typeless-omarchy

Status: shelved (2026-10-02). Typeless is not installed; Wispr Flow is the dictation app in use. Build outputs (work/, stage/, dl/) have been removed; rebuild with the instructions below (./build.sh) if this is ever picked up again.

An unofficial arm64 Linux port of Typeless, the AI voice-dictation app, for Omarchy / Hyprland on aarch64 machines.

Typeless only ships an x64 .deb for Linux. The app is Electron, so most of it runs anywhere once its runtime is swapped, but it loads six closed-source x64 native helpers in-process. On a 16K-page kernel (Apple silicon) x86 emulation isn't an option, so this repo contains interoperable arm64 reimplementations of those helpers (behaviour reconstructed from the x64 binaries for interoperability), plus the scripts that turn the official download into a working arm64 install.

No Typeless code or binaries are in this repo. build.sh downloads the official package from Typeless's own update feed at build time (verified against the feed's sha512) and assembles the port locally. Not affiliated with Typeless.

Quick start

./build.sh            # compile helpers, download Typeless, assemble stage/Typeless
./install.sh --all    # app + Hyprland rules + mic-button watcher

Then open Typeless from the launcher and sign in.

./install.sh without flags installs only the app. --hyprland adds the window rules, --mic-button[=<source>] adds the USB-mic button watcher. ./uninstall.sh removes everything (--purge also deletes ~/.config/Typeless).

Requirements

• aarch64 Linux with Wayland (tested: Omarchy, Hyprland 0.56, PipeWire)
• Build: base-devel, pkg-config, libpulse, libsecret, glib2, at-spi2-core, dbus, wayland, wayland-protocols, libarchive (bsdtar), curl, python3, Node.js 20+ (npx)
• Runtime: wl-clipboard, at-spi2-core, XWayland
• Read access to /dev/input/event* and write access to /dev/uinput (logind's uaccess ACLs or the input group)

What gets built

Piece	Source	Notes
Electron runtime	electron/electron releases	Same version as upstream (detected from the .deb), fuses mirrored
better-sqlite3	WiseLibs prebuilds	Matched to the Electron ABI
koffi	bundled in the app	Its linux_arm64 build is already in app.asar
libKeyboardHelper.so	helpers/keyboard-helper	Global hotkeys from evdev
libInputHelper.so + typeless-clipboard	helpers/input-helper	Text insertion: clipboard + Ctrl+V (Ctrl+Shift+V in terminals) through a uinput keyboard, clipboard restored afterwards
libContextHelper.so	helpers/context-helper	Focused app (Hyprland IPC), focused element / surrounding text / URL (AT-SPI)
libUtilHelper.so	helpers/util-helper	Audio devices, ducking, sounds, device id, permission checks
libopusenc.so	helpers/libopusenc	libopus 1.5.2 + libopusenc 0.2.1 + the app's wrapper API
typeless-atspi-helper	helpers/linux-shared	Shared out-of-process AT-SPI helper

Each helper has its own build.sh and headless tests under test/.

patches/ edits the app bundle:

• 10-disable-updater.sh — the upstream feed only has x64 packages, so the in-app updater always reports "up to date". To update, run ./build.sh <new-version> and ./install.sh.
• 20-force-x11.sh — the floating bar positions itself with raw Xlib calls, so the app must run under XWayland. Omarchy sets ELECTRON_OZONE_PLATFORM_HINT=wayland and Typeless rewrites its own launcher entries, so the app relaunches itself once with --ozone-platform=x11 (TYPELESS_ALLOW_WAYLAND=1 disables this).

Differences from upstream behaviour

• Hotkeys don't grab the keyboard. Upstream takes exclusive control of every keyboard (EVIOCGRAB) so shortcut keys don't reach apps; that breaks other hotkey readers such as Wispr Flow. This port listens passively by default; KEYBOARD_HELPER_NO_GRAB=0 restores grabbing.
• Non-keyboard buttons work. Upstream only watches full keyboards; this port also reads media/consumer-key devices (headset buttons, remotes) and names keys it doesn't know (e.g. VoiceCommand, Fn).
• Accessibility check asks the AT-SPI bus directly instead of going through the helper process, which deadlocks while a Typeless window has focus.

Mic mute button → dictation (extras/mic-button)

Some USB mics (e.g. the JIAYZ BY-GM18CU) have a button that toggles a hardware mute and reports nothing to the computer: no key event, no mixer change. A muted mic streams exact digital zeros, while a live one always has a noise floor, so typeless-mic-button listens to the mic and taps a virtual VoiceCommand key whenever the state flips:

• unmute (LED live) → tap → Typeless starts dictating
• mute → tap → Typeless finishes and pastes

Setup: ./install.sh --mic-button=<source> (find the source with pactl list short sources; the default is the BY-GM18CU), then in Typeless set the Dictate shortcut by pressing the mic button once.

The key and behaviour are set in ~/.config/typeless-mic-button.env (restart with systemctl --user restart typeless-mic-button):

App	MIC_BUTTON_KEY	MIC_BUTTON_MODE	Bind in the app
Typeless (default)	voicecommand	tap	Dictate → press the button once
Wispr Flow	f24 + MIC_BUTTON_MODIFIER=rightctrl	hold	Push-to-talk → unmute, then mute

Wispr Flow only reads devices that have letter keys, has no VoiceCommand key code and insists on a modifier, so for Wispr the watcher holds Right Ctrl + F24 while the mic is live (push-to-talk). Its helper also only opens input devices that exist when it starts: start Wispr after the watcher (or restart Wispr after restarting the watcher).

• The virtual device is disabled in Hyprland (config/hypr/typeless.lua) so the key never reaches apps; Typeless reads /dev/input directly.
• The watcher keeps a capture stream open, so Omarchy's bar microphone icon always shows "in use". The mic's LED is the real indicator.
• It follows the mute state, not Typeless's state: if dictation ends another way, the next mute starts one. Press the button again to resync.

Troubleshooting

• Orange border / box over the screen: the floating bar window is missing its rules — run ./install.sh --hyprland and restart Typeless.
• App exits at start with BadWindow: it's running on native Wayland; check that patches/20-force-x11.sh was applied (rebuild).
• Logs: start ~/.local/opt/Typeless/typeless from a terminal; the helpers print to stderr. Mic watcher: journalctl --user -u typeless-mic-button.

License

MIT for the scripts and helper sources in this repository; see LICENSE. Typeless itself is proprietary, is not included, and is downloaded from its vendor at build time under its own terms. This is an unofficial project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Typeless.