QuillSpeak

QuillSpeak is a local-first push-to-talk voice transcription app for Linux desktops.

Hold a trigger, speak, release, and QuillSpeak transcribes your voice with a local whisper.cpp model. The final text can be copied to the clipboard, passed through a script, or pasted into the focused app through normal Linux desktop tools.

Documentation | Releases | Issues | License

What It Is For

QuillSpeak is meant for local voice typing on Linux:

• push-to-talk dictation,
• fast transcription into text fields,
• per-shortcut model, language, trigger, and output settings,
• scriptable post-processing such as translation or rewriting,
• clipboard copy and optional paste shortcuts.

It is not a cloud transcription service. Audio is recorded locally and transcribed locally with downloaded whisper.cpp models.

Where It Works

QuillSpeak is built for Linux desktop sessions with GTK4 and libadwaita.

• X11: QuillSpeak can capture configured global keyboard shortcuts directly.
• Wayland: use compositor keybindings or an external hotkey tool to call quillspeak trigger.
• Mixed Wayland/X11 sessions: QuillSpeak uses Wayland-style external triggers.

The app records audio through CPAL and can use PipeWire or PulseAudio audio hosts depending on the system.

Install

Download Debian/Ubuntu packages from GitHub Releases.

• quillspeak: default package with Vulkan whisper.cpp support and CPU fallback.
• quillspeak-cpu: CPU-only package for simpler systems.

Runtime clipboard and paste features may need:

sudo apt install wl-clipboard xclip xdotool ydotool

Speaker mute while recording may need:

sudo apt install wireplumber pipewire-bin

Limits

• Linux desktop only.
• Wayland global keyboard capture must be handled by an external hotkey tool.
• Direct text insertion is not implemented; paste uses the system clipboard as transport.
• A downloaded whisper.cpp model is required before transcription.
• Do not run the main app with sudo.

Documentation

Start with the full documentation site:

• Getting Started
• Settings Reference
• Triggers on X11 and Wayland
• Scripts, Clipboard, and Paste
• Troubleshooting

Build From Source

Install Debian/Ubuntu build dependencies:

sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config cmake clang libclang-dev \
  libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libpipewire-0.3-dev \
  libgtk-4-dev libadwaita-1-dev

Run from the workspace:

cargo run -p quillspeak --bin quillspeak

Useful checks:

cargo fmt --all --check
cargo check --workspace
cargo test --workspace
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
git diff --check

License

QuillSpeak is free software under the MIT License. See LICENSE.