Feature Reference¶

YazSes ships 139 capabilities. All but the core are off by default — turn one on with yazses features enable <toggle> and apply with yazses restart. Browse them interactively with yazses features (grouped) or yazses features info <toggle> (one card).

Tiers: core (always on) · recommended (on by default) · recommended (safe, worth enabling) · optional · experimental (rough edges — needs --force to enable).

Core dictation¶

The hold-to-talk essentials and how speech is captured and turned into text.

Dictation core¶

Toggle: — · Tier: core · Config: always on
What it does: The core hold-to-talk transcription. Can't be turned off.
Use when: When you want to type anywhere by voice instead of the keyboard, hands-free.
Example: Hold your hotkey and speak; release to type.
Activate: always on (cannot be disabled)

Voice commands¶

Toggle: commands · Tier: recommended (on by default) · Config: [commands]
What it does: Spoken commands like 'undo', 'save', 'delete last word'. Keep on.
Use when: When you want to trigger edits and actions by voice mid-dictation without touching keys.
Example: Hold the command key and say 'undo' or 'save'.
Activate: yazses features enable commands then yazses restart

Voice punctuation¶

Toggle: voice-punctuation · Tier: optional · Config: [commands] voice_punctuation
What it does: Say 'comma', 'period', 'new line', 'question mark' to insert marks. Off by default — those words also occur in ordinary speech.
Use when: When you must place exact punctuation and line breaks and won't trust automatic guessing.
Example: Say 'hello comma world period' → 'hello, world.'
Activate: yazses features enable voice-punctuation then yazses restart

Mid-Thought Undo¶

Toggle: undo · Tier: recommended (on by default) · Config: [revise] — say 'scratch that'
What it does: Say 'scratch that' to drop the last phrase. Keep on.
Use when: When you misspeak and want to retract the last phrase without reaching for backspace.
Example: Say 'scratch that' to drop the last phrase.
Activate: yazses features enable undo then yazses restart

Voice-activity overlay¶

Toggle: overlay · Tier: recommended (on by default) · Config: [overlay] — sonar rings
What it does: Sonar rings near the cursor while you talk. Visual only; safe.
Use when: When you want a glanceable visual cue that the mic is live and hearing you.
Example: Watch the sonar rings near the cursor while you talk.
Activate: yazses features enable overlay then yazses restart

System-tray icon¶

Toggle: tray · Tier: recommended (on by default) · Config: [tray] — top-bar menu
What it does: A microphone icon in the top bar; click it to pick/pin your mic, re-calibrate, and start/stop the daemon. Needs a system tray (GNOME: AppIndicator extension).
Use when: When you'd rather click a top-bar icon to switch mics or restart than remember terminal commands.
Example: Click the top-bar mic icon → pick a microphone or re-calibrate, no terminal.
Activate: yazses features enable tray then yazses restart

Text-target guard¶

Toggle: target-guard · Tier: recommended (on by default) · Config: [injection] target_guard
What it does: When you dictate with no text field focused, don't type into the wrong place — turn the tray icon yellow and copy the transcript to the clipboard instead. Precise with AT-SPI (apt install python3-pyatspi gir1.2-atspi-2.0), else best-effort on X11.
Use when: When you sometimes speak before clicking into a text field and your words vanish into the wrong window.
Example: Dictate with no text box focused → it's copied to the clipboard, not lost.
Activate: yazses features enable target-guard then yazses restart

Mic-change guard¶

Toggle: mic-guard · Tier: recommended (on by default) · Config: [audio] device_change_notify
What it does: Notifies + auto-heals when your microphone silently switches (e.g. a USB-C monitor stealing capture) so dictation never dies in silence. Keep on.
Use when: When plugging in a monitor/headset silently switches your mic and dictation stops working with no clue why.
Example: Plug in a USB-C monitor; YazSes notices the mic switched and pops a fix.
Activate: yazses features enable mic-guard then yazses restart

Ghost Ahead¶

Toggle: ghost-ahead · Tier: optional · Config: [endpoint] — endpoint pre-warm
What it does: Pre-warms the decoder for slightly faster first words.
Use when: When first-word latency bugs you and you want the decoder warm before you speak.
Example: Nothing to do — the decoder pre-warms for faster first words.
Activate: yazses features enable ghost-ahead then yazses restart

Streaming transcription¶

Toggle: streaming · Tier: optional · Config: [streaming]
What it does: Injects words live as you speak (overtype). Off by default because it can fight some editors; enable if you want live text.
Use when: When you want to see text land live as you talk rather than only on release.
Example: yazses features enable streaming — text appears as you speak.
Activate: yazses features enable streaming then yazses restart

Accessibility Continuum¶

Toggle: continuum · Tier: optional · Config: [continuum] — quiet-speech mode
What it does: Whisper/Low-Effort Mode lowers the mic gate so quiet or effortful speech is still captured (no shouting). Semantic capture is opt-in. Off by default.
Use when: When you speak quietly or with low effort and the normal mic gate keeps discarding you.
Example: yazses features enable continuum — whisper-quiet speech still registers.
Activate: yazses features enable continuum then yazses restart

Wake-Word Activation¶

Toggle: wakeword · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [wakeword] — 'Hey Yaz', experimental
What it does: Start dictation hands-free by saying a keyword. Always-listening (local only, nothing stored until it fires). Needs the wakeword extra. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to start dictation completely hands-free without pressing a hotkey.
Example: Say your wake word to start dictation hands-free (--force).
Activate: yazses features enable wakeword then yazses restart

Breath-Paced Dictation¶

Toggle: breath · Tier: optional · Config: [breath] — segment by natural breath groups
What it does: Uses your natural breath onsets as sentence/paragraph boundaries, so dictation chunks the way you actually breathe — even without silent pauses. Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate in long continuous runs and want sentences segmented by breathing, not silence.
Example: Take a breath and YazSes commits that phrase and starts a new one.
Activate: yazses features enable breath then yazses restart

Whisper-Aware Mode¶

Toggle: whispermode · Tier: optional · Config: [whispermode] — accurate whispered dictation
What it does: Detects when you drop to a whisper and adapts gain, VAD, and the STT prompt so quiet dictation stays accurate in shared or private spaces. Off by default.
Use when: When you're in a shared or quiet space and must dictate under your breath without losing accuracy.
Example: Drop to a whisper and it turns up the gain so it still hears you.
Activate: yazses features enable whispermode then yazses restart

Hesitation-Hold Endpointing¶

Toggle: hesitation · Tier: recommended · Config: [hesitation] — don't cut off filled pauses
What it does: Holds the turn open when you trail off with a filled hesitation ('annnd… uhh…') instead of cutting you off — for anyone who thinks out loud. Off by default.
Use when: When you think out loud and keep getting cut off whenever you pause to find the next word.
Example: Trail off with 'annnd… uhh…' and it waits instead of cutting you off.
Activate: yazses features enable hesitation then yazses restart

Focus-Class Auto-Profile¶

Toggle: focusprofile · Tier: recommended · Config: [focusprofile] — auto grammar per app class
What it does: Auto-selects the dictation profile from the focused window's class (terminal→shell, editor→code, browser→prose) so you never switch profiles by hand. Off by default.
Use when: When you move between a terminal, editor, and browser and don't want to switch profiles by hand.
Example: Move from your editor to a terminal and the grammar follows.
Activate: yazses features enable focusprofile then yazses restart

Adaptive Latency Governor¶

Toggle: latency · Tier: recommended · Config: [latency] — load-aware decode
What it does: Keeps dictation responsive under CPU load (lighter model/beam) and losslessly faster when idle (speculative decoding). Needs the latency extra for a draft model. Off by default.
Use when: When your CPU is busy and dictation lags, but you still want fast response when it's idle.
Example: Dictation stays snappy when your CPU is busy, faster when it's idle.
Activate: yazses features enable latency then yazses restart

Hands-Free Auto-Stop¶

Toggle: autostop · Tier: optional · Config: [autostop] — tap & speak
What it does: Tap once and speak; recording auto-stops when you finish (silence timeout + duration cap). Semantic end-of-turn needs the turn extra. Off by default.
Use when: When holding the hotkey the whole time is tiring and you'd rather tap once and let it stop itself.
Example: Tap once and speak; recording stops when you finish.
Activate: yazses features enable autostop then yazses restart

Codec Streaming (low latency)¶

Toggle: codec · Tier: optional · Config: [codec] — Kyutai/Mimi engine
What it does: Routes decoding to a streaming neural-codec engine for lower latency. Needs the codec extra (Kyutai/Mimi); English/French-centric. Off by default.
Use when: When you want lower-latency dictation and can install the streaming codec engine.
Example: yazses features enable codec — streaming decode engine selection.
Activate: yazses features enable codec then yazses restart

Accuracy & correction¶

Get the words right — bias, correction, and cleanup of what was heard.

