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voculinux/README.md
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Jatin K MalikandGitHub 1dc1d44665 feat: Alpha Launch v0.2.0 - Complete UX Overhaul 🚀🎤 (#39)
* feat: prepare for v0.2.0-alpha release

* feat: prepare for v0.2.0-alpha release

* chore: remove CHANGELOG.md, use GitHub Releases instead

* refactor: use existing About dialog instead of Settings section

* style: enhance About dialog UI readability

* style: fix formatting with black and isort

* feat: show VAD and silence timeout settings for Whisper engine

- Renamed 'VOSK Settings' to 'Recognition Settings'
- VAD Sensitivity and Silence Timeout now apply to both engines
- Added tooltips explaining each setting
- VOSK-specific model info only shown when VOSK selected

* fix: resolve overlapping UI elements in settings dialog

* fix: save VAD and silence timeout settings for both engines

Previously these settings were only saved when VOSK was selected.
Now they persist correctly for Whisper as well.

* fix: show download progress when selecting undownloaded model

Previously when auto-applying settings, models would download silently
in the background without showing the progress dialog. Now:
- Download progress dialog appears for undownloaded models
- Model icons update correctly after download completes

* feat: add download progress, speed, ETA and cancel button

- Show real download progress percentage for VOSK models
- Display download speed (MB/s) and estimated time remaining
- Add Cancel button to abort downloads
- Update status during extraction phase
- Whisper downloads still pulse (uses internal downloader)

* fix: defer model download until needed, don't block startup

- App now starts instantly even if models aren't downloaded
- Models are downloaded on-demand when selected in Settings
- If user tries to dictate without a model, plays error sound
- Added model_ready property to check if engine is usable

* fix: improve first-run UX without downloaded models

- Settings dialog now defaults to smallest available model, not saved config
- Only show saved model if it's actually downloaded
- Add desktop notification when trying to dictate without a model
- Prevents auto-downloading large models on first launch

* feat: add download progress tracking for Whisper models

- Implement custom Whisper model download with progress/speed/ETA
- Uses OpenAI's CDN URLs directly instead of whisper.load_model()
- Progress callback works the same as VOSK downloads
- Supports cancellation during download

* fix: enable download progress callback for Whisper models

Progress callback was only being set for VOSK downloads, not Whisper.
Now both engines show real-time progress, speed, and ETA.

* fix: update tests for defer_download and config manager mocking

- test_main: Mock ConfigManager to prevent saved config from overriding test values
- test_settings_dialog: Mock ModelDownloadDialog to prevent GTK init errors
- test_speech_recognition: Use proper MockVoskModule class instead of MagicMock, pass defer_download=False for download test
- test_whisper_support: Pass defer_download=False to trigger model loading in test

* fix: resolve test failures for CI

- test_main: Fix ConfigManager patch path to use source module
- test_settings_dialog: Mock _is_vosk_model_downloaded and _is_whisper_model_downloaded to skip download flow, add missing dialog attributes
- test_speech_recognition: Replace recognizer with properly configured mock that returns valid JSON, fixing test isolation issues when running all tests together

* fix: mock _download_whisper_model in whisper test to avoid requests exception handling issue

* fix: add gir1.2-girepository-2.0 dep for PyGObject on Ubuntu 24.04

- Add missing girepository-2.0 package for newer Ubuntu runners
- Use --no-build-isolation for PyGObject to use system packages

* fix: skip PyGObject pip install, use system python3-gi package

- Use --no-deps for editable install to skip PyGObject
- Install other deps explicitly without PyGObject
- Add python3-gi-cairo for complete GTK support
- Removes problematic girepository-2.0 build requirement

* fix: install PyGObject via pip with proper build deps

- Remove python3-gi/python3-gi-cairo (doesn't work with setup-python)
- Install PyGObject from pip after installing build dependencies
- Simplify venv setup without --system-site-packages hack

* Fix GObject

* fix: set GI_TYPELIB_PATH for pip-installed PyGObject to find AppIndicator3
2025-12-28 15:29:51 -08:00

6.4 KiB

Vocalinux

Vocalinux CI codecov Status: Alpha License: GPL v3 Python 3.8+ Contributions welcome GitHub issues GitHub release

Vocalinux Users

A seamless voice dictation system for Linux, comparable to the built-in solutions on macOS and Windows.

