Human Hook Protocol — BackHook
The one doing the work is your AI —
yet you're the one still watching the screen.
You hand off a long task and try to move to something else. But you don't know when it will finish, so before you know it, you're back at the screen — again and again.
A few minutes to make coffee. You come back and the AI is stuck at "do you approve?", still waiting for you. Yours wasn't the only thing that went cold.
Running a second one was supposed to double your pace. But you can't watch two screens at once. You could have been doing something else the whole time — it was never the AI holding you back. It was only having one pair of eyes.
The problem was never your focus.
Your AI simply never had a voice to call you back.
BackHook becomes that voice.
The moment your AI stops, it calls you back — in your AI's own voice.You don't have to watch the screen anymore. Your time comes back from it.Stop watching the screen. Get called back.
This is real BackHook audio. Your AI calls out to you with any voice, any emotion, in its own words.
It speaks to you like this, on your terms, whenever you decide.
And this voice needs nothing new. The best AI you're already using simply gains a voice, as it is.
Chapter 02 — The voice, and the reasoning
An AI that can speak has to give up "reasoning."
An AI that talks in real time is a non-reasoning model.
A high-performance reasoning AI can't speak instantly.
── BackHook keeps these separate.
your flagship AI
BackHook
No real-time voice model. No API fees. No local voice LLM. No voice-conversion software. No huge memory. No GPU ── none of it required.
Chapter 03 — Setup
Install and launch
There are only three things to do: choose where it lives, install it, and launch it. No difficult configuration. Follow the steps and you're done in minutes.
Step 1 — ChooseWhere should it live?
The only difference is where it lives — both do exactly the same things. Pick whichever fits how you work. You can always switch later.
Lives on your PC
Install it once and open it anytime from the Start menu. Best if you always use the same PC.
Take it anywhere
Just unzip it. Move the whole folder to another PC and it still works. Best if you move around.
Step 2 — InstallInstall the one you chose
The only tricky part is the very first time. Get past it once, and it never comes up again.
- Get started.For the installer, run the downloaded EXE. For portable, unzip the ZIP and open the folder.
- Get past the Windows warning.If you see "Windows protected your PC," don't worry — select "More info," then select the "Run anyway" that appears. This is just a precaution for apps that aren't widely known yet. It isn't dangerous.
- Agree to the terms.The installer asks partway through setup; the portable version asks on the first screen it opens. Read and agree, and setup is complete.
※ The exact wording may vary slightly by Windows version. Treat this as a reference example. Once you get past it, this confirmation won't appear again.
Step 3 — LaunchLaunching opens the settings screen
Once installed, launch it. From the Start menu for the installer, or from the icon inside the folder for portable. Launching opens the settings screen — where you decide the voice, the timing, everything from here on. You'll use this screen from the next chapter onward.
You can choose whether the settings screen opens automatically every time you launch. You can also leave it closed and open it yourself only when you need to.
Chapter 06 — Settings
Fit it to your life
Your AI doesn't call you the same way every time. You can change how the voice reaches you to fit your life.
Pause calls temporarily
Turn calls off before a meeting. Your AI keeps working in the background, but stays silent. Turn it back on when you're done — any calls made while paused still stay in the history, so you can check them later.
Notify with sound only, no voice
After your family is asleep, you're still working. You want to be called, but a voice isn't an option. Switch to "sound only" and a short tone lets you know instead of a voice. Switch the voice back on in the morning.
Ring a cue before the voice
When your hands are full, a voice starting suddenly means you miss the first words. With the pre-bell, a short cue rings before the voice, giving you a moment to turn around before it starts talking. You can choose the cue sound and the gap before the voice.
Fine-tune the small cues
Ringtone
When you want a cue sound separate from the voice ── choose a ringtone. Pick the sound, how many times it plays, and the interval (a separate setting from the pre-bell, which plays before the voice).
Message log
For anything you missed ── look back at what was said and when, play it again as voice, or export it to an audio file. Older history is deleted automatically after however many days you set.
Output device
Where the sound plays from ── your PC speakers, or headphones. Choose the output device.
Chapter 07 — Making it yours
Shape your AI to your preferences
You can write and hand your AI both "how you want it to speak" and "when you want it to call." What you write becomes the single most important guide your AI receives — and your AI builds its behavior on top of it.
Behavior settingsTell your AI how to speak
Say you want your code review results reported by voice. Just write how you want it spoken in behavior settings, and your AI speaks exactly as written.
"Be gentle, keep it short — just the key points"
"Nice work today. The review's done. Only three spots to fix."
How you're addressed can also change by situation ("Mr./Ms. [name]" while working, first name for casual chat). Ways of adding variation, like "say it a little differently each time," work the same way. Anything a preset can't cover — a quirk like "end sentences with 'nya'" or "speak in Kansai dialect" — goes in free text. Timing settings have free text too.
A tip on names ── for proper nouns with unusual pronunciation, adding a phonetic hint in the free text field helps your AI say them correctly. Words like AI or Codex are fine as they are.
Timing settingsTell your AI when you want it to call you
During long autonomous work — repeated errors, a stalled process, a decision that needs you — do you want to be called by voice, or left in quiet? Timing settings let you decide, situation by situation.
