Voxtype

Voxtype adds a bar indicator and recording controls for Voxtype. It uses configurable Noctalia glyphs and colors while preserving Voxtype's own status tooltip.

Plugin

Field	Value
ID	gabedunn/voxtype
Entries	Bar widget: status; panel: osd; service: osd-monitor

Requirements

Install voxtype and make sure the voxtype command is available on PATH. Configure Voxtype and its recording hotkey before using this widget. The overlay requires voxtype-audio-bridge and noctalia on PATH, plus Noctalia plugin API 30. Use state_file = "auto" and [osd] enabled = false in Voxtype.

Usage

Enable the plugin in Settings → Plugins, then add the status widget to your bar in Settings → Bar.

Enable Live dictation overlay in plugin settings for audio levels while recording and an animation while transcribing. It closes when finished or cancelled and works without the bar widget.

Panel IPC (closes immediately without active dictation):

noctalia msg panel-toggle gabedunn/voxtype:osd

The widget follows Voxtype's live status and updates as soon as it changes:

State	Default glyph	Default color	Tooltip
idle	microphone-2-off	on_surface	Voxtype ready - hold hotkey to record
streaming	microphone-2	error	Streaming live...
recording	microphone-2	error	Recording...
transcribing	loader	primary	Transcribing...
stopped	microphone-2-off	error	Voxtype not running

Hover over the widget to see the tooltip supplied by Voxtype. By default the bar shows only the glyph; enable Show status text to display Voxtype's alt field beside it. Enable Extended status to request the model, device, and backend. Voxtype always adds all three to the expanded tooltip; nested settings let you choose which fields also appear on the bar.

Default pointer actions:

• Left-click runs voxtype record toggle to start or stop recording.
• Right-click runs voxtype record stop to stop recording.
• Middle-click opens the widget settings using Noctalia's standard action.

You can override these gesture bindings for each widget instance in the bar settings.

Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
osd_enabled	bool	false	Enable the floating overlay.
osd_position	native panel setting	bottom_center	Screen position.
osd_layer	native panel setting	overlay	overlay above fullscreen windows, or top.
show_alt	bool	false	Show the current state (idle, streaming, recording, transcribing, or stopped) beside the glyph.
show_extended	bool	false	Enable extended output. The tooltip includes model, device, and backend.
show_model	bool	true	Show the model on the bar when extended status is enabled.
show_device	bool	true	Show the audio device on the bar when extended status is enabled.
show_backend	bool	true	Show the backend on the bar when extended status is enabled.
idle_glyph	glyph	microphone-2-off	Glyph shown in the idle state.
idle_color	color	on_surface	Glyph color in the idle state.
streaming_glyph	glyph	microphone-2	Glyph shown in the streaming state.
streaming_color	color	error	Glyph color in the streaming state.
recording_glyph	glyph	microphone-2	Glyph shown in the recording state.
recording_color	color	error	Glyph color in the recording state.
transcribing_glyph	glyph	loader	Glyph shown while Voxtype is transcribing recorded audio.
transcribing_color	color	primary	Glyph color in the transcribing state.
stopped_glyph	glyph	microphone-2-off	Glyph shown while Voxtype is not running.
stopped_color	color	error	Glyph color in the stopped state.

Notes

For each bar instance, the widget starts a managed shell loop that runs one voxtype status --follow --format json process at a time, adding --extended when extended status is enabled. If the status process exits, the loop waits two seconds before restarting it. Noctalia stops the process group when the widget unloads. Each JSON line replaces the current glyph, color, optional status text, and tooltip; the emoji in Voxtype's text field is not rendered.

The plugin makes no network requests and does not directly read or write files. Its click actions invoke Voxtype, which records and processes audio according to your Voxtype configuration.

The osd-monitor service follows status and audio levels through managed Voxtype processes. The overlay does not record audio, save transcripts, or use the network.