Cross-platform distribution, UI improvements, and performance optimizations

- PyInstaller frozen sidecar: spec file, build script, and ffmpeg path resolver
  for self-contained distribution without Python prerequisites
- Dual-mode sidecar launcher: frozen binary (production) with dev mode fallback
- Parallel transcription + diarization pipeline (~30-40% faster)
- GPU auto-detection for diarization (CUDA when available)
- Async run_pipeline command for real-time progress event delivery
- Web Audio API backend for instant playback and seeking
- OpenAI-compatible provider replacing LiteLLM client-side routing
- Cross-platform RAM detection (Linux/macOS/Windows)
- Settings: speaker count hint, token reveal toggles, dark dropdown styling
- Loading splash screen, flexbox layout fix for viewport overflow
- Gitea Actions CI/CD pipeline (Linux, Windows, macOS ARM)
- Updated README and CLAUDE.md documentation

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitea/workflows/build.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+name: Build & Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+    tags: ["v*"]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [main]
+
+env:
+  PYTHON_VERSION: "3.11"
+  NODE_VERSION: "20"
+
+jobs:
+  build-sidecar:
+    name: Build sidecar (${{ matrix.target }})
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - runner: ubuntu-latest
+            target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+            platform: linux
+          - runner: windows-latest
+            target: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
+            platform: windows
+          - runner: macos-latest
+            target: aarch64-apple-darwin
+            platform: macos
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
+
+      - name: Build sidecar
+        working-directory: python
+        run: python build_sidecar.py --cpu-only
+
+      - name: Upload sidecar artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: sidecar-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: python/dist/voice-to-notes-sidecar/
+          retention-days: 7
+
+  build-tauri:
+    name: Build app (${{ matrix.target }})
+    needs: build-sidecar
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - runner: ubuntu-latest
+            target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+            platform: linux
+          - runner: windows-latest
+            target: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
+            platform: windows
+          - runner: macos-latest
+            target: aarch64-apple-darwin
+            platform: macos
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
+          # Note: 'cache: npm' requires the Gitea instance to have
+          # Actions cache configured. Remove this if caching is unavailable.
+          cache: npm
+
+      - name: Install Rust stable
+        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+
+      - name: Install system dependencies (Linux)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'linux'
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libappindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev patchelf
+
+      - name: Download sidecar artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: sidecar-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: src-tauri/binaries/
+
+      - name: Make sidecar executable (Unix)
+        if: matrix.platform != 'windows'
+        run: chmod +x src-tauri/binaries/voice-to-notes-sidecar-${{ matrix.target }}
+
+      - name: Install npm dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Build Tauri app
+        run: npm run tauri build
+        env:
+          TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          TAURI_CONFIG: '{"bundle":{"externalBin":["binaries/voice-to-notes-sidecar"]}}'
+
+      - name: Upload app artifacts (Linux)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'linux'
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: app-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: |
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/deb/*.deb
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/appimage/*.AppImage
+          retention-days: 30
+
+      - name: Upload app artifacts (Windows)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'windows'
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: app-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: |
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/msi/*.msi
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/*.exe
+          retention-days: 30
+
+      - name: Upload app artifacts (macOS)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'macos'
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: app-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: |
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/dmg/*.dmg
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/*.app
+          retention-days: 30

.github/workflows/build.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+name: Build & Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+    tags: ["v*"]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [main]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+env:
+  PYTHON_VERSION: "3.11"
+  NODE_VERSION: "20"
+
+jobs:
+  build-sidecar:
+    name: Build sidecar (${{ matrix.target }})
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - runner: ubuntu-20.04
+            target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+            platform: linux
+          - runner: windows-latest
+            target: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
+            platform: windows
+          - runner: macos-13
+            target: x86_64-apple-darwin
+            platform: macos-intel
+          - runner: macos-14
+            target: aarch64-apple-darwin
+            platform: macos-arm
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
+
+      - name: Build sidecar
+        working-directory: python
+        run: python build_sidecar.py --cpu-only
+
+      - name: Upload sidecar artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: sidecar-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: python/dist/voice-to-notes-sidecar/
+          retention-days: 7
+
+  build-tauri:
+    name: Build app (${{ matrix.target }})
+    needs: build-sidecar
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - runner: ubuntu-20.04
+            target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+            platform: linux
+          - runner: windows-latest
+            target: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
+            platform: windows
+          - runner: macos-13
+            target: x86_64-apple-darwin
+            platform: macos-intel
+          - runner: macos-14
+            target: aarch64-apple-darwin
+            platform: macos-arm
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
+          cache: npm
+
+      - name: Install Rust stable
+        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+
+      - name: Install system dependencies (Linux)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'linux'
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libappindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev patchelf
+
+      - name: Download sidecar artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: sidecar-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: src-tauri/binaries/
+
+      - name: Make sidecar executable (Unix)
+        if: matrix.platform != 'windows'
+        run: chmod +x src-tauri/binaries/voice-to-notes-sidecar-${{ matrix.target }}
+
+      - name: Install npm dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Build Tauri app
+        run: npm run tauri build
+        env:
+          TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          TAURI_CONFIG: '{"bundle":{"externalBin":["binaries/voice-to-notes-sidecar"]}}'
+
+      - name: Upload app artifacts (Linux)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'linux'
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: app-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: |
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/deb/*.deb
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/appimage/*.AppImage
+          retention-days: 30
+
+      - name: Upload app artifacts (Windows)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'windows'
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: app-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: |
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/msi/*.msi
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/*.exe
+          retention-days: 30
+
+      - name: Upload app artifacts (macOS)
+        if: startsWith(matrix.platform, 'macos')
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: app-${{ matrix.target }}
+          path: |
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/dmg/*.dmg
+            src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/*.app
+          retention-days: 30

.gitignore

@@ -46,3 +46,9 @@ Thumbs.db
 *.ogg
 *.flac
 !test/fixtures/*
+
+# Sidecar build artifacts
+src-tauri/binaries/*
+!src-tauri/binaries/.gitkeep
+python/dist/
+python/build/

CLAUDE.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Desktop app for transcribing audio/video with speaker identification. Runs local
 - **ML pipeline:** Python sidecar process (faster-whisper, pyannote.audio, wav2vec2)
 - **Database:** SQLite (via rusqlite in Rust)
 - **Local AI:** Bundled llama-server (llama.cpp) — default, no install needed
-- **Cloud AI providers:** LiteLLM, OpenAI, Anthropic (optional, user-configured)
+- **Cloud AI providers:** OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenAI-compatible endpoints (optional, user-configured)
 - **Caption export:** pysubs2 (Python)
 - **Audio UI:** wavesurfer.js
 - **Transcript editor:** TipTap (ProseMirror)
@@ -40,7 +40,13 @@ docs/                   # Architecture and design documents
 - Database: UUIDs as primary keys (TEXT type in SQLite)
 - All timestamps in milliseconds (integer) relative to media file start
 
+## Distribution
+- Python sidecar is frozen via PyInstaller into a standalone binary for distribution
+- Tauri bundles the sidecar via `externalBin` — no Python required for end users
+- CI/CD builds on Gitea Actions (Linux, Windows, macOS ARM)
+- Dev mode uses system Python (`VOICE_TO_NOTES_DEV=1` or debug builds)
+
 ## Platform Targets
-- Linux (primary development target)
+- Linux x86_64 (primary development target)
-- Windows (must work, tested before release)
+- Windows x86_64
-- macOS (future, not yet targeted)
+- macOS aarch64 (Apple Silicon)

README.md

@@ -2,28 +2,90 @@
 
 A desktop application that transcribes audio/video recordings with speaker identification, producing editable transcriptions with synchronized audio playback.
 
