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baketnk--frame-yap/docs/build.md
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Build, scope and validation

This is a standalone native application, not a plugin. Default builds/tests never initialize OpenVR, open a microphone, run ASR, download files or inject input.

Implemented

  • Opt-in OpenVR RGBA overlay with world-space default and selectable wrist/head mounts, status, recording timer, paginated UTF-8 preview and explicit controls. A saved, default-off Lasers anytime setting requests system-wide laser mouse mode while FrameYap is visible; it may affect games, and is not an input override.
  • Remappable SteamVR actions. The default Steam Frame binding maps right X (hold to record, release to transcribe) to the existing PTT action using the observed frame_controller profile. Right B cancels, A inserts + space, and Y inserts pending text + Enter (or Enter only with no preview). The Bindings button requests SteamVR's remapping editor directly. Grip bindings remain, but both grip actions were inactive in the observed dashboard check; do not rely on them. If left grip becomes active, two short taps request explicit Enter. For grip gestures, first squeeze <=250 ms; second squeeze begins <=350 ms after first release. Activity/tracking loss cancels a held recording and requires neutral rearm.
  • SDL3 default recording device, mono float32 conversion at 16 kHz, 200 ms minimum, 20 second maximum. In the native app the microphone stream opens after model warm-up, stays running between utterances, and discards idle samples; PTT does not open/pause/close the device. Quit, worker restart, device failure or capture failure closes it. This avoids repeated capture-device transitions but does not promise glitch-free playback on every audio stack. Other apps may still transmit your voice: this app does not mute VRChat or any other app.
  • Persistent local Redux worker, correlated bounded pipes, private tmpfs clips, cancellation/reaping and deadlines; exact pinned model SHA-256 verification. Model imports are lazy and loading is offline. Normal repeats, request-local transcription failures and microphone failures retain the loaded model; microphone device failure releases the stream for explicit retry. A cancelled in-flight request or broken worker protocol may require reloading. No cloud/desktop fallback.
  • Gamescope IME v2 generated bindings, per-action short-lived lease, unavailable handling, UTF-8/control validation and explicit Submit action for Enter. Insert ensures a trailing space without doubling an existing one. Enter first inserts pending review, releases the text lease, then acquires a fresh lease for Submit. Failed/uncertain text never proceeds to Submit; failed Submit acquisition never replays text. A full 4096-byte transcript without room for a space is preserved with an error, never silently truncated.
  • Idempotent user-local release-archive installer: SHA-256, safe extraction, atomic current-version selection, retained rollback, runtime/install lock, foreign-file refusal and explicit unregister-before-uninstall acknowledgement.

Deliberately not claimed

Review-first by default. An opt-in Auto insert setting now watches the Xwayland active window, Gamescope focused-window property and exact keyboard focus from PTT start to IME lease acquisition. Loss/regain, disagreement, unavailable focus or a held keyboard key falls back to manual review. No automatic Enter or inferred speech commands. This focus guard has offline tests but live microphone → automatic insertion is not yet accepted on Frame; it cannot identify arbitrary native Wayland targets. There remains a race between the final focus check and global input processing. Text delivery is reported as input queued, not application consumption or message delivery. A request is consumed once even if transport completion is uncertain; no retries. Unavailable IME acquisition leaves the preview intact.

No VAD, always-listening mode, desktop transcription service, keyboard emulation fallback, streaming-PC bridge, or automatic Enter. No general undo. Grip bindings are not guaranteed globally active in every scene/dashboard state, and the app never enables SteamVR's experimental overlay overrides on your behalf.

This is a compact prototype panel, not yet the proposed polished miniature status chip. Font coverage/complex shaping, ergonomics, compositor cost, thermal/battery impact and target application compatibility require further headset work.

Inference runtime

Redux weights at fad622f25f303105c20d70e201bcc477c88b620c are CC-BY-4.0. Inference runs through the moondream Python package and its Kestrel runtime, which you install in your own environment; builds/tests never fetch it. See third-party notes.

Developer native build

Requirements: Linux, CMake/C++20, SDL3 >=3.2, Wayland client + scanner, FreeType, Vulkan headers/loader (plus the system GPU driver at runtime), and a deliberately provisioned standalone OpenVR v2.15.6 SDK. No CMake fetches.

cmake -S . -B build-native -DFRAMEYAP_NATIVE=ON \
  -DOPENVR_ROOT=/absolute/path/to/openvr
cmake --build build-native -j2
ctest --test-dir build-native --output-on-failure

On ARM64, select the SDK's lib/linuxarm64/libopenvr_api.so explicitly with -DOPENVR_LIBRARY=... if necessary. Do not use an x86 library or another application's build/runtime. Installable binary has $ORIGIN/../lib RUNPATH; producer must audit and bundle its compatible dependency closure.

The device development trial built SDL 3.2.16 under a project-owned user prefix with audio enabled and video/render/GPU/joystick/haptic/sensor/camera/tests examples disabled (SDL_UNIX_CONSOLE_BUILD=ON). No OS package modifications. That is a producer workflow, not an end-user compiler requirement.

Explicit hardware checks (not CTest)

./build-native/frameyap --check-input --socket gamescope-0
./build-native/frameyap --check-overlay --assets "$PWD/assets" --mount world
./build-native/frameyap --check-controls --assets "$PWD/assets" --mount world

The first acquires/releases an IME without text/actions. The second displays a five-second inert panel. The third displays a 30-second diagnostic panel and reports pointer actions, SteamVR grip and PTT action activity, tracking and read-only legacy grip state, without microphone or input injection. Mount clicks in check modes do not save a preference. A SteamVR error code or inactive action means the gesture cannot be accepted; raw grip reads do not authorize a fallback binding. Action handles alone are not proof that gestures were delivered. Checks must be explicitly launched while the user expects the panel. Normal CLI/help/version remain inert.

The ARM64 OpenVR loader's default /data/work/openvrpaths.vrpath failed on the observed device. FrameYap respects VR_PATHREG_OVERRIDE; when absent, it selects an existing standard $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/openvr/openvrpaths.vrpath (or ~/.config/openvr/openvrpaths.vrpath) before initializing OpenVR. No Steam files are edited and no runtime/session restart is performed.

Deliberate launch

Explicit setup downloads only the pinned, openly licensed model:

python3 scripts/fetch-model.py --destination "$HOME/.local/share/frameyap-model"

fetch-model.py is idempotent for matching hashes, rejects existing mismatched files, and is never invoked by build/tests or first utterance.

Provide your own CPU Python environment (moondream 2.4.0, kestrel 0.8.0) and local weights:

./build-native/frameyap --run --assets "$PWD/assets" --font /path/font.ttf \
  --python /path/to/runtime/bin/python3 --worker "$PWD/python/frameyap/worker.py" \
  --model "$HOME/.local/share/frameyap-model" --threads 2 --socket gamescope-0 --head

Use a disposable text destination first. --run loads the model but does not record until an explicit recording control. Click Insert only after focusing your intended text field. Quit or SIGINT/SIGTERM closes capture, invalidates delivery and terminates only the owned worker. Installer upgrades refuse an active app.

The worker API is intentionally small: a fork can replace the worker implementation or add its own model/API integration without changing overlay and delivery code. The default product remains local-only Redux; extending a fork does not authorize sending existing users' audio to a service.

Benchmarks

scripts/benchmark-worker.py accepts a supplied nonprivate PCM16/16 kHz/mono WAV; no recording, device input or automatic download. --show-text is a separate explicit disclosure of that fixture's transcript. Use only with an authorized runtime. Benchmark numbers from earlier trials are not headset/performance acceptance.