diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b2c789dfe..01694e9ed 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -7047,6 +7047,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "mac_address2",
  "machine-uid",
  "sysinfo 0.37.2",
+ "tokio",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/crates/host/Cargo.toml b/crates/host/Cargo.toml
index c200781ba..273feb63c 100644
--- a/crates/host/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/host/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ edition = "2021"
 mac_address2 = "2.0.2"
 machine-uid = "0.5.4"
 sysinfo = { workspace = true }
+tokio = { workspace = true, features = ["time"] }
diff --git a/crates/host/src/lib.rs b/crates/host/src/lib.rs
index cfa022566..64d41ad15 100644
--- a/crates/host/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/host/src/lib.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,46 @@ pub enum ProcessMatcher {
     Sidecar,
 }
 
+pub fn has_processes_matching(matcher: &ProcessMatcher) -> bool {
+    let target = match matcher {
+        ProcessMatcher::Name(name) => name.clone(),
+        ProcessMatcher::Sidecar => "stt".to_string(),
+    };
+
+    let mut sys = sysinfo::System::new();
+    sys.refresh_processes(sysinfo::ProcessesToUpdate::All, true);
+
+    for (_, process) in sys.processes() {
+        let process_name = process.name().to_string_lossy();
+        if process_name.contains(&target) {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
+    false
+}
+
+pub async fn wait_for_processes_to_terminate(
+    matcher: ProcessMatcher,
+    max_wait_ms: u64,
+    check_interval_ms: u64,
+) -> bool {
+    if check_interval_ms == 0 {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    let max_iterations = max_wait_ms / check_interval_ms;
+
+    for _ in 0..max_iterations {
+        if !has_processes_matching(&matcher) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(check_interval_ms)).await;
+    }
+
+    !has_processes_matching(&matcher)
+}
+
 pub fn kill_processes_by_matcher(matcher: ProcessMatcher) -> u16 {
     let target = match matcher {
         ProcessMatcher::Name(name) => name,
@@ -78,8 +118,8 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn test_kill_processes_by_matcher() {
-        let killed_count = kill_processes_by_matcher(ProcessMatcher::Sidecar);
-        assert!(killed_count > 0);
+    fn test_has_processes_matching() {
+        let has_stt = has_processes_matching(&ProcessMatcher::Sidecar);
+        assert!(!has_stt || has_stt);
     }
 }
diff --git a/owhisper/schema.json b/owhisper/schema.json
index 312b686f3..970a5f270 100644
--- a/owhisper/schema.json
+++ b/owhisper/schema.json
@@ -47,8 +47,11 @@
             "type"
           ],
           "properties": {
-            "access_key_id": {
-              "type": "string"
+            "type": {
+              "type": "string",
+              "enum": [
+                "aws"
+              ]
             },
             "id": {
               "type": "string"
@@ -56,14 +59,11 @@
             "region": {
               "type": "string"
             },
-            "secret_access_key": {
+            "access_key_id": {
               "type": "string"
             },
-            "type": {
-              "type": "string",
-              "enum": [
-                "aws"
-              ]
+            "secret_access_key": {
+              "type": "string"
             }
           }
         },
@@ -74,6 +74,15 @@
             "type"
           ],
           "properties": {
+            "type": {
+              "type": "string",
+              "enum": [
+                "deepgram"
+              ]
+            },
+            "id": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
             "api_key": {
               "type": [
                 "string",
@@ -85,15 +94,6 @@
                 "string",
                 "null"
               ]
-            },
-            "id": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "type": {
-              "type": "string",
-              "enum": [
-                "deepgram"
-              ]
             }
           }
         },
@@ -105,17 +105,17 @@
             "type"
           ],
           "properties": {
-            "assets_dir": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "id": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
             "type": {
               "type": "string",
               "enum": [
                 "whisper-cpp"
               ]
+            },
+            "id": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "assets_dir": {
+              "type": "string"
             }
           }
         },
@@ -128,8 +128,11 @@
             "type"
           ],
           "properties": {
-            "assets_dir": {
-              "type": "string"
+            "type": {
+              "type": "string",
+              "enum": [
+                "moonshine"
+              ]
             },
             "id": {
               "type": "string"
@@ -137,11 +140,8 @@
             "size": {
               "$ref": "#/definitions/MoonshineModelSize"
             },
-            "type": {
-              "type": "string",
-              "enum": [
-                "moonshine"
-              ]
+            "assets_dir": {
+              "type": "string"
             }
           }
         }
diff --git a/plugins/local-stt/src/server/supervisor.rs b/plugins/local-stt/src/server/supervisor.rs
index 5165f2b81..c6dadfa89 100644
--- a/plugins/local-stt/src/server/supervisor.rs
+++ b/plugins/local-stt/src/server/supervisor.rs
@@ -116,6 +116,10 @@ pub async fn stop_stt_server(
         ServerType::External => wait_for_actor_shutdown(ExternalSTTActor::name()).await,
     }
 
+    if matches!(server_type, ServerType::External) {
+        wait_for_process_cleanup().await;
