"""Raw PCM capture with a live level meter. Dictation records one source. A meeting records two of them at once, the microphone and what comes out of the speakers, and for that it goes through ffmpeg: one process reading both devices and merging them into the two channels of a single stream, which is the only way the two stay aligned with each other over an hour. Which programs do the capturing is a property of the machine, not of the code above: PulseAudio or PipeWire on Linux, AVFoundation through ffmpeg on macOS. They are gathered into one group each near the bottom of this file, and a chooser picks between them. """ import array import collections import json import math import os import re import shutil import signal import subprocess import sys import tempfile import threading import wave from PyQt6.QtCore import QObject, pyqtSignal from i18n import t RATE = 16000 CHANNELS = 1 SAMPLE_WIDTH = 2 # s16 CHUNK_FRAMES = 1024 CHUNK_BYTES = CHUNK_FRAMES * SAMPLE_WIDTH * CHANNELS CHUNK_LATENCY_MS = round(CHUNK_FRAMES / RATE * 1000) MIN_FRAMES = int(RATE * 0.25) class Recorder(QObject): """Runs the available sound-server recorder and reads raw PCM from stdout.""" level = pyqtSignal(float) # 0.0 - 1.0, for the waveform stopped = pyqtSignal(str, float, object) # wav path, duration (s), per-chunk RMS failed = pyqtSignal(str) def __init__(self, parent=None): super().__init__(parent) self._proc = None self._thread = None self._buffer = bytearray() self._rms = [] self._cancelled = False self._stopping = False self._lock = threading.Lock() @property def active(self): return self._thread is not None and self._thread.is_alive() def start(self, target="", max_seconds=300): if self.active: return cmd = recording_command(target) if not cmd: self.failed.emit(t(sound().missing)) return try: self._proc = subprocess.Popen( cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, bufsize=0 ) except OSError as exc: self.failed.emit(t("Could not start recording: {error}", error=exc)) return self._buffer = bytearray() self._rms = [] self._cancelled = False self._stopping = False self._max_bytes = int(max_seconds * RATE * SAMPLE_WIDTH * CHANNELS) self._thread = threading.Thread(target=self._pump, daemon=True) self._thread.start() def _pump(self): proc = self._proc stdout = proc.stdout try: while True: chunk = stdout.read(CHUNK_BYTES) if not chunk: break peak, rms = chunk_levels(chunk) with self._lock: self._buffer.extend(chunk) self._rms.append(rms) too_long = len(self._buffer) >= self._max_bytes self.level.emit(peak) if too_long: self._terminate() break except (OSError, ValueError): pass # Nobody asked it to end and it captured nothing: the recorder is not # installed properly, or the device was refused. Said out loud here, # because stop() would otherwise report it as a recording that was too # short, which sends the user looking in the wrong place. with self._lock: captured = bool(self._buffer) if self._stopping or self._cancelled or captured: return try: detail = proc.stderr.read().decode("utf-8", "replace").strip() except (AttributeError, OSError): detail = "" self.failed.emit(t( "Audio recorder stopped before receiving sound: {error}", error=detail or f"exit code {proc.returncode}", )) def _terminate(self): self._stopping = True proc = self._proc if proc and proc.poll() is None: try: proc.send_signal(signal.SIGINT) proc.wait(timeout=1.5) except (subprocess.TimeoutExpired, OSError): try: proc.kill() except OSError: pass def cancel(self): self._cancelled = True self._terminate() if self._thread: self._thread.join(timeout=2) self._thread = None self._proc = None with self._lock: self._buffer = bytearray() def stop(self): """End the recording and write the WAV file.""" if not self._proc: return self._terminate() if self._thread: self._thread.join(timeout=2) self._thread = None self._proc = None with self._lock: pcm = bytes(self._buffer) rms = list(self._rms) self._buffer = bytearray() if self._cancelled: return frames = len(pcm) // (SAMPLE_WIDTH * CHANNELS) if frames < MIN_FRAMES: # a stray keypress, not speech self.failed.emit(t("Recording too short, speak for at least 0.3 s")) return path = write_wav(pcm) self.stopped.emit(path, frames / RATE, rms) def write_wav(pcm, rate=RATE, channels=CHANNELS, width=SAMPLE_WIDTH): fd, path = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix="dikte-", suffix=".wav") with open(fd, "wb") as raw, wave.open(raw, "wb") as wav: wav.setnchannels(channels) wav.setsampwidth(width) wav.setframerate(rate) wav.writeframes(pcm) return path def recording_command(target=""): """A raw-s16 capture command for the sound system on this machine.""" return sound().record(target) def meeting_command(mic_target, system_target): """One ffmpeg reading both devices and merging them into two channels.""" return sound().meeting(mic_target, system_target) class MeetingRecorder(QObject): """Microphone and speaker output into one stereo file: left is you, right is everyone else. Who said what then needs no guessing at all, because the two voices never shared a channel to begin with. The recording is written to disk as it arrives rather than held in memory, so length is not a problem and a crash costs the tail of the meeting instead of all of it. """ levels = pyqtSignal(float, float) # mine, theirs stopped = pyqtSignal(str, float) # wav path, duration (s) died = pyqtSignal() # ffmpeg quit on its own failed = pyqtSignal(str) def __init__(self, parent=None): super().__init__(parent) self._proc = None self._thread = None self._wav = None self._log = None self._path = "" self._frames = 0 self._cancelled = False self._stopping = False self._lock = threading.Lock() @property def active(self): return self._thread is not None and self._thread.is_alive() def start(self, path, mic_target="", system_target="", max_seconds=14400): if self.active: return if not shutil.which("ffmpeg"): self.failed.emit(t("ffmpeg not found. Install it to record a meeting.")) return if not system_target: system_target = default_monitor() if not system_target: self.failed.emit(t("Could not work out which speaker output to record. " "Pick one in Settings → Meeting.")) return cmd = meeting_command(mic_target, system_target) try: os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(path), exist_ok=True) self._wav = wave.open(path, "wb") self._wav.setnchannels(2) self._wav.setsampwidth(SAMPLE_WIDTH) self._wav.setframerate(RATE) # ffmpeg keeps talking to stderr for as long as it runs; a pipe # nobody drains would eventually block it, so it writes to a file. self._log = tempfile.TemporaryFile() self._proc = subprocess.Popen( cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=self._log, bufsize=0 ) except (OSError, wave.Error) as exc: self._close_file() self._drop_log() try: os.unlink(path) # an empty header nobody will ever read except OSError: pass self.failed.emit(t("Could not start recording: {error}", error=exc)) return self._path = path self._frames = 0 self._cancelled = False self._stopping = False self._max_frames = int(max_seconds * RATE) self._thread = threading.Thread(target=self._pump, daemon=True) self._thread.start() def _pump(self): stdout = self._proc.stdout block = CHUNK_FRAMES * SAMPLE_WIDTH * 2 try: while True: chunk = stdout.read(block) if not chunk: break mine, theirs = stereo_levels(chunk) with self._lock: if self._wav is None: break self._wav.writeframes(chunk) self._frames += len(chunk) // (SAMPLE_WIDTH * 2) too_long = self._frames >= self._max_frames self.levels.emit(mine, theirs) if too_long: self._terminate() break except (OSError, ValueError, wave.Error): pass # Nobody asked it to end: the sound device went away, or ffmpeg fell # over. An hour into a meeting that has to be said out loud rather than # discovered afterwards. if not self._stopping: self.died.emit() def _terminate(self): self._stopping = True proc = self._proc if proc and proc.poll() is None: try: proc.send_signal(signal.SIGINT) proc.wait(timeout=2) except (subprocess.TimeoutExpired, OSError): try: proc.kill() except OSError: pass def _close_file(self): with self._lock: wav, self._wav = self._wav, None if wav is not None: try: wav.close() except (OSError, wave.Error): pass def _error_tail(self): if self._log is None: return "" try: self._log.seek(0) text = self._log.read().decode("utf-8", "replace").strip() except OSError: return "" lines = [line for line in text.splitlines() if line.strip()] return lines[-1] if lines else "" def _finish_process(self): self._terminate() if self._thread: self._thread.join(timeout=3) self._thread = None code = self._proc.poll() if self._proc