audio-record

name	audio-record
description	Record audio from the default microphone or a specified input device to a file on Linux. Use this skill whenever the user wants to capture audio, record a voice memo, sample ambient sound, or record microphone input.
homepage	https://www.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-devices.html#alsa
metadata	{"nanobot":{"emoji":"🎙️","os":["linux"],"requires":{"bins":"[Truncated]"},"install":["[Truncated]","[Truncated]"]}}

Audio Record

Capture audio from a microphone or any ALSA input device and save it to a file.

Supported Output Formats

WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC, M4A — any format supported by ffmpeg.

Tool Priority

1. ffmpeg — preferred; handles all formats and devices
2. arecord — ALSA recorder, lightweight, outputs WAV/PCM only

Quick Start

Record for a fixed duration (10 seconds, WAV output)

ffmpeg -f alsa -i default -t 10 output.wav

Record until the user stops (Ctrl-C)

ffmpeg -f alsa -i default output.wav

Record directly to MP3 (requires libmp3lame in ffmpeg build)

ffmpeg -f alsa -i default -acodec libmp3lame -ab 192k output.mp3

Record to FLAC (lossless)

ffmpeg -f alsa -i default output.flac

Using arecord (WAV only)

# Record for 10 seconds at CD quality (44100 Hz, stereo, 16-bit)
arecord -d 10 -f cd output.wav

# Record until Ctrl-C
arecord -f cd output.wav

Listing Available Input Devices

# ALSA devices
arecord -l

# PulseAudio sources
pactl list short sources

Use a specific device with ffmpeg

# Replace hw:1,0 with the device shown by arecord -l
ffmpeg -f alsa -i hw:1,0 -t 10 output.wav

Common Quality Settings

Quality	Sample Rate	Channels	Flag
Voice	16000 Hz	Mono	-ar 16000 -ac 1
CD	44100 Hz	Stereo	-ar 44100 -ac 2
Studio	48000 Hz	Stereo	-ar 48000 -ac 2

# Voice quality (small file, good for speech recognition)
ffmpeg -f alsa -i default -ar 16000 -ac 1 voice.wav

Notes

• Verify the microphone is not muted: amixer sset Capture unmute
• On PicoClaw hardware boards, check which ALSA card exposes the microphone with arecord -l before recording.
• Recorded files are saved to the current working directory unless a full path is given.