hyprwhspr

Native speech-to-text for Linux - Fast, accurate and private system-wide dictation

instant performance | Cohere / Parakeet / Whisper / Gemini / ElevenLabs / REST API | stylish visuals

Supports Arch, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE and more

hyprwhspr.com

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4c223e85-2916-494f-b7b1-766ce1bdc991

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• Built for Linux - Native AUR package for Arch, or use Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/openSUSE
• Local, very fast defaults - Instant, private and accurate performance via in-memory models
• Latest models - Cohere Transcribe? Turbo-v3? Parakeet TDT V3? Latest and greatest
• GPU memory efficient - Limit or zero memory usage easily, more for other local models
• onnx-asr for wild CPU speeds - No GPU? Optimized for great speed on any hardware
• Translation - Translate non-English to English with a single config
• REST API or websockets - Secure, fast wires to top clouds like Gemini, ElevenLabs
• Themed visualizer - Visualizes your voice, will automatch Omarchy theme
• Word overides and prompts - Custom hot keys, common words, and more
• Multi-lingual - Great performance in many languages
• Long form mode with saving - Pause, think, resume, pause: submit... Bam!
• Auto-paste anywhere - Instant paste into any active buffer, or even auto enter (optional)
• Audio ducking 🦆 - Reduces system volume on record (optional)

Quick start

Prerequisites

• Linux with systemd (Arch, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, etc.)

• Requires a Wayland session (GNOME, KDE Plasma Wayland, Sway, Hyprland)

• Waybar (optional, for status bar)

• gtk4 + PyCairo (optional, for visualizer)

• NVIDIA GPU (optional, for CUDA acceleration)

• AMD/Intel GPU / APU (optional, for Vulkan acceleration)

Quick start (Arch Linux)

On the AUR:

# Install for stable
yay -S hyprwhspr

# Or install for bleeding edge
yay -S hyprwhspr-git

Then run the auto installer, or perform your own:

# Run interactive setup
hyprwhspr setup

The setup will walk you through the process:

1. ✅ Configure transcription backend (Cohere Transcribe, Parakeet TDT V3, Whisper, REST API, or Realtime WebSocket)
2. ✅ Download models
3. ✅ Configure themed visualizer for maximum coolness (optional)
4. ✅ Configure Waybar integration (optional)
5. ✅ Set up systemd user services
6. ✅ Set up permissions
7. ✅ Validate installation

First use

Ensure your microphone of choice is available in audio settings!

1. Log out and back in (for group permissions)
2. Press Super+Alt+D to start dictation - beep!
3. Speak naturally
4. Press Super+Alt+D again to stop dictation - boop!
5. Bam! Text appears in active buffer!

What you'll see while recording: on layer-shell compositors (Hyprland, Sway, niri, KDE) the animated mic OSD overlay; on GNOME/Mutter the same status shows as desktop notifications instead. See Themed visualizer for details.

Any snags, please create an issue.

Updating

# Update via your AUR helper
yay -Syu hyprwhspr

# If needed, re-run setup (idempotent)
hyprwhspr setup

Other Linux distros

hyprwhspr can run on any Linux distribution with systemd.

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/goodroot/hyprwhspr.git
cd hyprwhspr

# Install dependencies for your distro (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE)
./scripts/install-deps.sh

# Run interactive setup
./bin/hyprwhspr setup

After setup, log out and back in for group permissions, then:

hyprwhspr status

Non-Arch distro support is new - please report any snags!

CLI commands

After installation, use the hyprwhspr CLI to manage your installation:

• hyprwhspr setup - Interactive initial setup
• hyprwhspr config - Manage configuration (show / show --all / edit / secondary-shortcut)
• hyprwhspr model - Manage models (download / list / status / unload / reload)
• hyprwhspr record - External hotkey control (start / stop / toggle / cancel / capture / status)
• hyprwhspr status - Overall status check
• hyprwhspr validate - Validate installation
• hyprwhspr test - Test microphone and transcription end-to-end
• hyprwhspr keyboard - List/test keyboard devices (list / test)
• hyprwhspr waybar - Manage Waybar integration
• hyprwhspr mic-osd - Enable/disable the mic OSD (enable / disable / status)
• hyprwhspr systemd - Manage systemd services
• hyprwhspr uninstall - Remove hyprwhspr and user data

For the full command reference, see the Configuration guide.

Documentation

For full configuration and customization, see the Configuration guide.

• Minimal configuration
• Recording modes -- toggle, push-to-talk, auto, long-form
• Custom hotkeys -- key support, secondary shortcuts, Hyprland bindings
• Backends -- Cohere Transcribe, Parakeet, Whisper, REST API, Realtime WebSocket
• GPU resource management -- unload/reload model to free VRAM
• Audio and visual feedback -- visualizer, audio feedback, ducking
• Text processing -- word overrides, filler words, symbol replacements
• Paste and clipboard behavior -- paste mode, non-QWERTY, auto-submit
• Integrations -- Waybar, Hyprland bindings, external hotkey systems
• Troubleshooting

Getting help

1. Check logs: journalctl --user -u hyprwhspr.service
2. Verify permissions: Run the permissions fix script
3. Test components: Check ydotool, audio devices, whisper.cpp
4. Report issues: Create an issue - logging info helpful!

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.

Contributing

Create an issue, happy to help!

For pull requests, also best to start with an issue.

If you want, compute credits from opub.dev are always welcome!

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Built with ❤️ in 🇨🇦