else 0 self._proc = None self._close_file() return code def cancel(self): self._cancelled = True self._finish_process() self._drop_log() try: os.unlink(self._path) except OSError: pass def stop(self): if not self._proc: return # The count is read after the join: the pump thread is still appending # the last blocks up to the moment it ends. code = self._finish_process() frames = self._frames if self._cancelled: self._drop_log() return # SIGINT is how the recording ends, and ffmpeg reports being interrupted # as a failure; only complain when nothing was captured either. if frames < MIN_FRAMES: tail = self._error_tail() self._drop_log() try: os.unlink(self._path) except OSError: pass self.failed.emit( t("Nothing was recorded: {error}", error=tail or f"ffmpeg → {code}") if tail or code else t("Recording too short, speak for at least 0.3 s") ) return self._drop_log() self.stopped.emit(self._path, frames / RATE) def _drop_log(self): if self._log is not None: try: self._log.close() except OSError: pass self._log = None def chunk_levels(chunk): """(peak, rms) in 0..1. Peak drives the waveform, RMS drives the silence check.""" samples = array.array("h") usable = len(chunk) - (len(chunk) % 2) if usable <= 0: return 0.0, 0.0 samples.frombytes(chunk[:usable]) peak = max(abs(min(samples)), abs(max(samples))) / 32768.0 rms = math.sqrt(sum(s * s for s in samples) / len(samples)) / 32768.0 return min(1.0, peak), min(1.0, rms) def stereo_levels(chunk): """(left peak, right peak) in 0..1 from interleaved stereo s16.""" samples = array.array("h") usable = len(chunk) - (len(chunk) % 4) if usable <= 0: return 0.0, 0.0 samples.frombytes(chunk[:usable]) left, right = samples[0::2], samples[1::2] return _peak(left), _peak(right) def _peak(samples): if not samples: return 0.0 return min(1.0, max(abs(min(samples)), abs(max(samples))) / 32768.0) # --- the sound system, one group per machine ------------------------------- # Both meeting commands merge the same way: each input down to mono at our own # rate, then the two of them into the left and right of one stream. MERGE_FILTER = ( f"[0:a]aresample={RATE}:async=1,aformat=sample_fmts=s16:channel_layouts=mono[m];" f"[1:a]aresample={RATE}:async=1,aformat=sample_fmts=s16:channel_layouts=mono[s];" "[m][s]amerge=inputs=2[out]" ) def _pulse_record(target): """parec, or pw-record where PulseAudio's tools were left out. parec works with both PulseAudio and PipeWire's PulseAudio compatibility service, and its source names are the same ones shown by list_sources(). Keep pw-record as the fallback for minimal native-PipeWire installations. """ if shutil.which("parec"): cmd = [ "parec", "--record", "--raw", f"--rate={RATE}", f"--channels={CHANNELS}", "--format=s16le", # Left alone, parec holds about two seconds before handing anything # over, and then hands over all of it at once: the level meter sits # still and jumps, and the tail of a recording can be lost on the # way out. A chunk of the meter is the unit the rest of this file # is measured in, so ask for that. f"--latency-msec={CHUNK_LATENCY_MS}", ] if target: cmd.append(f"--device={target}") return cmd if shutil.which("pw-record"): cmd = [ "pw-record", "--raw", f"--rate={RATE}", f"--channels={CHANNELS}", "--format=s16", ] if target: cmd.append(f"--target={target}") cmd.append("-") return cmd return [] def _pulse_meeting(mic_target, system_target): return [ "ffmpeg", "-hide_banner", "-nostdin", "-loglevel", "error", "-f", "pulse", "-thread_queue_size", "4096", "-i", mic_target or "default", "-f", "pulse", "-thread_queue_size", "4096", "-i", system_target, "-filter_complex", MERGE_FILTER, "-map", "[out]", "-f", "s16le", "-ar", str(RATE), "-", ] def _pactl_sources(): if not shutil.which("pactl"): return [] try: out = subprocess.run( ["pactl", "-f", "json", "list", "sources"], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=5, check=True, ).stdout return json.loads(out) except (subprocess.SubprocessError, OSError, json.JSONDecodeError): return [] def _pulse_inputs(): return [ (src.get("name", ""), src.get("description") or src.get("name", "")) for src in _pactl_sources() if not src.get("name", "").endswith(".monitor") ] def _pulse_outputs(): return [ (src.get("name", ""), src.get("description") or src.get("name", "")) for src in _pactl_sources() if