Dysfluency-Friendly¶

Toggle: dysfluency · Tier: recommended · Config: [accessibility]
What it does: Collapses stutters/repeats (b-b-because→because). Try it if you stutter or have dysarthria.
Use when: When you stutter, have dysarthria, or repeat words and want them cleaned to fluent text.
Example: Say 'b-b-because' → 'because' (stutters collapsed).
Activate: yazses features enable dysfluency then yazses restart

Punch-In¶

Toggle: punch-in · Tier: optional · Config: [punch_in] — re-speak to fix
What it does: Re-speak a phrase to correct the last one. Handy, safe.
Use when: When one phrase came out wrong and you'd rather re-say it than manually edit.
Example: Re-speak a phrase right after to correct the last one.
Activate: yazses features enable punch-in then yazses restart

Confidence Ink¶

Toggle: confidence · Tier: optional · Config: [confidence] — mark unsure words
What it does: Marks words Whisper was unsure about so you can re-pick them by voice instead of re-dictating. Uses Whisper's own confidence; local only.
Use when: When you want to spot and fix words the recognizer was unsure of instead of re-reading everything.
Example: See the low-confidence word count in 'yazses status'.
Activate: yazses features enable confidence then yazses restart

Context-Primed Dictation¶

Toggle: context · Tier: optional · Config: [context] — window/selection terms
What it does: Primes STT with terms from the active window/selection so domain words are transcribed right. Read transiently, never stored. Off by default.
Use when: When domain-specific words in your active window keep getting transcribed wrong.
Example: Open a file in your editor; dictation is primed from its LSP context.
Activate: yazses features enable context then yazses restart

Diacritize¶

Toggle: diacritize · Tier: optional · Config: [diacritize] — restore dropped diacritics
What it does: Restore the diacritics ASR drops — 'cafe' → 'café', 'naive' → 'naïve' — via an unambiguous lexicon (ambiguous words left alone). Off by default.
Use when: When ASR strips accents from words like cafe or naive and you need them restored.
Example: Dictate 'a cafe cliche' and get 'a café cliché'.
Activate: yazses features enable diacritize then yazses restart

SafeGlyph¶

Toggle: safeglyph · Tier: optional · Config: [safeglyph] — flag homoglyph hazards
What it does: Flag Unicode confusables in dictated identifiers/URLs — Cyrillic 'а' vs Latin 'a', zero-width characters, mixed-script words — before they are injected. Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate identifiers or URLs and must catch look-alike or hidden Unicode before it lands.
Example: A pasted 'pаypal.com' (Cyrillic а) gets flagged before injection.
Activate: yazses features enable safeglyph then yazses restart

Checksum-Validated Entry¶

Toggle: checkdigit · Tier: recommended · Config: [checkdigit] — verify dictated ID numbers
What it does: Runs dictated account/ID numbers (credit card, IBAN, ISBN) through their check-digit algorithm and flags a mis-heard digit before it lands — with fix suggestions. Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate a card, IBAN, or ID number where one mis-heard digit would be costly to miss.
Example: Dictate a card number and a mis-heard digit is caught instantly.
Activate: yazses features enable checkdigit then yazses restart

Involuntary-Vocalization Excision¶

Toggle: involuntary · Tier: optional · Config: [involuntary] — drop coughs & sneezes
What it does: Detects and deletes involuntary sounds (cough, throat-clear, sneeze) from the stream so they never become garbage tokens or spurious commands. Off by default.
Use when: When a cough, throat-clear, or sneeze keeps turning into garbage tokens in your dictation.
Example: Cough mid-sentence and it's dropped before it reaches the text.
Activate: yazses features enable involuntary then yazses restart

Self-Learning Correction Dictionary¶

Toggle: corrdict · Tier: recommended · Config: [corrdict] — auto-fix your recurring errors
What it does: Learns the ASR errors you keep fixing (e.g. 'yaz says' → 'YazSes') and applies them automatically to future output. High-precision, from your own edits. Off by default.
Use when: When you keep fixing the same ASR mistake and want it corrected automatically from now on.
Example: You keep fixing 'yaz says'→'YazSes'; soon it's fixed automatically.
Activate: yazses features enable corrdict then yazses restart

Confidence-Gated Re-Ask¶

Toggle: reask · Tier: recommended · Config: [reask] — resolve uncertain words
What it does: Instead of injecting a low-confidence guess, holds just the uncertain word and asks you to pick or repeat it — closing the correction loop. Off by default.
Use when: When one word is often guessed wrong and you'd rather confirm it than retype the whole line.
Example: An unsure 'their/there' pops a quick pick instead of guessing wrong.
Activate: yazses features enable reask then yazses restart

Phonetic Spelling Mode¶

Toggle: spelling · Tier: recommended · Config: [spelling] — NATO → exact characters
What it does: A character-exact mode for passwords/codes/IDs: 'capital alpha bravo double lima' → 'Abll'. Handles digits and symbols. Off by default.
Use when: When dictating a password, code, or ID that has to be character-exact.
Example: Say 'capital alpha bravo double lima' to type 'Abll' exactly.
Activate: yazses features enable spelling then yazses restart

Hard Contextual Biasing¶

Toggle: hotwords · Tier: recommended · Config: [hotwords] — names/jargon actually win
What it does: Biases recognition toward your vocabulary with a hotword trie (not just a soft prompt), so rare names and jargon are transcribed right. Off by default.
Use when: When rare names or jargon keep getting mis-transcribed despite a vocabulary prompt.
Example: Add 'Kubernetes' to vocab and it stops being mis-heard.
Activate: yazses features enable hotwords then yazses restart

Mid-Utterance Self-Repair¶

Toggle: self_repair · Tier: optional · Config: [commands] self_repair
What it does: Applies in-burst corrections before typing: 'email Sarah no I mean Sara' → 'email Sara'. Off by default — editing phrases occur in ordinary speech.
Use when: When you catch a slip mid-sentence and naturally say 'no I mean X' instead of editing.
Example: Say 'email Sarah no I mean Sara' → 'email Sara'.
Activate: yazses features enable self_repair then yazses restart

Screen-Grounded Dictation¶

Toggle: screengrounded · Tier: optional · Config: [screengrounded] — bias from screen
What it does: Primes Whisper with names visible on screen so they transcribe right the first time — works in any app. Accessibility/clipboard now; OCR via extra. Off by default.
Use when: When names visible on your screen keep getting mis-transcribed in replies and chats.
Example: A name shown on screen transcribes right the first time.
Activate: yazses features enable screengrounded then yazses restart

Grammar Repair¶

Toggle: gec · Tier: optional · Config: [gec] — minimal-edit correction
What it does: Fixes article/agreement errors in dictated text with minimal edits, tuned for non-native speakers. Register-preserving; local-only. Off by default.
Use when: When you're a non-native speaker and want article/agreement slips fixed with minimal edits.
Example: Dictate 'a apple' and it's corrected to 'an apple'.
Activate: yazses features enable gec then yazses restart

Acoustic Profiles¶

Toggle: acoustic_profiles · Tier: optional · Config: [acoustic_profiles] — scene-adaptive
What it does: Detects your environment (quiet/café/car/meeting) and auto-tunes the mic gate + noise suppression. Needs the acoustic extra (scene tagger). Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate in different environments and want the mic gate and denoise to adapt.
Example: Move to a café — the mic gate + denoise auto-adapt.
Activate: yazses features enable acoustic_profiles then yazses restart

