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Parrator

Simple speech-to-text tray application with global hotkey activation.

Parrator is a lightweight, always-on speech-to-text application that runs in your system tray. Press a hotkey to record speech and get instant transcription with automatic clipboard integration.

Features

  • Global Hotkey Recording: Press Ctrl+Shift+; from anywhere to start/stop recording
  • Automatic Transcription: Uses NVIDIA Parakeet ONNX models (AMD GPU supported) for fast, accurate speech-to-text
  • Clipboard Integration: Transcriptions are automatically copied to clipboard with optional auto-paste
  • System Tray: Runs silently in the background with minimal resource usage
  • Cross-Platform (WIP, looking for testers):
    • Win11
    • Linux
    • Mac
  • Auto-Startup: Optional system startup integration

Quick Start

Install

Simply install the .exe. Other platform executables WIP.

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.11+
  • Poetry for dependency management

(dev) Installation

  1. Clone and install:

    git clone https://github.com/yourusername/parrator.git
cd parrator
poetry install

  2. Run:

    poetry run python -m parrator

Usage

  1. Start the app - Look for the Parrator icon in your system tray
  2. Record speech - Press Ctrl+Shift+; to start recording, press again to stop
  3. Get transcription - Text is automatically copied to clipboard and optionally pasted

Configuration

Right-click the tray icon and select "Settings" to edit configuration:

{
  "hotkey": "ctrl+shift+;",
  "model_name": "nemo-parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2", 
  "auto_paste": true,
  "auto_start_with_system": false
}

Settings

  • hotkey: Global keyboalllshortcut (e.g., "ctrl+shift+;", "alt+space")
  • model_name: Speech recognition model to use
  • auto_paste: Automatically paste transcription after copying to clipboard
  • auto_start_with_system: Launch Parrator when your computer starts

Supported Models

  • nemo-parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2 (default, fast and accurate)
  • nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2
  • openai/whisper-tiny (lightweight)
  • openai/whisper-base
  • openai/whisper-small

System Requirements

  • Windows: Windows 10/11 with DirectML support for GPU acceleration
  • macOS: macOS 10.14+ (may require accessibility permissions for global hotkeys)
  • Linux: Modern Linux distribution with audio support

Troubleshooting

Hotkey Not Working

  • Windows: Run as administrator if needed
  • macOS: Grant accessibility permissions in System Preferences
  • Linux: Install python3-dev and audio libraries

No Audio Input

# Check available audio devices
python -c "import sounddevice; print(sounddevice.query_devices())"

GPU Acceleration (Windows)

  • Update graphics drivers
  • Install Windows Media Feature Pack
  • Verify DirectML is available

Building Executable

poetry run pyinstaller Parrator.spec

Contributing

Pull requests welcome! Please ensure code follows the existing style and includes appropriate tests.