Merge pull request #34 from yusufipk/pause-resume

Let a recording be held while something else happens

README.md

@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ set next to it.
 | What | How |
 | --- | --- |
 | Start / stop recording | `Ctrl+Space`, or click the tray icon |
+| Pause / resume the recording | Tray menu, `dikte pause`, or a key you set |
 | Discard the recording | `Ctrl+Alt+Space`, tray menu, or `dikte cancel` |
 | Speak a command to an agent | Tray menu → *Ask Claude*, or `dikte ask` |
 | Start / end a meeting | Tray menu → *Record a meeting*, or `dikte meeting` |

README.tr.md

@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ yanındaki kutudan düşünme seviyesini de seçebilirsin.
 | Ne | Nasıl |
 | --- | --- |
 | Kaydı başlat / bitir | `Ctrl+Space`, ya da tepsi simgesine tıkla |
+| Kaydı duraklat / sürdür | Tepsi menüsü, `dikte pause`, ya da atadığın bir tuş |
 | Kaydı iptal et | `Ctrl+Alt+Space`, tepsi menüsü, ya da `dikte cancel` |
 | Ajana sesle komut ver | Tepsi menüsü → *Claude'a sor*, ya da `dikte ask` |
 | Toplantıyı başlat / bitir | Tepsi menüsü → *Toplantı kaydet*, ya da `dikte meeting` |

audio.py

@@ -72,12 +72,31 @@ class Recorder(QObject):
         self._rms = []
         self._cancelled = False
         self._stopping = False
+        self._paused = False
         self._lock = threading.Lock()
 
     @property
     def active(self):
         return self._thread is not None and self._thread.is_alive()
 
+    @property
+    def paused(self):
+        return self._paused
+
+    def pause(self, value=True):
+        """Stop taking sound in without letting go of the microphone.
+
+        The capture program keeps running and keeps handing blocks over; they
+        are dropped as they arrive rather than kept. Stopping it instead would
+        mean asking the sound server for the device again on the way back, and
+        that is the one moment another application can take it: a recording
+        would be lost to the phone call it was paused for.
+
+        What was said while it was paused is gone, which is the point. The two
+        halves meet as one splice, with none of the room in between.
+        """
+        self._paused = bool(value)
+
     def start(self, target="", max_seconds=300):
         if self.active:
             return
@@ -102,6 +121,7 @@ class Recorder(QObject):
         self._rms = []
         self._cancelled = False
         self._stopping = False
+        self._paused = False
         self._max_bytes = int(max_seconds * RATE * SAMPLE_WIDTH * CHANNELS)
         self._thread = threading.Thread(target=self._pump, daemon=True)
         self._thread.start()
@@ -114,6 +134,11 @@ class Recorder(QObject):
                 chunk = stdout.read(CHUNK_BYTES)
                 if not chunk:
                     break
+                if self._paused:
+                    # Read and thrown away rather than left in the pipe: a pipe
+                    # nobody empties fills up, and the capture program blocks on
+                    # a full one instead of waiting quietly for the resume.
+                    continue
                 peak, rms = chunk_levels(chunk)
                 with self._lock:
                     self._buffer.extend(chunk)

cli.py

@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ GUI_VERBS = {"", "settings", "toggle", "ask", "meeting"}
 # Asking a process that is not there to stop, cancel or quit is not a failure;
 # it is already in the state that was asked for.
 IDEMPOTENT_VERBS = {"cancel", "stop", "quit", "restart", "ask-cancel",
-                    "ask-reset", "meeting-cancel"}
+                    "ask-reset", "meeting-cancel", "pause"}
 
 _app = None
 
@@ -765,7 +765,8 @@ def cmd_status(opts):
         return fail(opts, "the running instance is from before it could answer "
                           "questions; reload it with: dikte restart", 1, running=True)
     lines = [
-        f"dictation: {reply.get('dictation', '?')}",
+        f"dictation: {reply.get('dictation', '?')}"
+        + ("  (paused)" if reply.get("paused") else ""),
         f"agent:     {reply.get('ask', '?')}  ({reply.get('agent', '?')})",
         f"meeting:   {reply.get('meeting', '?')}"
         + (f"  {reply['meeting_message']}" if reply.get("meeting_message") else ""),
@@ -879,6 +880,10 @@ def build_parser():
         page.add_argument("--timeout", type=float, default=0)
         page.set_defaults(func=cmd_toggle)
 
