# mp3Transriber

`mp3Transriber` is a desktop app for managing MP3 recordings from a pocket recorder, viewing their metadata, and generating transcriptions.

The project is being designed with **privacy first** in mind:

- **Local transcription is the default**
- **MP3 files and transcripts stay on the user's machine by default**
- **Cloud AI providers may be supported later as an explicit opt-in choice**

## Goals

- Import and manage MP3 recordings from a handheld or pocket recorder
- Read and display MP3 metadata
- Transcribe recordings to text
- Store transcripts inside the app
- Use a local `SQLite` database
- Run on **Linux** and **macOS**
- Be easy to start and use after download

## Planned Product Direction

The current plan is to build this as a **Tauri** desktop application with a small web UI and a Rust backend.

Core design points:

- Desktop-first app for Linux and macOS
- Local file import and local storage
- Local transcription engine by default
- Optional cloud provider support only when the user enables it

## Privacy Model

Privacy is a core requirement for this project because recordings may contain confidential information.

### Default behavior

By default, the app will:

- keep recordings on the local machine
- transcribe audio locally
- store transcript text locally in SQLite
- avoid sending audio or transcript text to the internet

### Optional cloud mode

The app may later support cloud transcription providers, but only under these conditions:

- cloud mode is **off by default**
- the user must explicitly enable it
- the user must configure their own provider credentials
- the UI must clearly warn that audio and transcript data may leave the machine

## Planned Tech Stack

This is the current working stack proposal:

- **Desktop shell:** Tauri
- **Frontend:** React + TypeScript
- **Backend orchestration:** Rust
- **Database:** SQLite
- **Metadata extraction:** local MP3 tag reader library
- **Local transcription:** `whisper.cpp` or another fully local ASR engine
- **Audio conversion:** `ffmpeg` when needed for transcription preprocessing

## Expected Features

### Recording management

- Import MP3 files from disk
- Keep a list of recordings inside the app
- Prevent duplicate imports where practical

### Metadata viewer

- Show common MP3 metadata fields such as:
  - title
  - artist
  - album
  - date
  - duration
  - bitrate
  - file name and path

### Transcription

- Start transcription from the app UI
- Save the resulting text to the local database
- Re-open saved transcripts later
- Support local-only transcription as the primary mode

## Project Status

This repository is currently in the planning and scaffolding stage.

What exists so far:

- initial project notes in `todo.txt`
- an implementation plan for a privacy-focused desktop app

What is expected next:

- scaffold the Tauri app
- define the SQLite schema
- implement MP3 import and metadata extraction
- integrate local transcription
- add a basic user interface

## Non-Goals for the First Version

To keep the first version focused, these are likely out of scope initially:

- real-time live microphone dictation
- syncing files across devices
- automatic cloud backup
- multi-user collaboration

## Development Notes

The first implementation will prioritize:

1. local-first behavior
2. simple setup on Linux and macOS
3. a clear and minimal UI
4. auditable privacy behavior

## License

License not chosen yet.