fix SSE cleanup, filter add popover to completed only, derive isGenerating from pending set, handle not_found status

Generations now return immediately with a 'generating' status and appear
in history right away. TTS runs in a serial background queue to avoid
GPU contention. Users can kick off multiple generations without blocking.

- Async POST /generate creates DB record immediately, queues TTS work
- Serial generation queue prevents concurrent GPU access (Metal/CUDA/CPU)
- SSE endpoint GET /generate/{id}/status for real-time completion tracking
- Retry endpoint POST /generate/{id}/retry for failed generations
- Store engine and model_size on generation records for retry support
- History cards show animated loader (react-loaders) for generating/playing
- Failed generations show retry button instead of actions menu
- Model downloads happen inline in the queue instead of rejecting with 202
- Stale 'generating' records marked as failed on server startup
- Autoplay on generate setting (default: on)
- Show engine name on generation cards
- Remove sidebar generation spinner
- Checkbox alignment fix in settings

.dockerignore

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Version control
+.git
+.github
+.gitignore
+
+# Desktop-only (not needed in web container)
+tauri/
+landing/
+docs/
+mlx-test/
+scripts/
+
+# Dependencies & build artifacts (rebuilt in Docker)
+node_modules/
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.egg-info/
+dist/
+build/
+*.spec
+
+# Data (will be bind-mounted)
+data/
+backend/data/
+
+# IDE & OS
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Config files not needed in container
+biome.json
+.biomeignore
+.bumpversion.cfg
+.npmrc
+Makefile
+CHANGELOG.md
+CONTRIBUTING.md
+SECURITY.md
+LICENSE
+README.md
+backend/README.md

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ jobs:
             args: "--target x86_64-apple-darwin"
             python-version: "3.12"
             backend: "pytorch"
-          # - platform: 'ubuntu-22.04'
+          - platform: "ubuntu-22.04"
-          #   args: ''
+            args: ""
-          #   python-version: '3.12'
+            python-version: "3.12"
-          #   backend: 'pytorch'
+            backend: "pytorch"
           - platform: "windows-latest"
             args: ""
             python-version: "3.12"

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ All notable changes to Voicebox will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Fixed
+- **Profile Name Validation** - Added proper validation to prevent duplicate profile names ([#134](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/134))
+  - Users now receive clear error messages when attempting to create or update profiles with duplicate names
+  - Improved error handling in create and update profile API endpoints
+  - Added comprehensive test suite for duplicate name validation
+
 ## [0.1.0] - 2026-01-25
 
 ### Added
@@ -55,6 +63,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 - Audio export failing when Tauri save dialog returns object instead of string path
+- OpenAPI client generator script now documents the local backend port and avoids an unused loop variable warning
 
 ### Added
 - **Makefile** - Comprehensive development workflow automation with commands for setup, development, building, testing, and code quality checks

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Thank you for your interest in contributing to Voicebox! This document provides
   ```bash
   rustc --version  # Check if installed
   ```
+- **[Tauri Prerequisites](https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites)** - Tauri-specific system dependencies (varies by OS).
 
 - **Git** - Version control
 
@@ -426,7 +427,7 @@ See [docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md](docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md) for common issues and sol
 
 - **Backend won't start:** Check Python version (3.11+), ensure venv is activated, install dependencies
 - **Tauri build fails:** Ensure Rust is installed, clean build with `cd tauri/src-tauri && cargo clean`
-- **OpenAPI client generation fails:** Ensure backend is running, check `curl http://localhost:8000/openapi.json`
+- **OpenAPI client generation fails:** Ensure backend is running, check `curl http://localhost:17493/openapi.json`
 
 ## Questions?
 

Dockerfile

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# ============================================================
+# Voicebox — Local TTS Server with Web UI (CPU)
+# 3-stage build: Frontend → Python deps → Runtime
+# ============================================================
+
+# === Stage 1: Build frontend ===
+FROM oven/bun:1 AS frontend
+
+WORKDIR /build
+
+# Copy workspace config and frontend source
+COPY package.json bun.lock ./
+COPY app/ ./app/
+COPY web/ ./web/
+
+# Strip workspaces not needed for web build, and fix trailing comma
+RUN sed -i '/"tauri"/d; /"landing"/d' package.json && \
+    sed -i -z 's/,\n  ]/\n  ]/' package.json
+RUN bun install --no-save
+# Build frontend (skip tsc — upstream has pre-existing type errors)
+RUN cd web && bunx --bun vite build
+
+
+# === Stage 2: Build Python dependencies ===
+FROM python:3.11-slim AS backend-builder
+
+WORKDIR /build
+
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    git \
+    build-essential \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+COPY backend/requirements.txt .
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --prefix=/install -r requirements.txt
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --prefix=/install \
+    git+https://github.com/QwenLM/Qwen3-TTS.git
+
+
+# === Stage 3: Runtime ===
+FROM python:3.11-slim
+
+# Create non-root user for security
+RUN groupadd -r voicebox && \
+    useradd -r -g voicebox -m -s /bin/bash voicebox
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Install only runtime system dependencies
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    ffmpeg \
+    curl \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Copy installed Python packages from builder stage
+COPY --from=backend-builder /install /usr/local
+
+# Copy backend application code
+COPY --chown=voicebox:voicebox backend/ /app/backend/
+
+# Copy built frontend from frontend stage
+COPY --from=frontend --chown=voicebox:voicebox /build/web/dist /app/frontend/
+
+# Create data directories owned by non-root user
+RUN mkdir -p /app/data/generations /app/data/profiles /app/data/cache \
+    && chown -R voicebox:voicebox /app/data
+
+# Switch to non-root user
+USER voicebox
+
+# Expose the API port
+EXPOSE 17493
+
+# Health check — auto-restart if the server hangs
+HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=10s --retries=3 --start-period=60s \
+    CMD curl -f http://localhost:17493/health || exit 1
+
+# Start the FastAPI server
+CMD ["uvicorn", "backend.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "17493"]

Makefile

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ setup-python: $(VENV)/bin/activate ## Set up Python virtual environment and depe
 	@echo -e "$(BLUE)Installing Python dependencies...$(NC)"
 	$(PIP) install --upgrade pip
 	$(PIP) install -r $(BACKEND_DIR)/requirements.txt
+	$(PIP) install --no-deps chatterbox-tts
 	@if [ "$$(uname -m)" = "arm64" ] && [ "$$(uname)" = "Darwin" ]; then \
 		echo -e "$(BLUE)Detected Apple Silicon - installing MLX dependencies...$(NC)"; \
 		$(PIP) install -r $(BACKEND_DIR)/requirements-mlx.txt; \
@@ -79,7 +80,11 @@ dev: ## Start backend + desktop app (parallel)
 	@echo -e "$(YELLOW)Note: If Tauri fails, run 'make build-server' first or use separate terminals$(NC)"
 	@trap 'kill 0' EXIT; \
 		$(MAKE) dev-backend & \
-		sleep 2 && $(MAKE) dev-frontend & \
+		sleep 2 && if [ "$$(uname)" = "Linux" ] && lspci 2>/dev/null | grep -qi nvidia; then \
+			WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1 $(MAKE) dev-frontend; \
+		else \
+			$(MAKE) dev-frontend; \
+		fi & \
 		wait
 
 dev-backend: ## Start FastAPI backend server

PATCH_NOTES.md

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# Voicebox Offline Mode Fix
+
+## Problem
+Voicebox crashes when generating speech if HuggingFace is unreachable, even when models are fully cached locally.
+
+**Root Cause:**
+- Voicebox downloads `mlx-community/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base-bf16` (MLX optimized version)
+- But `mlx_audio.tts.load()` tries to fetch `config.json` from original repo `Qwen/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base`
+- This network request fails → server crashes with `RemoteDisconnected`
+
+**Related Issues:**
+- Issue #150: "Internet connection required, even though models are downloaded?"
+- Issue #151: "API Stability Issues: Model Loading Hangs and Server Crashes"
+
+## Solution
+Two-part fix:
+
+### 1. Monkey-patch huggingface_hub (`backend/utils/hf_offline_patch.py`)
+- Intercepts cache lookup functions
+- Forces offline mode early (before mlx_audio imports)
+- Adds debug logging for cache hits/misses
+
+### 2. Symlink original repo to MLX version (`ensure_original_qwen_config_cached()`)
+- When original `Qwen/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base` cache doesn't exist
+- But MLX `mlx-community/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base-bf16` does exist
+- Creates a symlink so cache lookups succeed
+
+## Files Changed
+- `backend/backends/mlx_backend.py` - Added patch imports at top
+- `backend/utils/hf_offline_patch.py` - New patch module
+
+## Testing
+To test this fix:
+1. Build Voicebox from source: `make build`
+2. Disconnect from internet
+3. Try generating speech
+4. Should work without network requests
+
+## Build Instructions
+
+```bash
+# Install dependencies
+pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+# Build the app
+make build
+
+# Or build just the server
+make build-server
+```
+
+## Notes
+- The patch is applied automatically when `mlx_backend.py` is imported
+- Set `VOICEBOX_OFFLINE_PATCH=0` to disable the patch
+- The symlink approach works because the config.json is compatible between versions
+
+---
+*Patch contributed by community*