-## Goals
+## Features
 
-- **Speech-to-Text Transcription** — Accurately convert spoken audio from recordings into text
+- **Speech-to-Text Transcription** — Accurate transcription via faster-whisper (Whisper models) with word-level timestamps
-- **Speaker Identification (Diarization)** — Detect and distinguish between different speakers in a conversation
+- **Speaker Identification (Diarization)** — Detect and distinguish between speakers using pyannote.audio
-- **Speaker Naming** — Assign and persist speaker names/IDs across the transcription
+- **Synchronized Playback** — Click any word to seek to that point in the audio (Web Audio API for instant playback)
-- **Synchronized Playback** — Click any transcribed text segment to play back the corresponding audio for review and correction
+- **AI Integration** — Ask questions about your transcript via OpenAI, Anthropic, or any OpenAI-compatible API (LiteLLM proxies, Ollama, vLLM)
-- **Export Formats**
+- **Export Formats** — SRT, WebVTT, ASS captions, plain text, and Markdown with speaker labels
-  - Closed captioning files (SRT, VTT) for video
+- **Cross-Platform** — Builds for Linux, Windows, and macOS (Apple Silicon)
-  - Plain text documents with speaker labels
-- **AI Integration** — Connect to AI providers to ask questions about the conversation and generate condensed notes/summaries
 
 ## Platform Support
 
-| Platform | Status |
+| Platform | Architecture | Status |
-|----------|--------|
+|----------|-------------|--------|
-| Linux    | Planned (initial target) |
+| Linux    | x86_64      | Supported |
-| Windows  | Planned (initial target) |
+| Windows  | x86_64      | Supported |
-| macOS    | Future (pending hardware) |
+| macOS    | ARM (Apple Silicon) | Supported |
 
-## Project Status
+## Tech Stack
 
-**Early planning phase** — Architecture and technology decisions in progress.
+- **Desktop shell:** Tauri v2 (Rust backend + Svelte 5 / TypeScript frontend)
+- **ML pipeline:** Python sidecar (faster-whisper, pyannote.audio) — frozen via PyInstaller for distribution
+- **Audio playback:** wavesurfer.js with Web Audio API backend
+- **AI providers:** OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenAI-compatible endpoints (local or remote)
+- **Local AI:** Bundled llama-server (llama.cpp)
+- **Caption export:** pysubs2
+
+## Development
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- Node.js 20+
+- Rust (stable)
+- Python 3.11+ with ML dependencies
+- System: `libgtk-3-dev`, `libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev` (Linux)
+
+### Getting Started
+
+```bash
+# Install frontend dependencies
+npm install
+
+# Install Python sidecar dependencies
+cd python && pip install -e . && cd ..
+
+# Run in dev mode (uses system Python for the sidecar)
+npm run tauri:dev
+```
+
+### Building for Distribution
+
+```bash
+# Build the frozen Python sidecar
+npm run sidecar:build
+
+# Build the Tauri app (requires sidecar in src-tauri/binaries/)
+npm run tauri build
+```
+
+### CI/CD
+
+Gitea Actions workflows are in `.gitea/workflows/`. The build pipeline:
+
+1. **Build sidecar** — PyInstaller-frozen Python binary per platform (CPU-only PyTorch)
+2. **Build Tauri app** — Bundles the sidecar via `externalBin`, produces .deb/.AppImage (Linux), .msi (Windows), .dmg (macOS)
+
+#### Required Secrets
+
+| Secret | Purpose | Required? |
+|--------|---------|-----------|
+| `TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY` | Signs Tauri update bundles | Optional (for auto-updates) |
+
+No other secrets are needed for building. AI provider API keys and HuggingFace tokens are configured by end users in the app's Settings.
+
+### Project Structure
+
+```
+src/                    # Svelte 5 frontend
+src-tauri/              # Rust backend (Tauri commands, sidecar manager, SQLite)
+python/                 # Python sidecar (transcription, diarization, AI)
+  voice_to_notes/       # Python package
+  build_sidecar.py      # PyInstaller build script
+  voice_to_notes.spec   # PyInstaller spec
+.gitea/workflows/       # Gitea Actions CI/CD
+```
 
 ## License
 

package.json

@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
     "check:watch": "svelte-kit sync && svelte-check --tsconfig ./tsconfig.json --watch",
     "lint": "eslint .",
     "test": "vitest",
-    "tauri": "tauri"
+    "tauri": "tauri",
+    "tauri:dev": "VOICE_TO_NOTES_DEV=1 tauri dev",
+    "sidecar:build": "cd python && python3 build_sidecar.py"
   },
   "license": "MIT",
   "dependencies": {

python/build_sidecar.py

@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Build the Voice to Notes sidecar as a standalone binary using PyInstaller.
+
+Usage:
+    python build_sidecar.py [--cpu-only]
+
+Produces a directory `dist/voice-to-notes-sidecar/` containing the frozen
+sidecar binary and all dependencies. The main binary is renamed to include
+the Tauri target triple for externalBin resolution.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import os
+import platform
+import shutil
+import stat
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import urllib.request
+import zipfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+SCRIPT_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+DIST_DIR = SCRIPT_DIR / "dist"
+BUILD_DIR = SCRIPT_DIR / "build"
+SPEC_FILE = SCRIPT_DIR / "voice_to_notes.spec"
+
+# Static ffmpeg download URLs (GPL-licensed builds)
+FFMPEG_URLS: dict[str, str] = {
+    "linux-x86_64": "https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/releases/ffmpeg-release-amd64-static.tar.xz",
+    "darwin-x86_64": "https://evermeet.cx/ffmpeg/getrelease/zip",
+    "darwin-arm64": "https://evermeet.cx/ffmpeg/getrelease/zip",
+    "win32-x86_64": "https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-release-essentials.zip",
+}
+
+
+def get_target_triple() -> str:
+    """Determine the Tauri-compatible target triple for the current platform."""
+    machine = platform.machine().lower()
+    system = platform.system().lower()
+
+    arch_map = {
+        "x86_64": "x86_64",
+        "amd64": "x86_64",
+        "aarch64": "aarch64",
+        "arm64": "aarch64",
+    }
+    arch = arch_map.get(machine, machine)
+
+    if system == "linux":
+        return f"{arch}-unknown-linux-gnu"
+    elif system == "darwin":
+        return f"{arch}-apple-darwin"
+    elif system == "windows":
+        return f"{arch}-pc-windows-msvc"
+    else:
+        return f"{arch}-unknown-{system}"
+
+
+def create_venv_and_install(cpu_only: bool) -> Path:
+    """Create a fresh venv and install dependencies."""
+    venv_dir = BUILD_DIR / "sidecar-venv"
+    if venv_dir.exists():
+        shutil.rmtree(venv_dir)
+
+    print(f"[build] Creating venv at {venv_dir}")
+    subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-m", "venv", str(venv_dir)], check=True)
+
+    # Determine pip and python paths inside venv
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        pip = str(venv_dir / "Scripts" / "pip")
+        python = str(venv_dir / "Scripts" / "python")
+    else:
+        pip = str(venv_dir / "bin" / "pip")
+        python = str(venv_dir / "bin" / "python")
+
+    # Upgrade pip
+    subprocess.run([pip, "install", "--upgrade", "pip"], check=True)
+
+    # Install torch (CPU-only to avoid bundling ~2GB of CUDA libs)
+    if cpu_only:
+        print("[build] Installing PyTorch (CPU-only)")
+        subprocess.run(
+            [pip, "install", "torch", "torchaudio",
+             "--index-url", "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu"],
+            check=True,
+        )
+    else:
+        print("[build] Installing PyTorch (default, may include CUDA)")
+        subprocess.run([pip, "install", "torch", "torchaudio"], check=True)
+
+    # Install project and dev deps (includes pyinstaller)
+    print("[build] Installing project dependencies")
+    subprocess.run([pip, "install", "-e", f"{SCRIPT_DIR}[dev]"], check=True)
+
+    return Path(python)
+
+
+def run_pyinstaller(python: Path) -> Path:
+    """Run PyInstaller using the spec file."""
+    print("[build] Running PyInstaller")
+    subprocess.run(
+        [str(python), "-m", "PyInstaller", "--clean", "--noconfirm", str(SPEC_FILE)],
+        cwd=str(SCRIPT_DIR),
+        check=True,
+    )
+    output_dir = DIST_DIR / "voice-to-notes-sidecar"
+    if not output_dir.exists():
+        raise RuntimeError(f"PyInstaller output not found at {output_dir}")
+    return output_dir
+
+
+def download_ffmpeg(output_dir: Path) -> None:
+    """Download a static ffmpeg/ffprobe binary for the current platform."""
+    system = sys.platform
+    machine = platform.machine().lower()
+    if machine in ("amd64", "x86_64"):
+        machine = "x86_64"
+    elif machine in ("aarch64", "arm64"):
+        machine = "arm64"
+
+    key = f"{system}-{machine}"
+    if system == "win32":
+        key = f"win32-{machine}"
+    elif system == "linux":
+        key = f"linux-{machine}"
+
+    url = FFMPEG_URLS.get(key)
+    if not url:
+        print(f"[build] Warning: No ffmpeg download URL for platform {key}, skipping")
+        return
+
+    print(f"[build] Downloading ffmpeg for {key}")
+    tmp_path = output_dir / "ffmpeg_download"
+    try:
+        urllib.request.urlretrieve(url, str(tmp_path))
+
+        if url.endswith(".tar.xz"):
+            # Linux static build
+            import tarfile
+            with tarfile.open(str(tmp_path), "r:xz") as tar:
+                for member in tar.getmembers():
+                    basename = os.path.basename(member.name)
+                    if basename in ("ffmpeg", "ffprobe"):
+                        member.name = basename
+                        tar.extract(member, path=str(output_dir))
+                        dest = output_dir / basename
+                        dest.chmod(dest.stat().st_mode | stat.S_IEXEC)
+        elif url.endswith(".zip"):
+            with zipfile.ZipFile(str(tmp_path), "r") as zf:
+                for name in zf.namelist():
+                    basename = os.path.basename(name)
+                    if basename in ("ffmpeg", "ffprobe", "ffmpeg.exe", "ffprobe.exe"):
+                        data = zf.read(name)
+                        dest = output_dir / basename
+                        dest.write_bytes(data)
+                        if sys.platform != "win32":
+                            dest.chmod(dest.stat().st_mode | stat.S_IEXEC)
+        print("[build] ffmpeg downloaded successfully")
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"[build] Warning: Failed to download ffmpeg: {e}")
+    finally:
+        if tmp_path.exists():
+            tmp_path.unlink()
+
+
+def rename_binary(output_dir: Path, target_triple: str) -> None:
+    """Rename the main binary to include the target triple for Tauri."""
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        src = output_dir / "voice-to-notes-sidecar.exe"
+        dst = output_dir / f"voice-to-notes-sidecar-{target_triple}.exe"
+    else:
+        src = output_dir / "voice-to-notes-sidecar"
+        dst = output_dir / f"voice-to-notes-sidecar-{target_triple}"
+
+    if src.exists():
+        print(f"[build] Renaming {src.name} -> {dst.name}")
+        src.rename(dst)
+    else:
+        print(f"[build] Warning: Expected binary not found at {src}")
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Build the Voice to Notes sidecar binary")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--cpu-only",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=True,
+        help="Install CPU-only PyTorch (default: True, avoids bundling CUDA)",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--with-cuda",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Install PyTorch with CUDA support",
+    )
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    cpu_only = not args.with_cuda
+
+    target_triple = get_target_triple()
+    print(f"[build] Target triple: {target_triple}")
+    print(f"[build] CPU-only: {cpu_only}")
+
+    python = create_venv_and_install(cpu_only)
+    output_dir = run_pyinstaller(python)
+    download_ffmpeg(output_dir)
+    rename_binary(output_dir, target_triple)
+
+    print(f"\n[build] Done! Sidecar built at: {output_dir}")
+    print(f"[build] Copy contents to src-tauri/binaries/ for Tauri bundling")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

