Syllablaze v0.8 - Actively Maintained Fork

Real-time audio transcription app using OpenAI's Whisper with working global keyboard shortcuts.

✨ This is an actively maintained fork combining the best features from:

• Guilherme da Silveira's Telly Spelly (original project)
• PabloVitasso's Syllablaze (privacy improvements)
• New: Working global keyboard shortcuts for KDE Wayland

📚 Read the full documentation →

Features

• 🎹 Global Keyboard Shortcuts - Works system-wide on KDE Wayland, X11, and other desktop environments
• 🎙️ One-click recording from system tray
• 🔊 Live volume meter
• 🎯 Microphone selection
• 📋 Auto clipboard copy
• 🎨 Native KDE integration
• 🔒 In-memory audio processing (no temporary files)
• ⚡ Direct 16kHz recording for improved privacy and reduced file size

UI Features

Recording Dialog (Optional)

• Circular floating window with real-time volume visualization
• Click to start/stop recording
• Drag to move, scroll to resize
• Right-click for quick actions menu
• Configurable via Settings → UI

Modern Settings Interface

• Native KDE Kirigami styling
• Organized pages: Models, Audio, Transcription, Shortcuts, UI, About
• Model download with progress tracking
• Audio device selection with intelligent filtering
• UI customization: dialog visibility, size, always-on-top behavior

What's New in v0.8

• 📚 Complete Documentation Overhaul: Professional MkDocs documentation with user guides, developer guides, and troubleshooting
• 🏗️ Orchestration Layer Refactor: Clean separation of concerns between UI and backend
• 🎨 Enhanced Applet Mode: Improved circular recording dialog with real-time volume visualization
• ⚙️ Settings Architecture: New coordinator pattern for better settings management
• 🐛 Improved Stability: Fixed clipboard issues on Wayland, better error handling
• 📖 Architecture Decision Records: Documented key design decisions for contributors

What's New in v0.5

• ✅ Working Global Keyboard Shortcuts: True system-wide hotkeys using pynput
• ✅ KDE Wayland Support: Shortcuts work even when switching windows or using other apps
• ✅ Single Toggle Shortcut: Simplified UX - one key (Alt+Space default) to start/stop
• ✅ Improved Stability: Prevents recording during transcription
• ✅ Better Window Management: Progress window always appears on top
• ✨ Modern Settings UI: New Kirigami-based settings window matching KDE Plasma styling
• ✨ Recording Dialog: Optional circular volume indicator with real-time visualization

What's New in v0.4 beta

• use Faster Whisper

What's New in v0.3

• Enhanced Privacy: Audio is now processed entirely in memory without writing to disk at any point
• Improved Performance: Direct 16kHz recording reduces processing time and memory usage
• Better Security: No temporary files means no risk of sensitive audio data being left on disk
• Reduced Resource Usage: Streamlined audio processing pipeline for more efficient operation
• Improved Recording UI: Enhanced recording window with app info, settings display, and larger stop button

Screenshots

tray icon:

click on the tray icon opens speech recognition:

notification after action:

text automatically lands into clipboard:

settings screen:

Project Structure

• blaze/ - Core application files
• docs/ - Documentation files
• install.py - Installation script
• uninstall.py - Uninstallation script

Installation

Prerequisites

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-dev portaudio19-dev python3-pipx

Fedora

sudo dnf install -y python3-libs python3-devel python3 portaudio-devel pipx

Install

git clone https://github.com/Zebastjan/Syllablaze.git
cd Syllablaze
python3 install.py

Usage

1. Launch "Syllablaze" from application menu
2. Click tray icon to start/stop recording
3. Transcribed text is copied to clipboard

New to Syllablaze? Check out the Quick Start Guide for a detailed walkthrough.

Configuration

Right-click tray icon → Settings to configure:

• Input device
• Whisper model
• Language

📖 Complete Settings Reference - Detailed documentation of all settings

Troubleshooting

Having issues? Check the Troubleshooting Guide for common problems and solutions.

Uninstall

python3 uninstall.py

Documentation

• 📚 Full Documentation - Complete user and developer guides
• 🚀 Quick Start - Get started in 5 minutes
• ⚙️ Settings Reference - All settings explained
• 🐛 Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions
• 💻 Developer Guide - Contributing to Syllablaze
• 🤔 Design Decisions - Why we built it this way

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please read the Contributing Guide for:

• Development setup
• Code style guidelines
• Pull request process
• Testing requirements or

pipx uninstall syllablaze

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• KDE Plasma

License

MIT License