HyperYap - Local Voice-to-Text for Your Desktop

HyperYap is a privacy-first voice-to-text app that runs speech recognition locally on your machine. It uses NVIDIA Parakeet, collects no data, and gives you fast recording, automatic paste, configurable shortcuts, optional LLM cleanup, and terminal-friendly workflow helpers.

Table of Contents

• What You Get
• Why This Model
• Install
• Shortcut Support
• Terminal-Friendly Workflows
• Platform Compatibility
• Requirements
• How It Works
• Configuration
• Build from Source
• Contributing
• Attribution
• License

What You Get

One app for private, local transcription:

• Local speech-to-text powered by the English NVIDIA Parakeet TDT 0.6B v2 model through the smcleod INT8 ONNX conversion. No cloud, no internet after first install.
• Fast record-and-paste workflow that transcribes speech and inserts the result into the active app.
• Configurable shortcuts for recording, last transcript paste, command mode, cancellation, and LLM-assisted modes.
• Toggle-to-talk and push-to-talk recording modes.
• Optional LLM post-processing through local Ollama or a configured remote endpoint.
• Custom dictionary and formatting rules for names, commands, casing, and recurring phrases.
• Import/export settings for moving configurations between installs.
• Desktop builds for Windows, macOS Apple Silicon, macOS Intel, and Linux x86_64.

Why This Model

HyperYap is optimized for English-first local dictation. The default model is NVIDIA's Parakeet TDT 0.6B v2, packaged through the smcleod/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2-int8 ONNX INT8 conversion.

That choice is deliberate. HyperYap is built around fast, private, everyday English speech-to-text rather than broad multilingual coverage. The v2 Parakeet line is English-focused, the ONNX INT8 conversion fits the local desktop runtime, and the model can run fully offline after the first download. For users whose main need is English dictation into editors, terminals, chat apps, and coding tools, this keeps the app focused on the workflow it is meant to serve.

Multilingual Parakeet models are still valuable for multilingual transcription, but they are not the default direction for HyperYap right now. The project prioritizes English quality, local reliability, low-friction installation, and a fast record-and-paste loop.

Install

Download the package for your platform from the latest release.

Windows

Run hyperyap_1.0.10_x64-setup.exe from the Releases page.

For the full workstation setup, use the PowerShell installer. It installs HyperYap, downloads the speech model, and configures the optional hotkey helper:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/avalonreset/hyperyap/main/install.ps1 | iex

Or clone and run locally:

git clone https://github.com/avalonreset/hyperyap.git
cd hyperyap
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install.ps1

The PowerShell installer also removes old MURmure installations if present.

macOS

Download the matching DMG from the latest release:

• HyperYap_aarch64_darwin.dmg for Apple Silicon Macs
• HyperYap_x86_64_darwin.dmg for Intel Macs

macOS requires Accessibility permission for global shortcuts.

Linux

Download HyperYap_amd64.AppImage or HyperYap_amd64.deb from the latest release.

On Debian/Ubuntu, you can also use:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/avalonreset/hyperyap/main/install.sh | sh

Upgrading

Run the installer again over an existing install. HyperYap upgrades in place without deleting your speech model or requiring a re-download. Settings are reset to the recommended defaults on each upgrade.

Shortcut Support

HyperYap records through configurable shortcuts. The exact binding can be changed from Settings.

Shortcut	Action
Record shortcut	Start or stop recording
Ctrl+Shift+Space	Paste last transcript
Ctrl+Alt+Space	LLM-assisted recording
Ctrl+Shift+X	Command mode
Ctrl+Shift+1 through Ctrl+Shift+4	LLM mode slots
Escape	Cancel recording

The Windows workstation preset maps F13, CapsLock, and Mouse Back to the record shortcut, and maps Mouse Forward to Enter. Those mappings come from the optional hotkey helper and can be paused from its tray menu.

Terminal-Friendly Workflows

HyperYap can be used with any app that accepts pasted text. It is especially useful in editors, chat apps, terminals, issue trackers, and coding tools where fast dictation reduces context switching.

The optional hotkey helper adds terminal-aware behavior where supported:

• Smart copy, paste, and undo handling for terminal windows.
• Clipboard screenshot conversion into a saved PNG path before paste.
• Bounded paste undo for recent HyperYap-managed terminal inserts.

