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Contributing to Speech Note

Thank you for your interest in contributing to Speech Note! This document will help you get started with contributing to this open-source project.

Table of Contents

Ways to Contribute

There are many ways to contribute to Speech Note:

  • Code contributions: Bug fixes, new features, performance improvements
  • Translation: Help translate the app into your language
  • Bug reports: Report issues you encounter
  • Feature requests: Suggest new features or improvements
  • Testing: Test beta releases and provide feedback

Getting Started

Speech Note is hosted on both GitHub and GitLab. You can contribute on either platform - choose the one you're most comfortable with.

Project Structure

Understanding the project structure will help you navigate the codebase:

dsnote/
├── src/                    # C++ backend source code
│   ├── *_engine.cpp/hpp    # Speech/TTS/translation engines
│   ├── dsnote_app.cpp/h    # Main application logic
│   ├── settings.cpp/h      # Settings management
│   └── ...                 # Other core components
├── desktop/                # Desktop UI files
│   └── qml/                # QML files for desktop UI
├── sfos/                   # Sailfish OS UI files
│   └── qml/                # QML files for Sailfish OS UI
├── translations/           # Translation files (*.ts)
├── tests/                  # Unit tests
├── cmake/                  # CMake build scripts
├── flatpak/               # Flatpak build configurations
├── arch/                  # Arch Linux PKGBUILD files
├── fedora/                # Fedora/RHEL spec files
├── config/                # Configuration files (e.g., models.json)
├── tools/                 # Build helper scripts
└── CMakeLists.txt         # Main CMake configuration

Key Components

  • Speech Engines: Located in src/*_engine.cpp/hpp files
    • STT engines: whisper, vosk, coqui, fasterwhisper, april-asr
    • TTS engines: piper, espeak, rhvoice, coqui, mimic3, etc.
    • Translation: bergamot
  • UI Layer: QML files in desktop/qml/ (Desktop) and sfos/qml/ (Sailfish OS)
  • Application Core: src/dsnote_app.cpp and src/speech_service.cpp
  • Settings: src/settings.cpp handles all application settings

Development Setup

Building from Source

Speech Note uses CMake as its build system and has many dependencies. The recommended way to build is using the Flatpak toolchain, but direct builds are also possible.

Arch Linux

The easiest way to build on Arch Linux:

git clone https://github.com/mkiol/dsnote.git  # or GitLab URL
cd dsnote/arch/git
makepkg -si

This will build and install the latest git version with all dependencies.

For more information, see the arch/git/PKGBUILD file.

Fedora/RHEL/Rocky Linux

git clone https://github.com/mkiol/dsnote.git
cd dsnote/fedora

# Install build dependencies (optional but recommended)
dnf install rpmdevtools autoconf automake boost-devel cmake git \
    kf5-kdbusaddons-devel libarchive-devel libxdo-devel \
    libXinerama-devel libxkbcommon-x11-devel libXtst-devel \
    libtool meson openblas-devel patchelf pybind11-devel \
    python3-devel python3-pybind11 qt6-linguist \
    qt6-qtmultimedia-devel qt6-qtquickcontrols2-devel \
    qt6-qtx11extras-devel rubberband-devel taglib-devel \
    vulkan-headers

./make_rpm.sh

For more information, see the fedora/make_rpm.sh and fedora/dsnote.spec files.

Ubuntu

# First install OpenCL headers (required dependency)
sudo apt install opencl-headers

# Then install all build dependencies
sudo apt install appstream autoconf build-essential cmake \
    git libboost-all-dev libpulse-dev libwayland-dev libxinerama-dev \
    libxkbcommon-x11-dev libxtst-dev ocl-icd-opencl-dev patchelf \
    python3-dev qt6-base-dev qt6-declarative-dev qt6-multimedia-dev \
    qml6-module-qtquick qml6-module-qtquick-controls qml6-module-qtquick-dialogs \
    zlib1g-dev

Optional - For NVIDIA CUDA acceleration:

sudo apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit nvidia-cudnn

Note: CUDA support is experimental and tested only on Ubuntu 25.04. AMD GPUs have built-in Vulkan support that should work out of the box.

Build the .deb package:

git clone https://github.com/mkiol/dsnote.git
cd dsnote/deb
./makedeb.sh

For more detailed information, see deb/README.md.