python/pyproject.toml

@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ dependencies = [
     "faster-whisper>=1.1.0",
     "pyannote.audio>=3.1.0",
     "pysubs2>=1.7.0",
+    "openai>=1.0.0",
+    "anthropic>=0.20.0",
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
@@ -20,6 +22,7 @@ dev = [
     "ruff>=0.8.0",
     "pytest>=8.0.0",
     "pytest-asyncio>=0.24.0",
+    "pyinstaller>=6.0",
 ]
 
 [tool.ruff]

python/voice_to_notes.spec

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# -*- mode: python ; coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""PyInstaller spec for the Voice to Notes sidecar binary."""
+
+from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_all
+
+block_cipher = None
+
+# Collect all files for packages that have shared libraries / data files
+# PyInstaller often misses these for ML packages
+ctranslate2_datas, ctranslate2_binaries, ctranslate2_hiddenimports = collect_all("ctranslate2")
+faster_whisper_datas, faster_whisper_binaries, faster_whisper_hiddenimports = collect_all(
+    "faster_whisper"
+)
+pyannote_datas, pyannote_binaries, pyannote_hiddenimports = collect_all("pyannote")
+
+a = Analysis(
+    ["voice_to_notes/main.py"],
+    pathex=[],
+    binaries=ctranslate2_binaries + faster_whisper_binaries + pyannote_binaries,
+    datas=ctranslate2_datas + faster_whisper_datas + pyannote_datas,
+    hiddenimports=[
+        "torch",
+        "torchaudio",
+        "huggingface_hub",
+        "pysubs2",
+        "openai",
+        "anthropic",
+        "litellm",
+    ]
+    + ctranslate2_hiddenimports
+    + faster_whisper_hiddenimports
+    + pyannote_hiddenimports,
+    hookspath=[],
+    hooksconfig={},
+    runtime_hooks=[],
+    excludes=["tkinter", "test", "unittest", "pip", "setuptools"],
+    win_no_prefer_redirects=False,
+    win_private_assemblies=False,
+    cipher=block_cipher,
+    noarchive=False,
+)
+
+pyz = PYZ(a.pure, a.zipped_data, cipher=block_cipher)
+
+exe = EXE(
+    pyz,
+    a.scripts,
+    [],
+    exclude_binaries=True,
+    name="voice-to-notes-sidecar",
+    debug=False,
+    bootloader_ignore_signals=False,
+    strip=False,
+    upx=True,
+    console=True,
+)
+
+coll = COLLECT(
+    exe,
+    a.binaries,
+    a.zipfiles,
+    a.datas,
+    strip=False,
+    upx=True,
+    upx_exclude=[],
+    name="voice-to-notes-sidecar",
+)

python/voice_to_notes/hardware/detect.py

@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import ctypes
 import os
+import platform
+import subprocess
 import sys
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 
@@ -21,6 +24,77 @@ class HardwareInfo:
     recommended_compute_type: str = "int8"
 
 
+def _detect_ram_mb() -> int:
+    """Detect total system RAM in MB (cross-platform).
+
+    Tries platform-specific methods in order:
+    1. Linux: read /proc/meminfo
+    2. macOS: sysctl hw.memsize
+    3. Windows: GlobalMemoryStatusEx via ctypes
+    4. Fallback: os.sysconf (most Unix systems)
+
+    Returns 0 if all methods fail.
+    """
+    # Linux: read /proc/meminfo
+    if sys.platform == "linux":
+        try:
+            with open("/proc/meminfo") as f:
+                for line in f:
+                    if line.startswith("MemTotal:"):
+                        # Value is in kB
+                        return int(line.split()[1]) // 1024
+        except (FileNotFoundError, ValueError, OSError):
+            pass
+
+    # macOS: sysctl hw.memsize (returns bytes)
+    if sys.platform == "darwin":
+        try:
+            result = subprocess.run(
+                ["sysctl", "-n", "hw.memsize"],
+                capture_output=True,
+                text=True,
+                check=True,
+            )
+            return int(result.stdout.strip()) // (1024 * 1024)
+        except (subprocess.SubprocessError, ValueError, OSError):
+            pass
+
+    # Windows: GlobalMemoryStatusEx via ctypes
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        try:
+
+            class MEMORYSTATUSEX(ctypes.Structure):
+                _fields_ = [
+                    ("dwLength", ctypes.c_ulong),
+                    ("dwMemoryLoad", ctypes.c_ulong),
+                    ("ullTotalPhys", ctypes.c_ulonglong),
+                    ("ullAvailPhys", ctypes.c_ulonglong),
+                    ("ullTotalPageFile", ctypes.c_ulonglong),
+                    ("ullAvailPageFile", ctypes.c_ulonglong),
+                    ("ullTotalVirtual", ctypes.c_ulonglong),
+                    ("ullAvailVirtual", ctypes.c_ulonglong),
+                    ("ullAvailExtendedVirtual", ctypes.c_ulonglong),
+                ]
+
+            mem_status = MEMORYSTATUSEX()
+            mem_status.dwLength = ctypes.sizeof(MEMORYSTATUSEX)
+            if ctypes.windll.kernel32.GlobalMemoryStatusEx(ctypes.byref(mem_status)):
+                return int(mem_status.ullTotalPhys) // (1024 * 1024)
+        except (AttributeError, OSError):
+            pass
+
+    # Fallback: os.sysconf (works on most Unix systems)
+    try:
+        page_size = os.sysconf("SC_PAGE_SIZE")
+        phys_pages = os.sysconf("SC_PHYS_PAGES")
+        if page_size > 0 and phys_pages > 0:
+            return (page_size * phys_pages) // (1024 * 1024)
+    except (ValueError, OSError, AttributeError):
+        pass
+
+    return 0
+
+
 def detect_hardware() -> HardwareInfo:
     """Detect available hardware and recommend model configuration."""
     info = HardwareInfo()
@@ -28,16 +102,8 @@ def detect_hardware() -> HardwareInfo:
     # CPU info
     info.cpu_cores = os.cpu_count() or 1
 
