> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mauvely.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Notepad and the command line

> Dictate into Sotto's own window, and control a running Sotto from a script, a shortcut or another application.

## The notepad

Open it from the tray menu, or with `sotto --notepad`.

Press **Record**, speak, and the formatted text accumulates in the window. A **Copy** button puts
the whole thing on the clipboard.

Use it when:

* You are drafting, and want to see everything before it goes anywhere
* The target application does not accept synthesised keystrokes
* You are dictating into something across a remote session
* You just want the words somewhere neutral

The formatting is identical to normal dictation — the same pause-driven paragraphs, the same
commands, the same cleanup.

## The command line

Sotto runs as a single background process. Invoking `sotto` again does not start a second copy: it
forwards the command to the running one and exits.

```bash theme={null}
sotto --toggle     # start or stop dictation
sotto --settings   # open Settings
sotto --notepad    # open the Notepad
sotto --quit       # quit
```

### Binding your own shortcut

`sotto --toggle` is the escape hatch when the built-in global shortcut is not available — on a
desktop without the GlobalShortcuts portal, or when you want a compositor-level binding instead.

Disable Sotto's own shortcut in **Settings → Shortcut**, then bind `sotto --toggle` in your
desktop's shortcut settings (*System Settings → Shortcuts → Custom* on KDE), or in your
compositor's config on Hyprland and friends.

## D-Bus

A running Sotto exposes `net.mauvely.Sotto` on the session bus at `/Sotto`, with these methods:

| Method         | Does                    |
| -------------- | ----------------------- |
| `Toggle`       | Start or stop dictation |
| `Stop`         | Stop dictation          |
| `ShowSettings` | Open Settings           |
| `ShowNotepad`  | Open the Notepad        |
| `Quit`         | Quit                    |

The command-line flags above are thin wrappers over these, so anything that can talk to the session
bus can drive Sotto — a hardware button, a Stream Deck, an editor plugin, a script.

```bash theme={null}
busctl --user call net.mauvely.Sotto /Sotto net.mauvely.Sotto Toggle
```

<Note>
  The bus name doubles as the single-instance lock. That is why a second `sotto` invocation
  forwards rather than starting another process.
</Note>

## The tray icon

Sotto lives in the system tray. Its menu opens Settings, opens the Notepad, and quits.

## Starting at login

**Settings → General → Launch at login** registers Sotto to start with your session, so the
shortcut is available without you thinking about it.