src.get("name", "").endswith(".monitor") ] def _pulse_default_output(): if not shutil.which("pactl"): return "" try: sink = subprocess.run( ["pactl", "get-default-sink"], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=5, check=True, ).stdout.strip() except (subprocess.SubprocessError, OSError): return "" if not sink: return "" monitor = f"{sink}.monitor" names = {name for name, _ in _pulse_outputs()} return monitor if not names or monitor in names else "" # macOS hands out no monitor of its own: what the speakers are playing is not # an input, and the only way to record it is a driver that pretends to be one. # These are the three people install. LOOPBACK_DEVICES = ("blackhole", "loopback", "soundflower") def _avfoundation_record(target): if not shutil.which("ffmpeg"): return [] return [ "ffmpeg", "-hide_banner", "-nostdin", "-loglevel", "error", # AVFoundation names an input "video:audio", so the empty half in front # of the colon is what says this recording has no picture in it. "-f", "avfoundation", "-i", f":{target or 'default'}", "-ac", str(CHANNELS), "-ar", str(RATE), "-f", "s16le", "-", ] def _avfoundation_meeting(mic_target, system_target): return [ "ffmpeg", "-hide_banner", "-nostdin", "-loglevel", "error", "-thread_queue_size", "4096", "-f", "avfoundation", "-i", f":{mic_target or 'default'}", "-thread_queue_size", "4096", "-f", "avfoundation", "-i", f":{system_target}", "-filter_complex", MERGE_FILTER, "-map", "[out]", "-f", "s16le", "-ar", str(RATE), "-", ] def _avfoundation_inputs(): """[(index, name)] for every capture device AVFoundation offers. The index is what the recorder is given, because that is what ffmpeg takes; it changes when devices are plugged in, which is why the name is shown. """ if not shutil.which("ffmpeg"): return [] try: # Listing devices is not a thing ffmpeg can do without an input, so it # is asked for one it cannot open: the list comes out on stderr and the # command then fails, which is the documented way of doing this. result = subprocess.run( ["ffmpeg", "-hide_banner", "-f", "avfoundation", "-list_devices", "true", "-i", ""], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=8, check=False, ) except (subprocess.SubprocessError, OSError): return [] devices, listing = [], False for line in result.stderr.splitlines(): if "AVFoundation audio devices:" in line: listing = True continue if not listing: continue match = re.search(r"\[(\d+)\]\s+(.+)$", line) if match: devices.append((match.group(1), match.group(2).strip())) return devices def _avfoundation_default_output(): for name, description in _avfoundation_inputs(): if any(word in description.lower() for word in LOOPBACK_DEVICES): return name return "" Sound = collections.namedtuple( "Sound", # How to capture one source and two at once, the two device lists, which # device a meeting records the far side from, and what to say when the # programs for any of it are not installed. "record meeting inputs outputs default_output missing", ) PULSE = Sound( record=_pulse_record, meeting=_pulse_meeting, inputs=_pulse_inputs, outputs=_pulse_outputs, default_output=_pulse_default_output, missing="No audio recorder found. Install pulseaudio-utils or pipewire-audio.", ) COREAUDIO = Sound( record=_avfoundation_record, meeting=_avfoundation_meeting, inputs=_avfoundation_inputs, # Every macOS capture device is offered as the far side of a meeting, the # loopback driver among them: there is no way to tell them apart, and an # empty list would leave nothing to pick. outputs=_avfoundation_inputs, default_output=_avfoundation_default_output, missing="ffmpeg not found. Install it with: brew install ffmpeg", ) def sound(): """The programs this machine records through.""" return COREAUDIO if sys.platform == "darwin" else PULSE def list_sources(): """[(name, description)] for every real input source.""" return sound().inputs() def list_monitors(): """[(name, description)] for whatever can be recorded as the other side. On Linux that is the monitor of an output, and recording it is recording whatever is being played: in a meeting the other participants, and nothing of your own microphone. """ return sound().outputs() def default_monitor(): """The device the far side of a meeting comes from, or ''.""" return sound().default_output()