[ANT1OFF]

What

Hold one key to dictate, as Hex does, with an audible start and stop.

• One modifier held alone can be the dictation key: Right/Left ⌥, ⌘, ⌃ or ⇧ (Alt, Win, Ctrl, Shift off macOS). Record it in Settings → Keyboard by tapping the modifier alone; only Dictate accepts one. A chord such as ⌘⇧Space still works as before (a tap toggles, a hold talks). Bindings are stored as KeyboardEvent.code lowercased (altright), which the keybindings file pattern already accepts. Labels follow the platform through formatKeys: "Right ⌥" on macOS, "Right Alt" on Linux and Windows.
• Default: Right ⌥ on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+Space elsewhere. On many European layouts Right Alt is AltGr, which types brackets, so it would start and discard a dictation on every {. I asked the orchestrator to confirm this default; it's one line (DICTATE_KEYS in keyboard/catalog.ts) if it should change.
• Held alone, it works anywhere in Gram's window and dictates into the composer in use: the one whose pane has the focus, else the one used last. That composer's field takes the focus, so the words land there and Escape reaches it. It does nothing inside a dialog.
• Gesture rules (Hex's as ideas, no code ported, so no notice is needed):
  • Dictation starts at the press, so nothing is missed.
  • A release under 300 ms is a tap and is discarded.
  • Any other key during the hold discards, so ⌥-shortcuts and ⌥-characters keep working.
  • A second tap within 350 ms locks listening on until the next press.
  • A press while dictation is already running (a lock, or the mic button) stops it.
  • A blur keeps a hold and drops a tap.
• Tones, synthesised with Web Audio (two short sine notes, a fourth up for start and down for stop); no audio files.
  • The start tone plays once capture is live and the press is confirmed as a hold or lock (or it's a mic-button/chord start).
  • The stop tone plays on release, and only after a start tone, so a tap or a discard is silent.
  • The context suspends after 2 s, so it holds no output device.
• Settings → Voice input → Sounds: a switch plus a volume slider (default on, half volume). Changing either plays the start tone at the new volume. The voice switch's description now describes the held key.

Verification

• e2e dictation.spec.ts, 17 passed. Each test now pins its binding, so the same presses work on macOS and Linux runners. New:
  • Holding Right ⌥ with the focus outside the composer: the composer takes focus, partials show, the text commits, tones [659, 880].
  • A 150 ms tap with Keep microphone ready on (capture is live inside the tap) and ⌥↑ during a hold (⌥← is Back off macOS, which failed the first Linux CI run): nothing committed, no tones. Mutation check: with the tone gating removed, this test fails with 3 extra tones.
  • Double tap locks, the next press commits. With Sounds off, no tones. Settings shows the Sounds switch and volume.
• e2e key-capture.spec.ts and keyboard-nav.spec.ts pass. catalog-coverage sees AltRight pressed.
• Unit:
  • The modifier-hold machine (hold, tap, chord, late chord, double tap, taps too far apart, a tap after a shortcut, the mic button's dictation, blur, Escape).
  • Lone-modifier names and labels, and that they never match as a chord.
  • Recording a lone modifier in the key dialog, only for Dictate, and not when a key joins it.
  • The sounds settings contract, with volume bounded to 0–1.
• Commands: vitest (dictation, keyboard, settings, palette, contracts settings), typecheck, lint, fmt:check, check:scaffold, check:docs, the three e2e specs.

Known limits

• Not tried with a real keyboard by hand, or heard on speakers. Key events come from Playwright in Chromium, and the tones were counted at the oscillators, not listened to.
• Mic opens on ⌥-shortcuts: with Keep microphone ready off, an ⌥-shortcut or ⌥-character on the bound key opens the mic for a moment before the discard (indicator blink). With it on, the stream is already open.
• Late shortcut after the tone: a shortcut pressed after a hold has confirmed (≥ 300 ms) discards after the start tone has played; the stop tone doesn't play.
• No globalShortcut: the key only works while a Gram window has the focus.

Screenshots

Settings → Advanced → Voice input, with voice input on (dark)

Before	After