# Voxtype dictation not working on Omarchy
F9 and Super + Ctrl + X do nothing, Voxtype crashes, or the model never loads. The install check, the CPU baseline, the GPU symlink, and the mic.
> **Short answer:** Run `command -v voxtype` first. If it is missing, install from the Omarchy menu under Install > AI > Dictation. If it is present but the keys do nothing, run `voxtype setup check` and `systemctl --user status voxtype`. The three common faults on Omarchy 4 are a CPU without AVX2 (SIGILL), a GPU backend that never got enabled because the installer omits sudo, and the input group being dropped by a 4.0.2 migration.
- Applies to Omarchy: 3.x and later
- Status: workaround
- Last verified: 2026-09-16
- Canonical: https://omarchylinux.org/fix/dictation-voxtype-not-working/
_Unofficial community page. Not affiliated with 37signals or the Omacom Foundation. Omarchy is a registered trademark of 37signals LLC._

Dictation on Omarchy is [Voxtype](https://voxtype.io/), installed on demand rather than shipped with the system. "Dictation is not working" turns out to be five separate faults with the same symptom, so work through them in order. Everything below was checked against the v4.0.4 source tree and against v3.8.4 for the 3.8 differences.

## The fix

**1. Confirm Voxtype is actually installed.**

```bash
command -v voxtype
```

If that prints nothing, the keys were never bound. Omarchy 4 defines its dictation bindings in `default/hypr/bindings/voxtype.lua` inside a `o.cmd_present("voxtype")` guard, so with no binary there is no `F9` and no `Super + Ctrl + X`. Install it from the Omarchy menu under **Install > AI > Dictation**, or run `omarchy voxtype install`. On 3.8.x the same bindings lived in `default/hypr/bindings/utilities.conf` and were unconditional, so there the keys existed but did nothing.

**2. Check your CPU before you install anything.**

```bash
grep -o avx2 /proc/cpuinfo | head -1
```

If that prints nothing, stop. The packaged `voxtype-bin` ships only AVX2 and AVX-512 builds (true of both 0.7.5 and 1.0.1), and `/usr/bin/voxtype` points at the AVX2 one, so it aborts with `FATAL: Illegal CPU instruction (SIGILL)` on every run. The installer does not check, so you end up with a package that can never work. This is reported in issue #7883 and issue #8312, both still open on 4.0.4. PR #7890 would add a pre-flight refusal but has not merged.

**3. If the install "succeeded" but transcription is glacial, fix the GPU symlink.**

```bash
ls -la /usr/bin/voxtype
sudo voxtype setup gpu --enable
systemctl --user restart voxtype
```

The installer calls `voxtype setup gpu --enable` as your user, and an unprivileged process cannot rewrite the root-owned symlink. A trailing `|| true` hides the error, so the install still reports success and still shows the "Voxtype Dictation Ready" notification. Reported in issue #7099 and issue #11110; PR #7129 is open.

**4. If Voxtype crash-loops instead, disable the GPU backend.**

```bash
sudo voxtype setup gpu --disable
systemctl --user restart voxtype
```

Omarchy enables Vulkan whenever any ICD file exists, which is not the same as the device being usable. On Haswell-era Intel graphics using the `hasvk` driver, ggml refuses the device at model load, the daemon aborts, and systemd restarts it every five seconds. Issue #11370 reports roughly 127,000 core dumps from this loop.

**5. If you use Voxtype's own hotkey rather than the Hyprland bindings, rejoin the input group.**

```bash
voxtype setup check
sudo usermod -aG input $USER
```

Log out and back in afterwards. Migration `1787865477.sh` in 4.0.2 removes the blanket `input` group grant, keeping it only for xpadneo or ydotool users. Voxtype's own hotkey listener opens `/dev/input/event*` itself rather than going through Hyprland, so once the group is gone it logs `No keyboard device found in /dev/input/` while otherwise looking healthy. Found by kurenn in issue #12013. The stock Omarchy setup is unaffected, because the shipped config has `[hotkey] enabled = false` and the compositor bindings do not need the group.

**6. Check the microphone and the model.**

```bash
pactl list sources short
systemctl --user status voxtype
journalctl --user -u voxtype -n 50
```

Voxtype's `[audio] device` defaults to `default`, so it follows your system input. If the wrong source is picked up, set the device name from `pactl list sources short` in `~/.config/voxtype/config.toml`. Model problems show up in the journal at load time; re-run `voxtype setup model` or `omarchy voxtype model` to re-download.

## Verify it worked

Open a text editor, hold `F9`, say a sentence, release. The text should land at the cursor. The mic glyph in the bar lights up as active while recording, then changes to an hourglass while transcribing.

Two things that are not proof of failure. Clicking the Dictation indicator opens the Voxtype config rather than toggling dictation. That is what `shell/plugins/bar/indicators/Dictation.qml` does on 4.0.4, and the shell test fixture asserts it, even though the manual's top bar chapter says clicking an indicator toggles that mode. Issue #7900 is open on the mismatch. And if Voxtype is not installed, clicking the same glyph opens a terminal that prints `voxtype: command not found` instead of offering to install, per issue #6823.

For the GPU case, `ls -la /usr/bin/voxtype` should now point at `voxtype-vulkan`, and the journal should show a Vulkan device at model load.