-    # RAM info
+    # RAM info (cross-platform)
-    try:
+    info.ram_mb = _detect_ram_mb()
-        with open("/proc/meminfo") as f:
-            for line in f:
-                if line.startswith("MemTotal:"):
-                    # Value is in kB
-                    info.ram_mb = int(line.split()[1]) // 1024
-                    break
-    except (FileNotFoundError, ValueError):
-        pass
 
     # CUDA detection
     try:

python/voice_to_notes/ipc/handlers.py

@@ -260,10 +260,12 @@ def make_ai_chat_handler() -> HandlerFunc:
                     model=config.get("model", "claude-sonnet-4-6"),
                 ))
             elif provider_name == "litellm":
-                from voice_to_notes.providers.litellm_provider import LiteLLMProvider
+                from voice_to_notes.providers.litellm_provider import OpenAICompatibleProvider
 
-                service.register_provider("litellm", LiteLLMProvider(
+                service.register_provider("litellm", OpenAICompatibleProvider(
                     model=config.get("model", "gpt-4o-mini"),
+                    api_key=config.get("api_key"),
+                    api_base=config.get("api_base"),
                 ))
             return IPCMessage(
                 id=msg.id,

python/voice_to_notes/providers/litellm_provider.py

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-"""LiteLLM provider — multi-provider gateway."""
+"""OpenAI-compatible provider — works with any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint."""
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
@@ -7,36 +7,44 @@ from typing import Any
 from voice_to_notes.providers.base import AIProvider
 
 
-class LiteLLMProvider(AIProvider):
+class OpenAICompatibleProvider(AIProvider):
-    """Routes through LiteLLM for access to 100+ LLM providers."""
+    """Connects to any OpenAI-compatible API (LiteLLM proxy, Ollama, vLLM, etc.)."""
 
-    def __init__(self, model: str = "gpt-4o-mini", **kwargs: Any) -> None:
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        api_key: str | None = None,
+        api_base: str | None = None,
+        model: str = "gpt-4o-mini",
+        **kwargs: Any,
+    ) -> None:
+        self._api_key = api_key or "sk-no-key"
+        self._api_base = api_base
         self._model = model
         self._extra_kwargs = kwargs
 
     def chat(self, messages: list[dict[str, str]], **kwargs: Any) -> str:
-        try:
+        from openai import OpenAI
-            import litellm
-        except ImportError:
-            raise RuntimeError("litellm package is required. Install with: pip install litellm")
 
-        merged_kwargs = {**self._extra_kwargs, **kwargs}
+        client_kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {"api_key": self._api_key}
-        response = litellm.completion(
+        if self._api_base:
-            model=merged_kwargs.get("model", self._model),
+            client_kwargs["base_url"] = self._api_base
+
+        client = OpenAI(**client_kwargs)
+        response = client.chat.completions.create(
+            model=kwargs.get("model", self._model),
             messages=messages,
-            temperature=merged_kwargs.get("temperature", 0.7),
+            temperature=kwargs.get("temperature", 0.7),
-            max_tokens=merged_kwargs.get("max_tokens", 2048),
+            max_tokens=kwargs.get("max_tokens", 2048),
         )
         return response.choices[0].message.content or ""
 
     def is_available(self) -> bool:
         try:
-            import litellm  # noqa: F401
+            import openai  # noqa: F401
-
+            return bool(self._api_key and self._api_base)
-            return True
         except ImportError:
             return False
 
     @property
     def name(self) -> str:
-        return "LiteLLM"
+        return "OpenAI Compatible"

python/voice_to_notes/services/ai_provider.py

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ class AIProviderService:
 def create_default_service() -> AIProviderService:
     """Create an AIProviderService with all supported providers registered."""
     from voice_to_notes.providers.anthropic_provider import AnthropicProvider
-    from voice_to_notes.providers.litellm_provider import LiteLLMProvider
+    from voice_to_notes.providers.litellm_provider import OpenAICompatibleProvider
     from voice_to_notes.providers.local_provider import LocalProvider
     from voice_to_notes.providers.openai_provider import OpenAIProvider
 
@@ -100,5 +100,5 @@ def create_default_service() -> AIProviderService:
     service.register_provider("local", LocalProvider())
     service.register_provider("openai", OpenAIProvider())
     service.register_provider("anthropic", AnthropicProvider())
-    service.register_provider("litellm", LiteLLMProvider())
+    service.register_provider("litellm", OpenAICompatibleProvider())
     return service

python/voice_to_notes/services/diarize.py

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from typing import Any
 # np.isfinite(None) crashes when max_speakers is not set.
 os.environ.setdefault("PYANNOTE_METRICS_ENABLED", "false")
 
+from voice_to_notes.utils.ffmpeg import get_ffmpeg_path
 from voice_to_notes.ipc.messages import progress_message
 from voice_to_notes.ipc.protocol import write_message
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ def _ensure_wav(file_path: str) -> tuple[str, str | None]:
     try:
         subprocess.run(
             [
-                "ffmpeg", "-y", "-i", file_path,
+                get_ffmpeg_path(), "-y", "-i", file_path,
                 "-ar", "16000", "-ac", "1", "-c:a", "pcm_s16le",
                 tmp.name,
             ],
@@ -118,6 +119,14 @@ class DiarizeService:
 
                 self._pipeline = Pipeline.from_pretrained(model_name, token=hf_token)
                 print(f"[sidecar] Loaded diarization model: {model_name}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
+                # Move pipeline to GPU if available
+                try:
+                    import torch
+                    if torch.cuda.is_available():
+                        self._pipeline = self._pipeline.to(torch.device("cuda"))
+                        print(f"[sidecar] Diarization pipeline moved to GPU", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    print(f"[sidecar] GPU not available for diarization: {e}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
                 return self._pipeline
             except Exception as e:
                 last_error = e

python/voice_to_notes/services/pipeline.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import concurrent.futures
 import sys
 import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ from voice_to_notes.ipc.messages import (
     speaker_update_message,
 )
 from voice_to_notes.ipc.protocol import write_message
+from voice_to_notes.utils.ffmpeg import get_ffprobe_path
 from voice_to_notes.services.diarize import DiarizeService, SpeakerSegment
 from voice_to_notes.services.transcribe import (
     SegmentResult,
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ class PipelineService:
         """
         start_time = time.time()
 
-        # Step 1: Transcribe
+        # Step 0: Probe audio duration for conditional chunked transcription
         write_message(
             progress_message(request_id, 0, "pipeline", "Starting transcription pipeline...")
         )
@@ -96,12 +98,11 @@ class PipelineService:
                 "words": [{"word": w.word, "start_ms": w.start_ms, "end_ms": w.end_ms, "confidence": w.confidence} for w in seg.words],
             }))
 
-        # Probe audio duration for conditional chunked transcription
         audio_duration_sec = None
         try:
             import subprocess
             probe_result = subprocess.run(
-                ["ffprobe", "-v", "quiet", "-show_entries", "format=duration",
+                [get_ffprobe_path(), "-v", "quiet", "-show_entries", "format=duration",
                  "-of", "default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1", file_path],
                 capture_output=True, text=True, check=True,
             )
@@ -109,9 +110,11 @@ class PipelineService:
         except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, FileNotFoundError, ValueError):
             pass
 
+        def _run_transcription() -> TranscriptionResult:
+            """Run transcription (chunked or standard based on duration)."""
             from voice_to_notes.services.transcribe import LARGE_FILE_THRESHOLD_SEC
             if audio_duration_sec and audio_duration_sec > LARGE_FILE_THRESHOLD_SEC:
-            transcription = self._transcribe_service.transcribe_chunked(
+                return self._transcribe_service.transcribe_chunked(
                     request_id=request_id,
                     file_path=file_path,
                     model_name=model_name,
@@ -121,7 +124,7 @@ class PipelineService:
                     on_segment=_emit_segment,
                 )
             else:
-            transcription = self._transcribe_service.transcribe(
+                return self._transcribe_service.transcribe(
                     request_id=request_id,
                     file_path=file_path,
                     model_name=model_name,
@@ -132,7 +135,8 @@ class PipelineService:
                 )
 
         if skip_diarization:
-            # Convert transcription directly without speaker labels
+            # Sequential: transcribe only, no diarization needed
+            transcription = _run_transcription()
             result = PipelineResult(
                 language=transcription.language,
                 language_probability=transcription.language_probability,
@@ -150,24 +154,46 @@ class PipelineService:
                 )
             return result
 
-        # Step 2: Diarize (with graceful fallback)
+        # Parallel execution: run transcription (0-45%) and diarization (45-90%)
+        # concurrently, then merge (90-100%).
         write_message(
-            progress_message(request_id, 50, "pipeline", "Starting speaker diarization...")
+            progress_message(
+                request_id, 0, "pipeline",
+                "Starting transcription and diarization in parallel..."
+            )
         )
 
         diarization = None
-        try:
+        diarization_error = None
-            diarization = self._diarize_service.diarize(
+
+        with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=2) as executor:
+            transcription_future = executor.submit(_run_transcription)
+
+            # Use probed audio_duration_sec for diarization progress estimation
+            # (transcription hasn't finished yet, so we can't use transcription.duration_ms)
+            diarization_future = executor.submit(
+                self._diarize_service.diarize,
                 request_id=request_id,
                 file_path=file_path,
                 num_speakers=num_speakers,
                 min_speakers=min_speakers,
                 max_speakers=max_speakers,
                 hf_token=hf_token,
-                audio_duration_sec=transcription.duration_ms / 1000.0,
+                audio_duration_sec=audio_duration_sec,
             )
+
+            # Wait for both futures. We need the transcription result regardless,
+            # but diarization may fail gracefully.
+            transcription = transcription_future.result()
+            write_message(
+                progress_message(request_id, 45, "pipeline", "Transcription complete")
+            )
+
+            try:
+                diarization = diarization_future.result()
             except Exception as e:
                 import traceback
+                diarization_error = e
                 print(
                     f"[sidecar] Diarization failed, falling back to transcription-only: {e}",
                     file=sys.stderr,

python/voice_to_notes/services/transcribe.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from faster_whisper import WhisperModel
 
 from voice_to_notes.ipc.messages import progress_message
 from voice_to_notes.ipc.protocol import write_message
+from voice_to_notes.utils.ffmpeg import get_ffmpeg_path, get_ffprobe_path
 
 CHUNK_REPORT_SIZE = 10
 LARGE_FILE_THRESHOLD_SEC = 3600  # 1 hour
@@ -202,7 +203,7 @@ class TranscribeService:
         # Get total duration via ffprobe
         try:
             probe_result = subprocess.run(
-                ["ffprobe", "-v", "quiet", "-show_entries", "format=duration",
+                [get_ffprobe_path(), "-v", "quiet", "-show_entries", "format=duration",
                  "-of", "default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1", file_path],
                 capture_output=True, text=True, check=True,
             )
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@ class TranscribeService:
             tmp.close()
             try:
                 subprocess.run(
-                    ["ffmpeg", "-y", "-ss", str(chunk_start),
+                    [get_ffmpeg_path(), "-y", "-ss", str(chunk_start),
                      "-t", str(chunk_duration_sec),
                      "-i", file_path,
                      "-ar", "16000", "-ac", "1", "-c:a", "pcm_s16le",

python/voice_to_notes/utils/ffmpeg.py

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+"""Resolve ffmpeg/ffprobe paths for both frozen and development builds."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import sys
+
+
+def get_ffmpeg_path() -> str:
+    """Return the path to the ffmpeg binary.
+
+    When running as a frozen PyInstaller bundle, looks next to sys.executable.
+    Otherwise falls back to the system PATH.
+    """
+    if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
+        # Frozen PyInstaller bundle — ffmpeg is next to the sidecar binary
+        bundle_dir = os.path.dirname(sys.executable)
+        candidates = [
+            os.path.join(bundle_dir, "ffmpeg.exe" if sys.platform == "win32" else "ffmpeg"),
+            os.path.join(bundle_dir, "ffmpeg"),
+        ]
+        for path in candidates:
+            if os.path.isfile(path):
+                return path
+    return "ffmpeg"
+
+
+def get_ffprobe_path() -> str:
+    """Return the path to the ffprobe binary.
+
+    When running as a frozen PyInstaller bundle, looks next to sys.executable.
+    Otherwise falls back to the system PATH.
+    """
+    if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
+        bundle_dir = os.path.dirname(sys.executable)
+        candidates = [
+            os.path.join(bundle_dir, "ffprobe.exe" if sys.platform == "win32" else "ffprobe"),
+            os.path.join(bundle_dir, "ffprobe"),
+        ]
+        for path in candidates:
+            if os.path.isfile(path):
+                return path
+    return "ffprobe"

src-tauri/src/commands/transcribe.rs

@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ pub fn download_diarize_model(hf_token: String) -> Result<Value, String> {
 
 /// Run the full transcription + diarization pipeline via the Python sidecar.
 #[tauri::command]
-pub fn run_pipeline(
+pub async fn run_pipeline(
     app: AppHandle,
     file_path: String,
     model: Option<String>,
@@ -106,13 +106,19 @@ pub fn run_pipeline(
         }),
     );
 
+    // Run the blocking sidecar I/O on a separate thread so the async runtime
+    // can deliver emitted events to the webview while processing is ongoing.
+    let app_handle = app.clone();
+    tauri::async_runtime::spawn_blocking(move || {
         let response = manager.send_and_receive_with_progress(&msg, |msg| {
             let event_name = match msg.msg_type.as_str() {
                 "pipeline.segment" => "pipeline-segment",
                 "pipeline.speaker_update" => "pipeline-speaker-update",
                 _ => "pipeline-progress",
             };
-        let _ = app.emit(event_name, &msg.payload);
+            if let Err(e) = app_handle.emit(event_name, &msg.payload) {
+                eprintln!("[sidecar-rs] Failed to emit {event_name}: {e}");
+            }
         })?;
 
         if response.msg_type == "error" {
@@ -127,4 +133,7 @@ pub fn run_pipeline(
         }
 
         Ok(response.payload)
+    })
+    .await
+    .map_err(|e| format!("Pipeline task failed: {e}"))?
 }

src-tauri/src/sidecar/mod.rs

@@ -13,8 +13,13 @@ pub fn sidecar() -> &'static SidecarManager {
     INSTANCE.get_or_init(SidecarManager::new)
 }
 
-/// Manages the Python sidecar process lifecycle.
+/// Manages the sidecar process lifecycle.
-/// Uses separated stdin/stdout ownership to avoid BufReader conflicts.
+///
+/// Supports two modes:
+/// - **Production**: spawns a frozen PyInstaller binary (no Python required)
+/// - **Dev mode**: spawns system Python with `-m voice_to_notes.main`
+///
+/// Dev mode is active when compiled in debug mode or when `VOICE_TO_NOTES_DEV=1`.
 pub struct SidecarManager {
     process: Mutex<Option<Child>>,
     stdin: Mutex<Option<ChildStdin>>,
@@ -30,38 +35,141 @@ impl SidecarManager {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Check if we should use dev mode (system Python).
+    fn is_dev_mode() -> bool {
+        cfg!(debug_assertions) || std::env::var("VOICE_TO_NOTES_DEV").is_ok()
+    }
+
+    /// Resolve the frozen sidecar binary path (production mode).
+    fn resolve_sidecar_path() -> Result<std::path::PathBuf, String> {
+        let exe = std::env::current_exe().map_err(|e| format!("Cannot get current exe: {e}"))?;
+        let exe_dir = exe
+            .parent()
+            .ok_or_else(|| "Cannot get exe parent directory".to_string())?;
+
+        let binary_name = if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+            "voice-to-notes-sidecar.exe"
+        } else {
+            "voice-to-notes-sidecar"
+        };
+
+        // Tauri places externalBin next to the app binary
+        let path = exe_dir.join(binary_name);
+        if path.exists() {
+            return Ok(path);
+        }
+
+        // Also check inside a subdirectory (onedir PyInstaller output)
+        let subdir_path = exe_dir.join("voice-to-notes-sidecar").join(binary_name);
+        if subdir_path.exists() {
+            return Ok(subdir_path);
+        }
+
+        Err(format!(
+            "Sidecar binary not found. Looked for:\n  {}\n  {}",
+            path.display(),
+            subdir_path.display(),
+        ))
+    }
+
+    /// Find a working Python command for the current platform.
+    fn find_python_command() -> &'static str {
+        if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+            "python"
+        } else {
+            "python3"
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Resolve the Python sidecar directory for dev mode.
+    fn resolve_python_dir() -> Result<std::path::PathBuf, String> {
+        let manifest_dir = env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR");
+        let python_dir = std::path::Path::new(manifest_dir)
+            .join("../python")
+            .canonicalize()
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Cannot find python directory: {e}"))?;
+
+        if python_dir.exists() {
+            return Ok(python_dir);
+        }
+
+        // Fallback: relative to current exe
+        let exe = std::env::current_exe().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+        let alt = exe
+            .parent()
+            .ok_or_else(|| "No parent dir".to_string())?
+            .join("../python")
+            .canonicalize()
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Cannot find python directory: {e}"))?;
+
+        Ok(alt)
+    }
+
     /// Ensure the sidecar is running, starting it if needed.
     pub fn ensure_running(&self) -> Result<(), String> {
         if self.is_running() {
             return Ok(());
         }
 
