Configuration

All Verba settings are configured in VS Code's settings.json. Two related concerns — prompt templates and the glossary/expansions vocabulary — are shared @verba/core concepts also used by the macOS app; this page covers only the VS Code–specific settings.json schema for them.

Settings Reference

Setting	Type	Default	Description
`verba.audioDevice`	String	`""`	Audio input device name. Leave empty for system default.
`verba.templates`	Array	9 built-in templates	Prompt templates for post-processing. See Templates.
`verba.autoSelectTemplate`	Boolean	`true`	Automatically select a matching template based on the active file's language (e.g. JavaDoc for `.java`).
`verba.terminal.executeCommand`	Boolean	`false`	If `true`, sends Enter after inserting text into the terminal.
`verba.glossary`	Array	`[]`	Terms preserved during transcription and cleanup (limit: ~80 terms). See Glossary & Expansions.
`verba.expansions`	Array	`[]`	Abbreviations automatically expanded during post-processing. See Glossary & Expansions.
`verba.language`	String	`"auto"`	Language for post-processing. `auto` uses Deepgram's detected language to hint Claude about the transcript's language.
`verba.transcription.provider`	String	`"deepgram"`	Transcription provider: `deepgram` (API) or `local` (whisper.cpp). See Offline Transcription.
`verba.transcription.localModel`	String	`"base"`	Whisper model for local transcription: `tiny`, `base`, `small`, `medium`, `large-v3-turbo`.
`verba.transcription.language`	String	`"multi"`	Transcription language. `multi` uses Deepgram's multilingual model; a fixed code (e.g. `de`) forces that language.
`verba.contextSearch.provider`	String	`"auto"`	Context search provider: `auto`, `grepai`, or `openai`.
`verba.contextSearch.maxResults`	Number	`5`	Number of context snippets per dictation (1-20).
`verba.history.maxEntries`	Number	`500`	Maximum number of dictation history entries to keep. See Dictation History.

Audio Device

By default, Verba uses the system default microphone. To select a specific device:

Run the command Verba: Select Audio Device — a Quick Pick dialog lists all available devices.
Or set verba.audioDevice manually in settings.json:

{
  "verba.audioDevice": "MacBook Pro Microphone"
}

Tip

On Windows, you can list available devices by running ffmpeg -list_devices true -f dshow -i dummy in a terminal.

Glossary & Expansions

verba.glossary and verba.expansions are the VS Code–side configuration for two shared vocabulary features — protecting terms so they survive transcription and cleanup untouched, and expanding short abbreviations into full text. Both are documented in full, including the .verba-glossary.json / .verba-expansions.json workspace-file schema and the dictation.generateGlossary command, on Glossary & Expansions.

{
  "verba.glossary": ["Kubernetes", "Visual Studio Code", "PostgreSQL", "gRPC"],
  "verba.expansions": [{ "abbreviation": "brb", "expansion": "be right back" }]
}

Offline Transcription

Switch verba.transcription.provider to "local" to transcribe entirely on-device via whisper.cpp — no audio leaves your machine, and there's no per-minute API cost. Currently macOS-only. See Offline Transcription for setup, model choices, and how the strategy pattern behind TranscriptionService selects the backend.

Context Search Provider

For context-aware templates, Verba needs a search provider:

Provider	Setup	Speed
`grepai`	Install grepai, run `grepai init`	Fast
`openai`	Run Verba: Index Project command	Moderate
`auto` (default)	Uses grepai if installed, otherwise OpenAI Embeddings	—

{
  "verba.contextSearch.provider": "auto",
  "verba.contextSearch.maxResults": 5
}