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voculinux/docs/UPDATE.md
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Jatin K MalikandGitHub f48bdda525 docs: improve project documentation for a clearer public surface (#634) 
* docs: polish project documentation for a clearer public surface

Rewrite the README and supporting docs for a more professional first
impression: less emoji and badge noise, install-first structure, and a
real documentation index. Add a Contributor Covenant, tighten SECURITY
and GitHub templates, and make distro/update guides read as product docs
instead of internal status notes.

* docs: split install guide and add changelog plus support pages

Break INSTALL.md into a short primary guide, manual/PyPI package lists,
and troubleshooting. Add root CHANGELOG.md and SUPPORT.md, wire them
into the docs index and README, and drop the outdated screenshot lag note
now that v0.15 assets are on main.

* docs: humanize PR copy and remove em dashes

Strip em/en dashes from the documentation rewritten in this PR, fix
mid-sentence colon fallout from that pass, and smooth a few stiff
phrases so the public docs read more natural.

* docs: list Faster Whisper after rebase onto main

Installer and CLI already accept faster_whisper. Document it next to
the other engines, drop the outdated screenshot lag note, and keep the
on-device wording honest for local vs remote.
2026-09-07 22:51:14 -07:00

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Updating Vocalinux

How to upgrade an existing install, plus release notes for the current series.

Quick update

Vocalinux checks GitHub Releases in the background about every six hours (and shortly after startup). When a newer build is on your selected channel, the tray menu gains an Update Available... entry and Settings -> About shows a green New badge; open that page for release notes and download links. Updates are not installed automatically. Re-run the installer (or your package manager) as below.

Official installer

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VocaHQ/vocalinux/main/install.sh -o /tmp/vl.sh
bash /tmp/vl.sh

The installer detects a running instance, updates in place, preserves configuration and models, and pulls new dependencies (including neural VAD when available).

Installed from source

cd vocalinux
git fetch origin
git checkout v0.16.2
./install.sh

Latest development tree:

cd vocalinux
git pull origin main
./install.sh

Other install methods

Method Upgrade
AUR yay -S vocalinux (or your AUR helper)
AppImage Download the new file from Releases
Snap sudo snap refresh vocalinux (channel --edge until stable is promoted)
Flatpak (release bundle) Install the new .flatpak from Releases; bundles do not auto-update
PyPI Reinstall in the same venv after system packages are current

Check your version

vocalinux --version
# or
python3 -c "import vocalinux; print(vocalinux.version.__version__)"

Update problems

Clean reinstall (keeps config and models by default):

./uninstall.sh --keep-config --keep-data
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VocaHQ/vocalinux/main/install.sh -o /tmp/vl.sh
bash /tmp/vl.sh

If an old process is stuck, stop via the tray or the PID in the instance lock file (do not use pkill -f vocalinux; it can kill unrelated processes):

kill "$(tr -d '[:space:]' < "${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/vocalinux/instance.lock")"
# If you use IBus injection:
kill "$(tr -d '[:space:]' < "${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/vocalinux-ibus/engine.pid")"
vocalinux

Missing system packages: see INSTALL.md or DISTRO_COMPATIBILITY.md.

What's New in v0.16.2

0.16.2 is a stability patch on the 0.16 series. The feature set is the same as 0.16.x. This release fixes KDE leftover IBus so dictation types into real apps, Wayland and IBus keyboard shortcuts through wtype/ydotool, real BackSpace for "delete that", Fedora/Arch installer glslc packages, nightly version stamping, and release integrity pins. CI now gates AUR PKGBUILD builds and the distros the docs promise.

0.16 series highlights

Feature Description
Update checker Settings → About checks stable/nightly; tray shows Update Available for newer GitHub releases (#631, #645)
Right Alt PTT default New installs default to hold Right Alt (push-to-talk); existing configs keep their shortcut (#648)
Searchable languages Type to filter the Speech Model language list (#672)
Delete unused models Remove leftover downloaded speech models from Settings (#671)
AGPL-3.0 License aligned with other VocaHQ projects (#660)
Family mic icons App icon, tray states, and site favicons use the shared Voca family mic (#704)
Tone picker Settings → Audio: Lift, Flick, Ember, Step, Voca, Soft, Chirp, Scale, Drop, Glass, Off, plus Preview. New installs default to Voca. Catalog uses family preview WAVs (#707, #708)
Installer Justfile, uv lockfiles, distro python3-gi required (no pip sdist of PyGObject). Epic #701 still open (#700, #705, #706)