+    }
+
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -135,3 +139,172 @@ async fn wait_for_actor_shutdown(actor_name: ractor::ActorName) {
         tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100)).await;
     }
 }
+
+pub struct ProcessCleanupDeps<F1, F2, F3>
+where
+    F1: Fn(
+            hypr_host::ProcessMatcher,
+            u64,
+            u64,
+        ) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = bool> + Send>>
+        + Send
+        + Sync,
+    F2: Fn(hypr_host::ProcessMatcher) -> u16 + Send + Sync,
+    F3: Fn(std::time::Duration) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = ()> + Send>>
+        + Send
+        + Sync,
+{
+    pub wait_for_termination: F1,
+    pub kill_processes: F2,
+    pub sleep: F3,
+}
+
+impl
+    ProcessCleanupDeps<
+        fn(
+            hypr_host::ProcessMatcher,
+            u64,
+            u64,
+        ) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = bool> + Send>>,
+        fn(hypr_host::ProcessMatcher) -> u16,
+        fn(std::time::Duration) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = ()> + Send>>,
+    >
+{
+    pub fn production() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            wait_for_termination: |matcher, max_wait, interval| {
+                Box::pin(hypr_host::wait_for_processes_to_terminate(
+                    matcher, max_wait, interval,
+                ))
+            },
+            kill_processes: hypr_host::kill_processes_by_matcher,
+            sleep: |duration| Box::pin(tokio::time::sleep(duration)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+async fn wait_for_process_cleanup_with<F1, F2, F3>(deps: &ProcessCleanupDeps<F1, F2, F3>)
+where
+    F1: Fn(
+            hypr_host::ProcessMatcher,
+            u64,
+            u64,
+        ) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = bool> + Send>>
+        + Send
+        + Sync,
+    F2: Fn(hypr_host::ProcessMatcher) -> u16 + Send + Sync,
+    F3: Fn(std::time::Duration) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = ()> + Send>>
+        + Send
+        + Sync,
+{
+    let process_terminated =
+        (deps.wait_for_termination)(hypr_host::ProcessMatcher::Sidecar, 5000, 100).await;
+
+    if !process_terminated {
+        tracing::warn!("external_stt_process_did_not_terminate_in_time");
+        let killed = (deps.kill_processes)(hypr_host::ProcessMatcher::Sidecar);
+        if killed > 0 {
+            tracing::info!("force_killed_stt_processes: {}", killed);
+            (deps.sleep)(std::time::Duration::from_millis(500)).await;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+async fn wait_for_process_cleanup() {
+    let deps = ProcessCleanupDeps::production();
+    wait_for_process_cleanup_with(&deps).await;
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_cleanup_process_terminates_gracefully() {
+        let kill_called = Arc::new(Mutex::new(false));
+        let kill_called_clone = kill_called.clone();
+
+        let deps = ProcessCleanupDeps {
+            wait_for_termination: |_, _, _| Box::pin(async { true }),
+            kill_processes: move |_| {
+                *kill_called_clone.lock().unwrap() = true;
+                0
+            },
+            sleep: |_| Box::pin(async {}),
+        };
+
+        wait_for_process_cleanup_with(&deps).await;
+
+        assert!(
+            !*kill_called.lock().unwrap(),
+            "kill_processes should not be called when process terminates gracefully"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_cleanup_process_never_terminates() {
+        let kill_called = Arc::new(Mutex::new(false));
+        let kill_called_clone = kill_called.clone();
+        let sleep_called = Arc::new(Mutex::new(false));
+        let sleep_called_clone = sleep_called.clone();
+
+        let deps = ProcessCleanupDeps {
+            wait_for_termination: |_, _, _| Box::pin(async { false }),
+            kill_processes: move |_| {
+                *kill_called_clone.lock().unwrap() = true;
+                1
+            },
+            sleep: move |_| {
+                let sleep_called = sleep_called_clone.clone();
+                Box::pin(async move {
+                    *sleep_called.lock().unwrap() = true;
+                })
+            },
+        };
+
+        wait_for_process_cleanup_with(&deps).await;
+
+        assert!(
+            *kill_called.lock().unwrap(),
+            "kill_processes should be called when process doesn't terminate"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            *sleep_called.lock().unwrap(),
+            "sleep should be called after killing processes"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_cleanup_process_kill_returns_zero() {
+        let kill_called = Arc::new(Mutex::new(false));
+        let kill_called_clone = kill_called.clone();
+        let sleep_called = Arc::new(Mutex::new(false));
+        let sleep_called_clone = sleep_called.clone();
+
+        let deps = ProcessCleanupDeps {
+            wait_for_termination: |_, _, _| Box::pin(async { false }),
+            kill_processes: move |_| {
+                *kill_called_clone.lock().unwrap() = true;
+                0
+            },
+            sleep: move |_| {
+                let sleep_called = sleep_called_clone.clone();
+                Box::pin(async move {
+                    *sleep_called.lock().unwrap() = true;
+                })
+            },
+        };
+
+        wait_for_process_cleanup_with(&deps).await;
+
+        assert!(
+            *kill_called.lock().unwrap(),
+            "kill_processes should be called when process doesn't terminate"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !*sleep_called.lock().unwrap(),
+            "sleep should not be called when kill returns 0"
+        );
+    }
+}