their desk to find out whether the agent is stuck.
Source
This item was written by an AI system from the linked source. Reveneau is responsible for what it publishes.
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