polyscribe/README.md

PolyScribe

PolyScribe is a fast, local-first CLI for transcribing audio/video and merging existing JSON transcripts. It uses whisper-rs under the hood, can discover and download Whisper models automatically, and supports CPU and optional GPU backends (CUDA, ROCm/HIP, Vulkan).

Key features

• Transcribe audio and common video files using ffmpeg for audio extraction.
• Merge multiple JSON transcripts, or merge and also keep per-file outputs.
• Model management: interactive downloader and non-interactive updater with hash verification.
• GPU backend selection at runtime; auto-detects available accelerators.
• Clean outputs (JSON and SRT), speaker naming prompts, and useful logging controls.

Prerequisites

• Rust toolchain (rustup recommended)
• ffmpeg available on PATH
• Optional for GPU acceleration at runtime: CUDA, ROCm/HIP, or Vulkan drivers (match your build features)

Installation

• Build from source (CPU-only by default):
  • rustup install stable
  • rustup default stable
  • cargo build --release
• Binary path: ./target/release/polyscribe
• GPU builds (optional): build with features
  • CUDA: cargo build --release --features gpu-cuda
  • HIP: cargo build --release --features gpu-hip
  • Vulkan: cargo build --release --features gpu-vulkan

Quickstart

1. Download a model (first run can prompt you):

• ./target/release/polyscribe models download
  • In the interactive picker, use Up/Down to navigate, Space to toggle selections, and Enter to confirm. Models are grouped by base (e.g., tiny, base, small).

2. Transcribe a file:

• ./target/release/polyscribe -v -o output my_audio.mp3 This writes JSON and SRT into the output directory with a date prefix.

Shell completions and man page

• Completions: ./target/release/polyscribe completions <bash|zsh|fish|powershell|elvish> > polyscribe.
  • Then install into your shell’s completion directory.
• Man page: ./target/release/polyscribe man > polyscribe.1 (then copy to your manpath)

Model locations

• Development (debug builds): ./models next to the project.
• Packaged/release builds: $XDG_DATA_HOME/polyscribe/models or ~/.local/share/polyscribe/models.
• Override via env var: POLYSCRIBE_MODELS_DIR=/path/to/models.
• Force a specific model file via env var: WHISPER_MODEL=/path/to/model.bin.

Most-used CLI flags and subcommands

• -o, --output FILE_OR_DIR: Output path base (date prefix added). If omitted, JSON prints to stdout.
• -m, --merge: Merge all inputs into one output; otherwise one output per input.
• --merge-and-separate: Write both merged output and separate per-input outputs (requires -o dir).
• --set-speaker-names: Prompt for a speaker label per input file.
• Subcommands:
  • models update: Verify/update local models by size/hash against the upstream manifest.
  • models download: Interactive model list + multi-select download.
• --language LANG: Language code hint (e.g., en, de). English-only models reject non-en hints.
• --gpu-backend [auto|cpu|cuda|hip|vulkan]: Select backend (auto by default).
• --gpu-layers N: Offload N layers to GPU when supported.
• -v/--verbose (repeatable): Increase log verbosity. -vv shows very detailed logs.
• -q/--quiet: Suppress non-error logs (stderr); does not silence stdout results.
• --no-interaction: Never prompt; suitable for CI.

Minimal usage examples

• Transcribe an audio file to JSON/SRT:
  • ./target/release/polyscribe -o output samples/podcast_clip.mp3
• Merge multiple transcripts into one:
  • ./target/release/polyscribe -m -o output merged input/a.json input/b.json
• Update local models non-interactively (good for CI):
  • ./target/release/polyscribe models update --no-interaction -q
• Download models interactively:
  • ./target/release/polyscribe models download

Troubleshooting & docs

• docs/faq.md – common issues and solutions (missing ffmpeg, GPU selection, model paths)
• docs/usage.md – complete CLI reference and workflows
• docs/development.md – build, run, and contribute locally
• docs/design.md – architecture overview and decisions
• docs/release-packaging.md – packaging notes for distributions
• CONTRIBUTING.md – PR checklist and CI workflow

CI status:

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

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Workspace layout

• This repo is a Cargo workspace using resolver = "3".
• Members:
  • crates/polyscribe-core — types, errors, config service, core helpers.
  • crates/polyscribe-protocol — PSP/1 serde types for NDJSON over stdio.
  • crates/polyscribe-host — plugin discovery/runner, progress forwarding.
  • crates/polyscribe-cli — the CLI, using host + core.
  • plugins/polyscribe-plugin-tubescribe — stub plugin used for verification.

Build and run

• Build all: cargo build --workspace --all-targets
• CLI help: cargo run -p polyscribe-cli -- --help

Plugins

• Build and link the example plugin into your XDG data plugin dir:
  • make -C plugins/polyscribe-plugin-tubescribe link
  • This creates a symlink at: $XDG_DATA_HOME/polyscribe/plugins/polyscribe-plugin-tubescribe (defaults to ~/.local/share on Linux).
• Discover installed plugins:
  • cargo run -p polyscribe-cli -- plugins list
• Show a plugin's capabilities:
  • cargo run -p polyscribe-cli -- plugins info tubescribe
• Run a plugin command (JSON-RPC over NDJSON via stdio):
  • cargo run -p polyscribe-cli -- plugins run tubescribe generate_metadata --json '{"input":{"kind":"text","summary":"hello world"}}'

Verification commands

• The above commands are used for acceptance; expected behavior:
  • plugins list shows "tubescribe" once linked.
  • plugins info tubescribe prints JSON capabilities.
  • plugins run ... prints progress events and a JSON result.

Notes

• No absolute paths are hardcoded; config and plugin dirs respect XDG on Linux and platform equivalents via directories.
• Plugins must be non-interactive (no TTY prompts). All interaction stays in the host/CLI.
• Config files are written atomically and support env overrides: POLYSCRIBE__SECTION__KEY=value.