Local Whisper splits runtime, UI, and mobile surfaces while keeping audio and text processing local.

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macOS runtime

Python LaunchAgent service
  Recording, transcription, grammar, replacements, clipboard, hotkeys
  Text-to-speech through Kokoro MLX
  IPC server at ~/.whisper/ipc.sock
  Command server at ~/.whisper/cmd.sock
  Pipeline watchdog and crash recovery

Swift menu bar app
  Menu bar status and controls
  Floating overlay
  Settings window
  Onboarding and tutorial
  Sleep/wake observer that asks Python to resync audio

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Python modules

AreaModules
Assemblyapp.py
Recordingapp_recording.py, audio.py, key_interceptor.py
Pipelineapp_pipeline.py, transcriber.py, grammar.py, audio_processor.py
Commandsapp_commands.py, cmd_server.py, cli/
UI IPCapp_ipc.py, ipc_server.py
Recoveryapp_recovery.py, recovery.py, long_session.py, watchdog.py
Persistencebackup.py, history_export.py, stats.py
Text toolsdictation_commands.py, shortcuts.py, tts_processor.py
Configurationconfig/schema.py, config/loader.py, config/mutations.py

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Swift modules

AreaFiles
Entry and stateAppMain.swift, AppState.swift, IPCClient.swift, IPCMessages.swift
Menu and overlayMenuBarView.swift, OverlayWindowController.swift, OverlayView.swift
SettingsSettingsView.swift, RecordingPanel.swift, TranscriptionPanel.swift, GrammarPanel.swift, VoicePanel.swift, VocabularyPanel.swift, OutputPanel.swift, ShortcutsPanel.swift, ActivityPanel.swift, AdvancedPanel.swift, AboutView.swift
Shared UITheme.swift, SharedViews.swift, Constants.swift, EngineSettingsSections.swift

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Mobile architecture

Flutter owns app shell, onboarding, history, modes, model management, settings, clipboard flow, and deterministic text cleanup. Native iOS owns microphone recording, WhisperKit/Core ML bridge, and keyboard extension behavior. Native Android owns microphone permission/status, WAV recording, app and input-method settings intents, keyboard status, haptics, and input method behavior. Flutter-side sherpa-onnx handles Android transcription after native recording returns the local WAV path.

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Long sessions and recovery

Recordings longer than five minutes use the chunked pipeline. Each VAD segment is transcribed, grammar-corrected, and persisted to ~/.whisper/current_session.jsonl before the next chunk runs. If a crash happens mid-session, completed chunks are recovered on next boot. The LaunchAgent uses KeepAlive={SuccessfulExit=false} with ThrottleInterval=10. Crashes restart. Clean stops do not hot-loop.