README.md

@@ -98,12 +98,12 @@ Powered by Alibaba's **Qwen3-TTS** — a breakthrough model that achieves near-p
 - **Instant cloning** — Upload a sample, get a voice profile
 - **High fidelity** — Natural prosody, emotion, and cadence
 - **Multi-language** — English, Chinese, and more coming
-- **Lightning fast on Mac** — MLX backend leverages Apple Silicon's Neural Engine for super fast generation
+- **Lightning fast on Mac** — MLX backend leverages Apple Silicon's Neural Engine for super-fast generation
 
 ### Voice Profile Management
 
 - **Create profiles** from audio files or record directly in-app
-- **Import/Export** profiles to share or backup
+- **Import/Export** profiles to share or back up
 - **Multi-sample support** — combine multiple samples for higher quality cloning
 - **Organize** with descriptions and language tags
 
@@ -147,17 +147,20 @@ Create multi-voice narratives, podcasts, and conversations with a timeline-based
 
 Voicebox exposes a full REST API, so you can integrate voice synthesis into your own apps.
 
+For the current local app and development workflow, the backend is typically available at `http://localhost:17493`.
+If you launch the backend manually with a different host or port, use that address instead.
+
 ```bash
 # Generate speech
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/generate \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/generate \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
   -d '{"text": "Hello world", "profile_id": "abc123", "language": "en"}'
 
 # List voice profiles
-curl http://localhost:8000/profiles
+curl http://localhost:17493/profiles
 
 # Create a profile
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/profiles \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/profiles \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
   -d '{"name": "My Voice", "language": "en"}'
 ```
@@ -170,7 +173,7 @@ curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/profiles \
 - Voice assistants
 - Content creation automation
 
-Full API documentation available at `http://localhost:8000/docs` when running.
+Full API documentation is available at `http://localhost:17493/docs` in the default local workflow, or at `/docs` on whatever server address you configured.
 
 ---
 
@@ -239,7 +242,7 @@ Install [just](https://github.com/casey/just): `brew install just` or `cargo ins
 
 Also available via Makefile: `make setup && make dev` (run `make help` for all commands).
 
-**Prerequisites:** [Bun](https://bun.sh), [Rust](https://rustup.rs), [Python 3.11+](https://python.org), [XCode on macOS](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/).
+**Prerequisites:** [Bun](https://bun.sh), [Rust](https://rustup.rs), [Python 3.11+](https://python.org), [XCode on macOS](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/), [Tauri Prerequisites](https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites/).
 
 **Performance:** 
 - **Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)**: Uses MLX backend with native Metal acceleration for 4-5x faster inference

app/src/App.tsx

@@ -93,10 +93,12 @@ function App() {
     }
 
     serverStartingRef.current = true;
-    console.log('Production mode: Starting bundled server...');
+    const isRemote = useServerStore.getState().mode === 'remote';
+    const customModelsDir = useServerStore.getState().customModelsDir;
+    console.log(`Production mode: Starting bundled server... (remote: ${isRemote})`);
 
     platform.lifecycle
-      .startServer(false)
+      .startServer(isRemote, customModelsDir)
       .then((serverUrl) => {
         console.log('Server is ready at:', serverUrl);
         // Update the server URL in the store with the dynamically assigned port

app/src/components/AudioPlayer/AudioPlayer.tsx

@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
 import { useQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
 import { Pause, Play, Repeat, Volume2, VolumeX, X } from 'lucide-react';
-import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import { useEffect, useId, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import WaveSurfer from 'wavesurfer.js';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Slider } from '@/components/ui/slider';
 import { apiClient } from '@/lib/api/client';
 import { formatAudioDuration } from '@/lib/utils/audio';
 import { debug } from '@/lib/utils/debug';
-import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
 import { usePlatform } from '@/platform/PlatformContext';
+import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
 
 export function AudioPlayer() {
   const platform = usePlatform();
+  const volumeLabelId = useId();
   const {
     audioUrl,
     audioId,
@@ -359,7 +360,7 @@ export function AudioPlayer() {
         if (shouldAutoPlayNow) {
           // Clear the flag first
           usePlayerStore.getState().clearAutoPlayFlag();
-          
+
           // Use a small delay to ensure audio element is fully ready
           setTimeout(() => {
             wavesurfer.play().catch((error) => {
@@ -664,7 +665,7 @@ export function AudioPlayer() {
   // Handle shouldAutoPlay flag - for story mode auto-advance
   const shouldAutoPlay = usePlayerStore((state) => state.shouldAutoPlay);
   const clearAutoPlayFlag = usePlayerStore((state) => state.clearAutoPlayFlag);
-  
+
   useEffect(() => {
     const wavesurfer = wavesurferRef.current;
     if (!wavesurfer || !shouldAutoPlay || duration === 0) {
@@ -831,6 +832,9 @@ export function AudioPlayer() {
             disabled={isLoading || duration === 0}
             className="shrink-0"
             title={duration === 0 && !isLoading ? 'Audio not loaded' : ''}
+            aria-label={
+              duration === 0 && !isLoading ? 'Audio not loaded' : isPlaying ? 'Pause' : 'Play'
+            }
           >
             {isPlaying ? <Pause className="h-5 w-5" /> : <Play className="h-5 w-5" />}
           </Button>
@@ -845,6 +849,8 @@ export function AudioPlayer() {
                 max={100}
                 step={0.1}
                 className="w-full"
+                aria-label="Playback position"
+                aria-valuetext={`${formatAudioDuration(currentTime)} of ${formatAudioDuration(duration)}`}
               />
             )}
             {isLoading && (
@@ -862,7 +868,9 @@ export function AudioPlayer() {
 
           {/* Title */}
           {title && (
-            <div className="text-sm font-medium truncate max-w-[200px] shrink-0">{title}</div>
+            <div className="text-sm font-medium truncate max-w-[200px] shrink-0 hidden lg:block">
+              {title}
+            </div>
           )}
 
           {/* Loop Button */}
@@ -872,26 +880,37 @@ export function AudioPlayer() {
             onClick={toggleLoop}
             className={isLooping ? 'text-primary' : ''}
             title="Toggle loop"
+            aria-label={isLooping ? 'Stop looping' : 'Loop'}
           >
             <Repeat className="h-4 w-4" />
           </Button>
 
           {/* Volume Control */}
-          <div className="flex items-center gap-2 shrink-0 w-[120px]">
+          <div
+            className="flex items-center gap-2 shrink-0 w-[120px]"
+            role="group"
+            aria-label="Volume"
+          >
             <Button
               variant="ghost"
               size="icon"
               onClick={() => setVolume(volume > 0 ? 0 : 1)}
               className="h-8 w-8"
+              aria-label={volume > 0 ? 'Mute' : 'Unmute'}
             >
               {volume > 0 ? <Volume2 className="h-4 w-4" /> : <VolumeX className="h-4 w-4" />}
             </Button>
+            <span id={volumeLabelId} className="sr-only">
+              Volume level, {Math.round(volume * 100)}%
+            </span>
             <Slider
               value={[volume * 100]}
               onValueChange={handleVolumeChange}
               max={100}
               step={1}
               className="flex-1"
+              aria-labelledby={volumeLabelId}
+              aria-valuetext={`${Math.round(volume * 100)}%`}
             />
           </div>
 
