Local-first AI voice dictation for Linux (X11). Hold a key, speak, and polished text is injected into whatever app has focus. Clean-room — no code, assets, or branding from any other product.
Project site, install guide, and downloads.
Download the latest .deb from Releases, then:
wget https://github.com/arasheslamii/nava/releases/download/v0.0.1/nava_0.0.1_all.deb
sudo apt install ./nava_0.0.1_all.deb # installs system deps + a venv in /opt/nava
nava setup # pick model / hotkey / cues; seeds your dictionary
nava start # background daemon: hold Right-Ctrl, speak, release
nava enable # optional: auto-start on loginX11 only. Wayland isn't supported yet — switch to an X11 session to use NAVA for now.
Other distros / from source / AppImage: see docs/INSTALL.md.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
nava dictate |
foreground: hold Right-Ctrl → speak → release → inject |
nava start / stop / status |
background daemon (systemd --user) |
nava enable |
auto-start on login |
nava paste-last |
re-inject the most recent transcript (bind to a DE shortcut) |
nava setup / config |
TUI wizard / config editor |
nava doctor |
diagnostics (X11, xdotool, clipboard, mic, hotkey, ASR) |
echo hi | nava-inject |
low-level text injection |
- Injection (X11): XTEST typing → clipboard-paste → notify, with automatic per-app paste policy and Unicode-safe routing.
- ASR: faster-whisper
small.enint8 on CPU (~0.45 RTF on a 2015 i7), Silero VAD + anti-hallucination params (silence → empty).medium.enavailable for more accuracy. - Formatting: filler removal + custom-dictionary proper-noun correction (Tier-1, ~0 ms).
- UX: terminal-first (Rich + questionary), headless daemon, no GUI.
Local by default, no telemetry, audio never written to disk. Only the latest transcript is cached (for paste-last); disable with [history] keep_last = false.
See PLAN.md, ROADMAP.md, DECISIONS.md for the design history.