dikte/README.windows.md

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

From a checkout: the releases page carries an AppImage and a disk image, and no Windows build yet.

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:

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.