Install Aria

Download Aria from the latest release. Releases run on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 15 or later, and on x86_64 Linux.

Mac

With Homebrew, this installs Aria and links the aria command:

brew install --cask farhad-shabani/tap/aria

If Aria is already in Applications, add --force to replace it. Then open Aria to finish setup, as in step 3 below.

Without Homebrew:

1. Download Aria.dmg.
2. Open it and drag Aria to Applications.
3. Open Aria from Applications. It appears in the menu bar and opens its setup window. Continue uses the defaults; Customize… lets you choose engines and models.

When setup finishes, Aria asks for your password to add the aria command to the terminal. Skip it if you only use the menu bar app. Aria Setup in Settings → General asks again later.

If you can’t enter an administrator password, add this line to ~/.zshrc instead:

export PATH="/Applications/Aria.app/Contents/Helpers:$PATH"

Continue to Mac dictation.

Linux

Run:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Farhad-Shabani/aria/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

The installer checks the download, installs the aria command in ~/.local/bin, and starts setup. If it reports that ~/.local/bin is not on your PATH, add it in your shell’s startup file.

Before setup, the installer offers a udev rule so the hotkey can read your keyboard. Installing it asks for your password. See Linux dictation for what it allows.

Aria needs a systemd user session for its background service and ALSA (libasound2) for audio. The service starts and stops with your graphical session through graphical-session.target. GNOME and KDE Plasma start that target. On a desktop that doesn’t, start the service from your session’s autostart:

systemctl --user import-environment DISPLAY WAYLAND_DISPLAY
systemctl --user start aria-daemon

For speech output, install a system voice:

sudo apt-get install espeak-ng

Continue to Linux dictation.

Setup

The Mac app and the Linux installer both start setup. To run it again:

aria setup

Keep the default Parakeet engine. Setup downloads the model for the engine you choose and shows its size first. Parakeet (MLX) is the exception: it needs its own Python and downloads its model on first use.

The system voice needs no model. You can leave optional features at their defaults.

You only need a Claude Code or Codex account if you want to use Chat or Prompts. Choose your assistant later in Settings → General → Assistant, or from the terminal.

Setup saves ~/.aria/settings.toml, downloads the models you select, and starts Aria’s background service. If a model download is interrupted, rerun setup to resume it.

To check the result:

aria doctor

Doctor reports settings, model-path, and service problems. It doesn’t record audio to test microphone permission.

Switch the speech model

To change only the speech model, name it. Setup keeps your other choices, downloads the model if it isn’t on disk, and switches without restarting the service:

aria setup --stt moonshine

The names are the ones stt.backend takes. For Parakeet (MLX), run aria setup instead. To recognize speech on your own server, see Server inference.

Free model space

A model stays on disk after you switch engines. On a Mac, delete one in Settings → General → Storage. In Terminal, see each model and remove one you no longer use:

aria models list
aria models remove parakeet

Aria keeps a model your settings still use. Setup downloads a removed model again if you choose its engine later.

Update or remove

On a Mac, Aria offers new releases itself. Choose Check for Updates… from its menu to check now, or set automatic checks and installs in Settings → About. With Homebrew, run brew upgrade --cask --greedy aria, because Aria updates itself and a plain brew upgrade skips it.

To remove Aria from a Mac, quit it and move it to the Trash, or run brew uninstall --cask aria. The aria command stays behind. Remove it with sudo rm /usr/local/bin/aria.

On Linux, rerun the install command to update. It keeps your setup answers and downloads nothing new; run aria setup to change them. To remove Aria:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Farhad-Shabani/aria/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash -s -- --uninstall

Removing Aria leaves ~/.aria, models included, in place. To delete saved dictations, use the history controls first.

Build from source

To build Aria yourself, follow Build from source in the README. just app builds the Mac app into clients/build/mac/Build/Products/Release/. A source build runs from its checkout, so keep that folder in place.