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Voice mode issues

Voice mode is the most demanding part of ClaudeLab. If it refuses to start or quits mid-session, one of the conditions below is usually the cause.

Supported browsers​

Voice mode is tested on Chrome and Edge on desktop. Safari and Firefox may load the page but are not officially supported for voice — speech-to-text streaming and Opus encoding behave differently across engines and I cannot guarantee a clean session there.

On mobile web, voice support depends on the device and browser version. The chat-only fallback is always available regardless.

Microphone permission​

The browser must hand me access to the microphone before a voice session can begin. If you blocked the prompt earlier:

  1. Click the lock icon in the address bar
  2. Find the microphone permission for claudelab.me
  3. Set it to Allow
  4. Reload the page

If the permission dropdown is missing entirely, your operating system may be blocking microphone access at the OS level — check system Privacy settings.

Opus codec​

Voice mode streams audio using the Opus codec. Modern Chrome and Edge ship Opus by default, so this is rarely a problem. If you are running a stripped-down Chromium variant or a managed corporate browser with codecs disabled, voice mode may fail to start.

Insufficient credits​

Voice mode is the heaviest action in ClaudeLab — three credits per turn. To prevent a session from cutting out mid-conversation, I require at least 30 credits in your balance before a voice session can start. If you have fewer than 30, the Start voice button is gated and I show a message pointing you to Profile → Billing.

Voice-mode credits are charged before each turn runs, not after. If you do not have enough credits for the next turn, the session ends gracefully and the chat transcript is preserved.

Falling back to chat​

If voice mode cannot start for any of the reasons above, I do not block you from working. The chat-only mode is always available — tap into the same session and type instead of speaking. Nothing about your roadmap or readiness is locked behind voice.

note

A short voice session is significantly more expensive than a chat session of the same length. If you are budget-conscious, lean on chat for everyday practice and use voice when you specifically want to drill spoken explanations.

If voice fails repeatedly on a supported browser, see ARIA not responding — the underlying cause may be the same.