Audio-Anchored Scrubbing¶

Toggle: scrub · Tier: optional · Config: [scrub] — replay/pinpoint a word
What it does: Keeps word-level timestamps so you can replay what you said or pick a word to re-dictate just that word. Audio stays in RAM. Off by default.
Use when: When you're unsure a word came out right and want to replay your audio or re-dictate just that word.
Example: Say a word to replay its audio or re-dictate just that word.
Activate: yazses features enable scrub then yazses restart

Phonetic Corrector¶

Toggle: phonetic · Tier: optional · Config: [phonetic] — fix mis-heard names
What it does: Fixes mis-heard proper nouns by sound against your vocabulary ('Cuber Netties'->'Kubernetes'). Pure, conservative. Off by default.
Use when: When STT keeps mangling the same proper nouns or jargon and you want them auto-fixed by sound.
Example: 'Cuber Netties' is auto-corrected to 'Kubernetes'.
Activate: yazses features enable phonetic then yazses restart

Hallucination Guard¶

Toggle: hallucination · Tier: optional · Config: [hallucination] — drop ghost text
What it does: Drops Whisper's fabricated text on silence/noise (the phantom 'Thank you.', 'please subscribe', or looped phrases) before it's typed. Pure, conservative. Off.
Use when: When Whisper types phantom phrases like 'Thank you.' during silence or background noise.
Example: Nothing to do — fabricated silence transcripts are dropped.
Activate: yazses features enable hallucination then yazses restart

Noise Suppression¶

Toggle: denoise · Tier: optional · Config: [denoise] — clean mic before STT
What it does: Removes background noise/echo before transcription so dictation works in noisy rooms. Needs the denoise extra (DeepFilterNet). Off by default.
Use when: When you're dictating in a noisy room and background sound is hurting accuracy.
Example: yazses features enable denoise — background noise is filtered pre-STT.
Activate: yazses features enable denoise then yazses restart

Formatting & structure¶

Shape the output — punctuation, structure, casing, code, math, and markup.

Prosody Ink¶

Toggle: prosody · Tier: optional · Config: [prosody] — pause→¶, emphasis→bold
What it does: Turns pauses into paragraphs and stressed words into bold.
Use when: When you want your natural pauses and emphasis to become paragraphs and bold automatically.
Example: Pause between thoughts → a new paragraph; stress a word → bold.
Activate: yazses features enable prosody then yazses restart

LLM cleanup¶

Toggle: llm-cleanup · Tier: optional · Config: [filters.disfluency]
What it does: Reformats dictation with a small offline LLM. Needs a model file.
Use when: When rambly dictation needs polishing into clean prose and you have an offline LLM available.
Example: yazses features enable llm-cleanup — offline LLM tidies dictation.
Activate: yazses features enable llm-cleanup then yazses restart

BrailleOut¶

Toggle: brailleout · Tier: optional · Config: [brailleout] — dictation as Unicode Braille
What it does: Emit Grade-2 (UEB) Unicode Braille cells so a Braille-display or DeafBlind user gets dictation directly in Braille — no screen-reader round-trip. Off by default.
Use when: When a Braille-display or DeafBlind user needs dictation as Braille cells, no screen reader.
Example: Dictate 'hello' and your Braille display gets ⠓⠑⠇⠇⠕ directly.
Activate: yazses features enable brailleout then yazses restart

Spoken Outline¶

Toggle: outline · Tier: optional · Config: [outline] — voice-driven outline tree
What it does: Say 'new item / indent / promote / collapse' to drive a live outline tree and render it as Markdown or OPML — structured idea capture by voice. Off by default.
Use when: When you're capturing structured ideas and want a live outline tree built by voice.
Example: Say 'new item groceries, indent, new item milk' → a nested outline.
Activate: yazses features enable outline then yazses restart

Diagrams-as-Code by Voice¶

Toggle: diagramvox · Tier: optional · Config: [diagramvox] — dictate a flowchart
What it does: Dictate a flowchart ('start goes to login; login goes to dashboard if success') and get Mermaid/Graphviz source — draw diagrams without a mouse or canvas. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to build a flowchart as code by voice without touching a mouse or canvas.
Example: Say 'A goes to B; B goes to C' and get a Mermaid flowchart.
Activate: yazses features enable diagramvox then yazses restart

Screenplay Auto-Format¶

Toggle: screenplay · Tier: optional · Config: [screenplay] — dialogue → Fountain
What it does: Formats dictated scenes and dialogue as Fountain screenplay markup (scene headings, character cues, smart curly quotes). For screenwriters and playwrights. Off by default.
Use when: When you're drafting a script and want scenes and dialogue formatted without typing Fountain markup.
Example: Dictate a scene and it lands as proper INT./EXT. Fountain markup.
Activate: yazses features enable screenplay then yazses restart

Style-Consistency Enforcer¶

Toggle: styleguard · Tier: optional · Config: [styleguard] — apply your house style
What it does: Applies your style sheet to each dictation ('e-mail' not 'email', US spelling, 'cannot' not 'can not') so terminology stays consistent — a Vale-lite pass. Off by default.
Use when: When you write to a house style and need terms and spellings kept consistent automatically.
Example: Say 'email' and your style sheet rewrites it to 'e-mail' automatically.
Activate: yazses features enable styleguard then yazses restart

Suggestion-Mode Dictation¶

Toggle: suggestmode · Tier: optional · Config: [suggestmode] — edits as tracked changes
What it does: Emits dictated edits as CriticMarkup tracked changes (add, ~~cut~~, ~~old~~new) for an editor to review later, instead of applying them. Off by default.
Use when: When you edit a shared doc where changes must be reviewed before they're accepted, not applied.
Example: Your edit lands as ~~old~~new for the author to accept later.
Activate: yazses features enable suggestmode then yazses restart

Semantic Line Breaks¶

Toggle: sembr · Tier: optional · Config: [sembr] — one clause per source line
What it does: Breaks dictated prose one clause per line so git diffs and merges stay clean — the rendered output is unchanged. For anyone versioning prose in git. Off by default.
Use when: When you version prose in git and want clean diffs by keeping one clause per source line.
Example: Dictate a paragraph and each clause lands on its own source line.
Activate: yazses features enable sembr then yazses restart

Acronym & Glossary Manager¶

Toggle: acronyms · Tier: optional · Config: [acronyms] — expand on first use
What it does: Expands an acronym on first mention ('World Health Organization (WHO)'), contracts it after, and warns about acronyms you never defined. Off by default.
Use when: When you write reports full of acronyms and need each defined on first use and kept consistent.
Example: Say 'WHO' the first time and it writes out the full name for you.
Activate: yazses features enable acronyms then yazses restart

Prosodic Auto-Punctuation¶

Toggle: prosodypunct · Tier: recommended · Config: [prosodypunct] — punctuation from prosody
What it does: Inserts periods, commas, and question marks from how you speak (pauses, pitch) — no need to say 'comma' or 'period'. Off by default.
Use when: When you want natural punctuation from how you speak instead of saying 'comma' and 'period'.
Example: Speak naturally and the periods and commas appear on their own.
Activate: yazses features enable prosodypunct then yazses restart

Spoken Table Entry¶

Toggle: tablecsv · Tier: optional · Config: [tablecsv] — dictate rows of data
What it does: Bulk data entry by voice: 'row: Ada, 1815, London' types tab/comma cells and 'next row' moves down. For spreadsheets and forms. Off by default.
Use when: When you're doing repetitive row-by-row data entry and want to speak the cells instead of tabbing.
Example: Say 'row: Ada, 1815, London' to fill a spreadsheet row.
Activate: yazses features enable tablecsv then yazses restart

