Dictation

Dictation is a focused voice-to-text plugin for Obsidian. It records through Obsidian's core Audio recorder, transcribes with the provider you choose, and inserts the result at the cursor captured when recording began.

It works on desktop and mobile. It does not index your vault, send note content, include telemetry, or bundle access to a transcription service.

Features

• Record from the ribbon, status bar, command palette, hotkey, or mobile microphone button.
• Keep the mobile button visible above the software keyboard and Obsidian's editing toolbar, including while selecting text.
• Use toggle recording everywhere or optional desktop-only push-to-talk.
• Configure OpenAI, Groq, Deepgram, or a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
• Choose automatic language detection, a common language, or a custom code.
• Decide after every recording whether to Transcribe, Keep audio, or Discard, or opt into an automatic policy.
• Recover the full transcript in a copyable dialog if safe insertion fails.
• Retain audio conservatively in a managed folder. The default is 21 days.
• Use the interface in English or Spanish, following Obsidian's language.

Requirements

• Obsidian 1.11.4 or newer.
• Obsidian's core Audio recorder plugin enabled.
• Microphone permission on each device.
• An account and API key for the selected transcription provider. Provider pricing, free tiers, rate limits, and terms apply; Dictation includes no API credit or service account.

Setup

After installing and enabling Dictation:

1. Open Settings → Core plugins and enable Audio recorder.
2. Open Settings → Dictation.
3. Choose OpenAI, Groq, Deepgram, or Custom. Known provider endpoints and suggested model IDs are filled in for you.
4. In API key, create or select an Obsidian SecretStorage entry. Only its name is stored in plugin settings; its value remains in SecretStorage.
5. Choose a model and language. Automatic detection is the default.
6. Review the post-recording choice and audio retention settings. The safe defaults are Ask every time and deletion after 21 days.

SecretStorage is device-local. Repeat step 4 on every computer or phone, even when the vault itself is synchronized.

More setup options:

Usage

Desktop

On desktop, click the ribbon microphone, click Dictation in the status bar, or run Start or stop recording from the command palette. You can assign an Obsidian hotkey to that command. Optional push-to-talk is a separate setting: hold your chosen shortcut to record and release it to stop.

Mobile

On mobile, open a Markdown note and tap the floating microphone. It remains above the keyboard and editing toolbar when a cursor or text selection is active. Tap the red stop button when finished. Push-to-talk is desktop-only because mobile operating systems do not provide a dependable held-key cycle.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cec224d9-49a8-409a-8b22-e1a0965206d1

When recording stops, the default dialog offers:

• Transcribe: upload the recording to the configured provider.
• Keep audio: preserve the recording without contacting that provider.
• Discard: move the recording to Obsidian's trash.

Closing the dialog means Keep audio.

Transcribe an existing recording

To transcribe audio you already have — a recording you kept, one whose transcription failed, or a voice memo synced into the vault — run Transcribe an existing recording from the command palette and pick the file, or right-click an audio file and choose Transcribe recording.

The transcript is inserted at the cursor in the active note, using the same provider, model, and language as live recording. The source audio file is never moved, renamed, or deleted, and audio retention does not apply to it. If the cursor position cannot be located safely, the transcript opens in the copyable recovery dialog instead.

Providers

Provider	Managed endpoint	Suggested models
OpenAI	https://api.openai.com/v1/audio/transcriptions	gpt-4o-mini-transcribe, whisper-1
Groq	https://api.groq.com/openai/v1/audio/transcriptions	whisper-large-v3-turbo, whisper-large-v3
Deepgram	https://api.deepgram.com/v1/listen	nova-3, nova-2
Custom	You provide an HTTPS endpoint	You provide an OpenAI-compatible model ID

Endpoints and model suggestions are conveniences, not bundled service access. Verify current models, availability, limits, and prices with your provider. The Custom option supports Bearer, Token, or no authorization; never place a credential in the endpoint URL.

Privacy and network disclosure

Dictation makes no network request while idle, recording, keeping, or discarding audio. A transcription request sends the following to the endpoint shown in settings:

• the complete selected audio recording;
• the selected model ID;
• the optional language hint.

It does not send note text, filenames, vault contents, diagnostics, analytics, or advertising identifiers. An automatic transcription policy is opt-in because stopping a recording then starts the upload immediately.

Topic	Behavior
Accounts and payment	Your chosen provider may require an account, billing, or a paid plan.
Credentials	Stored through Obsidian SecretStorage; data.json contains only the selected secret name.
Network use	Only transcription requests to the endpoint visible in settings.
External files	None. Audio and notes are accessed through Obsidian's Vault API.
Telemetry and ads	None.
Source and license	Public source under GPL-3.0-only.

Destination and transcript recovery

The target note path, cursor offset, and surrounding text are captured when recording starts. Switching notes while speaking does not redirect the result. Before insertion, Dictation relocates that anchor in the latest note content and tolerates the Audio recorder embed appearing at the cursor.

If the target is missing or ambiguous, Dictation never guesses. It displays the complete transcript in a copyable recovery dialog and keeps the audio.

Safe audio retention

After successful insertion, Dictation removes the audio embed from the note and moves the recording to Dictation/Recordings by default. A failed request, empty response, missing configuration, missing destination, or failed insertion never deletes the audio or removes its embed.

Retention choices are:

• keep indefinitely;
• move to trash immediately after successful insertion;
• move to trash after a delay (21 days by default).

For delayed deletion, Dictation remembers the exact managed file and its size/modified-time fingerprint. When due, it deletes only if the file is unchanged and no note other than its original target references it. Otherwise it keeps the file. File moves and deletions use Obsidian's public APIs and Obsidian trash.

Concurrency and failure safety

Recording uses a serialized state machine. It ignores double clicks, key repeat, duplicate stop requests, and attempts to start another recording while a decision, upload, or insertion is in progress. If one recording cannot be associated safely with the operation, the plugin stops and deletes nothing.

Install manually

Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the same GitHub release and place them in:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/dictation/

Reload community plugins, then enable Dictation. Do not copy data.json between devices; it contains device-specific settings and secret references.

Development

Requires Node.js 18 or newer.

npm ci
npm test
npm run build
npm run check

main.js is generated and intentionally excluded from source control. Each GitHub release attaches the minified main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css required by Obsidian.

See CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, and DESIGN.md. Dictation is licensed under GPL-3.0. Third-party artwork and its attribution are documented in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.