+    # One verb for both halves, the way `toggle` is one verb: a key can only be
+    # pressed, so a key that resumed nothing would need a second key.
+    leaf(subs, "pause", "hold the recording, or take it up again"
+         ).set_defaults(func=cmd_plain)
     leaf(subs, "cancel", "throw away the recording").set_defaults(func=cmd_cancel)
 
     # --- the agent --------------------------------------------------------

config.py

@@ -435,6 +435,10 @@ DEFAULTS = {
     # trick lands on the toggle, Alt and Option being one key, so discarding
     # gets a letter instead.
     "cancel_shortcut": "Ctrl+Option+D" if _MACOS else "Ctrl+Alt+Space",
+    # Empty -> tray only. Holding a recording is not something a keyboard has a
+    # habit for, and a combination nobody asked for is one taken away from
+    # whatever else was using it.
+    "pause_shortcut": "",
     "evdev_hotkey": False,
     "overlay_corner": "bottom-left",
     "keep_audio": False,

dikte.py

@@ -83,6 +83,14 @@ class Dikte:
         self.ask_state = IDLE
         # Which of the two the microphone is currently serving, or None.
         self.recorder_owner = None
+        # A recording that is running but taking nothing in. Not a state of its
+        # own: everything that can be done to a recording can be done to a
+        # paused one, and a fourth state would have to say so four times over.
+        self.paused = False
+        # Paused time, which is time the recording does not have: the clock on
+        # screen and the limit both go by what was actually captured.
+        self._paused_ms = 0
+        self._paused_at = 0
         self.meeting_state = M_IDLE
         self.meeting_base = ""
         self.meeting_message = ""
@@ -159,6 +167,12 @@ class Dikte:
         self.toggle_action.triggered.connect(self._toggle)
         self.menu.addAction(self.toggle_action)
 
+        # Named in _refresh_tray as well, since it says one of two things.
+        self.pause_action = QAction(t("Pause the recording"), self.menu)
+        self.pause_action.triggered.connect(self._toggle_pause)
+        self.pause_action.setEnabled(False)
+        self.menu.addAction(self.pause_action)
+
         # Named in _refresh_tray, which is where the chosen provider is known.
         self.ask_action = QAction("", self.menu)
         self.ask_action.triggered.connect(self._toggle_ask)
@@ -283,6 +297,9 @@ class Dikte:
             or (self.ask_state == IDLE and not self.recording)
         )
         self.reset_action.setEnabled(self.ask_state != BUSY)
+        self.pause_action.setText(t("Resume the recording") if self.paused
+                                  else t("Pause the recording"))
+        self.pause_action.setEnabled(self.recording)
         self.cancel_action.setEnabled(self.recording)
         # A command to the agent is the one job long enough to be worth calling
         # off once it is already running.
@@ -299,6 +316,12 @@ class Dikte:
             else:
                 icon, tip = "view-refresh", "Dikte: talking to Claude"
 
+        # Whichever of the two is holding the microphone, a recording dot that
+        # keeps burning while nothing goes in is the icon telling the opposite
+        # of what is happening.
+        if self.paused and self.recording:
+            icon, tip = "media-playback-pause", "Dikte: paused"
+
         meeting_labels = {
             M_IDLE: "Record a meeting",
             M_RECORDING: "End the meeting and write it up",
@@ -334,6 +357,9 @@ class Dikte:
     def toggle_meeting(self):
         self._external("meeting", self._toggle_meeting)
 
+    def toggle_pause(self):
+        self._external("pause", self._toggle_pause)
+
     def cancel(self):
         self._external("cancel", self._cancel)
 