@@ -902,6 +921,7 @@ export function AudioPlayer() {
             onClick={handleClose}
             className="shrink-0"
             title="Close player"
+            aria-label="Close player"
           >
             <X className="h-5 w-5" />
           </Button>

app/src/components/AudioTab/AudioTab.tsx

@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ import {
 import { apiClient } from '@/lib/api/client';
 import { BOTTOM_SAFE_AREA_PADDING } from '@/lib/constants/ui';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
-import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
 import { usePlatform } from '@/platform/PlatformContext';
+import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
 
 interface AudioDevice {
   id: string;
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ export function AudioTab() {
     if (await confirm('Delete this channel?')) {
       deleteChannel.mutate(channelId);
     }
-  }
+  };
 
   const allChannels = channels || [];
   const allDevices = devices || [];
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ export function AudioTab() {
               </Button>
             </div>
           ) : (
-            <div className="space-y-3 p-2">
+            <div className="space-y-3">
               {allChannels.map((channel) => {
                 const isSelected = selectedChannelId === channel.id;
                 return (
@@ -343,7 +343,9 @@ export function AudioTab() {
             <div className="flex flex-col items-center justify-center py-12 border-2 border-dashed border-muted rounded-md">
               <CheckCircle2 className="h-12 w-12 text-muted-foreground mb-4" />
               <p className="text-muted-foreground text-center">
-                {platform.metadata.isTauri ? 'No audio devices found' : 'Audio device selection requires Tauri'}
+                {platform.metadata.isTauri
+                  ? 'No audio devices found'
+                  : 'Audio device selection requires Tauri'}
               </p>
             </div>
           )}

app/src/components/Generation/FloatingGenerateBox.tsx

@@ -12,14 +12,15 @@ import {
   SelectValue,
 } from '@/components/ui/select';
 import { Textarea } from '@/components/ui/textarea';
-import { useToast } from '@/components/ui/use-toast';
+import { getLanguageOptionsForEngine, type LanguageCode } from '@/lib/constants/languages';
-import { LANGUAGE_OPTIONS } from '@/lib/constants/languages';
 import { useGenerationForm } from '@/lib/hooks/useGenerationForm';
 import { useProfile, useProfiles } from '@/lib/hooks/useProfiles';
-import { useAddStoryItem, useStory } from '@/lib/hooks/useStories';
+import { useStory } from '@/lib/hooks/useStories';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
+import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
 import { useStoryStore } from '@/stores/storyStore';
 import { useUIStore } from '@/stores/uiStore';
+import { ParalinguisticInput } from './ParalinguisticInput';
 
 interface FloatingGenerateBoxProps {
   isPlayerOpen?: boolean;
@@ -43,8 +44,7 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
   const selectedStoryId = useStoryStore((state) => state.selectedStoryId);
   const trackEditorHeight = useStoryStore((state) => state.trackEditorHeight);
   const { data: currentStory } = useStory(selectedStoryId);
-  const addStoryItem = useAddStoryItem();
+  const addPendingStoryAdd = useGenerationStore((s) => s.addPendingStoryAdd);
-  const { toast } = useToast();
 
   // Calculate if track editor is visible (on stories route with items)
   const hasTrackEditor = isStoriesRoute && currentStory && currentStory.items.length > 0;
@@ -52,25 +52,9 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
   const { form, handleSubmit, isPending } = useGenerationForm({
     onSuccess: async (generationId) => {
       setIsExpanded(false);
-      // If on stories route and a story is selected, add generation to story
+      // Defer the story add until TTS completes — useGenerationProgress handles it
       if (isStoriesRoute && selectedStoryId && generationId) {
-        try {
+        addPendingStoryAdd(generationId, selectedStoryId);
-          await addStoryItem.mutateAsync({
-            storyId: selectedStoryId,
-            data: { generation_id: generationId },
-          });
-          toast({
-            title: 'Added to story',
-            description: `Generation added to "${currentStory?.name || 'story'}"`,
-          });
-        } catch (error) {
-          toast({
-            title: 'Failed to add to story',
-            description:
-              error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Could not add generation to story',
-            variant: 'destructive',
-          });
-        }
       }
     },
   });
@@ -112,6 +96,13 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
     }
   }, [selectedProfileId, profiles, setSelectedProfileId]);
 
+  // Sync generation form language with selected profile's language
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (selectedProfile?.language) {
+      form.setValue('language', selectedProfile.language as LanguageCode);
+    }
+  }, [selectedProfile, form]);
+
   // Auto-resize textarea based on content (only when expanded)
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!isExpanded) {
@@ -174,7 +165,7 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
         isStoriesRoute
           ? // Position aligned with story list: after sidebar + padding, width 360px
             'left-[calc(5rem+2rem)] w-[360px]'
-          : 'left-[calc(5rem+2rem)] w-[calc((100%-5rem-4rem)/2-1rem)]',
+          : 'left-[calc(5rem+2rem)] right-8 lg:right-auto lg:w-[calc((100%-5rem-4rem)/2-1rem)]',
       )}
       style={{
         // On stories route: offset by track editor height when visible
@@ -212,34 +203,57 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
                             transition={{ duration: 0.15, ease: 'easeOut' }}
                             style={{ overflow: 'hidden' }}
                           >
-                            <Textarea
+                            {form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox_turbo' ? (
-                              {...field}
+                              <ParalinguisticInput
-                              ref={(node: HTMLTextAreaElement | null) => {
+                                value={field.value}
-                                // Store ref for auto-resize (only for active field)
+                                onChange={field.onChange}
-                                if (!isInstructMode) {
+                                placeholder={
-                                  textareaRef.current = node;
+                                  isStoriesRoute && currentStory
+                                    ? `Generate speech for "${currentStory.name}"... (type / for effects)`
+                                    : selectedProfile
+                                      ? `Type / for effects like [laugh], [sigh]...`
+                                      : 'Select a voice profile above...'
                                 }
-                                // Forward ref to react-hook-form
+                                className="px-3 py-2 resize-none bg-transparent border-none focus-visible:ring-0 focus-visible:ring-offset-0 focus:outline-none focus:ring-0 outline-none ring-0 rounded-2xl text-sm w-full"
-                                if (typeof field.ref === 'function') {
+                                style={{
-                                  field.ref(node);
+                                  minHeight: isExpanded ? '100px' : '32px',
+                                  maxHeight: '300px',
+                                  overflowY: 'auto',
+                                }}
+                                disabled={!selectedProfileId}
+                                onClick={() => setIsExpanded(true)}
+                                onFocus={() => setIsExpanded(true)}
+                              />
+                            ) : (
+                              <Textarea
+                                {...field}
+                                ref={(node: HTMLTextAreaElement | null) => {
+                                  // Store ref for auto-resize (only for active field)
+                                  if (!isInstructMode) {
+                                    textareaRef.current = node;
+                                  }
+                                  // Forward ref to react-hook-form
+                                  if (typeof field.ref === 'function') {
+                                    field.ref(node);
+                                  }
+                                }}
+                                placeholder={
+                                  isStoriesRoute && currentStory
+                                    ? `Generate speech for "${currentStory.name}"...`
+                                    : selectedProfile
+                                      ? `Generate speech using ${selectedProfile.name}...`
+                                      : 'Select a voice profile above...'
                                 }
-                              }}
+                                className="resize-none bg-transparent border-none focus-visible:ring-0 focus-visible:ring-offset-0 focus:outline-none focus:ring-0 outline-none ring-0 rounded-2xl text-sm placeholder:text-muted-foreground/60 w-full"
-                              placeholder={
+                                style={{
-                                isStoriesRoute && currentStory
+                                  minHeight: isExpanded ? '100px' : '32px',
-                                  ? `Generate speech for "${currentStory.name}"...`
+                                  maxHeight: '300px',
-                                  : selectedProfile
+                                }}
-                                    ? `Generate speech using ${selectedProfile.name}...`
+                                disabled={!selectedProfileId}
-                                    : 'Select a voice profile above...'
+                                onClick={() => setIsExpanded(true)}
-                              }
+                                onFocus={() => setIsExpanded(true)}
-                              className="resize-none bg-transparent border-none focus-visible:ring-0 focus-visible:ring-offset-0 focus:outline-none focus:ring-0 outline-none ring-0 rounded-2xl text-sm placeholder:text-muted-foreground/60 w-full"
+                              />
-                              style={{
+                            )}
-                                minHeight: isExpanded ? '100px' : '32px',
-                                maxHeight: '300px',
-                              }}
-                              disabled={!selectedProfileId}
-                              onClick={() => setIsExpanded(true)}
-                              onFocus={() => setIsExpanded(true)}
-                            />
                           </motion.div>
                         </FormControl>
                         <FormMessage className="text-xs" />
@@ -300,6 +314,13 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
                     disabled={isPending || !selectedProfileId}
                     className="h-10 w-10 rounded-full bg-accent hover:bg-accent/90 hover:scale-105 text-accent-foreground shadow-lg hover:shadow-accent/50 transition-all duration-200"
                     size="icon"
+                    aria-label={
+                      isPending
+                        ? 'Generating...'
+                        : !selectedProfileId
+                          ? 'Select a voice profile first'
+                          : 'Generate speech'
+                    }
                   >
                     {isPending ? (
                       <Loader2 className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
@@ -316,7 +337,7 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
                   </span>
                 </div>
                 <AnimatePresence>
-                  {isExpanded && form.watch('engine') !== 'luxtts' && (
+                  {isExpanded && form.watch('engine') === 'qwen' && (
                     <motion.div
                       initial={{ opacity: 0, scale: 0.8 }}
                       animate={{ opacity: 1, scale: 1 }}
@@ -336,6 +357,9 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
                               ? 'bg-accent text-accent-foreground border border-accent hover:bg-accent/90'
                               : 'bg-card border border-border hover:bg-background/50',
                           )}
+                          aria-label={
+                            isInstructMode ? 'Fine tune instructions, on' : 'Fine tune instructions'
+                          }
                         >
                           <SlidersHorizontal className="h-4 w-4" />
                         </Button>
@@ -381,25 +405,30 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
                   <FormField
                     control={form.control}
                     name="language"
-                    render={({ field }) => (
+                    render={({ field }) => {
-                      <FormItem className="flex-1 space-y-0">
+                      const engineLangs = getLanguageOptionsForEngine(
-                        <Select onValueChange={field.onChange} defaultValue={field.value}>
+                        form.watch('engine') || 'qwen',
-                          <FormControl>
+                      );
-                            <SelectTrigger className="h-8 text-xs bg-card border-border rounded-full hover:bg-background/50 transition-all">
+                      return (
-                              <SelectValue />
+                        <FormItem className="flex-1 space-y-0">
-                            </SelectTrigger>
+                          <Select onValueChange={field.onChange} value={field.value}>
-                          </FormControl>
+                            <FormControl>
-                          <SelectContent>
+                              <SelectTrigger className="h-8 text-xs bg-card border-border rounded-full hover:bg-background/50 transition-all">
-                            {LANGUAGE_OPTIONS.map((lang) => (
+                                <SelectValue />
-                              <SelectItem key={lang.value} value={lang.value} className="text-xs">
+                              </SelectTrigger>
-                                {lang.label}
+                            </FormControl>
-                              </SelectItem>
+                            <SelectContent>
-                            ))}
+                              {engineLangs.map((lang) => (
-                          </SelectContent>
+                                <SelectItem key={lang.value} value={lang.value} className="text-xs">
-                        </Select>
+                                  {lang.label}
-                        <FormMessage className="text-xs" />
+                                </SelectItem>
-                      </FormItem>
+                              ))}
-                    )}
+                            </SelectContent>
+                          </Select>
+                          <FormMessage className="text-xs" />
+                        </FormItem>
+                      );
+                    }}
                   />
 
