Files
dikte/README.windows.md
T
yusufipek b186f7fde2 Merge master: the modules moved into a package
Every file this branch touches moved into dikte/, so the merge is mostly the
rename following the edits. What needed a hand:

hotkey.py: master replaced the _macos()/_gnome() pair with one backend()
chooser, and this branch had added _windows() to the pair. Windows is a fifth
value of the chooser now, and everything that used to ask "macOS or Windows?"
asks backend() instead. The key is held by the running process there, so
installs_shortcuts() and shortcut_needs_restart() are both false for it, and
desktop_name() says Windows.

install.ps1 and the Windows README name dikte/__main__.py, the entry point the
Linux and macOS installers were pointed at in the same commit. The Start Menu
entry, the autostart entry and the dikte.cmd shim all come off one $entry
variable.

settings_ui.py: the shortcut tab now has a Windows sentence of its own, with
the Turkish for it. Falling through to the branch master wrote for a desktop
with no registry would have told a Windows user to check /dev/input. Nothing
covers that branch: there is no Windows Settings test class, the way there is
one for macOS.

CONTRIBUTING: the chooser it names is backend() now, and the test count is the
merged one, 1067 of 1110 running anywhere.
2026-08-16 14:10:28 +03:00

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Markdown

# Dikte on Windows
Press `Ctrl+Space`, talk, press again: what you said is transcribed, cleaned
up and pasted where your cursor is.
## Requirements
- **Windows 10/11**
- **Python 3.11+** with **PyQt6** (`pip install PyQt6`; install.ps1 installs
it when it is missing)
- **ffmpeg** for microphone capture: `winget install Gyan.FFmpeg`
## Installing
```powershell
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install.ps1
```
This adds a **Dikte** entry to the Start Menu and a **`dikte`** command to the
terminal. Add `-Autostart` to also start it at sign-in; `-Uninstall` removes
all of it and leaves the repository and your settings alone.
To try it without installing anything:
```sh
python -m dikte
```
## First run
1. The tray icon appears and the Settings window opens.
2. Under **API and models**, download a local whisper model (the whisper.cpp
Windows build is fetched automatically) or enter an OpenAI, Groq or
OpenRouter key.
3. The shortcut defaults to `Ctrl+Space` and is changed under Shortcuts.
While Dikte runs, Windows' own hotkey service (RegisterHotKey) listens for
it: nothing to install and no permission to grant.
## What is different from Linux and macOS
- **Meeting recording (microphone + speakers) is not supported yet.** Windows
does not offer what the speakers are playing as a capture device, so there
is nothing to record the far side from. Everything else works, including
transcribing audio and video files.
- **The shortcut is swallowed**: while Dikte holds `Ctrl+Space`, the focused
application does not see it. This is how macOS behaves too, and unlike the
Linux listener, which shares the key.
- No external tools for the clipboard or the key press: both go straight
through the Windows API (the clipboard, SendInput).
- Settings live under `%APPDATA%\Dikte`, models and recordings under
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Dikte`.
## Performance
- The local install fetches whisper.cpp's **OpenBLAS build**, which
transcribes about twice as fast as the stock one on a plain CPU. There is
no GPU build to fetch for machines without an NVIDIA card, and none for
Windows on ARM either: whisper.cpp publishes x64 only, so a Snapdragon
machine runs it under emulation and the cloud is the faster option there.
- Setting Settings → API and models → **Threads** near your physical core
count helps noticeably; the server's own default is 4.
- If speed matters more than accuracy, `ggml-small` and `ggml-base` are much
faster; `ggml-large-v3-turbo-q5_0` transcribes best.
## Troubleshooting
- **Recording does not start:** does `dikte doctor` find ffmpeg, and does
`dikte devices` list your microphone? `devices` also takes a fresh listing,
which is what to run after plugging one in.
- **Nothing is pasted:** a normal-privilege process cannot type into an
elevated (administrator) window; run Dikte elevated too, or paste by hand.
The text lands on the clipboard either way.
- **The shortcut does nothing:** another application already holds the
combination. Dikte says so in a tray notification when it asks for the key;
pick a different one under Settings → Shortcuts.