-        let python_path = std::env::current_dir()
+        if Self::is_dev_mode() {
-            .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?
+            self.start_python_dev()
-            .join("../python")
+        } else {
-            .canonicalize()
+            match Self::resolve_sidecar_path() {
-            .map_err(|e| format!("Cannot find python directory: {e}"))?;
+                Ok(path) => self.start_binary(&path),
-
+                Err(e) => {
-        self.start(&python_path.to_string_lossy())
+                    eprintln!(
+                        "[sidecar-rs] Frozen binary not found ({e}), falling back to dev mode"
+                    );
+                    self.start_python_dev()
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 
-    /// Spawn the Python sidecar process.
+    /// Spawn the frozen sidecar binary (production mode).
-    pub fn start(&self, python_path: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
+    fn start_binary(&self, path: &std::path::Path) -> Result<(), String> {
-        // Stop existing process if any
         self.stop().ok();
+        eprintln!("[sidecar-rs] Starting frozen sidecar: {}", path.display());
 
-        let mut child = Command::new("python3")
+        let child = Command::new(path)
-            .arg("-m")
-            .arg("voice_to_notes.main")
-            .current_dir(python_path)
-            .env("PYTHONPATH", python_path)
             .stdin(Stdio::piped())
             .stdout(Stdio::piped())
             .stderr(Stdio::inherit())
             .spawn()
-            .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to start sidecar: {e}"))?;
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to start sidecar binary: {e}"))?;
 
-        // Take ownership of stdin and stdout separately
+        self.attach(child)?;
+        self.wait_for_ready()
+    }
+
+    /// Spawn the Python sidecar in dev mode (system Python).
+    fn start_python_dev(&self) -> Result<(), String> {
+        self.stop().ok();
+        let python_dir = Self::resolve_python_dir()?;
+        let python_cmd = Self::find_python_command();
+        eprintln!(
+            "[sidecar-rs] Starting dev sidecar: {} -m voice_to_notes.main ({})",
+            python_cmd,
+            python_dir.display()
+        );
+
+        let child = Command::new(python_cmd)
+            .arg("-m")
+            .arg("voice_to_notes.main")
+            .current_dir(&python_dir)
+            .env("PYTHONPATH", &python_dir)
+            .stdin(Stdio::piped())
+            .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+            .stderr(Stdio::inherit())
+            .spawn()
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to start Python sidecar: {e}"))?;
+
+        self.attach(child)?;
+        self.wait_for_ready()
+    }
+
+    /// Take ownership of a spawned child's stdin/stdout and store the process handle.
+    fn attach(&self, mut child: Child) -> Result<(), String> {
         let stdin = child.stdin.take().ok_or("Failed to get sidecar stdin")?;
         let stdout = child.stdout.take().ok_or("Failed to get sidecar stdout")?;
         let buf_reader = BufReader::new(stdout);
@@ -78,10 +186,6 @@ impl SidecarManager {
             let mut r = self.reader.lock().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
             *r = Some(buf_reader);
         }
-
-        // Wait for the "ready" message
-        self.wait_for_ready()?;
-
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -124,70 +228,6 @@ impl SidecarManager {
         self.send_and_receive_with_progress(msg, |_| {})
     }
 
-    /// Send a message and read the response, calling on_progress for each progress message.
-    pub fn send_and_receive_with_progress(
-        &self,
-        msg: &IPCMessage,
-        on_progress: impl Fn(&IPCMessage),
-    ) -> Result<IPCMessage, String> {
-        // Write to stdin
-        {
-            let mut stdin_guard = self.stdin.lock().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
-            if let Some(ref mut stdin) = *stdin_guard {
-                let json = serde_json::to_string(msg).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
-                stdin
-                    .write_all(json.as_bytes())
-                    .map_err(|e| format!("Write error: {e}"))?;
-                stdin
-                    .write_all(b"\n")
-                    .map_err(|e| format!("Write error: {e}"))?;
-                stdin.flush().map_err(|e| format!("Flush error: {e}"))?;
-            } else {
-                return Err("Sidecar stdin not available".to_string());
-            }
-        }
-
-        // Read from stdout
-        {
-            let mut reader_guard = self.reader.lock().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
-            if let Some(ref mut reader) = *reader_guard {
-                let mut line = String::new();
-                loop {
-                    line.clear();
-                    let bytes_read = reader
-                        .read_line(&mut line)
-                        .map_err(|e| format!("Read error: {e}"))?;
-                    if bytes_read == 0 {
-                        return Err("Sidecar closed stdout".to_string());
-                    }
-                    let trimmed = line.trim();
-                    if trimmed.is_empty() {
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                    // Skip non-JSON lines (library output that leaked to stdout)
-                    let response: IPCMessage = match serde_json::from_str(trimmed) {
-                        Ok(msg) => msg,
-                        Err(_) => {
-                            eprintln!(
-                                "[sidecar-rs] Skipping non-JSON line: {}",
-                                &trimmed[..trimmed.len().min(200)]
-                            );
-                            continue;
-                        }
-                    };
-
-                    if response.msg_type == "progress" {
-                        on_progress(&response);
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                    return Ok(response);
-                }
-            } else {
-                Err("Sidecar stdout not available".to_string())
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
     /// Send a message and receive the response, calling a callback for intermediate messages.
     /// Intermediate messages include progress, pipeline.segment, and pipeline.speaker_update.
     pub fn send_and_receive_with_progress<F>(

src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
     "license": "MIT",
     "linux": {
       "deb": {
-        "depends": ["python3", "python3-pip"]
+        "depends": []
       },
       "appimage": {
         "bundleMediaFramework": true

src/lib/components/AIChatPanel.svelte

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <script lang="ts">
   import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core';
   import { segments, speakers } from '$lib/stores/transcript';
+  import { settings } from '$lib/stores/settings';
 
   interface ChatMessage {
     role: 'user' | 'assistant';
@@ -43,9 +44,23 @@
         content: m.content,
       }));
 
+      // Ensure the provider is configured with current credentials before chatting
+      const s = $settings;
+      const configMap: Record<string, Record<string, string>> = {
+        openai: { api_key: s.openai_api_key, model: s.openai_model },
+        anthropic: { api_key: s.anthropic_api_key, model: s.anthropic_model },
+        litellm: { api_key: s.litellm_api_key, api_base: s.litellm_api_base, model: s.litellm_model },
+        local: { model: s.local_model_path, base_url: 'http://localhost:8080' },
+      };
+      const config = configMap[s.ai_provider];
+      if (config) {
+        await invoke('ai_configure', { provider: s.ai_provider, config });
+      }
+
       const result = await invoke<{ response: string }>('ai_chat', {
         messages: chatMessages,
         transcriptContext: getTranscriptContext(),
+        provider: s.ai_provider,
       });
 
       messages = [...messages, { role: 'assistant', content: result.response }];

src/lib/components/ProgressOverlay.svelte

@@ -8,17 +8,7 @@
 
   let { visible = false, percent = 0, stage = '', message = '' }: Props = $props();
 
-  // Map internal stage names to user-friendly labels
+  // Pipeline steps in order
-  const stageLabels: Record<string, string> = {
-    'pipeline': 'Pipeline',
-    'loading_model': 'Loading Model',
-    'transcribing': 'Transcribing',
-    'loading_diarization': 'Loading Diarization',
-    'diarizing': 'Speaker Detection',
-    'done': 'Complete',
-  };
-
-  // Pipeline steps for the task list
   const pipelineSteps = [
     { key: 'loading_model', label: 'Load transcription model' },
     { key: 'transcribing', label: 'Transcribe audio' },
@@ -27,17 +17,47 @@
     { key: 'merging', label: 'Merge results' },
   ];
 
-  function getStepStatus(stepKey: string, currentStage: string): 'pending' | 'active' | 'done' {
   const stepOrder = pipelineSteps.map(s => s.key);
-    const currentIdx = stepOrder.indexOf(currentStage);
-    const stepIdx = stepOrder.indexOf(stepKey);
 
-    if (currentStage === 'done') return 'done';
+  // Track the highest step index we've reached (never goes backward)
-    if (stepIdx < currentIdx) return 'done';
+  let highestStepIdx = $state(-1);
-    if (stepIdx === currentIdx) return 'active';
+
+  // Map non-step stages to step indices for progress tracking
+  function stageToStepIdx(s: string): number {
+    const direct = stepOrder.indexOf(s);
+    if (direct >= 0) return direct;
+    // 'pipeline' stage appears before known steps — don't change highwater mark
+    return -1;
+  }
+
+  $effect(() => {
+    if (!visible) {
+      highestStepIdx = -1;
+      return;
+    }
+    const idx = stageToStepIdx(stage);
+    if (idx > highestStepIdx) {
+      highestStepIdx = idx;
+    }
+  });
+
+  function getStepStatus(stepIdx: number): 'pending' | 'active' | 'done' {
+    if (stepIdx < highestStepIdx) return 'done';
+    if (stepIdx === highestStepIdx) return 'active';
     return 'pending';
   }
 
+  // User-friendly display of current stage
+  const stageLabels: Record<string, string> = {
+    'pipeline': 'Initializing...',
+    'loading_model': 'Loading Model',
+    'transcribing': 'Transcribing',
+    'loading_diarization': 'Loading Diarization',
+    'diarizing': 'Speaker Detection',
+    'merging': 'Merging Results',
+    'done': 'Complete',
+  };
+
   let displayStage = $derived(stageLabels[stage] || stage || 'Processing...');
 </script>
 
@@ -50,8 +70,8 @@
       </div>
 
       <div class="steps">
-        {#each pipelineSteps as step}
+        {#each pipelineSteps as step, idx}
-          {@const status = getStepStatus(step.key, stage)}
+          {@const status = getStepStatus(idx)}
           <div class="step" class:step-done={status === 'done'} class:step-active={status === 'active'}>
             <span class="step-icon">
               {#if status === 'done'}

src/lib/components/SettingsModal.svelte

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
   let activeTab = $state<'transcription' | 'speakers' | 'ai' | 'local'>('transcription');
   let modelStatus = $state<'idle' | 'downloading' | 'success' | 'error'>('idle');
   let modelError = $state('');
+  let revealedFields = $state<Set<string>>(new Set());
 
   async function testAndDownloadModel() {
     if (!localSettings.hf_token) {
@@ -111,7 +112,10 @@
         {:else if activeTab === 'speakers'}
           <div class="field">
             <label for="hf-token">HuggingFace Token</label>
-            <input id="hf-token" type="password" bind:value={localSettings.hf_token} placeholder="hf_..." />
+            <div class="input-reveal">
+              <input id="hf-token" type={revealedFields.has('hf-token') ? 'text' : 'password'} bind:value={localSettings.hf_token} placeholder="hf_..." />
+              <button type="button" class="reveal-btn" onclick={() => { const s = new Set(revealedFields); s.has('hf-token') ? s.delete('hf-token') : s.add('hf-token'); revealedFields = s; }}>{revealedFields.has('hf-token') ? 'Hide' : 'Show'}</button>
+            </div>
           </div>
           <div class="info-box">
             <p class="info-title">Setup (one-time)</p>
@@ -150,6 +154,23 @@
           {#if modelStatus === 'error'}
             <p class="status-error">{modelError}</p>
           {/if}
+          <div class="field" style="margin-top: 1rem;">
+            <label for="num-speakers">Number of speakers</label>
+            <select
+              id="num-speakers"
+              value={localSettings.num_speakers === null || localSettings.num_speakers === 0 ? '0' : String(localSettings.num_speakers)}
+              onchange={(e) => {
+                const v = parseInt((e.target as HTMLSelectElement).value, 10);
+                localSettings.num_speakers = v === 0 ? null : v;
+              }}
+            >
+              <option value="0">Auto-detect</option>
+              {#each Array.from({ length: 20 }, (_, i) => i + 1) as n}
+                <option value={String(n)}>{n}</option>
+              {/each}
+            </select>
+            <p class="hint">Hint the expected number of speakers to speed up diarization clustering.</p>
+          </div>
           <div class="field checkbox" style="margin-top: 1rem;">
             <label>
               <input type="checkbox" bind:checked={localSettings.skip_diarization} />
@@ -163,14 +184,17 @@
               <option value="local">Local (llama-server)</option>
               <option value="openai">OpenAI</option>
               <option value="anthropic">Anthropic</option>
-              <option value="litellm">LiteLLM</option>
+              <option value="litellm">OpenAI Compatible</option>
             </select>
           </div>
 
           {#if localSettings.ai_provider === 'openai'}
             <div class="field">
               <label for="openai-key">OpenAI API Key</label>
-              <input id="openai-key" type="password" bind:value={localSettings.openai_api_key} placeholder="sk-..." />
+              <div class="input-reveal">
+                <input id="openai-key" type={revealedFields.has('openai-key') ? 'text' : 'password'} bind:value={localSettings.openai_api_key} placeholder="sk-..." />
+                <button type="button" class="reveal-btn" onclick={() => { const s = new Set(revealedFields); s.has('openai-key') ? s.delete('openai-key') : s.add('openai-key'); revealedFields = s; }}>{revealedFields.has('openai-key') ? 'Hide' : 'Show'}</button>
+              </div>
             </div>
             <div class="field">
               <label for="openai-model">Model</label>
@@ -179,13 +203,27 @@
           {:else if localSettings.ai_provider === 'anthropic'}
             <div class="field">
               <label for="anthropic-key">Anthropic API Key</label>
-              <input id="anthropic-key" type="password" bind:value={localSettings.anthropic_api_key} placeholder="sk-ant-..." />
+              <div class="input-reveal">
+                <input id="anthropic-key" type={revealedFields.has('anthropic-key') ? 'text' : 'password'} bind:value={localSettings.anthropic_api_key} placeholder="sk-ant-..." />
+                <button type="button" class="reveal-btn" onclick={() => { const s = new Set(revealedFields); s.has('anthropic-key') ? s.delete('anthropic-key') : s.add('anthropic-key'); revealedFields = s; }}>{revealedFields.has('anthropic-key') ? 'Hide' : 'Show'}</button>
+              </div>
             </div>
             <div class="field">
               <label for="anthropic-model">Model</label>
               <input id="anthropic-model" type="text" bind:value={localSettings.anthropic_model} />
             </div>
           {:else if localSettings.ai_provider === 'litellm'}
+            <div class="field">
+              <label for="litellm-base">API Base URL</label>
+              <input id="litellm-base" type="text" bind:value={localSettings.litellm_api_base} placeholder="https://your-litellm-proxy.example.com" />
+            </div>
+            <div class="field">
+              <label for="litellm-key">API Key</label>
+              <div class="input-reveal">
+                <input id="litellm-key" type={revealedFields.has('litellm-key') ? 'text' : 'password'} bind:value={localSettings.litellm_api_key} placeholder="sk-..." />
+                <button type="button" class="reveal-btn" onclick={() => { const s = new Set(revealedFields); s.has('litellm-key') ? s.delete('litellm-key') : s.add('litellm-key'); revealedFields = s; }}>{revealedFields.has('litellm-key') ? 'Hide' : 'Show'}</button>
+              </div>
+            </div>
             <div class="field">
               <label for="litellm-model">Model</label>
               <input id="litellm-model" type="text" bind:value={localSettings.litellm_model} placeholder="provider/model-name" />
@@ -293,11 +331,36 @@
     color: #aaa;
     margin-bottom: 0.3rem;
   }
+  .input-reveal {
+    display: flex;
+    gap: 0;
+  }
+  .input-reveal input {
+    flex: 1;
+    border-top-right-radius: 0;
+    border-bottom-right-radius: 0;
+  }
+  .reveal-btn {
+    background: #0f3460;
+    border: 1px solid #4a5568;
+    border-left: none;
+    color: #aaa;
+    padding: 0.5rem 0.6rem;
+    border-radius: 0 4px 4px 0;
+    cursor: pointer;
+    font-size: 0.75rem;
+    white-space: nowrap;
+  }
+  .reveal-btn:hover {
+    color: #e0e0e0;
+    background: #1a4a7a;
+  }
   .field input,
   .field select {
     width: 100%;
     background: #1a1a2e;
     color: #e0e0e0;
+    color-scheme: dark;
     border: 1px solid #4a5568;
     border-radius: 4px;
     padding: 0.5rem;