                   <FormItem className="flex-1 space-y-0">
@@ -407,11 +436,21 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
                       value={
                         form.watch('engine') === 'luxtts'
                           ? 'luxtts'
-                          : `qwen:${form.watch('modelSize') || '1.7B'}`
+                          : form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox'
+                            ? 'chatterbox'
+                            : form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox_turbo'
+                              ? 'chatterbox_turbo'
+                              : `qwen:${form.watch('modelSize') || '1.7B'}`
                       }
                       onValueChange={(value) => {
                         if (value === 'luxtts') {
                           form.setValue('engine', 'luxtts');
+                          form.setValue('language', 'en');
+                        } else if (value === 'chatterbox') {
+                          form.setValue('engine', 'chatterbox');
+                        } else if (value === 'chatterbox_turbo') {
+                          form.setValue('engine', 'chatterbox_turbo');
+                          form.setValue('language', 'en');
                         } else {
                           const [, modelSize] = value.split(':');
                           form.setValue('engine', 'qwen');
@@ -434,6 +473,15 @@ export function FloatingGenerateBox({
                         <SelectItem value="luxtts" className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
                           LuxTTS
                         </SelectItem>
+                        <SelectItem value="chatterbox" className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                          Chatterbox
+                        </SelectItem>
+                        <SelectItem
+                          value="chatterbox_turbo"
+                          className="text-xs text-muted-foreground"
+                        >
+                          Chatterbox Turbo
+                        </SelectItem>
                       </SelectContent>
                     </Select>
                   </FormItem>

app/src/components/Generation/GenerationForm.tsx

@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@ import {
   SelectValue,
 } from '@/components/ui/select';
 import { Textarea } from '@/components/ui/textarea';
-import { LANGUAGE_OPTIONS } from '@/lib/constants/languages';
+import { getLanguageOptionsForEngine } from '@/lib/constants/languages';
 import { useGenerationForm } from '@/lib/hooks/useGenerationForm';
 import { useProfile } from '@/lib/hooks/useProfiles';
 import { useUIStore } from '@/stores/uiStore';
+import { ParalinguisticInput } from './ParalinguisticInput';
 
 export function GenerationForm() {
   const selectedProfileId = useUIStore((state) => state.selectedProfileId);
@@ -64,19 +65,32 @@ export function GenerationForm() {
                 <FormItem>
                   <FormLabel>Text to Speak</FormLabel>
                   <FormControl>
-                    <Textarea
+                    {form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox_turbo' ? (
-                      placeholder="Enter the text you want to generate..."
+                      <ParalinguisticInput
-                      className="min-h-[150px]"
+                        value={field.value}
-                      {...field}
+                        onChange={field.onChange}
-                    />
+                        placeholder="Enter text... type / for effects like [laugh], [sigh]"
+                        className="min-h-[150px] rounded-md border border-input bg-background px-3 py-2"
+                      />
+                    ) : (
+                      <Textarea
+                        placeholder="Enter the text you want to generate..."
+                        className="min-h-[150px]"
+                        {...field}
+                      />
+                    )}
                   </FormControl>
-                  <FormDescription>Max 5000 characters</FormDescription>
+                  <FormDescription>
+                    {form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox_turbo'
+                      ? 'Max 5000 characters. Type / to insert sound effects.'
+                      : 'Max 5000 characters'}
+                  </FormDescription>
                   <FormMessage />
                 </FormItem>
               )}
             />
 
-            {form.watch('engine') !== 'luxtts' && (
+            {form.watch('engine') === 'qwen' && (
               <FormField
                 control={form.control}
                 name="instruct"
@@ -107,11 +121,21 @@ export function GenerationForm() {
                   value={
                     form.watch('engine') === 'luxtts'
                       ? 'luxtts'
-                      : `qwen:${form.watch('modelSize') || '1.7B'}`
+                      : form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox'
+                        ? 'chatterbox'
+                        : form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox_turbo'
+                          ? 'chatterbox_turbo'
+                          : `qwen:${form.watch('modelSize') || '1.7B'}`
                   }
                   onValueChange={(value) => {
                     if (value === 'luxtts') {
                       form.setValue('engine', 'luxtts');
+                      form.setValue('language', 'en');
+                    } else if (value === 'chatterbox') {
+                      form.setValue('engine', 'chatterbox');
+                    } else if (value === 'chatterbox_turbo') {
+                      form.setValue('engine', 'chatterbox_turbo');
+                      form.setValue('language', 'en');
                     } else {
                       const [, modelSize] = value.split(':');
                       form.setValue('engine', 'qwen');
@@ -128,38 +152,47 @@ export function GenerationForm() {
                     <SelectItem value="qwen:1.7B">Qwen3-TTS 1.7B</SelectItem>
                     <SelectItem value="qwen:0.6B">Qwen3-TTS 0.6B</SelectItem>
                     <SelectItem value="luxtts">LuxTTS</SelectItem>
+                    <SelectItem value="chatterbox">Chatterbox</SelectItem>
+                    <SelectItem value="chatterbox_turbo">Chatterbox Turbo</SelectItem>
                   </SelectContent>
                 </Select>
                 <FormDescription>
                   {form.watch('engine') === 'luxtts'
                     ? 'Fast, English-focused'
-                    : 'Multi-language, two sizes'}
+                    : form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox'
+                      ? '23 languages, incl. Hebrew'
+                      : form.watch('engine') === 'chatterbox_turbo'
+                        ? 'English, [laugh] [cough] tags'
+                        : 'Multi-language, two sizes'}
                 </FormDescription>
               </FormItem>
 