Voice Case Transform¶

Toggle: casetransform · Tier: optional · Config: [casetransform] — recase the selection
What it does: Recase the selected text by voice: 'make this snake_case', 'Title Case', 'SHOUT', 'camelCase'. Off by default.
Use when: When you need to recase a selection to snake_case, camelCase, or Title Case without retyping.
Example: Select a name, say 'make this snake_case', and it rewrites.
Activate: yazses features enable casetransform then yazses restart

Auto-Pairing & Wrap¶

Toggle: autopair · Tier: optional · Config: [autopair] — balance brackets, wrap selection
What it does: Balances brackets/quotes in dictated code and wraps a selection ('wrap this in parens'). Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate code by voice and keep leaving brackets or quotes unbalanced, or need to wrap.
Example: Dictate '(a plus b' and it closes to '(a plus b)'.
Activate: yazses features enable autopair then yazses restart

Inline Compute¶

Toggle: compute · Tier: recommended · Config: [compute] — types the answer
What it does: Say 'what's 15% of 240' and it types 36. On-device arithmetic and percentages, no cloud calculator. Off by default.
Use when: When you need a quick sum or percentage typed straight into your text without a calculator.
Example: Say "what's 15% of 240" and it types 36.
Activate: yazses features enable compute then yazses restart

Verbatim / Autoformat Toggle¶

Toggle: verbatim · Tier: recommended · Config: [verbatim] — freeze formatting on command
What it does: Say 'dictate verbatim' to freeze all formatting (ITN, punctuation, reflow) for exact capture, 'resume formatting' to restore — mid-burst. Off by default.
Use when: When you need exact literal capture (a quote, a code block) with no auto-formatting applied.
Example: Say 'dictate verbatim' and 'one hundred dollars' types literally.
Activate: yazses features enable verbatim then yazses restart

Structured-Markup Dictation¶

Toggle: markup · Tier: optional · Config: [markup] — speak lists & tables
What it does: Speak structure and get Markdown/org: 'bullet list: apples; oranges' → a list; 'table columns Name, Age; row Alice, 30' → a table. Off by default.
Use when: When dictating notes that need real lists or tables, not a flat paragraph.
Example: Say 'bullet list: apples; oranges; pears' to type a Markdown list.
Activate: yazses features enable markup then yazses restart

Spoken Regex Builder¶

Toggle: spokenregex · Tier: optional · Config: [spokenregex] — dictate search patterns
What it does: Build regexes by voice: 'four digits dash two digits' → \d{4}-\d{2}. Feeds find dialogs and grep. Off by default.
Use when: When you need a regex for a find dialog or grep but don't want to type the syntax.
Example: Say 'four digits dash two digits' to build \d{4}-\d{2}.
Activate: yazses features enable spokenregex then yazses restart

On-Device Condense¶

Toggle: condense · Tier: optional · Config: [condense] — summarise your ramble
What it does: A condense variant inserts a tightened summary of your long dictation instead of the verbatim text. Local extractive summary. Off by default.
Use when: When you tend to ramble and want a tightened summary typed instead of the full transcript.
Example: Ramble for a paragraph and a tightened 2-sentence summary is typed.
Activate: yazses features enable condense then yazses restart

Spoken Spreadsheet¶

Toggle: spreadsheet · Tier: optional · Config: [spreadsheet] — grid nav + cells
What it does: Cell-addressed dictation + grid navigation for spreadsheets: 'next row', 'cell down', 'go to B7'. Hands-free 2D entry. Off by default.
Use when: When entering data into a grid and you need hands-free cell navigation and addressing.
Example: Say 'next row' or 'go to B7' to drive a spreadsheet.
Activate: yazses features enable spreadsheet then yazses restart

Spoken Temporal Normalizer¶

Toggle: temporal · Tier: optional · Config: [temporal] — dates from speech
What it does: Resolves spoken dates against the clock: 'next Friday' → a concrete date, 'tomorrow', 'in two weeks'. Uses only the local clock. Off by default.
Use when: When dictating dates like 'next Friday' that should land as concrete calendar dates.
Example: Say 'next Friday' and it types the concrete date.
Activate: yazses features enable temporal then yazses restart

Emoji & Symbol by Voice¶

Toggle: symbols · Tier: optional · Config: [commands] symbols
What it does: Speak emoji, symbols and arrows: 'shrug emoji' → 🤷, 'right arrow' → →, 'degree sign' → °. Off by default — the names occur in ordinary speech.
Use when: When you often need emoji, arrows, or special symbols you can't easily produce by voice.
Example: Say 'right arrow' → → or 'shrug emoji' → 🤷.
Activate: yazses features enable symbols then yazses restart

Voice Unit Conversion¶

Toggle: convert · Tier: optional · Config: [convert] — inline conversions
What it does: Evaluate spoken conversions inline: 'twenty miles in kilometers' → '32.19 kilometers'. Offline, no cloud. Off by default.
Use when: When you say a unit conversion mid-dictation and want the answer typed, not the words.
Example: Say 'twenty miles in kilometers' → '32.19 kilometers'.
Activate: yazses features enable convert then yazses restart

Redaction Ink¶

Toggle: redaction · Tier: optional · Config: [redaction] — mask secrets before typing
What it does: Detects spoken secrets (card numbers, SSNs, keys, emails) and masks them before they're typed into another window. Regex + Luhn, local-only. Off by default.
Use when: When dictating near secrets (card numbers, SSNs) that must never be typed into another app.
Example: Speak a card number and it's typed as [CARD], not the digits.
Activate: yazses features enable redaction then yazses restart

Field-Aware Dictation¶

Toggle: fieldaware · Tier: optional · Config: [fieldaware] — shape output by field
What it does: Reshapes output to the focused control: number field → digits, search box → no trailing period, password field → refuses to type. Off by default.
Use when: When dictating into forms where each field needs different formatting (digits, no period).
Example: Focus a number field and 'forty two' is typed as 42.
Activate: yazses features enable fieldaware then yazses restart

Entity ITN¶

Toggle: itn · Tier: optional · Config: [itn] — spoken emails/versions → written
What it does: Turns spoken structured entities into written form with no command words: 'john dot doe at gmail dot com' → the email, 'version two point one' → v2.1. Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate emails, versions, or numbers and want them written in proper form, no command words.
Example: Say 'john dot doe at gmail dot com' → john.doe@gmail.com.
Activate: yazses features enable itn then yazses restart

Dictation Reflow¶

Toggle: reflow · Tier: optional · Config: [reflow] — 'structure this' → outline
What it does: Say 'structure this' to rewrite your last ramble into bullets and action items. Pure heuristic; a local SLM refines it via the reflow extra. Off by default.
Use when: When you've brain-dumped a messy ramble and want it reshaped into clean bullets and action items.
Example: Ramble, then say 'structure this' → a bulleted outline.
Activate: yazses features enable reflow then yazses restart

Smart-Paste¶

Toggle: smartpaste · Tier: optional · Config: [smartpaste] — adapt syntax to app
What it does: Adapts injected syntax to the target app (markdown bullets, code casing, URL autolinking) using local window info. No model. Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate the same text into different apps and want the formatting to fit each one.
Example: Dictate into markdown vs a terminal — syntax adapts to the app.
Activate: yazses features enable smartpaste then yazses restart

Spoken Code Mode¶

Toggle: code · Tier: optional · Config: [code] — dictate code syntax
What it does: Dictate code: spoken symbols become punctuation and word-groups become cased identifiers (snake/camel/pascal). Activate via a command key. Off by default.
Use when: When you're writing code by voice and need spoken symbols and cased identifiers, not prose.
Example: Dictate 'def foo open paren' → 'def foo(' in code mode.
Activate: yazses features enable code then yazses restart

Spoken Math (LaTeX)¶

Toggle: math · Tier: optional · Config: [math] — dictate equations
What it does: Dictate math and inject LaTeX ('x squared plus y squared' -> x^{2} + y^{2}). Common cases pure; nested expressions need the mathspeech extra. Off by default.
Use when: When you're writing equations by voice and want them injected as LaTeX.
Example: Say 'x squared plus y squared' → 'x^{2} + y^{2}'.
Activate: yazses features enable math then yazses restart

Tone-Aware Formatting¶

Toggle: affect · Tier: optional · Config: [affect] — tone → !/?
What it does: Adds ! or ? based on your vocal tone (excited/question), beyond pause punctuation. Needs the affect extra for detection; conservative by default. Off.
Use when: When you want exclamation and question marks added from your tone, not spoken punctuation.
Example: Excited speech → an exclamation mark; questions → a question mark.
Activate: yazses features enable affect then yazses restart

Revise, navigate, and manage text and windows by voice.

