sotto
| Crates.io | sotto |
| lib.rs | sotto |
| version | 1.3.0 |
| created_at | 2025-12-29 03:22:36.126051+00 |
| updated_at | 2026-01-12 20:09:18.352694+00 |
| description | Local speech-to-text transcription for Linux/Wayland using Whisper |
| homepage | |
| repository | https://github.com/Maciejonos/sotto |
| max_upload_size | |
| id | 2009898 |
| size | 459,028 |
Maciej (Maciejonos)
documentation
README
Sotto
Local speech-to-text transcription for Linux/Wayland using Whisper models.
Sotto runs entirely offline — your voice never leaves your machine. It uses whisper.cpp for fast, local transcription.
Demo
Settings panel
Features
- Fully local — no cloud services, no API keys, no internet required
- GPU accelerated — Vulkan support for NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel GPUs
- Voice activity detection — automatically filters silence
- Auto-paste — transcription typed directly at cursor via wtype
- Push-to-talk mode — hold a key to record, release to transcribe (requires input group)
- Spoken punctuation — say "period", "comma", "question mark" etc. to insert symbols
- Visual indicator — layer shell overlay shows recording time and status
- 12 Whisper models — from Tiny (78 MB) to Large-v3 (3.1 GB)
Installation
Arch Linux (AUR)
paru -S sotto-bin
AppImage
Download from Releases, make executable and run:
chmod +x Sotto-x86_64.AppImage
./Sotto-x86_64.AppImage
From source
sudo pacman -S gtk4 libadwaita gtk4-layer-shell pipewire wl-clipboard wtype vulkan-headers
cargo build --release
./target/release/sotto
Quick Start
- Launch
sottoto open the control panel - Download a model via "Manage Models"
- Select your input device and language
- Choose activation mode (Toggle or Push-to-talk)
- Enable the daemon toggle
- Configure your hotkey (see below)
- Press the hotkey to record, speak, then release/press again to transcribe
Activation Modes
Sotto supports two activation modes, configurable in the control panel:
Toggle Mode (default)
Uses compositor keybindings to send a signal. Press once to start recording, press again to transcribe.
Hyprland (~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf):
bind = $mainMod, V, exec, pkill -USR1 sotto
Niri (~/.config/niri/config.kdl):
binds {
Mod+V { spawn "pkill" "-USR1" "sotto"; }
}
Sway (~/.config/sway/config):
bindsym $mod+v exec pkill -USR1 sotto
Push-to-Talk Mode
Hold a key to record, release to transcribe. No compositor configuration needed. Requires user in input group:
sudo usermod -aG input $USER
Log out and back in for changes to take effect. Available hotkeys: INSERT (default), SCROLLLOCK, PAUSE, F13-F24, RIGHTALT, or any custom evdev key name.
CLI Usage
sotto # Open control panel
sotto daemon # Run daemon directly
sotto enable # Enable systemd user service
sotto disable # Disable systemd user service
Dependencies
| Runtime | Purpose |
|---|---|
| gtk4, libadwaita | Control panel |
| gtk4-layer-shell | Visual indicator overlay |
| pipewire | Audio capture |
| wtype | Auto-paste transcription |
| vulkan-icd-loader | GPU acceleration |
Models
Models are downloaded via the control panel and stored in ~/.local/share/sotto/models/.
| Model | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny / Tiny (EN) | 78 MB | Fastest, lower accuracy |
| Base / Base (EN) | 148 MB | Good balance (default) |
| Small / Small (EN) | 488 MB | Better accuracy |
| Medium / Medium (EN) | 1.5 GB | High accuracy |
| Large v1/v2/v3 | 3.1 GB | Best accuracy, slower |
| Large v3 Turbo | 1.6 GB | Fast + accurate |
English-only models (EN) are smaller and optimized for English speech.
Spoken Punctuation
Say punctuation out loud and it will be converted to symbols:
| Say | Insert |
|---|---|
| period, comma, colon, semicolon | . , : ; |
| question mark, exclamation mark | ? ! |
| open/close paren, bracket, brace | () [] {} |
| new line, new paragraph, tab | newlines, tabs |
| dash, hyphen, underscore | - _ |
| hash, asterisk, slash, pipe | # * / | |
License
MIT