# Install cmu-pocketsphinx with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper, scoop

Lightweight speech recognition engine for mobile devices. Version 5.1.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-06. Also installable with macports: sudo port install pocketsphinx.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:cmu-pocketsphinx
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install cmu-pocketsphinx
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install pocketsphinx
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: audio/pocketsphinx/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install pocketsphinx
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: pocketsphinx from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install pocketsphinx
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: pocketsphinx from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#pocketsphinx
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/po/pocketsphinx/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install pocketsphinx
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: pocketsphinx from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

### Windows

- Scoop (92%):

```sh
scoop install extras/pocketsphinx
```

  Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/pocketsphinx.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Extras/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:cmu-pocketsphinx
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 5.1.1
- **Source summary:** Lightweight speech recognition engine for mobile devices
- **Homepage:** <https://cmusphinx.github.io/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/cmusphinx/pocketsphinx>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-06T20:42:29Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- pocketsphinx (alias)
- pocketsphinx_batch (alias)
- pocketsphinx_jsgf2fsg (alias)
- pocketsphinx_lm_convert (alias)
- pocketsphinx_lm_eval (alias)
- pocketsphinx_mdef_convert (alias)
- pocketsphinx_pitch (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 5.1.1
## Project history and usage

PocketSphinx is a compact open source speech recognizer from the CMU Sphinx family, distributed as a C library, command-line tools, and Python package.

### Project history

The official README describes PocketSphinx as one of Carnegie Mellon University's open source large-vocabulary, speaker-independent continuous speech recognition engines. It also explains that the underlying algorithms and models are old but remain useful because they are compact and efficient.

The README traces lineage to Sphinx-II and older CMU systems released as free software, and credits David Huggins-Daines with creating PocketSphinx by adding speed and memory optimizations, fixed-point computation, JSGF support, portability, and a more coherent API.

### Adoption history

PocketSphinx's adoption came from being usable offline and on constrained systems long before cloud speech APIs were routine. The input package facts show packaging across Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu GStreamer integration, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Scoop, and openSUSE, while the official Python docs document `pip install pocketsphinx`.

### How it is used

The official README documents a `pocketsphinx` command that reads mono 16-bit PCM audio from standard input or files and outputs recognition results, along with subcommands for live recognition, single-utterance recognition, alignment, configuration, and sox integration. The Read the Docs site documents Python usage with `LiveSpeech`.

### Why package nerds care

PocketSphinx is package-nerd significant because it packages a historically important offline speech recognizer across C, CLI, Python, audio I/O, models, and GStreamer-style integration. Its modern 5.x line also removed SphinxBase as a separate dependency, simplifying one of the classic packaging pain points.

### Timeline

- 2014-04: Current GitHub repository created.
- 2022-10: v5.0.0 release published.
- 2023-12: v5.0.3 release published.
- 2025-01: v5.0.4 release published.
- 2026-06: v5.1.1 release published.

### Related projects

- PocketSphinx is part of the CMU Sphinx family and is related to Sphinx-II, older CMU speech-recognition systems, GStreamer packaging, Read the Docs Python bindings, and audio tools such as sox and PortAudio.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/cmusphinx/pocketsphinx#readme>
- <https://pocketsphinx.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/cmusphinx/pocketsphinx>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/cmusphinx/pocketsphinx/releases>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- MacPorts - pocketsphinx: installed executable or alias match | MacPorts ports tree: audio/pocketsphinx/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Debian apt - gstreamer1.0-pocketsphinx - 0.8+5prealpha+1-15+b4: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: gstreamer1.0-pocketsphinx from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Speech recognition tool - GStreamer plugin | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Debian apt - libpocketsphinx-dev - 0.8+5prealpha+1-15+b4: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: libpocketsphinx-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Speech recognition tool - front-end library development files | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Debian apt - libpocketsphinx3 - 0.8+5prealpha+1-15+b4: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: libpocketsphinx3 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Speech recognition tool - front-end library | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Debian apt - pocketsphinx - 0.8+5prealpha+1-15+b4: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: pocketsphinx from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Speech recognition tool | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Debian apt - pocketsphinx-en-us - 0.8+5prealpha+1-15: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: pocketsphinx-en-us from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Speech recognition tool - US English language model | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Debian apt - pocketsphinx-testdata - 0.8+5prealpha+1-15: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: pocketsphinx-testdata from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Speech recognition tool - test data for pocketsphinx | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Debian apt - swig-pocketsphinx - 0.8+5prealpha+1-15: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: swig-pocketsphinx from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Speech recognition tool - pocketsphinx swig helpers | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Nix - pocketsphinx: installed executable or alias match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/po/pocketsphinx/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - gstreamer1.0-pocketsphinx - 0.8.0+real5prealpha+1-15ubuntu5: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: gstreamer1.0-pocketsphinx from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Speech recognition tool - GStreamer plugin | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Ubuntu apt - libpocketsphinx-dev - 0.8.0+real5prealpha+1-15ubuntu5: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libpocketsphinx-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Speech recognition tool - front-end library development files | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Ubuntu apt - libpocketsphinx3 - 0.8.0+real5prealpha+1-15ubuntu5: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libpocketsphinx3 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Speech recognition tool - front-end library | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Ubuntu apt - pocketsphinx - 0.8.0+real5prealpha+1-15ubuntu5: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: pocketsphinx from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Speech recognition tool | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Ubuntu apt - pocketsphinx-en-us - 0.8.0+real5prealpha+1-15ubuntu5: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: pocketsphinx-en-us from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Speech recognition tool - US English language model | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Ubuntu apt - pocketsphinx-testdata - 0.8.0+real5prealpha+1-15ubuntu5: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: pocketsphinx-testdata from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Speech recognition tool - test data for pocketsphinx | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/
- Ubuntu apt - swig-pocketsphinx - 0.8.0+real5prealpha+1-15ubuntu5: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: swig-pocketsphinx from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Speech recognition tool - pocketsphinx swig helpers | http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/cmu-pocketsphinx.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/cmu-pocketsphinx.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph