Voice-to-text desktop app — speak naturally, get polished text injected where your cursor is.

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Aurotype is a desktop app built with Tauri 2 (Rust) + React/TypeScript + a Python sidecar. Press a hotkey, speak, and the transcribed & polished text is automatically inserted at your cursor position.

Features

• 🎤 Push-to-talk recording via global hotkey (default: Ctrl+Alt+Space)
• 🗣️ Speech-to-text powered by Alibaba Cloud DashScope Paraformer (configurable)
• ✨ LLM polishing — cleans up filler words, fixes grammar, preserves mixed-language speech
• 📋 Smart paste fallback — copies text to clipboard when cursor isn't in an editable field
• 📜 Recording history — review and copy past transcriptions
• 🔌 OpenAI-compatible LLM — works with DeepSeek, OpenAI, vLLM, Ollama, LM Studio, etc.
• 🔒 Privacy first — all recordings, transcription history, and settings are stored locally on your machine. Nothing is uploaded except to your configured STT/LLM API endpoints.

Installation

Aurotype currently supports Windows.

1. Download the latest .exe or .msi installer from the GitHub Releases page. Both options work; pick the one you prefer.
2. Run the installer and follow the prompts.
3. Once launched, the app runs in your system tray.

Quick Start

Follow these steps for your first successful voice transcription:

1. Launch Aurotype — The app appears in the system tray (bottom-right). Click the tray icon to open Settings.
2. Check Engine Status — At the top of the Settings page, confirm that "Engine Status" shows Connected (green). If it shows disconnected, wait a few seconds for the engine to start.
3. Configure STT (Speech-to-Text) — In the "STT Provider" section:
   • Provider: Alibaba Cloud DashScope (default).
   • API Key: Paste your DashScope API key (get one at https://dashscope.console.aliyun.com/).
   • Model: paraformer-realtime-v2 (default).
   • Click Test Connection — It should show "Success!".
4. Configure LLM (Text Polishing) — In the "LLM Provider" section:
   • Provider: DeepSeek (default) or OpenAI Compatible.
   • If DeepSeek: Paste your DeepSeek API key (get one at https://platform.deepseek.com/).
   • If OpenAI Compatible: Set your Base URL, API key, and model name (works with OpenAI, vLLM, Ollama, LM Studio, etc.).
   • Click Test Connection — It should show "Success!".
5. Try it! — Press Ctrl+Alt+Space (default hotkey), speak naturally, and press Ctrl+Alt+Space again to stop. A floating overlay shows the recording status and transcription progress. The polished text is automatically pasted at your cursor position. If no text field is focused, the text is copied to your clipboard.

Hotkey

• Default: Ctrl+Alt+Space (toggle mode — press to start, press again to stop).
• Alternative mode: "Hold to Record" (hold key to record, release to stop).
• Change these settings in the Settings → Hotkey section.
• Available shortcuts: Ctrl+Alt+Space, Ctrl+Shift+Space, Ctrl+Shift+A, Ctrl+Shift+R, Ctrl+Shift+V, Ctrl+Space, F9, F10.

Architecture

src/              → React 19 + TypeScript frontend (Vite 7)
src-tauri/src/    → Rust/Tauri 2 backend (hotkeys, tray, sidecar, text injection)
engine/           → Python 3.12 sidecar (FastAPI + uvicorn, STT/LLM providers)

Tauri spawns the Python engine as a sidecar process. They communicate over HTTP on localhost (dynamic port).

Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Bun (or Node.js)
• Rust (stable)
• Python 3.12+ with uv

Setup & Run

make setup          # Install frontend + Python dependencies
make dev            # Run full app (Tauri + Vite + Python sidecar)

To run the Python engine standalone: make engine-dev

To build a release installer: bun run tauri build

Configuration (Environment Variables)

Most users should configure Aurotype through the in-app Settings page (see Quick Start above). Environment variables are for advanced use or automation. Alternatively, use variables with the AUROTYPE_ prefix:

Variable	Default	Description
AUROTYPE_STT_PROVIDER	aliyun_dashscope	Speech-to-text provider
AUROTYPE_LLM_PROVIDER	deepseek	LLM provider for text polishing
AUROTYPE_ALIYUN_DASHSCOPE_API_KEY	—	Alibaba Cloud DashScope API key (for STT)
AUROTYPE_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY	—	DeepSeek API key
AUROTYPE_OPENAI_API_KEY	—	OpenAI-compatible API key
AUROTYPE_LLM_BASE_URL	—	Custom LLM endpoint URL
AUROTYPE_LLM_MODEL	—	Override LLM model name
AUROTYPE_SYSTEM_PROMPT	—	Custom system prompt for polishing
AUROTYPE_LANGUAGE	auto	Target language

Development

Testing

# Python
cd engine && uv run pytest ../tests/ -v

# TypeScript
bunx tsc --noEmit

# Rust
cd src-tauri && cargo test
cd src-tauri && cargo clippy -- -D warnings

CI

GitHub Actions runs on every push to main and on pull requests: Python tests, TypeScript type check, Rust check + clippy.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.