lel

Python X11 STT daemon that records audio, runs Whisper, logs the transcript, and can optionally run AI post-processing before injecting text.

Requirements

• X11 (Wayland support scaffolded but not available yet)
• sounddevice (PortAudio)
• faster-whisper
• llama-cpp-python
• Tray icon deps: gtk3, libayatana-appindicator3
• Python deps (core): pillow, faster-whisper, llama-cpp-python, sounddevice
• X11 extras: PyGObject, python-xlib

System packages (example names): portaudio/libportaudio2.

Ubuntu (X11)

sudo apt install -y portaudio19-dev libportaudio2 python3-gi gir1.2-gtk-3.0 libayatana-appindicator3-1

Debian (X11)

sudo apt install -y portaudio19-dev libportaudio2 python3-gi gir1.2-gtk-3.0 libayatana-appindicator3-1

Arch Linux (X11)

sudo pacman -S --needed portaudio gtk3 libayatana-appindicator

Fedora (X11)

sudo dnf install -y portaudio portaudio-devel gtk3 libayatana-appindicator-gtk3

openSUSE (X11)

sudo zypper install -y portaudio portaudio-devel gtk3 libayatana-appindicator3-1

Python Daemon

Install Python deps:

X11 (supported):

uv sync --extra x11

Wayland (scaffold only):

uv sync --extra wayland

Run:

uv run python3 src/leld.py --config ~/.config/lel/config.json

Config

Create ~/.config/lel/config.json:

{
  "daemon": { "hotkey": "Cmd+m" },
  "recording": { "input": "0" },
  "stt": { "model": "base", "device": "cpu" },
  "injection": { "backend": "clipboard" }
}

Recording input can be a device index (preferred) or a substring of the device name.

The LLM model is downloaded on first startup to ~/.cache/lel/models/ and uses the locked Llama-3.2-3B GGUF model. Pass -v/--verbose to see verbose logs, including llama.cpp loader logs; these messages are prefixed with llama::.

systemd user service

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
cp src/leld.py ~/.local/bin/leld.py
cp systemd/lel.service ~/.config/systemd/user/lel.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now lel

Usage

• Press the hotkey once to start recording.
• Press it again to stop and run STT.
• The transcript is logged to stderr.

Wayland note:

• Running under Wayland currently exits with a message explaining that it is not supported yet.

Injection backends:

• clipboard: copy to clipboard and inject via Ctrl+Shift+V (GTK clipboard + XTest)
• injection: type the text with simulated keypresses (XTest)

AI provider:

• Generic OpenAI-compatible chat API at ai_base_url (base URL only; the app uses /v1/chat/completions)

Control:

make run