               <FormField
                 control={form.control}
                 name="language"
-                render={({ field }) => (
+                render={({ field }) => {
-                  <FormItem>
+                  const engineLangs = getLanguageOptionsForEngine(form.watch('engine') || 'qwen');
-                    <FormLabel>Language</FormLabel>
+                  return (
-                    <Select onValueChange={field.onChange} defaultValue={field.value}>
+                    <FormItem>
-                      <FormControl>
+                      <FormLabel>Language</FormLabel>
-                        <SelectTrigger>
+                      <Select onValueChange={field.onChange} value={field.value}>
-                          <SelectValue />
+                        <FormControl>
-                        </SelectTrigger>
+                          <SelectTrigger>
-                      </FormControl>
+                            <SelectValue />
-                      <SelectContent>
+                          </SelectTrigger>
-                        {LANGUAGE_OPTIONS.map((lang) => (
+                        </FormControl>
-                          <SelectItem key={lang.value} value={lang.value}>
+                        <SelectContent>
-                            {lang.label}
+                          {engineLangs.map((lang) => (
-                          </SelectItem>
+                            <SelectItem key={lang.value} value={lang.value}>
-                        ))}
+                              {lang.label}
-                      </SelectContent>
+                            </SelectItem>
-                    </Select>
+                          ))}
-                    <FormMessage />
+                        </SelectContent>
-                  </FormItem>
+                      </Select>
-                )}
+                      <FormMessage />
+                    </FormItem>
+                  );
+                }}
               />
 