@@ -358,7 +384,7 @@ class Dikte:
             timer = self.last_evdev[name] = QElapsedTimer()
         timer.restart()
         handlers = {"meeting": self._toggle_meeting, "ask": self._toggle_ask,
-                    "cancel": self._cancel}
+                    "cancel": self._cancel, "pause": self._toggle_pause}
         handlers.get(name, self._toggle)()
 
     def _retire_listener(self):
@@ -393,6 +419,7 @@ class Dikte:
         else:
             handler = {
                 "cancel": self.cancel,
+                "pause": self.toggle_pause,
                 "ask-cancel": self.cancel_ask,
                 "ask-reset": self.reset_conversation,
                 "meeting-cancel": self.cancel_meeting,
@@ -475,6 +502,7 @@ class Dikte:
             "ok": True,
             "running": True,
             "dictation": self.state,
+            "paused": self.paused,
             "ask": self.ask_state,
             "meeting": self.meeting_state,
             "meeting_base": self.meetings.running_base,
@@ -538,6 +566,7 @@ class Dikte:
         """One microphone, so one of the two holds it at a time."""
         self.recorder_owner = owner
         self._run_id += 1
+        self._clear_pause()
         self.elapsed.restart()
         self.ticker.start()
         self.recorder.start(self.conf["mic_target"], self.conf["max_seconds"])
@@ -546,6 +575,7 @@ class Dikte:
         if self.state != RECORDING:
             return
         self.ticker.stop()
+        self._clear_pause()
         self._set_state(BUSY)
         self.overlay.show_busy(t("Transcribing…"))
         self.recorder.stop()
@@ -554,16 +584,50 @@ class Dikte:
         if self.ask_state != RECORDING:
             return
         self.ticker.stop()
+        self._clear_pause()
         self._set_ask_state(BUSY)
         self.ask_overlay.show_busy(t("Transcribing…"))
         self.recorder.stop()
 
+    def _toggle_pause(self):
+        """Hold the recording where it is, or take it up again.
+
+        A pause is not a stop: the microphone stays ours and what has been said
+        so far stays in the buffer. What is said while it is held is dropped, so
+        the phone call in the middle of a dictation never reaches the model and
+        the sentence around it is still one sentence.
+        """
+        if not self.recording or self._repeated():
+            return
+        self.paused = not self.paused
+        if self.paused:
+            self._paused_at = self.elapsed.elapsed()
+        else:
+            self._paused_ms += self.elapsed.elapsed() - self._paused_at
+        self.recorder.pause(self.paused)
+        self._recording_overlay().set_paused(self.paused)
+        self._refresh_tray()
+
+    def _clear_pause(self):
+        """Every recording starts and ends taking sound in."""
+        self.paused = False
+        self._paused_ms = 0
+        self._paused_at = 0
+
+    def _recorded_seconds(self):
+        """Wall clock less whatever was held: the length of what will be
+        transcribed, which is what the limit has to be measured against too."""
+        # A held recording is as long now as it was when it was held.
+        now = self._paused_at if self.paused else self.elapsed.elapsed()
+        return max(0.0, (now - self._paused_ms) / 1000.0)
+
     def _cancel(self):
         """Throw away whichever recording is running."""
         if not self.recording:
             return
         asking = self.ask_state == RECORDING
         self.ticker.stop()
+        self._clear_pause()
         self.recorder.cancel()
         self.recorder_owner = None
         # What goes over the socket is read by a program as often as by a
@@ -603,7 +667,7 @@ class Dikte:
         self._recording_overlay().push_level(level)
 
     def _tick(self):
-        seconds = self.elapsed.elapsed() / 1000.0
+        seconds = self._recorded_seconds()
         self._recording_overlay().set_seconds(seconds)
         if seconds >= self.conf["max_seconds"]:
             (self.stop_ask if self.recorder_owner == ASK else self.stop)()

hotkey.py

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ from i18n import t
 
 DESKTOP_ID = "dikte-toggle.desktop"
 CANCEL_DESKTOP_ID = "dikte-cancel.desktop"
+PAUSE_DESKTOP_ID = "dikte-pause.desktop"
 MEETING_DESKTOP_ID = "dikte-meeting.desktop"
 ASK_DESKTOP_ID = "dikte-ask.desktop"
 APPLICATIONS_DIR = pathlib.Path.home() / ".local/share/applications"
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ GNOME_BINDING_SCHEMA = "org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keyb
 
 Shortcut = collections.namedtuple("Shortcut", "verb desktop_id name setting fallback")
 
