Requirements
-q requires either -p (an inline prompt) or -i (a
prompt from a file or stdin) - it has nothing to respond to otherwise.
How to use it
Single run mode
Called "quiet mode" on the CLI (-q / --quiet): process one text input,
respond with text and audio, then exit. Built for automation, shell pipelines and scripts rather
than an interactive session.
Running it
Get a single response from a direct prompt
vtmate -q -p "Explain me the Zettelkasten Method"Get a single response from a prompt file
vtmate -q -i myprompt.txtGet a single response from stdin
echo "Is $(date) a national holiday day in Spain?" | vtmate -q -i -Get a single response and save it as audio plus text
echo "Can you find any suspicious processes in the next list? If so, why?\n\n $(ps aux | head -20)" | vtmate -q -i - -s
-s works here exactly as in conversation mode: the response is written to
~/.vtmate/conversations as text plus a .wav. See
Saving sessions for the file layout.
-q vs. reading from stdin
According to vtmate's own --help text, -i - (reading the prompt
from STDIN) already "runs in quiet mode" by itself - there is nowhere to keep listening for
more voice input once stdin has been consumed, so it behaves as a single run even without
-q explicitly passed. Passing -q alongside it, as in the examples
above, is the documented and explicit way to ask for that behavior, and is safe to keep doing
for clarity in scripts. This page does not go beyond what vtmate --help states
about that interaction - if you need the precise edge cases, vtmate --help is
the authoritative source.