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what is voxtral-dictate fr?

shijin384/voxtral-dictate — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

3PythonAudience · generalComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

tl;dr

Voxtral-dictate lets you dictate text into any Linux app with a keyboard shortcut, using Mistral's Voxtral AI to transcribe your speech.

vibe map

mindmap
  root((voxtral-dictate))
    What it does
      Voice to text anywhere
      Global keyboard shortcut
      Replaces selected text
    Tech stack
      Python
      GNOME Shell
      ydotool
    Use cases
      Dictate in any app
      Status overlay bubble
    Audience
      Linux GNOME users
    Requirements
      Ubuntu GNOME Wayland
      Mistral API key
    Security
      Key in GNOME keyring

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filefunction / class

what do people make with this?

VIBE 1

Dictate text into a terminal, editor, or browser using a keyboard shortcut.

VIBE 2

Replace selected text with a spoken transcript at the cursor.

VIBE 3

See recording and transcribing status through a GNOME overlay indicator.

what's the stack?

PythonGNOME ShellWaylandydotool

how it stacks up fr

shijin384/voxtral-dictate0marildo/imago0xdfi/glm-5.2-1m-4x-dgx-spark
Stars333
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Setup difficultymoderateeasyhard
Complexity3/52/55/5
Audiencegeneralgeneralresearcher

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

how do i run it?

Difficulty · moderate time til it works · 30min

Requires Ubuntu with GNOME on Wayland, a microphone, and a Mistral API key.

The README does not state a license for this code.

in plain english

Voxtral-dictate is a voice dictation tool for Linux that lets a person type by speaking, using AI transcription from Mistral's Voxtral model. It is built specifically for Ubuntu running the GNOME desktop on Wayland, and it works inside any application, whether that is a terminal, a text editor, or a web browser. The way it works is simple in practice: pressing a keyboard shortcut, Alt+T by default, starts recording from the microphone, and pressing it again stops the recording. The recorded audio is then sent to the Voxtral transcription service, the resulting text is copied to the clipboard, and a tool called ydotool simulates a paste keystroke so the transcript appears right at the cursor. If text was already selected when the shortcut was pressed, the transcript replaces it. A small overlay bubble, added through a GNOME Shell extension, shows a red dot while recording and a yellow dot while transcribing so the user can see the current state. Setting it up requires a Linux system running Ubuntu with GNOME on Wayland, a microphone, and an API key from Mistral for using the Voxtral transcription models. Installation is done through a setup script that installs several required packages, configures permissions needed for simulating keystrokes, asks for the Mistral API key, installs the GNOME Shell extension, and registers the chosen keyboard shortcut. A one time log out and back in is needed afterward for the new permissions and extension to take effect. The API key is stored securely in the GNOME keyring rather than as plain text, though a plaintext fallback exists in the config file if no keyring entry is set. Settings can be adjusted in a config file, including which Voxtral model to use, whether to force a specific spoken language, a maximum recording duration, and which paste keystroke combination to use, since some terminal and desktop apps expect different paste shortcuts.

prompts (copy fr)

prompt 1
Explain how pressing Alt+T twice records and pastes a transcript.
prompt 2
Walk me through running setup.sh and getting a Mistral API key.
prompt 3
Help me enable the GNOME Shell overlay extension after installing.
prompt 4
Summarize how to change the paste keystroke if it doesn't work in my terminal.

Frequently asked questions

what is voxtral-dictate fr?

Voxtral-dictate lets you dictate text into any Linux app with a keyboard shortcut, using Mistral's Voxtral AI to transcribe your speech.

What language is voxtral-dictate written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, GNOME Shell, Wayland.

What license does voxtral-dictate use?

The README does not state a license for this code.

How hard is voxtral-dictate to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is voxtral-dictate for?

Mainly general.

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