Spoken Edit Mode¶

Toggle: spoken-edit · Tier: optional · Config: [commands] spoken_edit
What it does: Edit the last dictation by voice ('change their to there', 'delete the last sentence'). Command-key gated. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to revise the text you just dictated by voice rather than by keyboard.
Example: Say 'delete last sentence' or 'capitalize that'.
Activate: yazses features enable spoken-edit then yazses restart

HatSelect Structural Editing¶

Toggle: hatselect · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [hatselect] — address tokens by spoken label
What it does: Every visible token gets a spoken label so you can edit structurally — 'select alpha to charlie', 'delete bravo' — without cursor motions (Cursorless-style). Off by default.
Use when: When you want to edit code or text structurally by label instead of moving the cursor.
Example: Say 'delete bravo' and the token labeled bravo is gone — no cursor.
Activate: yazses features enable hatselect then yazses restart

WordFind Reverse Dictionary¶

Toggle: wordfind · Tier: optional · Config: [wordfind] — describe a word, get it
What it does: Offline reverse dictionary for tip-of-the-tongue moments — 'the word for when water turns to gas' → a ranked shortlist (evaporation, …). Anomia/AAC-friendly. Off by default.
Use when: When a word is on the tip of your tongue and you can only describe what it means.
Example: Say 'the word for when water turns to gas' → evaporation.
Activate: yazses features enable wordfind then yazses restart

Spaced-Repetition Capture¶

Toggle: srscap · Tier: optional · Config: [srscap] — voice → Anki cloze cards
What it does: Say 'remember that X is Y' mid-dictation and it makes a local Anki cloze study card, scheduled by SM-2 — study material captured in the flow of work. Off by default.
Use when: When you're studying and want to bank facts as flashcards without breaking your dictation flow.
Example: Say 'remember that the capital of France is Paris' → a flashcard.
Activate: yazses features enable srscap then yazses restart

Word-Count & Goal Tracker¶

Toggle: wordgoal · Tier: optional · Config: [wordgoal] — track your writing goal
What it does: Counts dictated words and tracks a goal: say 'goal 500 words', then 'how many words so far?' for spoken progress. Off by default.
Use when: When you're writing toward a word-count target and want spoken progress without leaving your flow.
Example: Say 'how many words so far?' and it tells you your progress.
Activate: yazses features enable wordgoal then yazses restart

Voice Undo/Redo Timeline¶

Toggle: timeline · Tier: recommended · Config: [timeline] — undo YazSes output by voice
What it does: Undo/redo YazSes's own output across bursts by voice — 'undo the last sentence', 'redo' — even where the app's Ctrl+Z is unreliable. Off by default.
Use when: When you need to take back what YazSes typed across bursts in an app whose own undo is unreliable.
Example: Say 'undo the last sentence' to take back what YazSes just typed.
Activate: yazses features enable timeline then yazses restart

Session Bookmarks¶

Toggle: bookmarks · Tier: optional · Config: [bookmarks] — checkpoints in a long session
What it does: Drop named anchors in a long dictation ('bookmark here as intro') and jump back ('jump to my last bookmark') after a break. Off by default.
Use when: When you're in a long dictation session and want named checkpoints to jump back to after a break.
Example: Say 'bookmark here', then 'jump to my last bookmark' after a break.
Activate: yazses features enable bookmarks then yazses restart

Voice Jump-to-Symbol¶

Toggle: jump · Tier: optional · Config: [jump] — navigate code by voice
What it does: 'Jump to function tokenize', 'go to line 240' → the editor moves there (fuzzy symbol match, or a search fallback). Off by default.
Use when: When you're navigating a code file hands-free and want to jump to a function or line by voice.
Example: Say 'go to line 240' or 'jump to function tokenize' to navigate.
Activate: yazses features enable jump then yazses restart

Voice Fuzzy File Open¶

Toggle: fileopen · Tier: optional · Config: [fileopen] — open files by voice
What it does: 'Open the notes about the mortgage' → fuzzy-matches your local files and opens the best one. Mouse-free. Off by default.
Use when: When you know a file by topic but not its path and want to open it without the mouse.
Example: Say 'open the mortgage notes' to launch the right file.
Activate: yazses features enable fileopen then yazses restart

Citation-by-Voice¶

Toggle: cite · Tier: optional · Config: [cite] — cite from your local .bib
What it does: Say 'cite Vaswani 2017' and it inserts a formatted citation from your local BibTeX library, fully offline. Off by default.
Use when: When writing a paper by voice and you want citations pulled from your local BibTeX library.
Example: Say 'cite Vaswani 2017' to insert a citation from your .bib.
Activate: yazses features enable cite then yazses restart

Voice Window Management¶

Toggle: windowctl · Tier: optional · Config: [windowctl] — layout by voice
What it does: Hands-free desktop layout: 'move window left half', 'maximize', 'workspace 3'. Needs the windowctl extra for your compositor. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to arrange windows and switch workspaces without touching the mouse.
Example: Say 'move window left half' or 'workspace 3' to arrange your desktop.
Activate: yazses features enable windowctl then yazses restart

Document Find-and-Replace¶

Toggle: findreplace · Tier: optional · Config: [findreplace] — edit the whole document
What it does: Edit the whole document by voice: 'replace every utilise with use'. Not just the last utterance. Off by default.
Use when: When you need to change a word across the whole document, not just the last utterance.
Example: Say 'replace every utilise with use' to edit the whole document.
Activate: yazses features enable findreplace then yazses restart

Clipboard-History by Voice¶

Toggle: cliphistory · Tier: optional · Config: [cliphistory] — recall copies
What it does: Recall recent copies by voice: 'paste the second thing I copied', 'the URL I copied'. Local in-memory buffer. Off by default.
Use when: When you've copied several things and need to paste an earlier one without re-copying.
Example: Say 'paste the second thing I copied' to recall a copy.
Activate: yazses features enable cliphistory then yazses restart

Commands & automation¶

Fire shortcuts, run tools, and automate actions by voice.

Say-Macro¶

Toggle: macros · Tier: optional · Config: [macros]
What it does: Speak a trigger word to expand canned text. Needs setup.
Use when: When you repeatedly type the same boilerplate and want a spoken shortcut for it.
Example: Say your trigger word to expand canned text (configure [macros]).
Activate: yazses features enable macros then yazses restart

Chorded Shortcut Synthesis¶

Toggle: chords · Tier: recommended · Config: [chords] — any keyboard shortcut by voice
What it does: Say any shortcut and it's pressed — 'press control shift P', 'escape twice', 'hit F5' — no macro registration needed. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to fire arbitrary keyboard shortcuts hands-free without registering each as a macro.
Example: Say 'press control shift P' and the command palette opens.
Activate: yazses features enable chords then yazses restart

Spoken Shell Pipeline Builder¶

Toggle: shellpipe · Tier: optional · Config: [shellpipe] — build pipelines, preview first
What it does: Speak stages ('list files, pipe to grep error, pipe to word count') → renders 'ls | grep error | wc -l' as text; nothing runs until you say 'run it'. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to build a shell pipeline by voice and see it as text before anything runs.
Example: Speak 'list files pipe to grep error' to build a previewed pipeline.
Activate: yazses features enable shellpipe then yazses restart

Voice Git Choreographer¶

Toggle: gitvoice · Tier: optional · Config: [gitvoice] — safe git by voice
What it does: Drive git by voice via a structured grammar; destructive ops (force-push, reset --hard) wait for a spoken confirm and the undo is always spoken. Off by default.
Use when: When driving git hands-free and you want destructive commands gated behind a spoken confirm.
Example: Say 'force push' and it waits for confirm, and tells you the undo.
Activate: yazses features enable gitvoice then yazses restart