Supported terminal process names for the helper:

Terminal	Process
WezTerm	wezterm-gui.exe
Windows Terminal	windowsterminal.exe
PowerShell	powershell.exe
PowerShell 7+	pwsh.exe
Command Prompt	cmd.exe
Alacritty	alacritty.exe
ConEmu	conemu.exe / conemu64.exe
Hyper	hyper.exe
Git Bash (mintty)	mintty.exe
Tabby	tabby.exe
Warp	warp.exe
MobaXterm	mobaxterm.exe

Platform Compatibility

The core app is built for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Global shortcut behavior is implemented separately per platform, so support depends on the operating system permissions and desktop environment.

Capability	Windows	macOS	Linux
Local Parakeet transcription	Supported	Supported	Supported
Configurable recording shortcuts	Supported	Supported with Accessibility permission	Supported where the desktop/session allows global input hooks
Automatic paste into active app	Supported	Supported	Supported
CapsLock and mouse side-button remapping	Supported through the optional hotkey helper	Not currently bundled	Not currently bundled
Smart terminal copy/paste/undo helper	Supported through the optional hotkey helper	Not currently bundled	Not currently bundled
PowerShell one-line workstation installer	Supported	Not applicable	Not applicable

In short: the app should work as a local voice-to-text tool on macOS and Linux, but the CapsLock remapper and smart terminal helper are currently Windows-only. macOS users must grant Accessibility permission. Linux global shortcuts may vary by distribution, window manager, and Wayland/X11 session.

Requirements

• Windows 10+, macOS, or Linux x86_64
• A microphone
• ~700MB disk space for the speech model
• Internet connection for first launch model download

How It Works

1. Press your configured record shortcut.
2. Speak naturally into your microphone.
3. Press the shortcut again to stop recording.
4. HyperYap transcribes locally using the Parakeet TDT model.
5. The transcription is automatically pasted into the active window.

All processing happens on your machine. Audio never leaves your computer. The speech model runs entirely offline after the initial download.

Configuration

HyperYap works out of the box with minimal setup. All settings can be changed from the app's Settings page.

Setting	Default	Description
Record mode	Toggle-to-talk	Press once to start, press again to stop. Can be changed to push-to-talk.
Record shortcut	Configurable	Remap to any supported key or key combination.
Language	English	Optimized for English local dictation.
Overlay	Bottom of screen	Recording indicator position. Can be set to top, bottom, or hidden.
LLM Connect	Disabled	Post-process transcriptions with a local LLM through Ollama or a configured remote endpoint.
HTTP API	Disabled	Local API on localhost for external tool integration.
Sound feedback	Enabled	Audio cues when recording starts and stops.
Copy to clipboard	Disabled	Optionally keep transcriptions in the clipboard.

Settings are stored in %APPDATA%/com.avalonreset.hyperyap/settings.json on Windows. Each install or upgrade resets settings to the recommended defaults. If you need to preserve custom settings across upgrades, back up this file before updating.

Hotkey Customization

All in-app shortcuts can be remapped from the Settings page. Platform-level remapping such as CapsLock or mouse side buttons is handled by the optional hotkey helper where available.

Build from Source

pnpm install

# Build the optional hotkey helper before packaging the Windows installer
cd hotkeys && cargo build --release && cd ..

pnpm tauri dev      # development
pnpm tauri build    # production build

Requires: Node.js 18+, Rust, pnpm, Tauri prerequisites

Download the default Parakeet ONNX model into resources/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2-smcleod-int8/:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .github/scripts/download-parakeet-model.ps1 -Destination resources

On macOS/Linux:

bash .github/scripts/download-parakeet-model.sh resources

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, PR workflow, and coding guidelines.

Please read the Code of Conduct before contributing.

Attribution

HyperYap's voice engine is a modified version of MURmure by Kieirra. Full credit to the original author for building an excellent local speech-to-text application.

Powered by NVIDIA's Parakeet TDT 0.6B v2 English speech recognition model, using the smcleod/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2-int8 ONNX INT8 conversion.

License

The voice engine is licensed under AGPL-3.0. See NOTICE for full attribution details.