## Why it happens

Omarchy treats dictation as an optional add-on wired together by one short script. `omarchy-voxtype-install` adds `wtype` and `voxtype-bin`, copies the packaged `config.toml` into `~/.config/voxtype/`, downloads a model, optionally enables the GPU, and registers the systemd user service. Almost every failure above is a missing guard in that sequence rather than a bug in Voxtype itself.

The installer never checks the CPU baseline, never checks the architecture, and never checks whether the Vulkan device can run ggml. It also runs the one step that needs root without root. That step ends in `|| true` and the other checks simply are not there, so the script finishes cleanly and the notification claims dictation is ready.

The menu and the installer key off the package name `voxtype-bin` while the keybindings key off the `voxtype` command. On Apple Silicon `voxtype-bin` is `arch=('x86_64')` and cannot install at all, so the first-run invitation notification pushes users toward a flow that always fails. Issue #8530 covers the Apple Silicon dead end and issue #11749 covers the package-versus-command mismatch, including the case where an AUR-built `voxtype` works but Omarchy still reports dictation as not installed.

## If that did not work

**Keys fire while text is being typed.** Releasing `Super` last after `Super + Ctrl + X` makes the transcription arrive as a burst of modifier combinations. Issue #4159 collects workarounds using a Hyprland submap that swallows modifiers during output; Voxtype's maintainer said there that pre- and post-output hooks were his planned upstream answer. The simplest avoidance is to dictate with bare `F9`.

**F9 collides with your editor.** It is bound by default once Voxtype is installed. Add `hl.unbind("F9")` to your Lua config on 4.x, or `unbind = , F9` on 3.x, as r3quie noted in issue #5882.

**Media does not pause.** On `voxtype-bin` 0.7.5 the `pause_media` default shells out to `playerctl`, which Quattro removed and the installer never adds. Issues #7135 and #9243 both record `playerctl not found or failed to run` in the journal. Voxtype's maintainer says 1.0.0 switched to a D-Bus call and recommends upgrading the package over reinstalling `playerctl`.

**CJK text arrives corrupted.** Switch `[output] mode` away from `type` in `~/.config/voxtype/config.toml`; the reporter used `paste`. Issue #10050 traces this to how `wtype` assigns characters to temporary keycodes, which some clients read as physical keys.

**Pre-AVX2 hardware.** There is no packaged path on 4.0.4. Voxtype's maintainer said on issue #8312 that pre-AVX2 binaries would start with 1.0.1, but the 1.0.1 release notes list only AVX2 and AVX-512 builds, and his later comment on issue #7883 says they are still in testing.

## Related

- Manual chapter: [Text Extraction and Dictation](https://omarchy.org/manual/text-extraction-dictation/)
- [Custom keybindings lost after Quattro](/fix/custom-keybindings-lost-after-quattro/)
- [Quickshell crashes or bar missing](/fix/quickshell-crashes-or-bar-missing/)
- [Audio hardware notes](/hardware/audio/)
- [Apple Silicon Macs](/hardware/apple-silicon-macs/)

## Sources

- [Issue #7883: Dictation installer offers AVX2-only Voxtype on CPUs without AVX2](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/7883)
- [Issue #8312: Dictation (Voxtype) leaves broken install on CPUs without AVX2 instead of failing gracefully](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/8312)
- [Issue #11110: voxtype install silently leaves the CPU backend: 'voxtype setup gpu --enable' runs without sudo](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/11110)
- [Issue #7099: Voxtype does not symlink to voxtype-vulkan on Vulkan enabled system](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/7099)
- [Issue #11370: Voxtype install enables Vulkan on Haswell (hasvk) GPUs, causing an endless SIGABRT crash loop](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/11370)
- [Issue #12013: Migration 1787865477 drops the input group, silently breaking Voxtype's evdev hotkey](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/12013)
- [Issue #9243: Voxtype pause_media silently fails: playerctl not installed by omarchy-voxtype-install](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/9243)
- [Issue #7135: Quattro removes playerctl while default Voxtype config requires it](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/7135)
- [Issue #8530: Dictation installer offers x86-only voxtype-bin on Apple Silicon, making Voxtype uninstallable](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/8530)
- [Issue #11749: Dictation installer and menu check for voxtype-bin instead of the voxtype command](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/11749)
- [Issue #5882: F9 should not be bound to Voxtype dictation by default. Bare function keys must not be rebound.](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/5882)
- [Issue #4159: Voxtype keybinding sequence](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/4159)
- [Issue #7900: Dictation indicator opens the config instead of toggling dictation, unlike every other indicator](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/7900)
- [Issue #6823: Dictation bar icon errors when voxtype isn't installed (missing guard in click handler)](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/6823)
- [Issue #10050: Default Voxtype type mode can corrupt longer Japanese/CJK dictation through wtype](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/issues/10050)
- [PR #7129: Fix Voxtype GPU setup failing silently](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/pull/7129)
- [PR #7890: Reject Voxtype on CPUs without AVX2](https://github.com/omacom/omarchy/pull/7890)
- [Omarchy manual: Text Extraction and Dictation](https://omarchy.org/manual/text-extraction-dictation/)