Terminal Command Safety Gate¶

Toggle: cmdsafety · Tier: recommended · Config: [cmdsafety] — confirm dangerous commands
What it does: In a terminal, holds a destructive command (rm -rf, curl|sh, force-push) until you say 'confirm', so a misrecognition can't fire it. Off by default.
Use when: When dictating into a terminal where a misheard rm or force-push could be catastrophic.
Example: Dictate 'rm -rf' in a terminal and it waits for you to say 'confirm'.
Activate: yazses features enable cmdsafety then yazses restart

Slot-Filling Dictation¶

Toggle: slotfill · Tier: optional · Config: [slotfill] — one utterance → a form
What it does: Speak once and fill a named-field template: 'bug in login, high priority, affects Firefox' routes each value to its field. Off by default.
Use when: When filing a structured ticket or form and want one utterance routed to its named fields.
Example: Say 'high priority, affects Firefox' to fill a bug-report form.
Activate: yazses features enable slotfill then yazses restart

Few-Shot Command Spotter¶

Toggle: cmdspotter · Tier: optional · Config: [cmdspotter] — enrolled micro-commands
What it does: Enroll a few examples of short commands ('send', 'stop') that fire instantly without a full decode. Needs the kws extra. Off by default.
Use when: When a few short commands come up constantly and you want them to fire without a full decode.
Example: Enroll 'send' once, then say it to fire the action instantly.
Activate: yazses features enable cmdspotter then yazses restart

Ambient Audio-Event Guard¶

Toggle: audioguard · Tier: optional · Config: [audioguard] — pause on interruptions
What it does: Auto-pauses dictation (or alerts) when it hears a doorbell, phone, alarm or your name. Needs the soundawareness extra. Off by default.
Use when: When dictating somewhere with interruptions (doorbell, phone) that should pause recording.
Example: The doorbell rings mid-dictation and recording auto-pauses.
Activate: yazses features enable audioguard then yazses restart

Gesture Chords¶

Toggle: gesture · Tier: optional · Config: [gesture] — multi-input chords
What it does: Bind chords (held key + nod / second key / sEMG squeeze) to actions like send or switch profile. Sensors need their own extras. Off by default.
Use when: When your hands are busy and you want to fire send or switch profiles with a nod, not a word.
Example: Hold the hotkey and nod to send (bind chords in [gesture]).
Activate: yazses features enable gesture then yazses restart

Voice Snippets¶

Toggle: snippets · Tier: optional · Config: [snippets] — spoken text expander
What it does: Say a trigger ('insert my signature') to type a stored template. Add entries under [snippets]. Off by default.
Use when: When you keep typing the same boilerplate (signature, address) and want a spoken shortcut.
Example: Say 'insert my signature' to type a stored template.
Activate: yazses features enable snippets then yazses restart

Voice-to-Tool (Spoken MCP)¶

Toggle: agent · Tier: optional · Config: [agent] — run tools by voice
What it does: Speak an intent to run allowlisted tools via MCP; state-changing tools ask first. Needs the 'agent' extra + a local planner model. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to run allowlisted tools or actions by voice through a local planner.
Example: Say 'create a calendar event tomorrow at 3' (allowlisted tools).
Activate: yazses features enable agent then yazses restart

Voice Pilot (AT-SPI)¶

Toggle: pilot · Tier: optional · Config: [pilot] — click by voice
What it does: Drive the desktop by voice via the accessibility tree ('click Save', 'focus the terminal'). Linux + pyatspi; labels only, no screenshots. Off by default.
Use when: When you want a hands-free desktop, clicking buttons by their labels on Linux.
Example: Say 'click the Save button' to drive the focused app via AT-SPI.
Activate: yazses features enable pilot then yazses restart

Multilingual¶

Dictate, translate, and switch between languages.

Polyglot Switch¶

Toggle: polyglot · Tier: optional · Config: [polyglot] — mixed-language
What it does: Handles dictation that mixes two languages.
Use when: When you naturally mix two languages in one sentence and need both transcribed correctly.
Example: Set [polyglot] pair='fa-en'; dictate mixing the two languages.
Activate: yazses features enable polyglot then yazses restart

Transliteration¶

Toggle: translit · Tier: optional · Config: [translit] — romanized → native script
What it does: Dictate your native language in Latin letters ('salam, chetori?') and inject the native script — Whisper nails romanized phonetics where native audio fails. Off by default.
Use when: When your native language transcribes better romanized and you want it injected in native script.
Example: Dictate 'salam' and it types سلام in Persian script.
Activate: yazses features enable translit then yazses restart

Per-Language Auto Switching¶

Toggle: langroute · Tier: optional · Config: [langroute] — detect & swap model
What it does: Detects the language you speak and hot-swaps to its specialized model + punctuation, no manual toggle. Needs the per-language model files. Off by default.
Use when: When you switch spoken languages during a session and don't want to toggle models by hand.
Example: Switch languages mid-session and the right model loads automatically.
Activate: yazses features enable langroute then yazses restart

Compose-in-Target-Language¶

Toggle: compose · Tier: optional · Config: [compose] — speak L1, type L2
What it does: Speak your strongest language and inject the text in a target language you write less fluently. Offline MT (translate extra). Off by default.
Use when: When you think best in your native language but must write the output in another one.
Example: Speak Farsi with [compose] target='en' and type English.
Activate: yazses features enable compose then yazses restart

Two-Way Interpreter¶

Toggle: interpret · Tier: optional · Config: [interpret] — face-to-face translate
What it does: Face-to-face mode: two speakers alternate and each turn is translated into the other language. Reuses the offline translate + TTS path. Off by default.
Use when: When you're in a face-to-face conversation with someone whose language you don't share.
Example: Set [interpret] pair='en-es'; each speaker's turn is translated.
Activate: yazses features enable interpret then yazses restart

Pronunciation Feedback¶

Toggle: pronunciation · Tier: optional · Config: [pronunciation] — L2 practice
What it does: Practice mode: dictate a target phrase and get per-phoneme good/fair/poor feedback for accent training. Needs the pronunciation extra. Off by default.
Use when: When you're learning a language and want per-phoneme feedback on how close your accent is.
Example: Practice mode: dictate a phrase, see per-phoneme good/fair/poor.
Activate: yazses features enable pronunciation then yazses restart

Speech Translation¶

Toggle: translate · Tier: optional · Config: [translate] — dictate L1, type English
What it does: Speak another language and type English (Whisper's built-in translate; no extra download). Other targets need the seamless extra. Off by default.
Use when: When you think in another language but need the text to land in English.
Example: yazses features enable translate — speak any language, type English.
Activate: yazses features enable translate then yazses restart

Accessibility & input modalities¶

Alternative input, eyes-free feedback, and accessibility aids.

Read-Back Loop¶

Toggle: read-back · Tier: optional · Config: [tts] + [accessibility] read_back
What it does: Speaks the transcript back to you (accessibility). Downloads a TTS model on first use.
Use when: When you can't or won't look at the screen and need to hear what was transcribed.
Example: yazses features enable read-back — then it speaks the transcript back.
Activate: yazses features enable read-back then yazses restart

LoadGuard¶

Toggle: loadguard · Tier: optional · Config: [loadguard] — cognitive-load guardrails
What it does: When your speech shows rising cognitive load (pauses, fillers, slowdown), widen confirmations and defer risky actions instead of firing them. Off by default.
Use when: When you're mentally taxed and want the system to slow down and confirm before risky actions.
Example: Sounding overloaded? Destructive commands wait for a wider confirm.
Activate: yazses features enable loadguard then yazses restart

Echo Own-Audio Replay¶

Toggle: echo · Tier: optional · Config: [echo] — 'play that back'
What it does: Say 'play that back' to replay your own captured audio for a text span (not TTS) — catch homophone/ASR errors by ear, eyes-free. Off by default.
Use when: When you suspect a homophone or ASR error and want to verify it by hearing your own audio.
Example: Say 'play that back' and hear your own recording of the last words.
Activate: yazses features enable echo then yazses restart