-# Every global shortcut in one place, because there are four of them and the
+# Every global shortcut in one place, because there are five of them and the
 # command line, the settings window and the installer each used to carry their
 # own copy of the list. `fallback` is what to register when the setting is
 # empty: only the toggle has one, since it is the key the application is
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ Shortcut = collections.namedtuple("Shortcut", "verb desktop_id name setting fall
 SHORTCUTS = {
     "toggle": Shortcut("toggle", DESKTOP_ID, "Dikte: start/stop recording",
                        "shortcut", "Ctrl+Space"),
+    "pause": Shortcut("pause", PAUSE_DESKTOP_ID,
+                      "Dikte: pause/resume the recording", "pause_shortcut", ""),
     "cancel": Shortcut("cancel", CANCEL_DESKTOP_ID, "Dikte: discard the recording",
                        "cancel_shortcut", ""),
     "ask": Shortcut("ask", ASK_DESKTOP_ID, "Dikte: ask Claude Code",

i18n.py

@@ -56,12 +56,15 @@ TR = {
     "Start recording": "Kaydı başlat",
     "Stop and transcribe": "Kaydı bitir ve yaz",
     "Working…": "İşleniyor…",
+    "Pause the recording": "Kaydı duraklat",
+    "Resume the recording": "Kayda devam et",
     "Discard the recording": "Kaydı iptal et",
     "Settings…": "Ayarlar…",
     "Restart": "Yeniden başlat",
     "Quit": "Çık",
     "Dikte: ready": "Dikte: hazır",
     "Dikte: recording": "Dikte: kaydediyor",
+    "Dikte: paused": "Dikte: duraklatıldı",
     "Dikte: working": "Dikte: işleniyor",
 
     # --- overlay / pipeline -------------------------------------------
@@ -312,7 +315,14 @@ TR = {
         "Global kısayol kurulu değil. Tepsi menüsünden de soru sorulabilir.",
     "No global shortcut installed. The tray menu discards it too.":
         "Global kısayol kurulu değil. Kayıt tepsi menüsünden de iptal edilebilir.",
+    "No global shortcut installed. The tray menu holds it too.":
+        "Global kısayol kurulu değil. Kayıt tepsi menüsünden de duraklatılabilir.",
     "Start and stop": "Başlat ve bitir",
+    "Pause and resume": "Duraklat ve devam et",
+    "Holds the recording without ending it. Nothing said while it is paused is "
+    "kept, and the clock stops with it.":
+        "Kaydı bitirmeden duraklatır. Duraklatıldığı sürede konuşulanlar "
+        "kaydedilmez, süre sayacı da onunla birlikte durur.",
     "Throws the recording away without transcribing it. Works on a dictation "
     "and on a command for the agent alike, whichever is running.":
         "Kaydı yazıya dökmeden atar. Hangisi çalışıyorsa ona işler: dikteye de, "

overlay.py

@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ WARN = QColor(240, 180, 80)
 THEM = QColor(110, 190, 255)   # the other side of a meeting
 
 ASK = QColor(150, 140, 255)    # recording a command rather than a dictation
+# Recording, but nothing is going in. The same amber a warning gets, and for
+# the same reason: it is the colour that stops you walking away from it.
+HELD = WARN
 
 STATE_COLORS = {"recording": REC, "asking": ASK, "meeting": REC, "busy": BUSY,
                 "done": OK, "warning": WARN, "error": ERR}
@@ -47,6 +50,10 @@ class Overlay(QWidget):
         self.dismissable = dismissable
         self.muted = False
         self._stacked = False
+        # A pause is not a state of its own: what is on screen is still the
+        # recording, held. Keeping it beside the state is what lets the ribbon
+        # stay where the pause found it instead of being cleared and rebuilt.
+        self.paused = False
         self.state = "idle"
         self.message = ""
         self.levels = [0.0] * BARS
@@ -102,6 +109,7 @@ class Overlay(QWidget):
         self.message = ""
         self.seconds = 0.0
         self.levels = [0.0] * BARS
+        self.paused = False
         self.muted = False   # a new run starts visible, whatever the last one did
         self._hide_timer.stop()
         self._appear()
@@ -113,6 +121,7 @@ class Overlay(QWidget):
         self.seconds = 0.0
         self.levels = [0.0] * BARS
         self.levels2 = [0.0] * BARS
+        self.paused = False
         self._hide_timer.stop()
         self._appear()
 
@@ -174,6 +183,17 @@ class Overlay(QWidget):
     def set_seconds(self, seconds):
         self.seconds = seconds
 
