Configuration lives at ~/.config/rekody/config.toml, created by the setup wizard and kept at mode 0600.
rekody config # interactive settings TUI
rekody config edit # open config.toml in $EDITOR
rekody config path # print the config file location
rekody setup # re-run the full wizard
rekody starts.
Core keys
| Key | Values | Default | What it does |
|---|
activation_mode | "both", "push_to_talk", "toggle" | "both" | How the hotkey starts and stops recording. both means hold for push-to-talk and quick-tap for a hands-free latch. Unrecognized values fall back to both. |
trigger_key | "option_space", "fn_key" | "option_space" | Which key triggers dictation. fn_key requires System Settings, Keyboard, “Press globe key to” set to “Do Nothing”. |
stt_engine | "nemotron", "local", "groq", "deepgram", "cohere" | "local" when the key is absent | Speech-to-text backend. The setup wizard preselects nemotron (Rekody Streaming). See Engines. |
whisper_model | "tiny", "small", "medium", "turbo", "large" | "turbo" | Local Whisper model size. Only used when stt_engine = "local". |
stt_language | BCP-47 code, e.g. "en" | unset (auto-detect) | Transcription language hint. Setting it slightly improves accuracy and speed when the language is known in advance. |
injection_method | "clipboard", "native" | "clipboard" | How text is inserted: clipboard paste works everywhere; native sends keystrokes via CGEvent. |
vad_threshold | float, roughly 0.005 to 0.05 | 0.01 | RMS energy gate for voice activity detection. Lower is more sensitive. |
record_all_audio | true, false | false | Bypass VAD and capture every frame from press to release. Useful for low-energy input. |
max_recording_secs | integer seconds, 0 = unlimited | 600 | Deadman switch: the longest a single recording can run. |
llm_enabled | true, false, or omit | omitted (auto) | LLM post-processing. Auto means on for every engine except Deepgram, whose smart_format already produces clean output. |
save_training_data | true, false | true | Save each dictation’s audio (FLAC) and transcript to ~/.local/share/rekody/training-data/ as a personal fine-tuning dataset. Local only. |
hud | true, false, or omit | omitted (auto) | The floating pill. Auto shows it when the rekody-hud helper binary is found next to the daemon (or at $REKODY_HUD_BIN); false never shows it. |
Engine-specific keys
| Key | Default | What it does |
|---|
deepgram_api_key | unset | Required when stt_engine = "deepgram". Prefer the Keychain (below) over writing keys here. |
cohere_stt_port | 8099 | Port of the local Cohere STT server, when stt_engine = "cohere". |
LLM providers
Providers are tried in order; the first success wins, and failover is automatic. Local providers (ollama, lm-studio, vllm) need no API key.
[[providers]]
name = "groq"
api_key = "gsk_..."
model = "openai/gpt-oss-20b"
[[providers]]
name = "ollama" # local fallback, no key needed
model = "llama3.2:3b"
[[providers]] entry takes:
| Field | Required | What it does |
|---|
name | yes | One of apple, groq, cerebras, together, openrouter, fireworks, openai, anthropic, gemini, ollama, lm-studio, vllm, or custom. |
model | yes | Model identifier for that provider. |
api_key | for cloud providers | Leave empty for local providers. |
base_url | only for custom | Any OpenAI-compatible chat completions endpoint. Presets fill this in for named providers. |
Older configs may contain top-level llm_provider, groq_api_key, and cerebras_api_key keys. They still load and are migrated into the providers array at startup; use [[providers]] for anything new.
API keys and the Keychain
Keys belong in the macOS Keychain, not in the config file:
rekody key set deepgram # securely prompt and save
rekody key set groq
rekody key list # show which keys are stored
rekody key delete groq
com.rekody.voice. Agents can write one non-interactively:
security add-generic-password -s "com.rekody.voice" -a "deepgram" -w "YOUR_KEY" -U
A complete example
activation_mode = "both"
trigger_key = "option_space"
stt_engine = "nemotron"
injection_method = "clipboard"
vad_threshold = 0.01
max_recording_secs = 600
save_training_data = true
[[providers]]
name = "apple" # on-device cleanup, macOS 26+ with Apple Intelligence
model = "on-device" # fixed; the wizard writes this value
[[providers]]
name = "ollama"
model = "llama3.2:3b"
If this page ever drifts from the code, the config struct in crates/rekody-core/src/lib.rs is the source of truth.