               <FormField

app/src/components/Generation/ParalinguisticInput.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,422 @@
+/**
+ * ParalinguisticInput — a contentEditable rich text input that renders
+ * Chatterbox Turbo paralinguistic tags (e.g. [laugh]) as inline badges.
+ *
+ * Trigger: typing "/" opens an autocomplete dropdown.
+ * Paste:   pasting text with [tag] patterns auto-converts to badges.
+ * Output:  serializes badges back to plain [tag] text for the API.
+ */
+
+import { AnimatePresence, motion } from 'framer-motion';
+import { forwardRef, useCallback, useEffect, useImperativeHandle, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import { createPortal } from 'react-dom';
+import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
+
+// ── Tag definitions ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+const PARALINGUISTIC_TAGS = [
+  { tag: '[laugh]', label: 'laugh', emoji: '\u{1F602}' },
+  { tag: '[chuckle]', label: 'chuckle', emoji: '\u{1F60F}' },
+  { tag: '[gasp]', label: 'gasp', emoji: '\u{1F62E}' },
+  { tag: '[cough]', label: 'cough', emoji: '\u{1F637}' },
+  { tag: '[sigh]', label: 'sigh', emoji: '\u{1F614}' },
+  { tag: '[groan]', label: 'groan', emoji: '\u{1F629}' },
+  { tag: '[sniff]', label: 'sniff', emoji: '\u{1F443}' },
+  { tag: '[shush]', label: 'shush', emoji: '\u{1F92B}' },
+  { tag: '[clear throat]', label: 'clear throat', emoji: '\u{1F64A}' },
+] as const;
+
+const TAG_REGEX = /\[(laugh|chuckle|gasp|cough|sigh|groan|sniff|shush|clear throat)\]/gi;
+
+// Data attribute used to identify badge spans in the DOM
+const BADGE_ATTR = 'data-ptag';
+
+// ── Helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+/** Build an inline badge <span> for a tag. */
+function makeBadgeHTML(tag: string): string {
+  const entry = PARALINGUISTIC_TAGS.find((t) => t.tag.toLowerCase() === tag.toLowerCase());
+  const label = entry?.label ?? tag.replace(/[[\]]/g, '');
+  const emoji = entry?.emoji ?? '';
+  // Non-editable inline badge. Zero-width spaces around it let the
+  // caret sit on either side so the user can type before/after.
+  return `\u200B<span ${BADGE_ATTR}="${tag}" contenteditable="false" class="ptag-badge">${emoji ? `${emoji}\u00A0` : ''}${label}</span>\u200B`;
+}
+
+/** Convert plain text with [tag] patterns into HTML with badge spans. */
+function textToHTML(text: string): string {
+  // Escape HTML entities first
+  const escaped = text.replace(/&/g, '&amp;').replace(/</g, '&lt;').replace(/>/g, '&gt;');
+  // Replace tag patterns with badge HTML
+  return escaped.replace(TAG_REGEX, (match) => makeBadgeHTML(match));
+}
+
+/** Serialize the contentEditable innerHTML back to plain text with [tag] syntax. */
+function htmlToText(container: HTMLElement): string {
+  let result = '';
+  for (const node of container.childNodes) {
+    if (node.nodeType === Node.TEXT_NODE) {
+      // Strip zero-width spaces we added around badges
+      result += (node.textContent ?? '').replace(/\u200B/g, '');
+    } else if (node.nodeType === Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
+      const el = node as HTMLElement;
+      if (el.hasAttribute(BADGE_ATTR)) {
+        result += el.getAttribute(BADGE_ATTR) ?? '';
+      } else if (el.tagName === 'BR') {
+        result += '\n';
+      } else {
+        // Recurse for nested elements (e.g. spans from paste)
+        result += htmlToText(el);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+/** Get the text content from the current caret position back to the last
+ *  whitespace or start of container, to detect the "/" trigger. */
+function getWordBeforeCaret(_container: HTMLElement): { word: string; range: Range | null } {
+  const sel = window.getSelection();
+  if (!sel || sel.rangeCount === 0) return { word: '', range: null };
+  const range = sel.getRangeAt(0).cloneRange();
+  range.collapse(true);
+
+  // Walk backwards from caret through the text node
+  const textNode = range.startContainer;
+  if (textNode.nodeType !== Node.TEXT_NODE) return { word: '', range: null };
+  const text = textNode.textContent ?? '';
+  const offset = range.startOffset;
+
+  let start = offset;
+  while (
+    start > 0 &&
+    text[start - 1] !== ' ' &&
+    text[start - 1] !== '\n' &&
+    text[start - 1] !== '\u00A0'
+  ) {
+    start--;
+  }
+
+  const word = text.slice(start, offset);
+  const wordRange = document.createRange();
+  wordRange.setStart(textNode, start);
+  wordRange.setEnd(textNode, offset);
+
+  return { word, range: wordRange };
+}
+
+// ── Component ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+export interface ParalinguisticInputProps {
+  value?: string;
+  onChange?: (value: string) => void;
+  placeholder?: string;
+  disabled?: boolean;
+  className?: string;
+  style?: React.CSSProperties;
+  onClick?: () => void;
+  onFocus?: () => void;
+}
+
+export interface ParalinguisticInputRef {
+  focus: () => void;
+  element: HTMLDivElement | null;
+}
+
+export const ParalinguisticInput = forwardRef<ParalinguisticInputRef, ParalinguisticInputProps>(
+  function ParalinguisticInput(
+    { value, onChange, placeholder, disabled, className, style, onClick, onFocus },
+    ref,
+  ) {
+    const editorRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+    const [showMenu, setShowMenu] = useState(false);
+    const [menuFilter, setMenuFilter] = useState('');
+    const [menuIndex, setMenuIndex] = useState(0);
+    const [menuPosition, setMenuPosition] = useState<{ bottom: number; left: number }>({
+      bottom: 0,
+      left: 0,
+    });
+    const triggerRangeRef = useRef<Range | null>(null);
+    const lastSerializedRef = useRef<string>('');
+    const isComposingRef = useRef(false);
+
+    useImperativeHandle(ref, () => ({
+      focus: () => editorRef.current?.focus(),
+      element: editorRef.current,
+    }));
+
+    // Filtered tag list for the autocomplete menu
+    const filteredTags = PARALINGUISTIC_TAGS.filter((t) =>
+      t.label.toLowerCase().includes(menuFilter.toLowerCase()),
+    );
+
+    // ── Sync external value → editor ──────────────────────────────
+    useEffect(() => {
+      const el = editorRef.current;
+      if (!el) return;
+      // Only update DOM if the external value differs from what we last emitted
+      if (value !== undefined && value !== lastSerializedRef.current) {
+        lastSerializedRef.current = value;
+        el.innerHTML = value ? textToHTML(value) : '';
+      }
+    }, [value]);
+
+    // ── Emit plain-text value on input ────────────────────────────
+    const emitChange = useCallback(() => {
+      const el = editorRef.current;
+      if (!el || !onChange) return;
+      const text = htmlToText(el);
+      lastSerializedRef.current = text;
+      onChange(text);
+    }, [onChange]);
+
+    // ── Insert a tag badge at the caret ───────────────────────────
+    const insertTag = useCallback(
+      (tag: string) => {
+        const el = editorRef.current;
+        if (!el) return;
+
+        // Delete the /filter text
+        const wordRange = triggerRangeRef.current;
+        if (wordRange) {
+          wordRange.deleteContents();
+        }
+
+        // Insert badge HTML
+        const temp = document.createElement('span');
+        temp.innerHTML = makeBadgeHTML(tag);
+        const frag = document.createDocumentFragment();
+        let lastNode: Node | null = null;
+        while (temp.firstChild) {
+          lastNode = frag.appendChild(temp.firstChild);
+        }
+
+        const sel = window.getSelection();
+        if (sel && sel.rangeCount > 0) {
+          const range = sel.getRangeAt(0);
+          range.deleteContents();
+          range.insertNode(frag);
+
+          // Move caret after the badge
+          if (lastNode) {
+            const newRange = document.createRange();
+            newRange.setStartAfter(lastNode);
+            newRange.collapse(true);
+            sel.removeAllRanges();
+            sel.addRange(newRange);
+          }
+        }
+
+        setShowMenu(false);
+        setMenuFilter('');
+        emitChange();
+        el.focus();
+      },
+      [emitChange],
+    );
+
+    // ── Handle keydown for autocomplete navigation ────────────────
+    const handleKeyDown = useCallback(
+      (e: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
+        if (showMenu) {
+          if (filteredTags.length === 0) {
+            if (e.key === 'Escape') {
+              e.preventDefault();
+              setShowMenu(false);
+            }
+            return;
+          }
+          if (e.key === 'ArrowDown') {
+            e.preventDefault();
+            setMenuIndex((i) => (i + 1) % filteredTags.length);
+          } else if (e.key === 'ArrowUp') {
+            e.preventDefault();
+            setMenuIndex((i) => (i - 1 + filteredTags.length) % filteredTags.length);
+          } else if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === 'Tab') {
+            e.preventDefault();
+            if (filteredTags[menuIndex]) {
+              insertTag(filteredTags[menuIndex].tag);
+            }
+          } else if (e.key === 'Escape') {
+            e.preventDefault();
+            setShowMenu(false);
+          }
+        } else {
+          // Prevent Enter from creating <div> blocks in contentEditable
+          if (e.key === 'Enter' && !e.shiftKey) {
+            // Let the form handle submit
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      [showMenu, filteredTags, menuIndex, insertTag],
+    );
+
+    // ── Handle input (check for / trigger) ────────────────────────
+    const handleInput = useCallback(() => {
+      if (isComposingRef.current) return;
+      const el = editorRef.current;
+      if (!el) return;
+
+      const { word, range } = getWordBeforeCaret(el);
+
+      if (word.startsWith('/')) {
+        const filter = word.slice(1); // strip the /
+        setMenuFilter(filter);
+        setMenuIndex(0);
+        triggerRangeRef.current = range;
+
+        // Position the menu above the caret using viewport coords (portalled)
+        const sel = window.getSelection();
+        if (sel && sel.rangeCount > 0) {
+          const rect = sel.getRangeAt(0).getBoundingClientRect();
+          setMenuPosition({
+            bottom: window.innerHeight - rect.top + 4,
+            left: rect.left,
+          });
+        }
+
+        setShowMenu(true);
+      } else {
+        setShowMenu(false);
+      }
+
+      emitChange();
+    }, [emitChange]);
+
+    // ── Handle paste — convert [tag] patterns to badges ───────────
+    const handlePaste = useCallback(
+      (e: React.ClipboardEvent) => {
+        e.preventDefault();
+        const text = e.clipboardData.getData('text/plain');
+        if (!text) return;
+
+        const el = editorRef.current;
+        if (!el) return;
+
+        const html = textToHTML(text);
+
+        // Insert at caret
+        const sel = window.getSelection();
+        if (sel && sel.rangeCount > 0) {
+          const range = sel.getRangeAt(0);
+          range.deleteContents();
+          const temp = document.createElement('div');
+          temp.innerHTML = html;
+          const frag = document.createDocumentFragment();
+          let lastNode: Node | null = null;
+          while (temp.firstChild) {
+            lastNode = frag.appendChild(temp.firstChild);
+          }
+          range.insertNode(frag);
+          if (lastNode) {
+            const newRange = document.createRange();
+            newRange.setStartAfter(lastNode);
+            newRange.collapse(true);
+            sel.removeAllRanges();
+            sel.addRange(newRange);
+          }
+        }
+
+        emitChange();
+      },
+      [emitChange],
+    );
+
+    // ── Show placeholder ──────────────────────────────────────────
+    const isEmpty = !value || value.trim() === '';
+
+    return (
+      <div className="relative">
+        {/* Placeholder */}
+        {isEmpty && placeholder && (
+          <div
+            className="pointer-events-none absolute inset-0 text-sm text-muted-foreground/60 px-3 py-2 select-none"
+            aria-hidden
+          >
+            {placeholder}
+          </div>
+        )}
+
+        {/* Editable area */}
+        <div
+          ref={editorRef}
+          contentEditable={!disabled}
+          suppressContentEditableWarning
+          role={disabled ? undefined : 'textbox'}
+          aria-multiline={disabled ? undefined : true}
+          aria-placeholder={placeholder}
+          aria-disabled={disabled}
+          tabIndex={disabled ? -1 : 0}
+          className={cn(
+            'min-h-[32px] text-sm whitespace-pre-wrap break-words outline-none',
+            '[&_.ptag-badge]:inline-flex [&_.ptag-badge]:items-center [&_.ptag-badge]:rounded-full',
+            '[&_.ptag-badge]:bg-accent/20 [&_.ptag-badge]:text-accent [&_.ptag-badge]:border [&_.ptag-badge]:border-accent/30',
+            '[&_.ptag-badge]:px-2 [&_.ptag-badge]:py-0 [&_.ptag-badge]:text-xs [&_.ptag-badge]:font-medium',
+            '[&_.ptag-badge]:mx-0.5 [&_.ptag-badge]:select-none [&_.ptag-badge]:cursor-default',
+            '[&_.ptag-badge]:align-baseline',
+            disabled && 'opacity-50 cursor-not-allowed',
+            className,
+          )}
+          style={style}
+          onInput={!disabled ? handleInput : undefined}
+          onKeyDown={!disabled ? handleKeyDown : undefined}
+          onPaste={!disabled ? handlePaste : undefined}
+          onClick={!disabled ? onClick : undefined}
+          onFocus={!disabled ? onFocus : undefined}
+          onBlur={() => {
+            setShowMenu(false);
+            triggerRangeRef.current = null;
+          }}
+          onCompositionStart={() => {
+            isComposingRef.current = true;
+          }}
+          onCompositionEnd={() => {
+            isComposingRef.current = false;
+            handleInput();
+          }}
+        />
+
+        {/* Autocomplete dropdown — portalled to body, positioned above the caret */}
+        {showMenu &&
+          filteredTags.length > 0 &&
+          createPortal(
+            <AnimatePresence>
+              <motion.div
+                initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 4 }}
+                animate={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
+                exit={{ opacity: 0, y: 4 }}
+                transition={{ duration: 0.12 }}
+                className="fixed z-[9999] min-w-[200px] max-h-[280px] overflow-y-auto rounded-lg border border-border bg-popover shadow-lg"
+                style={{
+                  bottom: menuPosition.bottom,
+                  left: menuPosition.left,
+                }}
+              >
+                {filteredTags.map((t, i) => (
+                  <button
+                    key={t.tag}
+                    type="button"
+                    className={cn(
+                      'flex items-center gap-2 w-full px-3 py-1.5 text-sm text-left transition-colors',
+                      i === menuIndex
+                        ? 'bg-accent/20 text-accent-foreground'
+                        : 'text-popover-foreground hover:bg-muted/50',
+                    )}
+                    onMouseDown={(e) => {
+                      e.preventDefault(); // Keep focus in editor
+                      insertTag(t.tag);
+                    }}
+                    onMouseEnter={() => setMenuIndex(i)}
+                  >
+                    <span className="text-base leading-none">{t.emoji}</span>
+                    <span>{t.label}</span>
+                    <span className="ml-auto text-xs text-muted-foreground font-mono">{t.tag}</span>
+                  </button>
+                ))}
+              </motion.div>
+            </AnimatePresence>,
+            document.body,
+          )}
+      </div>
+    );
+  },
+);

