Local Speech-to-Text Setup

Run speech-to-text locally for free, private audio/video transcription using OpenAI-compatible STT servers.

Why Local STT?

Quick Start with Speaches

Speaches is an open-source, OpenAI-compatible server that supports both TTS and STT. It uses faster-whisper for transcription.

💡 Ready-made Docker Compose files available:

• docker-compose-speaches.yml - Speaches + Open Notebook
• docker-compose-full-local.yml - Speaches + Ollama (100% local setup)

These include complete setup instructions and configuration examples. Just copy and run!

Step 1: Create Docker Compose File

Create a folder and add docker-compose.yml:

services:
  speaches:
    image: ghcr.io/speaches-ai/speaches:latest-cpu
    container_name: speaches
    ports:
      - "8969:8000"
    volumes:
      - hf-hub-cache:/home/ubuntu/.cache/huggingface/hub
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  hf-hub-cache:

Step 2: Start and Download Model

# Start Speaches
docker compose up -d

# Wait for startup
sleep 10

# Download Whisper model (~500MB for small)
docker compose exec speaches uv tool run speaches-cli model download Systran/faster-whisper-small

Models can also be downloaded automatically on first use, but pre-downloading avoids delays.

Step 3: Test

# Create a test audio file (or use your own)
# Then transcribe it:
curl "http://localhost:8969/v1/audio/transcriptions" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "model=Systran/faster-whisper-small"

You should see the transcribed text in the response.

Step 4: Configure Open Notebook

Via Settings UI (Recommended):

1. Go to Settings → API Keys
2. Click Add Credential → Select OpenAI-Compatible
3. Enter base URL for STT: http://host.docker.internal:8969/v1 (Docker) or http://localhost:8969/v1 (local)
4. Click Save, then Test Connection

Legacy (Deprecated) — Environment variables:

# In your Open Notebook docker-compose.yml
environment:
  - OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL_STT=http://host.docker.internal:8969/v1

# Local development
export OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL_STT=http://localhost:8969/v1

Step 5: Add Model in Open Notebook

1. Go to Settings → Models
2. Click Add Model in Speech-to-Text section
3. Configure:
   • Provider: openai_compatible
   • Model Name: Systran/faster-whisper-small
   • Display Name: Local Whisper
4. Click Save
5. Set as default if desired

Available Models

Speaches supports various Whisper model sizes. Larger models are more accurate but slower:

List Available Models

docker compose exec speaches uv tool run speaches-cli registry ls --task automatic-speech-recognition

Recommended Models

• For speed: Systran/faster-whisper-tiny or Systran/faster-whisper-base
• For balance: Systran/faster-whisper-small (recommended)
• For accuracy: Systran/faster-whisper-large-v3

GPU Acceleration

For faster transcription with NVIDIA GPUs:

services:
  speaches:
    image: ghcr.io/speaches-ai/speaches:latest-cuda
    container_name: speaches
    ports:
      - "8969:8000"
    volumes:
      - hf-hub-cache:/home/ubuntu/.cache/huggingface/hub
    environment:
      - WHISPER__TTL=-1  # Keep model in VRAM (recommended if you have enough memory)
    restart: unless-stopped
    deploy:
      resources:
        reservations:
          devices:
            - driver: nvidia
              count: 1
              capabilities: [gpu]

volumes:
  hf-hub-cache:

Keep Model in Memory

By default, Speaches unloads models after some time. To keep the Whisper model loaded for instant transcription:

environment:
  - WHISPER__TTL=-1  # Never unload

This is recommended if you have enough RAM/VRAM, as loading the model can take a few seconds.

Docker Networking

When configuring your OpenAI-Compatible credential in Settings → API Keys, use the appropriate STT base URL for your setup:

Open Notebook in Docker (macOS/Windows)

STT Base URL: http://host.docker.internal:8969/v1

Open Notebook in Docker (Linux)

STT Base URL (Option 1 — Docker bridge IP): http://172.17.0.1:8969/v1

Option 2: Use host networking mode (docker run --network host ...), then use: http://localhost:8969/v1

Remote Server

Run Speaches on a different machine:

STT Base URL: http://server-ip:8969/v1 (replace with your server's IP)

Language Support

Whisper supports 99+ languages. Specify the language for better accuracy:

curl "http://localhost:8969/v1/audio/transcriptions" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "model=Systran/faster-whisper-small" \
  -F "language=ru"

Common language codes:

• en - English
• ru - Russian
• es - Spanish
• fr - French
• de - German
• zh - Chinese
• ja - Japanese

Troubleshooting

Service Won't Start

# Check logs
docker compose logs speaches

# Verify port available
lsof -i :8969

# Restart
docker compose down && docker compose up -d

Connection Refused

# Test Speaches is running
curl http://localhost:8969/v1/models

# From inside Open Notebook container
docker exec -it open-notebook curl http://host.docker.internal:8969/v1/models

Model Download Fails

Models are downloaded automatically on first use. If download fails:

# Check available disk space
df -h

# Check Docker logs for errors
docker compose logs speaches

# Restart and try again
docker compose restart speaches

Poor Transcription Quality

• Use a larger model (faster-whisper-medium or large-v3)
• Specify the correct language
• Ensure audio quality is good (clear speech, minimal background noise)
• Try different audio formats (WAV often works better than MP3)

Slow Transcription

Performance Tips

Recommended Specs

Resource Limits

services:
  speaches:
    # ... other config
    mem_limit: 4g
    cpus: 2

Monitor Usage

docker stats speaches

Comparison: Local vs Cloud

When to Use Local

• Privacy-sensitive content
• High-volume transcription
• Development/testing
• Offline environments
• Cost control

When to Use Cloud

• Limited hardware
• Time-sensitive projects
• No GPU available
• Simple setup preferred

Using Both TTS and STT

Speaches supports both TTS and STT in one server. In Settings → API Keys, add a single OpenAI-Compatible credential and configure both the TTS and STT base URLs to point to the same Speaches server (e.g., http://localhost:8969/v1).

See Local TTS Setup for TTS configuration.

Other Local STT Options

Any OpenAI-compatible STT server works:

The key requirements:

1. Server implements /v1/audio/transcriptions endpoint
2. Add an OpenAI-Compatible credential in Settings → API Keys with the STT base URL
3. Add model with provider openai_compatible

Related

• Local TTS Setup - Text-to-speech with Speaches
• OpenAI-Compatible Providers - General compatible provider setup
• AI Providers - All provider configuration