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Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

0.5.0 (2026-03-04)

Added

  • Undo Last Dictation (TF-258): dictation.undo command (Cmd+Z context-aware) reverts the last dictation insertion. Works in both editor (via document edit reversal) and terminal (via backspace sequence). Single-level undo with automatic expiry after new edits.
  • Dictation History with Full-Text Search (TF-264): Persistent dictation history stored via globalState. Browse recent dictations via Quick Pick (dictation.showHistory), search across raw transcript and cleaned text (dictation.searchHistory). Actions: insert at cursor, copy to clipboard, show details. Configurable max entries (verba.history.maxEntries, default 500). Privacy: history stays local, never sent to APIs.
  • Continuous Dictation with Deepgram Streaming (TF-260): Longer dictation sessions using Deepgram Nova-3 WebSocket streaming. ffmpeg captures microphone audio (raw PCM to stdout), piped directly to Deepgram's real-time transcription API. Deepgram's built-in VAD handles pause detection and utterance segmentation. Each completed utterance goes through Claude cleanup, then insertion. New command dictation.startContinuous (Cmd+Shift+Alt+D). Per-utterance undo and history records.
  • Multi-Language Auto-Detection (TF-261): Deepgram language: 'multi' enables automatic language detection for both single-shot and continuous transcription. Detected language is passed through to Claude post-processing for language-appropriate cleanup. Manual override via verba.language setting.
  • Retry Logic for API Overload (TF-273): Exponential backoff with up to 3 retries when Claude API returns HTTP 529 (overloaded). Backoff delays: 2s, 4s, 8s. Prevents dictation loss during transient API capacity issues.

Changed

  • Deepgram Consolidation (TF-272): Replaced OpenAI Whisper API with Deepgram Nova-3 pre-recorded API for single-shot dictation. Both single-shot and continuous now use Deepgram (shared API key). openai npm package retained for embeddings only. Cost reduced from $0.006/min (Whisper) to $0.0043/min (Deepgram Nova-3).
  • Deepgram keyterm token limit reduced to prevent request failures with large glossaries
  • Language configuration passed through from transcription service to Deepgram API

Fixed

  • API key deletion now checks for HTTP 401/403 status codes instead of deleting on any transcription error
  • Undo records cleared correctly after new editor edits to prevent stale undo operations
  • History persistence errors handled gracefully without disrupting the dictation pipeline
  • Resource leak fixed when continuous recorder fails to start (status bar listener now disposed)
  • Unreachable auth-detection code removed from continuous segment error handler
  • Duplicate historyManager import statements removed

[0.4.0] - 2026-03-02

Added

  • API Key Management: dictation.manageApiKeys command to view (masked), update, or delete stored OpenAI and Anthropic API keys via the Command Palette.
  • LLM Cost Tracking & Overview (TF-270): dictation.showCostOverview command opens a WebView panel showing per-model API usage costs. Tracks Whisper transcription (by audio duration), Claude processing (by input/output tokens), and OpenAI Embeddings (by prompt tokens). Costs displayed per session and accumulated across all sessions, grouped by provider (OpenAI / Anthropic) in a card layout with VS Code theme support. Total costs reset automatically on the 1st of each month; older records are retained in storage.
  • Adaptive Personal Dictionary (TF-263): dictation.generateGlossary command scans workspace for project-specific terms (package names, class/interface/function names, README/CLAUDE.md headings and bold terms). Users review suggestions via Multi-Select Quick Pick before merging into .verba-glossary.json. Supports TypeScript, Java, and Python projects.
  • Multi-Cursor / Selection-aware Dictation (TF-265): Dictation now respects editor selections and multi-cursors. When text is selected, the dictated output replaces the selection; with multi-cursors, text is inserted at all cursor positions simultaneously. Selected text is passed as context to Claude post-processing via <selection> tags. New "Transform Selection" default template for voice-driven text transformation (e.g. translate, refactor, explain).
  • Text Expansion / Abbreviations (TF-262): User-defined abbreviations that are automatically expanded during post-processing. Configure via verba.expansions setting (e.g. "mfg" → "Mit freundlichen Grüssen") or workspace-specific .verba-expansions.json. Global and workspace expansions are merged, with workspace entries taking precedence for the same abbreviation.
  • File-Type-Aware Templates (TF-259): Templates can now define a fileTypes array with VS Code language IDs (e.g. ["java", "kotlin"]). When verba.autoSelectTemplate is enabled (default), the template matching the active editor's file type is automatically selected. Falls back to the last manually chosen template when no match is found. Built-in defaults: JavaDoc → java/kotlin, Markdown → markdown.