Toggle: srpace · Tier: optional · Config: [srpace] — pace injection to a screen reader
What it does: Pace injected text to a screen reader's reading rate, clause-chunked, instead of one burst — so the screen reader can announce it coherently. Off by default.
Use when: When a screen-reader user needs injected text paced so the reader can announce it coherently.
Example: Dictate a paragraph and your screen reader keeps up, clause by clause.
Activate: yazses features enable srpace then yazses restart

Interruptible Proofreading¶

Toggle: proofback · Tier: optional · Config: [proofback] — barge-in read-back editing
What it does: Interrupt the spoken read-back ('stop — change that') and the cursor lands on the exact word being read — eyes-free proofreading. Off by default.
Use when: When you're proofreading a long dictation eyes-free and need to jump to a mistake as you hear it.
Example: Interrupt the read-back and the cursor lands on the word being read.
Activate: yazses features enable proofback then yazses restart

Vocal Morse¶

Toggle: morsevox · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [morsevox] — two-tone Morse text entry
What it does: Type by Morse using two vocal sounds (short/long) — full text from a single reliable vocalization, with adaptive timing. For locked-in/minimal-ability users. Off by default.
Use when: When you can produce only one or two reliable vocal sounds and need a full-alphabet entry path.
Example: One short hum, one long — spell a whole word by voice-Morse.
Activate: yazses features enable morsevox then yazses restart

Mouth-Sound Switch Access¶

Toggle: mouthswitch · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [mouthswitch] — scan-and-select by mouth sounds
What it does: Drive a scanning selector with non-verbal mouth sounds ('pop' = advance, cluck = select) — the switch-access method for people who can't produce reliable speech. Off by default.
Use when: When you can't produce reliable speech and need to drive a scanning selector with mouth sounds.
Example: Pop your lips to move the highlight, cluck to select — no words.
Activate: yazses features enable mouthswitch then yazses restart

Pitch-Contour Gestures¶

Toggle: contour · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [contour] — hum a shape to run a command
What it does: Hum a pitch shape as a word-free command: rising = confirm, falling = cancel, rise-fall = undo. Language-independent, works in noise. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to confirm or cancel hands- and word-free, even in noise where speech struggles.
Example: Hum a rising note to confirm, a falling one to cancel — no words.
Activate: yazses features enable contour then yazses restart

Beam-Steered Spatial VAD¶

Toggle: spatialvad · Tier: optional · Config: [spatialvad] — 2-mic direction gate
What it does: With a stereo/2-mic input, drops any sound not coming from your seat (a TV, a colleague) by its arrival direction — enrollment-free, complements Cocktail Filter. Off by default.
Use when: When you have a stereo mic and want sound from a TV or nearby colleague gated out by direction.
Example: A colleague talks beside you and it's gated out by direction.
Activate: yazses features enable spatialvad then yazses restart

Vocal Joystick¶

Toggle: vocaljoystick · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [vocaljoystick] — analog cursor control by voice
What it does: Continuous cursor/scroll control by sustaining vowels — 'ahh' right, 'eee' up, louder = faster, pitch-jump = click. No words. For severe motor impairment. Off by default.
Use when: When you have severe motor impairment and need continuous cursor/scroll control by voice.
Example: Hum 'eee' and the cursor glides up — louder moves it faster.
Activate: yazses features enable vocaljoystick then yazses restart

Earcon Feedback¶

Toggle: earcon · Tier: optional · Config: [earcon] — non-speech state tones
What it does: Tiny structured tones signal daemon state eyes-free (rising motif = recording, buzz = low confidence, chime = command done) — faster than spoken read-back. Off by default.
Use when: When you want instant eyes-free confirmation of daemon state without waiting for a read-back.
Example: A rising two-note beep tells you recording started, no glance needed.
Activate: yazses features enable earcon then yazses restart

Local Voice Timer¶

Toggle: voicetimer · Tier: optional · Config: [voicetimer] — offline timers & break reminders
What it does: Set a timer or break reminder by voice ('set a timer for 25 minutes'), announced by read-back — fully offline, no phone or cloud assistant. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to set a timer or break reminder by voice without a phone or cloud assistant.
Example: Say 'set a timer for 25 minutes' — it reminds you, fully offline.
Activate: yazses features enable voicetimer then yazses restart

Silent Lip-Reading¶

Toggle: lipread · Tier: optional · Config: [lipread] — dictate with no voice
What it does: Dictate silently — a webcam reads your lips when you can't or shouldn't speak. Needs a webcam (vsr extra). Off by default.
Use when: When you can't or shouldn't speak aloud but still need to dictate (quiet room, privacy).
Example: Mouth the words silently and a webcam reads your lips into text.
Activate: yazses features enable lipread then yazses restart

Sign-Language Input¶

Toggle: sign · Tier: optional · Config: [sign] — sign to the webcam
What it does: Deaf/HoH signers dictate by signing to the webcam; ASL is recognized on-device and typed. Needs a webcam (sign extra). Off by default.
Use when: When a Deaf or hard-of-hearing signer wants to dictate by signing instead of speaking.
Example: Sign to the webcam and your ASL is recognized and typed.
Activate: yazses features enable sign then yazses restart

Head-Pointer¶

Toggle: headpointer · Tier: optional · Config: [headpointer] — cursor by head pose
What it does: Move and click the mouse by tilting your head; pair with voice for a fully hands-free desktop. Needs a webcam (headpointer extra). Off by default.
Use when: When your hands are unavailable and you need mouse cursor control from head movement.
Example: Tilt your head to move the cursor; dwell to click.
Activate: yazses features enable headpointer then yazses restart

Personal Read-Back Voice¶

Toggle: readback_clone · Tier: optional · Config: [tts] clone_voice — your own voice
What it does: Read the transcript back in a clone of your own voice from a short enrollment. Permissive OpenVoice V2 default; embedding stays in the encrypted corpus. Needs the tts extra and downloads a voice-clone model on first use. Off by default.
Use when: When you want read-back spoken in a clone of your own voice, not a generic TTS voice.
Example: Enroll once; read-back then uses a clone of your own voice.
Activate: yazses features enable readback_clone then yazses restart

Vocal-Strain Guard¶

Toggle: voicehealth · Tier: optional · Config: [voicehealth] — break reminders
What it does: Advises a break when your voice shows rising strain (jitter/shimmer/HNR) over a session. Advisory only, not diagnostic. Off by default.
Use when: When you dictate in long stretches and want a nudge to rest before your voice strains.
Example: Get a break reminder when your voice shows rising strain.
Activate: yazses features enable voicehealth then yazses restart

Voice Mouse Grid¶

Toggle: mousegrid · Tier: optional · Config: [mousegrid] — click by voice
What it does: Drive the cursor and click by voice via a numbered grid ('three, seven, click') where no accessibility tree exists. Reuses the overlay. Off by default.
Use when: When you need to click somewhere no accessibility tree exists and want to do it hands-free.
Example: Say a grid number to move the cursor, then 'click'.
Activate: yazses features enable mousegrid then yazses restart

Modality Role Router¶

Toggle: modality · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [modality] — multi-input, experimental
What it does: Routes each input to its fastest role (gaze→point, EMG→command, voice→dictation). Needs EMG/gaze hardware; experimental. Off by default.
Use when: When you have EMG or gaze hardware and want each input assigned to its fastest role.
Example: Route dictation vs commands to different targets by role.
Activate: yazses features enable modality then yazses restart

Glance-Type (camera)¶

Toggle: gaze · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [gaze] — look-to-pane, experimental
What it does: Uses the webcam to route dictation to the pane you look at. Experimental; needs a webcam + X11.
Use when: When you have several panes open and want dictation to land in whichever one you look at.
Example: Glance at a screen zone to choose where the next dictation lands.
Activate: yazses features enable gaze then yazses restart

Learning, memory & analytics¶

On-device learning, personal memory, and private analytics.