app/src/components/History/HistoryTable.tsx

@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
+import { useQueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';
 import {
-  AudioWaveform,
   Download,
   FileArchive,
   Loader2,
   MoreHorizontal,
   Play,
+  RotateCcw,
   Trash2,
 } from 'lucide-react';
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import Loader from 'react-loaders';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import {
   Dialog,
@@ -36,7 +38,8 @@ import {
   useImportGeneration,
 } from '@/lib/hooks/useHistory';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
-import { formatDate, formatDuration } from '@/lib/utils/format';
+import { formatDate, formatDuration, formatEngineName } from '@/lib/utils/format';
+import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
 import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
 
 // OLD TABLE-BASED COMPONENT - REMOVED (can be found in git history)
@@ -54,9 +57,12 @@ export function HistoryTable() {
   const [importDialogOpen, setImportDialogOpen] = useState(false);
   const [selectedFile, setSelectedFile] = useState<File | null>(null);
   const [deleteDialogOpen, setDeleteDialogOpen] = useState(false);
-  const [generationToDelete, setGenerationToDelete] = useState<{ id: string; name: string } | null>(null);
+  const [generationToDelete, setGenerationToDelete] = useState<{ id: string; name: string } | null>(
+    null,
+  );
   const limit = 20;
   const { toast } = useToast();
+  const queryClient = useQueryClient();
 
   const {
     data: historyData,
@@ -71,6 +77,7 @@ export function HistoryTable() {
   const exportGeneration = useExportGeneration();
   const exportGenerationAudio = useExportGenerationAudio();
   const importGeneration = useImportGeneration();
+  const addPendingGeneration = useGenerationStore((state) => state.addPendingGeneration);
   const setAudioWithAutoPlay = usePlayerStore((state) => state.setAudioWithAutoPlay);
   const restartCurrentAudio = usePlayerStore((state) => state.restartCurrentAudio);
   const currentAudioId = usePlayerStore((state) => state.audioId);
@@ -194,6 +201,20 @@ export function HistoryTable() {
     }
   };
 
+  const handleRetry = async (generationId: string) => {
+    try {
+      const result = await apiClient.retryGeneration(generationId);
+      addPendingGeneration(result.id);
+      queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['history'] });
+    } catch (error) {
+      toast({
+        title: 'Retry failed',
+        description: error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Could not retry generation',
+        variant: 'destructive',
+      });
+    }
+  };
+
   const handleImportConfirm = () => {
     if (selectedFile) {
       importGeneration.mutate(selectedFile, {
@@ -250,25 +271,54 @@ export function HistoryTable() {
           >
             {history.map((gen) => {
               const isCurrentlyPlaying = currentAudioId === gen.id && isPlaying;
+              const isGenerating = gen.status === 'generating';
+              const isFailed = gen.status === 'failed';
+              const isPlayable = !isGenerating && !isFailed;
               return (
                 <div
                   key={gen.id}
+                  role={isPlayable ? 'button' : undefined}
+                  tabIndex={isPlayable ? 0 : undefined}
                   className={cn(
-                    'flex items-stretch gap-4 h-26 border rounded-md p-3 bg-card hover:bg-muted/70 transition-colors text-left w-full',
+                    'flex items-stretch gap-4 h-26 border rounded-md p-3 bg-card transition-colors text-left w-full',
+                    isPlayable && 'hover:bg-muted/70 cursor-pointer',
                     isCurrentlyPlaying && 'bg-muted/70',
                   )}
+                  aria-label={
+                    isGenerating
+                      ? `Generating speech for ${gen.profile_name}...`
+                      : isFailed
+                        ? `Generation failed for ${gen.profile_name}`
+                        : isCurrentlyPlaying
+                          ? `Sample from ${gen.profile_name}, ${formatDuration(gen.duration ?? 0)}, ${formatDate(gen.created_at)}. Playing. Press Enter to restart.`
+                          : `Sample from ${gen.profile_name}, ${formatDuration(gen.duration ?? 0)}, ${formatDate(gen.created_at)}. Press Enter to play.`
+                  }
                   onMouseDown={(e) => {
-                    // Don't trigger play if clicking on textarea or if text is selected
+                    if (!isPlayable) return;
                     const target = e.target as HTMLElement;
                     if (target.closest('textarea') || window.getSelection()?.toString()) {
                       return;
                     }
                     handlePlay(gen.id, gen.text, gen.profile_id);
                   }}
+                  onKeyDown={(e) => {
+                    if (!isPlayable) return;
+                    const target = e.target as HTMLElement;
+                    if (target.closest('textarea') || target.closest('button')) return;
+                    if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') {
+                      e.preventDefault();
+                      handlePlay(gen.id, gen.text, gen.profile_id);
+                    }
+                  }}
                 >
-                  {/* Waveform icon */}
+                  {/* Status icon */}
-                  <div className="flex items-center shrink-0">
+                  <div className="flex items-center shrink-0 w-10 justify-center overflow-hidden">
-                    <AudioWaveform className="h-5 w-5 text-muted-foreground" />
+                    <div className="scale-50">
+                      <Loader
+                        type={isGenerating ? 'line-scale' : 'line-scale-pulse-out-rapid'}
+                        active={isGenerating || isCurrentlyPlaying}
+                      />
+                    </div>
                   </div>
 
                   {/* Left side - Meta information */}
@@ -279,11 +329,22 @@ export function HistoryTable() {
                     <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
                       <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">{gen.language}</span>
                       <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                        {formatDuration(gen.duration)}
+                        {formatEngineName(gen.engine, gen.model_size)}
                       </span>
+                      {isFailed ? (
+                        <span className="text-xs text-destructive">Failed</span>
+                      ) : !isGenerating ? (
+                        <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                          {formatDuration(gen.duration ?? 0)}
+                        </span>
+                      ) : null}
                     </div>
                     <div className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                      {formatDate(gen.created_at)}
+                      {isGenerating ? (
+                        <span className="text-accent">Generating...</span>
+                      ) : (
+                        formatDate(gen.created_at)
+                      )}
                     </div>
                   </div>
 
@@ -293,57 +354,70 @@ export function HistoryTable() {
                       value={gen.text}
                       className="flex-1 resize-none text-sm text-muted-foreground select-text"
                       readOnly
+                      aria-label={`Transcript for sample from ${gen.profile_name}, ${formatDuration(gen.duration ?? 0)}`}
                     />
                   </div>
 