+    def set_paused(self, paused):
+        """Held, or taking sound in again.
+
+        Everything about the ribbon says a recording is running: a dot that
+        pulses, bars that move, a clock that counts. A pause that only stopped
+        the sound would leave all three saying the words are still going in, so
+        it is the ribbon that has to say otherwise.
+        """
+        self.paused = bool(paused)
+        self.update()
+
     # ---- internals -----------------------------------------------------
 
     def _appear(self):
@@ -243,11 +263,11 @@ class Overlay(QWidget):
         # the corner when it does rather than leaving a gap where it was.
         if self.below is not None and self.below.showing != self._stacked:
             self._reposition()
-        if self.state in LIVE:
+        if self.state in LIVE and not self.paused:
             # keep the ribbon moving even through a pause in speech
             self.levels = self.levels[1:] + [self.levels[-1] * 0.72]
-        if self.state == "meeting":
+            if self.state == "meeting":
-            self.levels2 = self.levels2[1:] + [self.levels2[-1] * 0.72]
+                self.levels2 = self.levels2[1:] + [self.levels2[-1] * 0.72]
         self.update()
 
     def _label_font(self):
@@ -272,6 +292,8 @@ class Overlay(QWidget):
         painter.drawPath(path)
 
         accent = STATE_COLORS.get(self.state, MUTED)
+        if self._held:
+            accent = HELD
         self._draw_indicator(painter, accent)
 
         if self.state in LIVE:
@@ -282,10 +304,23 @@ class Overlay(QWidget):
             if self._can_dismiss:
                 self._draw_dismiss(painter)
 
+    @property
+    def _held(self):
+        """A recording that is paused. Nothing else can be."""
+        return self.paused and self.state in LIVE
+
     def _draw_indicator(self, painter, accent):
         cx, cy = 26.0, self.height() / 2
         painter.setPen(Qt.PenStyle.NoPen)
-        if self.state in LIVE:
+        if self._held:
+            # The two bars everything that plays sound uses, and no glow: a
+            # pulse is what says a recording is live.
+            painter.setBrush(accent)
+            for offset in (-4.4, 1.4):
+                painter.drawRoundedRect(
+                    QRectF(cx + offset, cy - 6.5, 3.0, 13.0), 1.2, 1.2
+                )
+        elif self.state in LIVE:
             pulse = 0.62 + 0.38 * (0.5 + 0.5 * math.sin(self._phase * 1.6))
             glow = QColor(accent)
             glow.setAlphaF(0.22 * pulse)

settings_ui.py

@@ -1321,6 +1321,14 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
             form, "toggle", t("Start and stop"),
             t("No global shortcut installed."), placeholder="Ctrl+Space",
         )
+        # The point of holding a recording is that something else came up, and
+        # something else is exactly when a hand is not free for a menu.
+        self._shortcut_row(
+            form, "pause", t("Pause and resume"),
+            t("No global shortcut installed. The tray menu holds it too."),
+            tooltip=t("Holds the recording without ending it. Nothing said "
+                      "while it is paused is kept, and the clock stops with it."),
+        )
         # Stopping is what sends the recording off to be transcribed, and that
         # is the step there is no taking back. By the time the tray menu is
         # open the sentence you did not mean to dictate is already on its way.
@@ -1700,8 +1708,8 @@ class SettingsWindow(QDialog):
         conf["file_cleanup"] = self.file_cleanup.isChecked()
 
         # Left empty, only the toggle falls back to a default: the application
-        # is unusable without it. The other three stay empty, which is what
+        # is unusable without it. The rest stay empty, which is what turns
-        # turns them off.
+        # them off.
         for which, (box, _status, _missing) in self._shortcut_rows.items():
             spec = hotkey.SHORTCUTS[which]
             conf[spec.setting] = (box.currentText().strip()

tests/test_audio.py

@@ -280,6 +280,26 @@ class _StalledStream:
         self._released.set()
 
 
+class _HeldStream:
+    """A capture that is paused and taken up again partway through, the way a
+    key press lands in the middle of a recording rather than between two."""
+
+    def __init__(self, data, recorder, pause_at, resume_at=None):
+        self._data = io.BytesIO(data)
+        self._recorder = recorder
+        self._pause_at = pause_at
+        self._resume_at = resume_at
+        self.reads = 0
+
+    def read(self, size):
+        if self.reads == self._pause_at:
+            self._recorder.pause()
+        elif self.reads == self._resume_at:
+            self._recorder.pause(False)
+        self.reads += 1
+        return self._data.read(size)
+
+
 class RecordingCommand(OnLinux, DikteTest):
     """Which program captures the microphone, and how it is asked to."""
 