🎉 Alpha Release! We're excited to share Vocalinux with the community. Try it out and let us know what you think!


✨ Features

  • 🎤 Double-tap Ctrl to start/stop voice dictation
  • ⚡ Real-time transcription with minimal latency
  • �� Universal compatibility across all Linux applications
  • 🔒 Offline operation for privacy and reliability (with VOSK)
  • 🤖 Optional Whisper AI support for enhanced accuracy
  • 🎨 System tray integration with visual status indicators
  • 🔊 Audio feedback for recording status
  • ⚙️ Graphical settings dialog for easy configuration

🚀 Quick Install

```bash git clone https://github.com/jatinkrmalik/vocalinux.git && cd vocalinux && ./install.sh ```

Or step by step:

```bash

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/jatinkrmalik/vocalinux.git cd vocalinux

Run the installer

./install.sh ```

The installer handles everything: system dependencies, Python environment, speech models, and desktop integration.

After Installation

```bash

Activate the virtual environment

source activate-vocalinux.sh

Run Vocalinux

vocalinux ```

Or launch it from your application menu!

📋 Requirements

  • OS: Ubuntu 22.04+ (other Linux distros may work)
  • Python: 3.8 or newer
  • Display: X11 or Wayland
  • Hardware: Microphone for voice input

🎙️ Usage

Voice Dictation

  1. Double-tap Ctrl to start recording
  2. Speak clearly into your microphone
  3. Double-tap Ctrl again (or pause speaking) to stop

Voice Commands

Command Action
"new line" Inserts a line break
"period" / "full stop" Types a period (.)
"comma" Types a comma (,)
"question mark" Types a question mark (?)
"exclamation mark" Types an exclamation mark (!)
"delete that" Deletes the last sentence
"capitalize" Capitalizes the next word

Command Line Options

```bash vocalinux --help # Show all options vocalinux --debug # Enable debug logging vocalinux --engine whisper # Use Whisper AI engine vocalinux --model medium # Use medium-sized model vocalinux --wayland # Force Wayland mode ```

⚙️ Configuration

Configuration is stored in `~/.config/vocalinux/config.json`:

```json { "speech_recognition": { "engine": "vosk", "model_size": "small", "vad_sensitivity": 3, "silence_timeout": 2.0 } } ```

You can also configure settings through the graphical Settings dialog (right-click the tray icon).

🔧 Development Setup

```bash

Clone and install in dev mode

git clone https://github.com/jatinkrmalik/vocalinux.git cd vocalinux ./install.sh --dev

Activate environment

source activate-vocalinux.sh

Run tests

pytest

Run from source with debug

python -m vocalinux.main --debug ```

📁 Project Structure

``` vocalinux/ ├── src/vocalinux/ # Main application code │ ├── speech_recognition/ # Speech recognition engines │ ├── text_injection/ # Text injection (X11/Wayland) │ ├── ui/ # GTK UI components │ └── utils/ # Utility functions ├── tests/ # Test suite ├── resources/ # Icons and sounds ├── docs/ # Documentation └── web/ # Website source ```

📖 Documentation

🗺️ Roadmap

  • Custom icon design ✅
  • Graphical settings dialog ✅
  • Whisper AI support ✅
  • Multi-language support
  • Application-specific commands
  • Debian/Ubuntu package (.deb)
  • Improved Wayland support
  • Voice command customization

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Whether it's bug reports, feature requests, or code contributions, please check out our Contributing Guide.

👨‍💻 Author

Jatin K Malik

⭐ Support

If you find Vocalinux useful, please consider:

  • ⭐ Starring this repository
  • 🐛 Reporting bugs you encounter
  • 📖 Improving documentation
  • 🔀 Contributing code

📜 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.


Made with ❤️ for the Linux community
github.com/jatinkrmalik/vocalinux