Yappers of Linux

Voice typing for Linux that doesn't suck

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Somehow I had to build this

(Local) Voice typing on Linux either doesn't work or was made in the past century. How android beats Linux on that for the past 10 years? I can't let that slide.

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The cool features you've never seen before

• Single binary - The backend is Python but I managed to embed everything in a single binary, which means runs anywhere with no setup (well, at least Linux)
• Performance modes - Faster or more accurate modes based on your hardware
• One toggle - yap toggle pauses, resumes, or starts (control via cli)
• TCP server - It can serve its state over TCP for status bars, widgets, AI Girlfriends, etc.
• Output file - Pipe transcriptions to other scripts for automation or custom scripts
• Actually private - Literally Whisper (Wow!)
• Configurable - Change models, languages, devices, and all that stuff

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Installation

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DeprecatedLuar/yappers-of-linux/main/install.sh | bash

Other Install Methods

Manual Install

# Download binary from releases (amd64)
wget https://github.com/DeprecatedLuar/yappers-of-linux/releases/latest/download/yap-linux-amd64
chmod +x yap-linux-amd64
sudo mv yap-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/yap
yap start  # Auto-installs everything

# Or for arm64
wget https://github.com/DeprecatedLuar/yappers-of-linux/releases/latest/download/yap-linux-arm64
chmod +x yap-linux-arm64
sudo mv yap-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/yap

Build From Source

git clone https://github.com/DeprecatedLuar/yappers-of-linux.git
cd yappers-of-linux
go build -o yap cmd/main.go
./yap start

System Requirements:

• python3 (3.10+)
• portaudio19-dev (for mic access)
• ydotool + ydotoold (Wayland) OR xdotool (X11)

First run takes ~2 minutes to download and set up everything. After that, it's instant.

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Commands

Command	Arguments	Description
start	[options]	Start voice typing
stop		Stop voice typing
toggle		Smart pause/resume/start
pause		Pause listening
resume		Resume listening
output		View output file (aliases: log, cat, show)
models		Show installed models
config		Open config in editor
help	[topic]	Show help information

Flags

Flag	Description
--model MODEL	Choose model (tiny/base/small/medium/large)
--device DEVICE	Use cpu or cuda
--language LANG	Set language (en/es/fr/etc)
--tcp [PORT]	Enable TCP server (default: 12322)
--fast	Fast mode (int8, less accurate)
--no-typing	Print to terminal only, don't type

Usage

yap start                     # Start listening
yap start --model small       # Use better model
yap start --fast              # Faster but less accurate
yap toggle                    # Pause/resume/start
yap stop                      # Stop

Available Models

Models auto-download on first use:

Model	Size	Speed	Accuracy
tiny	~75MB	Fastest	Basic
base	~150MB	Fast	Good
small	~500MB	Balanced	Better
medium	~1.5GB	Slow	Great
large	~3GB	Slowest	Best

More stuff you can do

yap start --device cuda       # Use GPU instead
yap start --language es       # Spanish (or any other language)
yap start --tcp               # Enable state server on port 12322
yap start --no-typing         # Just prints to terminal, doesn't type
yap models                    # See what models you have
yap config                    # Open config in your editor

Configuration

Config file lives at ~/.config/yappers-of-linux/config.toml and gets created on first run.

notifications = "start,urgent"   # When to notify you
model = "tiny"                   # Which model to use
device = "cpu"                   # cpu or cuda
language = "en"                  # What language you're speaking
fast_mode = false                # Trade accuracy for speed
enable_typing = true             # Type into active window
output_file = false              # Write to output.txt for piping/automation

Run yap help config if you want all the details.

State Monitoring (if you're into that)

Want to plug this into your status bar or a desktop widget?

yap start --tcp        # Starts on port 12322
nc 127.0.0.1 12322     # Test it out

Spits out JSON with the current state. Inspired by Kanata's TCP port.

Output File (for automation)

Enable output_file = true in config to write transcriptions to ~/.config/yappers-of-linux/output.txt.

How it works:

• File is ephemeral - deleted on each yap start (fresh session)
• Each transcription is separated by a blank line (paragraph style)
• View anytime with yap output (or yap log, yap cat, yap show)

Use cases:

# View the output file
yap output

# Pipe to another script
tail -f ~/.config/yappers-of-linux/output.txt | your-script.sh

# Process with jq/awk/whatever
cat ~/.config/yappers-of-linux/output.txt | process-commands

# Voice-controlled automation
while read line; do handle_command "$line"; done < output.txt

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How it works

Constantly records audio to a 1.5-second circular buffer. When VAD detects speech, it captures that buffer plus whatever you continue saying. After 0.8 seconds of silence, it sends everything to Whisper for transcription and types the result. This means your opening words are never lost.

Filters out hallucinations using confidence thresholds - keyboard clicks and background noise won't turn into random words.

The entire engine (Python + dependencies) is embedded in a single Go binary that self-extracts and manages its own environment. First run takes ~2 minutes to set up, after that it's instant.

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