@@ -499,6 +519,51 @@ class RecorderChain(OnLinux, DikteTest):
         self.assertEqual(len(failures), 1)
         self.assertIn("0.3", failures[0])
 
+    def held(self, data, pause_at, resume_at=None):
+        """Record `data` with the recorder paused for part of it."""
+        recorder = audio.Recorder()
+        results = []
+        failures = []
+        recorder.stopped.connect(lambda *args: results.append(args))
+        recorder.failed.connect(failures.append)
+        proc = FakeProcess(data)
+        proc.stdout = _HeldStream(data, recorder, pause_at, resume_at)
+        with only_these_tools("pw-record"), \
+                mock.patch.object(subprocess, "Popen", return_value=proc):
+            recorder.start()
+            recorder._thread.join(timeout=5)
+            # Nothing has ended the capture: a pause holds the microphone.
+            self.assertEqual(proc.signals, [])
+            recorder.stop()
+        return results, failures
+
+    def test_what_is_said_while_it_is_held_is_not_in_the_recording(self):
+        """The phone call in the middle of a dictation is the whole feature: it
+        must not reach the transcript, and the two halves must meet."""
+        results, failures = self.held(tone(2.0), pause_at=8, resume_at=16)
+        self.assertEqual(failures, [])
+        path, duration, _ = results[0]
+        self.addCleanup(os.unlink, path)
+        dropped = 8 * audio.CHUNK_FRAMES
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(duration, (2 * audio.RATE - dropped) / audio.RATE,
+                               places=3)
+
+    def test_a_recording_held_all_the_way_through_captured_nothing(self):
+        results, failures = self.held(tone(2.0), pause_at=0)
+        self.assertEqual(results, [])
+        self.assertIn("0.3", failures[0])
+
+    def test_a_pause_does_not_outlive_the_recording_it_was_asked_for(self):
+        recorder = audio.Recorder()
+        recorder.pause()
+        proc = FakeProcess(tone(0.5))
+        with only_these_tools("pw-record"), \
+                mock.patch.object(subprocess, "Popen", return_value=proc):
+            recorder.start()
+            self.assertFalse(recorder.paused)
+            recorder._thread.join(timeout=5)
+            recorder.cancel()
+
     def test_a_recorder_that_could_not_start(self):
         recorder = audio.Recorder()
         failures = []

tests/test_cli.py

@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ class Parser(unittest.TestCase):
                                  name)
 
     def test_every_verb_is_wired_to_something(self):
-        for verb in ("record", "toggle", "start", "stop", "cancel", "ask",
+        for verb in ("record", "toggle", "start", "stop", "pause", "cancel", "ask",
                      "session", "transcribe", "meeting", "meetings", "history",
                      "config", "prompt", "devices", "models", "test-key",
                      "doctor", "shortcut", "status", "settings", "restart",
@@ -614,6 +614,14 @@ class Replies(DikteTest):
                 captured():
             self.assertEqual(cli.run(["cancel"]), 0)
 
+    def test_pausing_a_recording_nobody_started_is_not_a_failure_either(self):
+        """A key that pauses can be pressed when there is nothing to pause, and
+        it must not start an application to tell you so."""
+        with mock.patch.object(ipc, "send", return_value=None), \
+                mock.patch.object(cli, "launch_gui") as launched, captured():
+            self.assertEqual(cli.run(["pause"]), 0)
+        self.assertFalse(launched.called)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()

tests/test_ui.py

@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ CHANGED = {
     "file_cleanup": False,
     "shortcut": "Ctrl+Alt+Space",
     "cancel_shortcut": "Meta+Shift+Space",
+    "pause_shortcut": "Meta+P",
     "evdev_hotkey": True,
     "history_limit": 50,
 }
@@ -269,6 +270,7 @@ class Settings(DikteTest):
         self.assertTrue(conf["shortcut"])
         self.assertEqual(conf["shortcut"], hotkey.default_combo("toggle"))
         self.assertEqual(conf["cancel_shortcut"], "")
+        self.assertEqual(conf["pause_shortcut"], "")
         self.assertEqual(conf["assistant_shortcut"], "")
         self.assertEqual(conf["meeting_shortcut"], "")
 
