Dictation key: Right Option starts on press again

[r3dbars]

Requested by Justin · project thread

Why

Before: on main and in the 1.1.70 draft, the default dictation key is Right Option on Hold or tap. That registers it as Push to Talk. Option-M (meetings) also uses Option, so every Right Option press went through the 0.14 s chord delay (modifierChordDelay, DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter) before dictation started. In 1.1.69, Right Option was the hands-free key and started on press (#1858). So each hold now starts about 0.14 s later. start_latency_ms doesn't show it, because its clock starts at startDictation, after the delay.

After: a Push to Talk key on a shared modifier starts on press. If a key was typed in the last second, or the press would stop a take, it still waits out the chord delay. A key that goes down inside the 0.14 s window after the press (Option-M, Right Option+E) is a combo: the detector sends .comboInterrupted and the start is dropped through abandonDictationStartForModifierCombo, the same path hands-free uses. A key later in the hold is just typing during the hold, the same as on main, and never drops the take.

Product Impact

• Affects: dictation
• Lane: dictation reliability
• Why this matters: every hold of the default key starts about 0.14 s sooner. This undoes the start-speed regression that the one-key change brought into 1.1.70. Justin approved it for 1.1.70 in the project thread.

What changed

• PhysicalShortcutMatcher.swift: new PushToTalkModifierComboWindow. It wraps HandsFreeModifierComboTracker, but a keyDown counts as a combo only inside the window.
• ContextCaptureEngine.swift:
  • The Push to Talk flagsChanged press on a shared modifier uses firesSharedModifierOnPress and fires on press.
  • It arms the window, and a combo inside the window clears the active Push to Talk key and sends (.dictationPushToTalk, .comboInterrupted).
  • The window's flagsChanged only ends tracking. It never consumes the release, so the normal release and tap logic still run.
  • It's reset wherever the hands-free tracker is.
• ContextCaptureEngine+DictationKeys.swift:
  • The Push to Talk press records the session it started.
  • handlePhysicalDictationPushToTalkComboInterrupted drops that session, or the queued start if the press only queued one.
  • The hands-free press and combo handlers moved here unchanged, so ContextCaptureEngine.swift stays at its 842-line baseline. shouldAcceptHotkeyAction went from file-private to internal for that move.
• Tests/PhysicalShortcutMatcherTests.swift: a combo inside the window, a key late in a hold (it must not drop the take), a key after release, and a key after a tap reset.
• Sources/Capture/AGENTS.md: docs and the manual-check line.

Known and documented: on a built-in or wired mic, the start click plays on key press. So Right Option+M or Right Option+E after a 1 s pause clicks and briefly shows the island before the start is dropped. 1.1.69's Right Option hands-free key did the same.

How I checked it

• scripts/dev/agent-preflight.sh
• bash scripts/dev/linux-checks.sh (runs without Swift): 65 passed, 0 failed
• Selected checks from .agents/test-matrix.yml for the files changed (CI checks: green on 4d0461d)
• bash build.sh --no-open (CI app-build: green on 4d0461d)
• bash run-tests.sh (CI build-and-test: green on 4d0461d)
• Performance budget passed
• bash run-integration-smoke.sh (not touched)
• swift test (CI spm-tests: green on 4d0461d)
• bash run-e2e-smoke.sh
• Manual check: see below (goes on the 1.1.70 Mac test list)

Checks I could not run, and why:

• Nothing compiled locally. This is a Linux cloud session with no Swift toolchain, so CI is the build.

Mac or hardware test still needed? Yes, on the default key (Right Option, Hold or tap):

1. Hold Right Option, say a sentence, release. It pastes, and the start click comes on press. On main it comes about 0.14 s after the press.
2. Hold Right Option, talk, press an arrow or Esc mid-hold, keep talking, release. It still pastes.
3. Tap Right Option quickly. It keeps listening, and the next press stops and pastes (unchanged).
4. Press Right Option+M quickly. The meeting starts and no dictation is left running.
5. Type a word, then within a second press Right Option+E. You get é and no dictation.

Risk Review

• Privacy / local-first behavior reviewed (no new data)
• No new analytics properties or Sentry tags
• check-source-pins.py --changed-only: PASS
• No storage impact
• No user-facing copy change
• Release/update impact: fixes a regression in the unpublished 1.1.70; Justin approved it for 1.1.70
• Independent deep review of the full diff: the first review found the whole-hold combo bug (fixed in 2a34745); re-review on the fixed head: READY
• No UI change
• No private data

Notes

Found during the dictation speed pass (/mnt/project-files/speed/2026-10-05/dictation.md). Review verdicts: /mnt/project-files/reviews/next-release/2014.md.

Agent handoff

COORD_DONE: GREEN | this PR | Right Option push-to-talk fires on press, combo only inside 0.14 s | none | none (approved for 1.1.70) | linux-checks, CI green on 4d0461d, deep review READY | lanes used: Codex=n/a (cloud session); Claude=n/a (cloud session); Local=n/a; Windows=n/a | Mac steps 1-5 in the 1.1.70 test

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