"You've been at this a while — want to take a break?" ── your AI can reach out to you on its own, too. When it's concerned, or when it finds something interesting. Not something watching over you, but a companion by your side.
Deliver it to your AIAsk it to "call init"
Once you've finished writing, tell your AI, "try calling init." When your AI calls init, your settings reach it. Change your settings, and asking it to "call init" again switches it to the new settings.
There's also a mode that resends the latest settings every single call (every-time mode), though it costs slightly more. For most everyday use, init mode is enough. To make your AI's voice more expressive, ask it to "read help," and add "add feeling to it" — your AI will learn to use laughs, sighs, and pacing to match the moment.
A little more polish, once it's grown
The basics above are enough on their own. Only touch what you find yourself wanting to adjust after using it.
Voice texture
If the voice feels flat ── raise the emotional expression a bit.
If it feels stiff or overly formal ── shift the politeness toward something softer.
If it's too fast, too slow, or hard to hear ── adjust the speaking speed, audio quality, or language.
How often it calls
If it calls too much or too little ── raise or lower the frequency.
If a call doesn't get through ── set how often, and how many times, it follows up with re-calls.
If you don't want important actions to proceed on their own ── require approval first.
Whether your AI can choose the voice, speed, language, and audio quality for each call is something you permit item by item (per-call overrides). For example: "let the AI choose the speed, but keep the voice fixed." We recommend reserving voice overrides for moments like celebrations or emergencies, and otherwise keeping the voice you chose in Chapter 05.
Apart, and still in step
From here on, this is advanced use. Read on only where it applies to you.
Away from your PC and want to hear your AI's reports as voice ── turn on full voice replies. Your AI delivers every response as voice too. While cooking, or in another room, you can follow progress by voice alone.
Once you're running multiple AIs at the same time ── having each one introduce itself at the start ("This is Claude," "This is Codex") lets you tell which AI is calling the moment you hear it.
More on voice
Use a different voice ── beyond the standard voices, you can also use cloud voices like OpenAI's. This needs an API key, a model, and a voice selection. Useful when you want to try something beyond the standard set.
Audio quality mode ── when multiple voices are available, choose which to prioritize (local first, cloud first, or custom). Decide based on your network, cost, and voice preference.
These settings reach your AI as a voice-enabled system prompt. Your AI reads it and speaks exactly as written, calling you exactly at the timing you set.
Chapter 04 — Connect
Connect to your AI
There's no difficult configuration. Copy the information from "AI Cooperation" in the settings screen and hand it to the AI you're using. Your AI reads it and connects itself.
Step 1 — CopyCopy the connection info
Open "AI Cooperation" in the settings screen and press "Copy settings info." That's all you need to connect your AI.
Step 2 — Hand it overGive it to the AI you use
Paste the copied information into your AI's settings. Where you paste it differs slightly by AI, so pick the one you use from the tabs below.
Add this to your Codex configuration file.
Add this to Claude's MCP configuration.
Any MCP-compatible AI connects the same way.
The code above is a reference for the format. The exact value is in the information you copied — your AI will read it in whatever form fits.
Step 3 — EnableRestart your AI to enable it
Pasting and saving alone isn't enough. MCP doesn't start working just by being registered — you need to restart the AI (app or IDE) you're using once for it to take effect. Just restart it once.
Step 4 — ConfirmCheck that it's connected
After restarting, ask your AI to confirm. Try asking, "Is BackHook ready to use?" If you get a reply like "Yes, it's ready," you're connected. If there's no reply or something isn't working, see the last chapter, "Troubleshooting and way back."
Chapter 05 — First voice
Hear the first voice
You've come this far — now all that's left is to try it. Choose your AI's voice and play its first call. From this moment, instead of waiting, you get called.
- Choose a voice.Pick your AI's voice from 10 options.
- Play a test.Use the test playback on the settings screen to hear it right there. Try it as many times as you like.
- Check the history.Every call you play stays in the history — you can listen to it again anytime.
The voice you choose becomes fixed as your AI's voice. You can change the tone and timing in settings, but the voice itself doesn't change. So take your time choosing.
Chapter 08 — Troubleshooting
Even if you get lost, you can come back
Last, just the places people tend to get stuck, and how to find your way back. Know these, and there's nothing to fear about getting started.
No sound?
Check that BackHook itself is running, and that calls are set to "on" with "voice." It may be set to not produce sound.
Feel like your settings aren't taking effect?
Ask your AI to "try calling init" again. Your settings may simply not have reached the AI yet. If nothing changes, asking it to "read help" lets your AI relearn how to use its voice on its own.
Do I need to install model runtimes, Node, or Python separately?
No. Everything needed to run it is already included. Just unzip it or install it.
Where do I open the settings screen?
The installer version opens from the Start menu; the portable version opens from inside the folder. You can change the voice and timing here anytime.
How do I open this guide again?
There's an entry point to this guide inside the settings screen. You can always come back to it.
Once you know the way back, there's nothing to fear
If you get stuck, come back to the settings screen. That's all you need to remember. From here, your everyday life shifts — from watching over your AI, to being called by it.