transcribe-cli

transcribe-cli is a native Rust transcription tool built around ONNX Runtime.

Crate:

• crates.io: transcribe-cli
• repository: https://github.com/qwertyu1opz/transcribe-cli

Current backends:

• ru -> GigaAM v3 e2e CTC
• en -> Parakeet TDT v2

It supports:

• local audio and video files
• http/https media URLs
• chunked transcript output with --stream
• live URL transcription with --live
• optional lightweight VAD for live mode with --vad
• REST server mode with --server
• CPU and NVIDIA GPU execution

REST documentation:

• REST_API.md

Requirements

• Rust 1.85+
• Linux is the primary target
• no external ffmpeg dependency is required

For GPU runs:

• install with --features cuda
• NVIDIA driver must be available
• the project downloads the required ONNX Runtime CUDA libraries into its sandbox automatically

Install

From crates.io:

cargo install transcribe-cli --locked

With GPU support from crates.io:

cargo install transcribe-cli --locked --features cuda

From a local checkout:

cargo install --path . --locked

With GPU support:

cargo install --path . --locked --features cuda

First run

Models and runtime files are stored in a sandbox next to the installed binary:

<binary_dir>/transcribe_sandbox/

This sandbox is used for:

• downloaded models
• ONNX Runtime shared libraries

If needed, you can override only the model storage directory:

transcribe-cli --models-dir /path/to/models file.wav

Basic usage

Russian transcription:

transcribe-cli /path/to/file.wav
transcribe-cli --language ru /path/to/file.mp3

English transcription:

transcribe-cli --language en /path/to/file.wav

Video input:

transcribe-cli movie.mp4

Remote media URL:

transcribe-cli https://example.com/audio.mp3

Use GPU:

transcribe-cli --gpu /path/to/file.wav
transcribe-cli --gpu --gpu-device 0 /path/to/file.wav

Override compute type:

transcribe-cli --compute-type int8 /path/to/file.wav
transcribe-cli --compute-type float32 --gpu /path/to/file.wav

Stream transcript while decoding:

transcribe-cli --stream /path/to/file.wav
transcribe-cli --language en --stream song.mp3

Live URL transcription:

transcribe-cli --live http://127.0.0.1:8765/stream
transcribe-cli --live --gpu --language ru http://127.0.0.1:8765/stream

Live URL transcription with VAD:

transcribe-cli --live --vad http://127.0.0.1:8765/stream

Start REST server:

transcribe-cli --server 8787

Main arguments

• MEDIA Path or URL to an audio or video source.
• --language <ru|en> Selects the backend.
• --gpu Enables NVIDIA GPU execution.
• --gpu-device <N> Selects CUDA device index.
• --compute-type <auto|int8|float32> Overrides compute mode.
• --stream Prints transcript chunk-by-chunk during normal file/URL transcription.
• --live Treats MEDIA as a live http/https stream.
• --vad Enables lightweight speech segmentation for --live.
• --server <PORT> Starts the REST API instead of a one-shot CLI transcription.
• --models-dir <DIR> Overrides the model directory.
• --remove-model Removes the selected model and its related artifacts.
• --remove-all Removes the whole model directory.

Cleanup

Remove the current language-selected model:

transcribe-cli --language ru --remove-model
transcribe-cli --language en --remove-model

Remove all downloaded models:

transcribe-cli --remove-all

Notes

• ru and en are the only supported language values right now.
• --live supports direct http/https streams, not playlist protocols such as HLS/DASH.
• --vad is currently valid only together with --live.
• Audio/video decoding is done inside the Rust pipeline through symphonia.
• The REST API is documented separately in REST_API.md.