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

# Output & pasting

> How SpeakoFlow inserts transcribed text into the active app, and every setting that changes it: the six paste methods and their platform support, clipboard handling, auto submit, trailing spaces, and the Linux typing tools.

The defaults are right for most people. Change these only if a specific app misbehaves.

Everything here lives in *Settings → Dictation → Output options*.

## Paste method

The default is `Ctrl+V` on Windows, `Cmd+V` on macOS, and `Direct` on Linux, because clipboard paste is less dependable across Linux compositors.

| Method             | Platforms      | What it does                                                                                                                                     |
| ------------------ | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Ctrl+V` / `Cmd+V` | All            | Writes the text to the clipboard, sends the paste combo, then puts your previous clipboard contents back. Fast and reliable in almost every app. |
| `Direct`           | All            | Types the text key by key. Slower, but works in apps that block or ignore synthetic paste.                                                       |
| `None`             | All            | Inserts nothing. Pair it with *Copy to clipboard* when you would rather paste manually.                                                          |
| `Ctrl+Shift+V`     | Windows, Linux | The paste-as-plain-text combo in many terminals and editors.                                                                                     |
| `Shift+Insert`     | Windows, Linux | For apps that only accept the legacy combo.                                                                                                      |
| `External script`  | Linux          | Runs a script you point to, passing the text as its single argument. The path field appears under the dropdown once you select this.             |

## The other settings

| Setting               | Default                  | What it does                                                                                                                                |
| --------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Clipboard handling    | `Don't modify clipboard` | Clipboard paste saves and restores whatever you had copied. Switch to `Copy to clipboard` to leave the transcription there instead.         |
| Append trailing space | Off                      | Adds one space after the inserted text so back-to-back dictations do not run together.                                                      |
| Auto submit           | `Off`                    | Sends a key combination once the text is in. Options are `Off`, `Enter`, `Ctrl+Enter`, and `Cmd+Enter` on macOS or `Super+Enter` elsewhere. |
| Always-on microphone  | Off                      | Keeps the mic warm so the first words are never clipped, at the cost of a little battery.                                                   |

<Tip>
  If a specific app misbehaves with clipboard paste, try `Direct`. If text is occasionally cut off, raise the extra recording buffer. If the wrong text pastes, raise the paste delay.
</Tip>

## Details

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why trailing space is off by default">
    It is wrong as often as it is right. Dictating mid-sentence into an editor that already handles spacing ends up with doubles.

    Generate with Flow never appends the space, so a generated draft lands exactly as produced.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="When auto submit is skipped">
    `Cmd+Enter` on macOS and `Super+Enter` elsewhere are the same Meta key either way.

    Auto submit is skipped when the paste method is `None`, because there would be nothing to submit, and when the paste itself failed.

    It waits 50 ms after the insert before sending the key. Generate with Flow does not auto-submit either.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Linux: typing tools and the clipboard chain">
    **Typing tool** (*Linux only, default `Auto`*) picks which tool types the text for the `Direct` paste method. The row appears only on Linux, and only while the paste method is `Direct`. The dropdown lists just the tools present on your system (`wtype`, `kwtype`, `dotool`, `ydotool`, `xdotool`), so you cannot select one that is not installed. Leave it on `Auto` unless a specific tool misbehaves.

    Clipboard writes prefer `wl-copy` under Wayland, which handles umlauts and other non-ASCII text better.

    The paste keystroke is sent by whichever native tool is available: `wtype` on non-KDE Wayland, then `dotool`, then `ydotool`. On X11 it is `xdotool`, then `ydotool`. If none is installed, SpeakoFlow falls back to its own key synthesis.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Timing knobs in Debug">
    Two settings in *Settings → Debug* affect insertion. Debug appears once debug mode is on (`Ctrl+Shift+D`, or `Cmd+Shift+D` on macOS).

    **Paste delay** (default 60 ms). How long to wait after writing the clipboard before sending the paste combo. Only applies to the clipboard-based methods. Increase it if the *wrong* text pastes, which means the app read the clipboard before SpeakoFlow finished writing it.

    **Extra recording buffer** (default 0 ms). How much longer to keep recording after you release the key. Increase it if your last word or two gets cut off.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Modifiers are always released">
    Any method that synthesizes keystrokes releases every modifier afterwards, even if the combo was interrupted partway through.

    That is the guard against the classic failure where `Ctrl` or `Shift` appears stuck down after a paste.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The order things happen in">
    Once a recording is transcribed, the transcript passes through these stages before it is inserted.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Transcription">
        Custom-word correction and filler removal. See [Custom words](/docs/dictation/custom-words).
      </Step>

      <Step title="AI cleanup">
        Optional, and only on its own shortcut. See [AI cleanup](/docs/writing/ai-cleanup).
      </Step>

      <Step title="Spoken emoji, then text replacements">
        Both opt-in. Your own replacement rules run last, so they always win. See [Text replacements](/docs/dictation/text-replacements).
      </Step>

      <Step title="Insert">
        Trailing space, paste method, then auto submit.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>