Bug fixes in v0.16.2

  • KDE inject: skip leftover IBus when it is not the session IM so dictation types into Kate, browsers, and terminals (#753 by @jatinkrmalik, fixes #752 by @justTravis)
  • Wayland shortcuts: wtype and ydotool deliver real chords instead of refusing or silently doing nothing (#715 by @eiseleb47)
  • IBus shortcuts: route X11_IBUS through xdotool and WAYLAND_IBUS through wtype/ydotool (#716 by @eiseleb47)
  • Delete that: send real BackSpace key events instead of U+0008 text (#714 by @eiseleb47)
  • Installer: Fedora and Arch need glslc/shaderc packages, not glslang (#763 by @jatinkrmalik, see #604)
  • Nightly: stamp version.py before python -m build so wheel metadata matches the filename (#762 by @sesav)
  • Release integrity: checksums, signatures, and pinned builders for release artifacts (#759 by @sesav, epic #701 phase 5)
  • CI: gate AUR PKGBUILD builds on every PR (#772 by @sesav)
  • CI / docs: test the distros the docs promise and fix docs drift (#773 by @sesav)
  • Site: VocaGateway family card is Beta; README logo, badges, and privacy copy (#765 by @jatinkrmalik, #764)

See the full changelog.

What's New in v0.16.1

0.16.1 is a stability patch on the 0.16 series. The feature set is the same as 0.16.x. This release fixes wrong-model startup, leftover tray state after toggle stop, paste into terminals, GNOME XWayland layout after inject, and AppImages that needed a glibc newer than Debian 12. The installer now requires Python 3.11 and verifies model downloads.

0.16 series highlights

Feature Description
Update checker Settings → About checks stable/nightly; tray shows Update Available for newer GitHub releases (#631, #645)
Right Alt PTT default New installs default to hold Right Alt (push-to-talk); existing configs keep their shortcut (#648)
Searchable languages Type to filter the Speech Model language list (#672)
Delete unused models Remove leftover downloaded speech models from Settings (#671)
AGPL-3.0 License aligned with other VocaHQ projects (#660)
Family mic icons App icon, tray states, and site favicons use the shared Voca family mic (#704)
Tone picker Settings → Audio: Lift, Flick, Ember, Step, Voca, Soft, Chirp, Scale, Drop, Glass, Off, plus Preview. New installs default to Voca. Catalog uses family preview WAVs (#707, #708)
Installer Justfile, uv lockfiles, distro python3-gi required (no pip sdist of PyGObject). Epic #701 still open (#700, #705, #706)

Bug fixes in v0.16.1

  • Startup: resolve model size per engine instead of the leftover generic model_size key, so a VOSK save does not make whisper.cpp look for a missing medium model (#684 by @kacperpaczos, fixes #681)
  • Settings: save the model only after the engine loaded it, so a cancelled or failed download does not leave config pointing at a file that is not on disk (#685 by @kacperpaczos)
  • Settings: unused downloads list sized to its real rows so leftover models are not clipped (#686 by @kacperpaczos, fixes #683)
  • Config: one ConfigManager for the process so Settings writes are not overwritten by a stale cache (#691 by @kacperpaczos, fixes #689)
  • Tray: stay idle after leftover transcription on toggle stop (#741)
  • Tray: the missing-model notification can download the recommended model (#687 by @kacperpaczos)
  • Injection: Ctrl+Shift+V when pasting into terminals, so Ctrl+V is not treated as verbatim insert (#734)
  • IBus: sync the XWayland layout from GNOME after scoped inject (#742)
  • Installer: survive a release without a checksum manifest; stop inventing GPUs (#736 by @sesav)
  • Installer: leftover engine repair, just --no-sync, ggml verify from #713 (#732)
  • AppImage: build against a glibc floor Debian 12 can run; boot tests on six distros (#743, #744 by @sesav)
  • Installer: Python 3.11 floor, uv tooling, verified model downloads (epic #701 phases 2.5 and 5) (#713 by @sesav)
  • Settings / About: even dropdowns, quieter About, family platform marks (#754)
  • AUR: python -m build --no-isolation works with Arch extra setuptools 84 (was capped at <82, AUR comment by simona). Skip context_params on AUR pywhispercpp 1.4.x so startup no longer dies with whisper_full_params (AUR comments by avocadoboat, Masalababa; GitHub #625)
  • Docs: canonical VocaHQ Discord invite; VocaWin is unsigned beta; screenshots page says v0.16; README family/on-device copy (#749, #733, #735, #737)

See the full changelog.

What's New in v0.16.0

0.16.0 is a minor release on the stable line. It adds an in-app update checker with tray notifications, defaults new installs to hold Right Alt push-to-talk, makes the language picker searchable, lets you delete unused downloaded models, and adds a family dictation tone picker. The license is AGPL-3.0. The installer is hardened (Justfile, uv lockfiles, distro python3-gi). The app icon, tray states, and site favicons use the shared Voca family mic.

