Feature: optional Enter key after auto-paste (voice command or setting)

[tomasz-madera]

Problem

After dictation finishes, OpenWhispr auto-pastes transcribed text at the cursor. In many apps (chat, search bars, AI prompts, terminal REPLs), Enter submits the message - but OpenWhispr stops after paste, so users still have to reach for the keyboard.

Proposed solution

Add an optional post-paste action, similar to what Wispr Flow offers:

• Toggle: "Press Enter after paste" (off by default)
• When enabled, always send Enter after successful auto-paste

Use cases

• Voice-driven workflow with a hardware remote (dictation hotkey triggered externally)
• Chat / messaging apps where Enter sends
• Quick search or command palettes
• Accessibility: minimize switching between microphone and keyboard

Platform notes

• Windows: could reuse existing paste path (windows-fast-paste / SendInput) to send VK_RETURN after paste
• Linux: extend existing xdotool / wtype / ydotool fallback

Expected behavior

1. User dictates: "Hello world."
2. OpenWhispr pastes: Hello world.
3. OpenWhispr sends: Enter (submit)

Thanks for considering - happy to test a beta on Windows or Linux.

[botaruibo]

This is a very real UX problem for dictation tools. In my experience building a system-wide voice typing app, I would keep this off by default and make it either:

1. a per-app setting, or
2. an explicit voice command such as "send it" / "submit" after paste.

The tricky part is that "paste text" and "submit text" have very different risk levels:

• chat boxes and AI prompt boxes often benefit from auto-submit;
• search bars may be OK either way;
• terminals / REPLs / command palettes are riskier, because an accidental Enter can execute something immediately;
• longer dictation usually needs a review-before-submit moment, especially when cleanup/formatting is involved.

A safer model might be: paste first, optionally show a short confirmation window, then send Enter only for apps or modes where the user explicitly enabled it.

For reference, I maintain MyVoiceTyping, a local-first macOS voice typing project focused on Chinese / mixed Chinese-English dictation and AI coding prompts. It currently treats dictation as a system input layer: hold hotkey → local ASR → punctuation / light cleanup → paste at cursor, but I am also tracking exactly this boundary between "paste" and "submit" for coding-agent prompts.

Landing page: https://botaruibo.github.io/MyVoiceTyping/landing/
GitHub: https://github.com/botaruibo/MyVoiceTyping