Changed

  • Release automation migrated from manual workflow to release-please for automatic versioning, changelog generation, and GitHub Releases

[0.3.0] - 2026-02-26

Added

  • Offline Transcription (TF-257): Local transcription via whisper.cpp CLI as an alternative to OpenAI Whisper API. Audio never leaves the machine. Strategy pattern on TranscriptionService with setProvider('openai'|'local').
  • Model Download: GGML models from Hugging Face via dictation.downloadModel command with progress indicator and cancellation support. Model selection: tiny, base, small, medium, large.
  • Provider Display in Status Bar: Tooltip shows active provider (OpenAI Whisper / Local whisper.cpp), transcribing state displays provider explicitly.
  • Streaming Post-Processing: Claude responses are received via streaming with real-time progress display in the status bar (e.g. "Processing... 182 chars"). Dictation can be cancelled during processing by pressing the shortcut again.
  • Course Correction: Self-corrections in dictation are automatically detected and removed (e.g. "no wait, actually Friday" → "Friday"). Active in all modes (freeform and templates).
  • Voice Commands: Spoken formatting commands are recognized and applied (e.g. "New paragraph", "Period", "Bullet point"). Works language-independently in all modes.
  • Glossary/Dictionary: Terms (product names, technical terms, abbreviations) are preserved exactly during transcription and cleanup. Global terms via verba.glossary setting, project-specific via .verba-glossary.json.
  • JSDoc Documentation: All public APIs across 13 source files documented.

Fixed

  • SIGKILL escalation for hanging whisper-cli processes
  • Provider validation with fallback for invalid settings
  • Minimum file size check after model download

Changed

  • Marketplace homepage link updated to talent-factory.xyz
  • Marketplace category changed from Other to Snippets

[0.2.0] - 2026-02-24

Added

  • Configurable Prompt Templates (TF-248): 5 default templates (Freeform, Commit Message, JavaDoc, Markdown, Email) with full customization via verba.templates setting
  • Context-Aware Dictation with semantic code search via grepai or OpenAI Embeddings
  • 3 context-aware templates: Code Comment, Explain Code, Claude Code Prompt
  • dictation.indexProject command to build a local embeddings index for context search
  • verba.contextSearch.provider setting (auto, grepai, openai) and verba.contextSearch.maxResults setting
  • GitHub Actions changelog preview workflow: posts a categorized changelog preview as a PR comment when opening PRs to main
  • Template Quick-Pick selection menu integrated into dictation workflow
  • Template auto-reuse: last used template is automatically reused, Quick Pick only on first use
  • dictation.selectTemplate command (Cmd+Alt+T / Ctrl+Alt+T) to change template without starting a recording
  • Status bar shows active template name in idle state
  • Pipeline context architecture for dynamic system prompt passing to Claude
  • Cross-Platform Audio Device Selection: macOS (AVFoundation), Linux (PulseAudio), Windows (DirectShow)
  • dictation.selectAudioDevice command for microphone selection on any platform
  • verba.audioDevice setting for manual microphone configuration
  • Windows-specific ffmpeg search paths (Chocolatey, Scoop, WinGet, Program Files)
  • PowerShell fallback (Win32_SoundDevice) when ffmpeg finds no Windows audio devices
  • Marketplace Publishing: extension icon (SVG/PNG), screenshots, workflow GIF
  • Open-source governance files: MIT License, Code of Conduct, Security Policy
  • Semantic-release configuration with emoji-aware conventional commit parsing
  • GitHub Actions release workflow for automated versioning on merge to main

Fixed

  • Template shortcut changed from Cmd+Shift+T to Cmd+Alt+T to avoid conflict with VS Code's built-in shortcut
  • CHANGELOG.md included in VSIX package for the Marketplace Changelog tab
  • Git identity configured for GitHub Actions release commits (github-actions[bot])
  • Extension bundled with esbuild to fix activation failure
  • Transcript wrapped in XML tags to prevent Claude generating conversational responses instead of clean output
  • Terminal focus detection rewritten with two separate commands and mutually exclusive when clauses
  • Template prompt wrapped with framing context for reliable output format
  • Windows audio recording: robust device detection supporting both ffmpeg v7 (section-based) and v8+ (inline (audio)) output formats
  • Audio device selection enabled for macOS and Linux (previously only Windows)
  • make dev workflow compatible with Windows/Cygwin
  • install:local npm script now works cross-platform

[0.1.1] - 2026-02-20

Added

  • Terminal dictation: dictation.startFromTerminal command inserts dictated text into the active terminal
  • verba.terminal.executeCommand setting to auto-execute dictated text as a terminal command
  • Shared keybinding Cmd+Shift+D / Ctrl+Shift+D with context-aware routing (terminal vs editor)
  • Whisper silence/hallucination detection (recordings with only dots/ellipsis are rejected)
  • Debug logging throughout the transcription and cleanup pipeline