Highlights

Feature Description
Update checker Settings → About checks stable/nightly; tray shows Update Available for newer GitHub releases (#631, #645)
Right Alt PTT default New installs default to hold Right Alt (push-to-talk); existing configs keep their shortcut (#648)
Searchable languages Type to filter the Speech Model language list (#672)
Delete unused models Remove leftover downloaded speech models from Settings (#671)
AGPL-3.0 License aligned with other VocaHQ projects (#660)
Family mic icons App icon, tray states, and site favicons use the shared Voca family mic (#704)
Tone picker Settings → Audio: Lift, Flick, Ember, Step, Voca, Soft, Chirp, Scale, Drop, Glass, Off, plus Preview. New installs default to Voca. Catalog uses family preview WAVs (#707, #708)
Installer Justfile, uv lockfiles, distro python3-gi required (no pip sdist of PyGObject). Epic #701 still open (#700, #705, #706)

New Features

  • In-app update checker: Settings → About with stable/nightly channels (#631)
  • Update notifications: Tray menu Update Available entry and About badge when a newer release exists (#645)
  • Right Alt push-to-talk default: New installs only; existing configs are unchanged (#648)
  • Searchable language combobox: Filter the long language list by name or code (#672, fixes #652)
  • Delete unused models: Remove leftover downloaded speech models from Settings (#671, fixes #650)
  • Disable missing-tray warning: Settings toggle for desktops that false-positive the tray check (#628, fixes #620)
  • Family mic icons: App icon, tray states, and site favicons use the shared Voca family mic instead of the old Linux rounded-rect (#704)
  • Family dictation tone picker: Settings → Audio dropdown (Lift, Flick, Ember, Step, Voca, Soft, Chirp, Scale, Drop, Glass, Off) plus Preview. New installs and unknown saved names default to Voca. A saved catalog id, including Off, is left alone. Enable remains the master mute; Off skips start/stop only (#707)
  • About page: Settings → About groups this app, VocaHQ family sites, and talk-to-us (GitHub issues, Discord, X, email) (#718)

Bug Fixes

  • IBus: Require a restorable engine for scoped injection (#623); restore engine after register_component teardown (#643, fixes #558); restore XKB layout after scoped injection on X11 (#665, fixes #664)
  • Injection: Stop typing test during the wtype probe (#627, fixes #622)
  • whisper.cpp: Skip unsupported context_params on pywhispercpp 1.4 (#626, fixes #625); use CUDA device 0 when CUDA-backed (#636); honor bundled GPU libs and skip software Vulkan devices (#674)
  • Audio: Filter unsafe virtual capture devices (#629, fixes #624); open stereo mics at native channel count (#673, fixes #666); catalog tones are the family preview WAVs, not the synthesized #707 files. generate_sounds.py does not clobber catalog ids (#708)
  • Tray / Settings: Prefer Ayatana AppIndicator on KDE (#621); reuse Settings/Logs windows (#669, fixes #653); separate Close from Test Dictation (#670, fixes #651)
  • Settings: Test Dictation no longer reports no speech when recognition never started (missing model / auto-pause / live engine out of sync) (#702)
  • Clipboard: Restore after ydotool clipboard-paste (#588); text-only reads and safer overlapping restore (#646)
  • AppImage: Ship transitive GI typelibs for non-Debian hosts (also hotfixed onto the v0.15.0 AppImages on 2026-08-03) (#637); pin pywhispercpp to the version install.sh declares so a newer PyPI wheel cannot break the Vulkan rebuild (#718)
  • Installer: Distro python3-gi is required; pip no longer builds PyGObject from sdist. Unset XDG_SESSION_TYPE / XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP no longer crash under set -u (#706)
  • Installer / downloads / tests: Gate util-linux-extra to Ubuntu 24.04+ (#635, fixes #526); report failed model downloads (#690); stop the suite from overwriting real config.json (#694)

Docs / maintenance

  • Website screenshot refresh for v0.15 (#630)
  • Prefer Ayatana AppIndicator in Fedora/Arch packaging hints (#638)
  • CUDA device 0 note for dual NVIDIA (#644)
  • Discord and VocaHQ README shields; VocaHQ URL migration; VocaGateway rename (#695, #696, #697)
  • Discord invite and X handle point at VocaHQ (#722)
  • vocalinux.com restyled to the Voca family workbench; Open Graph card uses the flat Tux (#728, #729)
  • Website copy drops the stale 100% offline claim and marks VocaWin as alpha on the site (#717)
  • Codeberg mirror tag force-push (#633)
  • Installer hardening, Justfile in place of Makefile, and uv lockfiles with pinned build inputs. Epic #701 remains open (#700, #705 by @sesav)

See the full changelog.

Older releases

Notes for v0.15.0 and earlier live on GitHub Releases:

Full history: https://github.com/VocaHQ/vocalinux/releases

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