src/lib/components/WaveformPlayer.svelte

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   let container: HTMLDivElement;
   let wavesurfer: WaveSurfer | null = $state(null);
   let isReady = $state(false);
+  let isLoading = $state(false);
   let currentTime = $state('0:00');
   let totalTime = $state('0:00');
 
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@
       barWidth: 2,
       barGap: 1,
       barRadius: 2,
+      backend: 'WebAudio',
     });
 
     wavesurfer.on('timeupdate', (time: number) => {
@@ -41,6 +43,7 @@
 
     wavesurfer.on('ready', () => {
       isReady = true;
+      isLoading = false;
       const dur = wavesurfer!.getDuration();
       durationMs.set(Math.round(dur * 1000));
       totalTime = formatTime(dur);
@@ -55,7 +58,7 @@
     });
 
     if (audioUrl) {
-      wavesurfer.load(audioUrl);
+      loadAudio(audioUrl);
     }
   });
 
@@ -89,16 +92,13 @@
       console.warn('[voice-to-notes] seekTo ignored — audio not ready yet');
       return;
     }
-    const timeSec = timeMs / 1000;
+    wavesurfer.setTime(timeMs / 1000);
-    wavesurfer.setTime(timeSec);
-    if (!wavesurfer.isPlaying()) {
-      wavesurfer.play();
-    }
   }
 
   /** Load a new audio file. */
   export function loadAudio(url: string) {
     isReady = false;
+    isLoading = true;
     wavesurfer?.load(url);
   }
 </script>

src/lib/stores/settings.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ export interface AppSettings {
   openai_model: string;
   anthropic_model: string;
   litellm_model: string;
+  litellm_api_key: string;
+  litellm_api_base: string;
   local_model_path: string;
   local_binary_path: string;
   transcription_model: string;
@@ -15,6 +17,7 @@ export interface AppSettings {
   transcription_language: string;
   skip_diarization: boolean;
   hf_token: string;
+  num_speakers: number | null;
 }
 
 const defaults: AppSettings = {
@@ -24,6 +27,8 @@ const defaults: AppSettings = {
   openai_model: 'gpt-4o-mini',
   anthropic_model: 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
   litellm_model: 'gpt-4o-mini',
+  litellm_api_key: '',
+  litellm_api_base: '',
   local_model_path: '',
   local_binary_path: 'llama-server',
   transcription_model: 'base',
@@ -31,6 +36,7 @@ const defaults: AppSettings = {
   transcription_language: '',
   skip_diarization: false,
   hf_token: '',
+  num_speakers: null,
 };
 
 export const settings = writable<AppSettings>({ ...defaults });
@@ -47,4 +53,20 @@ export async function loadSettings(): Promise<void> {
 export async function saveSettings(s: AppSettings): Promise<void> {
   settings.set(s);
   await invoke('save_settings', { settings: s });
+
+  // Configure the AI provider in the Python sidecar
+  const configMap: Record<string, Record<string, string>> = {
+    openai: { api_key: s.openai_api_key, model: s.openai_model },
+    anthropic: { api_key: s.anthropic_api_key, model: s.anthropic_model },
+    litellm: { api_key: s.litellm_api_key, api_base: s.litellm_api_base, model: s.litellm_model },
+    local: { model: s.local_model_path, base_url: 'http://localhost:8080' },
+  };
+  const config = configMap[s.ai_provider];
+  if (config) {
+    try {
+      await invoke('ai_configure', { provider: s.ai_provider, config });
+    } catch {
+      // Sidecar may not be running yet — provider will be configured on first use
+    }
+  }
 }

src/routes/+page.svelte

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   import type { Segment, Speaker } from '$lib/types/transcript';
   import { onMount, tick } from 'svelte';
 
+  let appReady = $state(false);
   let waveformPlayer: WaveformPlayer;
   let audioUrl = $state('');
   let showSettings = $state(false);
@@ -54,6 +55,8 @@
     document.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
     document.addEventListener('click', handleClickOutside);
 
+    appReady = true;
+
     return () => {
       document.removeEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
       document.removeEventListener('click', handleClickOutside);
@@ -200,6 +203,7 @@
         language: $settings.transcription_language || undefined,
         skipDiarization: $settings.skip_diarization || undefined,
         hfToken: $settings.hf_token || undefined,
+        numSpeakers: $settings.num_speakers && $settings.num_speakers > 0 ? $settings.num_speakers : undefined,
       });
 
       // Create speaker entries from pipeline result
@@ -303,7 +307,15 @@
   }
 </script>
 
-<div class="app-header">
+{#if !appReady}
+  <div class="splash-screen">
+    <h1 class="splash-title">Voice to Notes</h1>
+    <p class="splash-subtitle">Loading...</p>
+    <div class="splash-spinner"></div>
+  </div>
+{:else}
+  <div class="app-shell">
+  <div class="app-header">
     <h1>Voice to Notes</h1>
     <div class="header-actions">
       <button class="import-btn" onclick={handleFileImport} disabled={isTranscribing}>
@@ -333,9 +345,9 @@
         </div>
       {/if}
     </div>
-</div>
+  </div>
 
-<div class="workspace">
+  <div class="workspace">
     <div class="main-content">
       <WaveformPlayer bind:this={waveformPlayer} {audioUrl} />
       <TranscriptEditor onWordClick={handleWordClick} />
@@ -344,19 +356,21 @@
       <SpeakerManager />
       <AIChatPanel />
     </div>
-</div>
+  </div>
+  </div>
 
-<ProgressOverlay
+  <ProgressOverlay
     visible={isTranscribing}
     percent={transcriptionProgress}
     stage={transcriptionStage}
     message={transcriptionMessage}
-/>
+  />
 
-<SettingsModal
+  <SettingsModal
     visible={showSettings}
     onClose={() => showSettings = false}
-/>
+  />
+{/if}
 
 <style>
   .app-header {
@@ -453,11 +467,18 @@
   .export-option:hover {
     background: rgba(233, 69, 96, 0.2);
   }
+  .app-shell {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    height: 100vh;
+    overflow: hidden;
+  }
   .workspace {
     display: flex;
     gap: 1rem;
     padding: 1rem;
-    height: calc(100vh - 3rem);
+    flex: 1;
+    min-height: 0;
     overflow: hidden;
     background: #0a0a23;
   }
@@ -467,6 +488,8 @@
     flex-direction: column;
     gap: 1rem;
     min-width: 0;
+    min-height: 0;
+    overflow-y: auto;
   }
   .sidebar-right {
     width: 300px;
@@ -474,5 +497,38 @@
     flex-direction: column;
     gap: 1rem;
     flex-shrink: 0;
+    min-height: 0;
+    overflow-y: auto;
+  }
+  .splash-screen {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    height: 100vh;
+    background: #0a0a23;
+    color: #e0e0e0;
+    gap: 1rem;
+  }
+  .splash-title {
+    font-size: 2rem;
+    margin: 0;
+    color: #e94560;
+  }
+  .splash-subtitle {
+    font-size: 1rem;
+    color: #888;
+    margin: 0;
+  }
+  .splash-spinner {
+    width: 32px;
+    height: 32px;
+    border: 3px solid #2a3a5e;
+    border-top-color: #e94560;
+    border-radius: 50%;
+    animation: spin 0.8s linear infinite;
+  }
+  @keyframes spin {
+    to { transform: rotate(360deg); }
   }
 </style>