@@ -466,6 +468,27 @@ class Overlay(DikteTest):
         widget._conceal()
         self.assertFalse(widget.showing)
 
+    def test_a_held_recording_says_so_and_stops_moving(self):
+        """Everything about the ribbon says a recording is running; a pause the
+        ribbon did not show would leave all of it saying the opposite."""
+        widget = self.overlay()
+        widget.show_recording()
+        widget.push_level(0.8)
+        widget.set_paused(True)
+        levels = list(widget.levels)
+        widget._tick()
+        self.assertEqual(widget.levels, levels)
+        widget.set_paused(False)
+        widget._tick()
+        self.assertNotEqual(widget.levels, levels)
+
+    def test_a_new_recording_is_never_the_last_one_still_held(self):
+        widget = self.overlay()
+        widget.show_recording()
+        widget.set_paused(True)
+        widget.show_recording()
+        self.assertFalse(widget.paused)
+
     def test_a_meeting_shows_both_sides(self):
         widget = self.overlay()
         widget.show_meeting()

trayicon.py

@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-"""The three tray icons, drawn here for systems that have no icon theme.
+"""The four tray icons, drawn here for systems that have no icon theme.
 
-Linux hands out `audio-input-microphone`, `media-record` and `view-refresh`
+Linux hands out `audio-input-microphone`, `media-record`, `view-refresh` and
-from whatever icon theme is installed, and Qt finds them through
+`media-playback-pause` from whatever icon theme is installed, and Qt finds them
-QIcon.fromTheme. macOS has no such registry: fromTheme returns a null icon
+through QIcon.fromTheme. macOS has no such registry: fromTheme returns a null
-there, and a null icon in the menu bar is an item you cannot see, which is the
+icon there, and a null icon in the menu bar is an item you cannot see, which is
-whole of Dikte's interface gone. So the same three shapes are drawn here, and
+the whole of Dikte's interface gone. So the same four shapes are drawn here,
-used whenever the theme has nothing to offer.
+and used whenever the theme has nothing to offer.
 
 They are drawn as template images: one colour, transparent everywhere else,
 with isMask set. That is what lets macOS invert them for a dark menu bar and
@@ -75,6 +75,18 @@ def _record(painter, size):
     painter.drawEllipse(QPointF(11 * unit, 11 * unit), 6.4 * unit, 6.4 * unit)
 
 
+def _paused(painter, size):
+    """Two bars: the recording is still ours, and nothing is going into it."""
+    unit = size / 22.0
+    painter.setPen(Qt.PenStyle.NoPen)
+    painter.setBrush(INK)
+    for left in (6.4, 12.4):
+        painter.drawRoundedRect(
+            QRectF(left * unit, 5.0 * unit, 3.2 * unit, 12.0 * unit),
+            1.2 * unit, 1.2 * unit,
+        )
+
+
 def _working(painter, size):
     """An arrow chasing its own circle: transcribing, cleaning up, thinking."""
     unit = size / 22.0
@@ -102,6 +114,7 @@ def _working(painter, size):
 SHAPES = {
     "audio-input-microphone": _microphone,
     "media-record": _record,
+    "media-playback-pause": _paused,
     "view-refresh": _working,
 }
 

uninstall.sh

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ echo "──────────────────"
 if ((MACOS)); then
   say "Nothing to unregister: macOS shortcuts live only while Dikte runs."
 elif [[ -n "$PY" ]] && "$PY" -c 'import PyQt6.QtWidgets' 2>/dev/null; then
-  for which in toggle cancel ask meeting; do
+  for which in toggle pause cancel ask meeting; do
     "$PY" "$DIR/dikte.py" shortcut remove "$which" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
   done
   ok "Global shortcuts unregistered"
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ if ((!MACOS)); then
   # Removing the shortcut takes its desktop file with it, but an install from
   # before this script existed may have left one behind on a desktop that never
   # used them.
-  for id in dikte-toggle dikte-cancel dikte-ask dikte-meeting; do
+  for id in dikte-toggle dikte-pause dikte-cancel dikte-ask dikte-meeting; do
     if [[ -e "$APP_DIR/$id.desktop" ]]; then
       remove "$APP_DIR/$id.desktop"
     fi