Voiceprint Mind (personalize)¶

Toggle: personalize · Tier: optional · Config: [personalize] — vocab bias
What it does: Biases STT toward terms you use often. Local only.
Use when: When your jargon or names get mis-heard and you want STT biased to your own frequent terms.
Example: yazses features enable personalize — biases STT to your frequent terms.
Activate: yazses features enable personalize then yazses restart

Learning loop¶

Toggle: learning · Tier: optional · Config: [learning] — yazses tune
What it does: Records an encrypted local corpus so yazses tune can improve accuracy. Opt-in; nothing leaves your machine.
Use when: When you want dictation accuracy to improve over time from your own corrected usage.
Example: yazses features enable learning; then 'yazses tune' to review proposals.
Activate: yazses features enable learning then yazses restart

Corpus Voiceprint Scrub¶

Toggle: corpus_scrub · Tier: optional · Config: [learning] anonymize_audio
What it does: Speaker-anonymizes learning-corpus audio before storage so retained clips keep what was said but not an identifiable voice. Needs learning on. Off by default.
Use when: When you enable the learning corpus but want stored audio stripped of your voice identity.
Example: Stored learning clips are pitch-shifted to hide your voice identity.
Activate: yazses features enable corpus_scrub then yazses restart

Mood Ledger¶

Toggle: sentiment · Tier: optional · Config: [sentiment] — private mood journal
What it does: Tags each dictation with an emotion and builds a private mood-over-time view. Labels stay in the encrypted corpus. Needs the sentiment extra. Off by default.
Use when: When you want a private journal that tracks how your mood shifts across your dictations.
Example: yazses features enable sentiment — builds a private mood-over-time view.
Activate: yazses features enable sentiment then yazses restart

Speaking Coach¶

Toggle: coach · Tier: optional · Config: [coach] — private speech analytics
What it does: Private on-device analytics of your dictation: filler rate, words-per-minute, vocabulary diversity, trend. From the encrypted corpus only. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to track and cut down your filler words, speaking pace, or vocabulary over time.
Example: yazses features enable coach — see filler rate + words-per-minute.
Activate: yazses features enable coach then yazses restart

Multi-User Profiles¶

Toggle: multiprofile · Tier: optional · Config: [voiceprint] multi_profile
What it does: On a shared machine, loads each enrolled speaker's own vocab/hotkey/cleanup from their voiceprint — no manual switching. Needs the voiceprint extra + 2+ enrolled profiles. Off by default.
Use when: When several people share one machine and each wants their own vocab and settings loaded.
Example: Each enrolled speaker loads their own vocab/hotkey automatically.
Activate: yazses features enable multiprofile then yazses restart

Ask My Notes (voice RAG)¶

Toggle: rag · Tier: optional · Config: [rag] — cited answers from local docs
What it does: Ask a question by voice and get an answer grounded in — and citing — your own local notes/docs. Needs the rag extra (embeddings + index). Off by default.
Use when: When you want a spoken, cited answer pulled from your own local notes and documents.
Example: Ask 'what did I note about the budget?' → a cited answer from your local docs.
Activate: yazses features enable rag then yazses restart

Predictive Completion¶

Toggle: predict · Tier: optional · Config: [predict] — voice autosuggest
What it does: A tiny local model suggests the rest of your sentence; accept by voice. Needs the predict extra + a model. Off by default.
Use when: When you want the daemon to finish your sentence so you can speak less.
Example: Accept the greyed-ahead completion by continuing to speak.
Activate: yazses features enable predict then yazses restart

Spoken Recall & Scratch¶

Toggle: recall · Tier: optional · Config: [recall] — query past dictation
What it does: Search your past dictations ('yazses recall …') and capture spoken notes-to-self. Search requires the learning corpus enabled ([learning]); local corpus only, nothing leaves the machine. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to search things you dictated earlier or leave yourself spoken notes-to-self.
Example: yazses recall 'the address I dictated yesterday'.
Activate: yazses features enable recall then yazses restart

Conversation & recording capture¶

Multi-speaker capture, recordings, and noisy-environment focus.

Recording Import¶

Toggle: recimport · Tier: optional · Config: [recimport] — transcribe existing files
What it does: Run yazses transcribe <file> to batch-transcribe voice memos/lectures/meetings offline to .txt/.md/.srt/.vtt/.json. Add --diarize to tag who said what ('Speaker 1: …'), --names/--rename or an enrolled voiceprint for real names. Needs the diarization extra for speaker tags. Off by default.
Use when: When you have existing voice memos, lectures, or meeting recordings to batch-transcribe offline.
Example: Drop in a lecture recording and get a searchable .srt transcript.
Activate: yazses features enable recimport then yazses restart

Meeting Mode¶

Toggle: meeting · Tier: optional · Config: [meeting] — hands-free meeting scribe
What it does: yazses meeting start records a whole meeting hands-free (no key to hold), streams a live transcript, and at yazses meeting stop writes a speaker-labelled transcript ('Alice: …', 'You: …') plus opt-in notes. Speakers are found by voice embedding + clustering (auto count); fix a miscount with yazses meeting relabel. Needs the diarization extra for speaker tags. On-device; off by default.
Use when: When you're in a live meeting and want a hands-free, speaker-labelled transcript and notes afterwards.
Example: Hit start, put the phone down, and get who-said-what minutes at the end.
Activate: yazses features enable meeting then yazses restart

Crowd-Proof Dictation¶

Toggle: crowdproof · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [crowdproof] — dictate in a crowd
What it does: Reconstructs your enrolled voice out of overlapping babble before STT, so dictation survives an open-plan office or café. Needs the crowdproof extra. Off by default.
Use when: When you must dictate in an open-plan office or café where overlapping voices swamp the mic.
Example: Dictate in a noisy café and the interfering voices are stripped out.
Activate: yazses features enable crowdproof then yazses restart

Diarized Conversation Capture¶

Toggle: diarize · Tier: optional · Config: [diarize] — attributed multi-speaker
What it does: Capture a live conversation as attributed Markdown (Alice: …) and rename speakers by voice ('call speaker two Alice'). Needs the diarize extra. Off by default.
Use when: When capturing a live multi-speaker conversation you need attributed to each person.
Example: A two-person chat is typed as Alice: … Bob: … you can rename by voice.
Activate: yazses features enable diarize then yazses restart

Meeting Scribe¶

Toggle: scribe · Tier: optional · Config: [scribe] — who-said-what transcript
What it does: Records a multi-speaker meeting transcript on-device, tagging you as 'You' and others as Speaker N. Needs the scribe extra (diarization). Off by default.
Use when: When you're recording a multi-speaker meeting and want a who-said-what transcript.
Example: Meeting mode: turns are diarized into a labelled transcript.
Activate: yazses features enable scribe then yazses restart

Cocktail Filter (voice focus)¶

Toggle: cocktail · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [cocktail] — experimental
What it does: Tries to focus on your voice and reject other speakers. Currently over-rejects your OWN voice — leave off until improved.
Use when: When others are talking nearby and you want only your own voice to reach STT (still rough).
Example: yazses features enable cocktail --force — filters other voices (experimental).
Activate: yazses features enable cocktail then yazses restart

Voice Guard (biometric + anti-spoof)¶

Toggle: voiceguard · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [voiceguard] — experimental
What it does: Types only when the live speaker matches your enrolled voiceprint and the audio isn't a recording/synthetic. Needs enrollment + the voiceguard extra; false-reject risk (fail-open by default). Off by default.
Use when: When you must guarantee only your live voice types, blocking recordings, synthesis, or others.
Example: yazses features enable voiceguard --force — only your voice dictates.
Activate: yazses features enable voiceguard then yazses restart

Glasses↔Desktop Bridge¶

Toggle: bridge · Tier: experimental — not advised yet · Config: [bridge] — phone/glasses mic, experimental
What it does: Dictate from a paired phone/glasses; the desktop does STT + typing. Reuses the remote transport; local link only. Experimental. Off by default.
Use when: When you want to dictate from a paired phone or glasses mic while your desktop does STT.
Example: Pair smart glasses to relay audio to the desktop (experimental).
Activate: yazses features enable bridge then yazses restart