Flatpak (Recommended for Development)

git clone https://github.com/mkiol/dsnote.git
cd dsnote/flatpak

# Build base package
flatpak-builder --force-clean --user \
    --install-deps-from=flathub \
    --repo=<local-repo-name> \
    build-dir \
    net.mkiol.SpeechNote.yaml

For more information, see the flatpak/net.mkiol.SpeechNote.yaml file.

Direct Build (Advanced)

You can do a direct build without packaging. Note: Direct builds require many dependencies to be pre-installed. Check CMakeLists.txt, or the next section, for build options.

git clone https://github.com/mkiol/dsnote.git
cd dsnote
mkdir build && cd build

# Basic desktop build
cmake ../ -DWITH_DESKTOP=ON

make -j$(nproc)

Build Options

Key CMake options you can use:

  • -DWITH_DESKTOP=ON/OFF - Enable desktop UI
  • -DWITH_SFOS=ON/OFF - Enable Sailfish OS UI
  • -DWITH_PY=ON/OFF - Enable Python libraries support
  • -DWITH_TESTS=ON/OFF - Build tests
  • -DWITH_FLATPAK=ON/OFF - Flatpak-specific build

See CMakeLists.txt for all available options.

Launching the Application

After building, you can launch the application in different ways depending on your build method:

From Direct Build

# From the build directory
./dsnote

# Or with verbose logging for debugging
./dsnote --verbose

From Flatpak Build

# Install the built Flatpak locally
flatpak --user install <local-repo-name> net.mkiol.SpeechNote

# Run the installed Flatpak
flatpak run net.mkiol.SpeechNote

# Or with verbose logging
flatpak run net.mkiol.SpeechNote --verbose

From Package Build (Arch/Fedora/Debian)

If you built and installed via makepkg -si, make_rpm.sh, or makedeb.sh + dpkg -i, the application will be installed system-wide:

# Launch from application menu or command line
dsnote

# Or with verbose logging
dsnote --verbose

Alternative - Running Without Installing (Debian/Ubuntu)

If the .deb package installation fails due to dependency issues, you can run the application directly from the build directory:

cd dsnote-<version>/build   # replace <version> with the actual version number
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./external/lib ./dsnote

# Or with verbose logging
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./external/lib ./dsnote --verbose

Pull-Merge request

  • Write your code following the Code Style Guidelines
  • Add tests if applicable
  • Update documentation if needed
  • Test your changes thoroughly
  • If you don't change translations, don't update translation files (*.ts)

Code Style Guidelines

C++ Code Style

Speech Note uses .clang-format for C++ code formatting (based on Google style).

  • Format your code before committing:

    clang-format -i src/your_file.cpp

  • Follow existing code patterns in the project

  • Use descriptive variable and function names

  • Add comments for complex logic

  • Prefer RAII and modern C++ features

  • If you're using Qt, ensure the file you're editing is not a 'Qt-less' file - this applies to most engine files

  • The source code must be compatible with both Qt5 and Qt6. If you use Qt6-specific APIs, also provide a Qt5 implementation wrapped in #ifdef directives.

Testing

Running Tests

Speech Note includes unit tests in the tests/ directory:

# Ensure Qt6 tools are in PATH
export PATH="/usr/lib/qt6/bin:$PATH"

# Configure build with tests enabled
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ../ -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DWITH_TESTS=ON -DWITH_DESKTOP=ON -DBUILD_CATCH2=OFF

# Build the project
make tests

# Run tests
./tests

Note: We use -DBUILD_CATCH2=OFF to use the system-installed Catch2 package instead of downloading it.

Translation

Speech Note supports multiple languages. Translation is done via Qt's translation system.

Via Transifex (Recommended)

The preferred way to contribute translations is through Transifex:

  1. Create a Transifex account
  2. Join the Speech Note project
  3. Select your language (or request a new one)
  4. Translate strings in the web interface

Direct Translation

If you prefer to work directly with .ts files:

  1. Translation files are in translations/ directory

  2. File format: dsnote-{language_code}.ts (e.g., dsnote-fr.ts)

  3. Use Qt Linguist to edit .ts files:

    linguist translations/dsnote-fr.ts

  4. Submit a PR/MR with your updated .ts file

Adding a New Language

  1. Copy an existing .ts file or generate a new one
  2. Translate all strings
  3. Update the build configuration if needed
  4. Submit a PR/MR

Getting Help

Questions and Discussions

License

By contributing to Speech Note, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the Mozilla Public License Version 2.0.

Thank you for contributing to Speech Note! Your help makes this project better for everyone. 🎉