-                  {/* Far right - Ellipsis actions */}
+                  {/* Far right - Actions */}
                   <div
-                    className="w-10 shrink-0 flex justify-end"
+                    className="w-10 shrink-0 flex justify-end items-center"
                     onMouseDown={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
                     onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
                   >
-                    <DropdownMenu>
+                    {isFailed ? (
-                      <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
+                      <Button
-                        <Button
+                        variant="ghost"
-                          variant="ghost"
+                        size="icon"
-                          size="icon"
+                        className="h-8 w-8"
-                          className="h-8 w-8"
+                        aria-label="Retry generation"
-                          aria-label="Actions"
+                        onClick={() => handleRetry(gen.id)}
-                        >
+                      >
-                          <MoreHorizontal className="h-4 w-4" />
+                        <RotateCcw className="h-4 w-4" />
-                        </Button>
+                      </Button>
-                      </DropdownMenuTrigger>
+                    ) : isPlayable ? (
-                      <DropdownMenuContent align="end">
+                      <DropdownMenu>
-                        <DropdownMenuItem
+                        <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
-                          onClick={() => handlePlay(gen.id, gen.text, gen.profile_id)}
+                          <Button
-                        >
+                            variant="ghost"
-                          <Play className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                            size="icon"
-                          Play
+                            className="h-8 w-8"
-                        </DropdownMenuItem>
+                            aria-label="Actions"
-                        <DropdownMenuItem
+                          >
-                          onClick={() => handleDownloadAudio(gen.id, gen.text)}
+                            <MoreHorizontal className="h-4 w-4" />
-                          disabled={exportGenerationAudio.isPending}
+                          </Button>
-                        >
+                        </DropdownMenuTrigger>
-                          <Download className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                        <DropdownMenuContent align="end">
-                          Export Audio
+                          <DropdownMenuItem
-                        </DropdownMenuItem>
+                            onClick={() => handlePlay(gen.id, gen.text, gen.profile_id)}
-                        <DropdownMenuItem
+                          >
-                          onClick={() => handleExportPackage(gen.id, gen.text)}
+                            <Play className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
-                          disabled={exportGeneration.isPending}
+                            Play
-                        >
+                          </DropdownMenuItem>
-                          <FileArchive className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                          <DropdownMenuItem
-                          Export Package
+                            onClick={() => handleDownloadAudio(gen.id, gen.text)}
-                        </DropdownMenuItem>
+                            disabled={exportGenerationAudio.isPending}
-                        <DropdownMenuItem
+                          >
-                          onClick={() => handleDeleteClick(gen.id, gen.profile_name)}
+                            <Download className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
-                          disabled={deleteGeneration.isPending}
+                            Export Audio
-                          className="text-destructive focus:text-destructive"
+                          </DropdownMenuItem>
-                        >
+                          <DropdownMenuItem
-                          <Trash2 className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                            onClick={() => handleExportPackage(gen.id, gen.text)}
-                          Delete
+                            disabled={exportGeneration.isPending}
-                        </DropdownMenuItem>
+                          >
-                      </DropdownMenuContent>
+                            <FileArchive className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
-                    </DropdownMenu>
+                            Export Package
+                          </DropdownMenuItem>
+                          <DropdownMenuItem
+                            onClick={() => handleDeleteClick(gen.id, gen.profile_name)}
+                            disabled={deleteGeneration.isPending}
+                            className="text-destructive focus:text-destructive"
+                          >
+                            <Trash2 className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                            Delete
+                          </DropdownMenuItem>
+                        </DropdownMenuContent>
+                      </DropdownMenu>
+                    ) : null}
                   </div>
                 </div>
               );
@@ -371,7 +445,8 @@ export function HistoryTable() {
           <DialogHeader>
             <DialogTitle>Delete Generation</DialogTitle>
             <DialogDescription>
-              Are you sure you want to delete this generation from "{generationToDelete?.name}"? This action cannot be undone.
+              Are you sure you want to delete this generation from "{generationToDelete?.name}"?
+              This action cannot be undone.
             </DialogDescription>
           </DialogHeader>
           <DialogFooter>

app/src/components/MainEditor/MainEditor.tsx

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import {
 } from '@/components/ui/dialog';
 import { useToast } from '@/components/ui/use-toast';
 import { ProfileList } from '@/components/VoiceProfiles/ProfileList';
-import { BOTTOM_SAFE_AREA_PADDING } from '@/lib/constants/ui';
+
 import { useImportProfile } from '@/lib/hooks/useProfiles';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
 import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
@@ -77,9 +77,9 @@ export function MainEditor() {
 
   return (
     // Main view: Profiles top left, Generator bottom left, History right
-    <div className="grid grid-cols-1 lg:grid-cols-2 gap-6 h-full min-h-0 overflow-hidden relative">
+    <div className="grid grid-cols-1 lg:grid-cols-2 lg:gap-6 h-full min-h-0 overflow-hidden relative">
       {/* Left Column */}
-      <div className="flex flex-col min-h-0 overflow-hidden relative">
+      <div className="flex flex-col min-h-0 overflow-hidden relative lg:overflow-hidden">
         {/* Scroll Mask - Always visible, behind content */}
         <div className="absolute top-0 left-0 right-0 h-16 bg-gradient-to-b from-background to-transparent z-0 pointer-events-none" />
 
@@ -110,10 +110,7 @@ export function MainEditor() {
         {/* Scrollable Content */}
         <div
           ref={scrollRef}
-          className={cn(
+          className={cn('flex-1 min-h-0 overflow-y-auto pt-14 pb-4', isPlayerVisible && 'lg:pb-32')}
-            'flex-1 min-h-0 overflow-y-auto pt-14',
-            isPlayerVisible ? BOTTOM_SAFE_AREA_PADDING : 'pb-4',
-          )}
         >
           <div className="flex flex-col gap-6">
             <div className="shrink-0 flex flex-col">
@@ -123,6 +120,9 @@ export function MainEditor() {
         </div>
       </div>
 
+      {/* Divider - single column only */}
+      {/* <div className="border-t border-border -my-3 lg:hidden" /> */}
+
       {/* Right Column - History */}
       <div className="flex flex-col min-h-0 overflow-hidden">
         <HistoryTable />

app/src/components/ModelsTab/ModelsTab.tsx

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { ModelManagement } from '@/components/ServerSettings/ModelManagement';
 
 export function ModelsTab() {
   return (
-    <div className="space-y-4 overflow-y-auto flex flex-col">
+    <div className="h-full flex flex-col">
       <ModelManagement />
     </div>
   );

app/src/components/ServerSettings/ConnectionForm.tsx

@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 import { zodResolver } from '@hookform/resolvers/zod';
+import { Loader2, XCircle } from 'lucide-react';
 import { useEffect } from 'react';
 import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form';
 import * as z from 'zod';
+import { Badge } from '@/components/ui/badge';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Card, CardContent, CardHeader, CardTitle } from '@/components/ui/card';
+import { Checkbox } from '@/components/ui/checkbox';
 import {
   Form,
   FormControl,
@@ -14,10 +17,10 @@ import {
   FormMessage,
 } from '@/components/ui/form';
 import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input';
-import { Checkbox } from '@/components/ui/checkbox';
 import { useToast } from '@/components/ui/use-toast';
-import { useServerStore } from '@/stores/serverStore';
+import { useServerHealth } from '@/lib/hooks/useServer';
 import { usePlatform } from '@/platform/PlatformContext';
+import { useServerStore } from '@/stores/serverStore';
 
 const connectionSchema = z.object({
   serverUrl: z.string().url('Please enter a valid URL'),
@@ -31,7 +34,10 @@ export function ConnectionForm() {
   const setServerUrl = useServerStore((state) => state.setServerUrl);
   const keepServerRunningOnClose = useServerStore((state) => state.keepServerRunningOnClose);
   const setKeepServerRunningOnClose = useServerStore((state) => state.setKeepServerRunningOnClose);
+  const mode = useServerStore((state) => state.mode);
+  const setMode = useServerStore((state) => state.setMode);
   const { toast } = useToast();
+  const { data: health, isLoading, error: healthError } = useServerHealth();
 
   const form = useForm<ConnectionFormValues>({
     resolver: zodResolver(connectionSchema),
@@ -49,7 +55,7 @@ export function ConnectionForm() {
 
   function onSubmit(data: ConnectionFormValues) {
     setServerUrl(data.serverUrl);
-    form.reset(data); // Reset form state after successful submission
+    form.reset(data);
     toast({
       title: 'Server URL updated',
       description: `Connected to ${data.serverUrl}`,
@@ -57,7 +63,7 @@ export function ConnectionForm() {
   }
 
   return (
-    <Card>
+    <Card role="region" aria-label="Server Connection" tabIndex={0}>
       <CardHeader>
         <CardTitle>Server Connection</CardTitle>
       </CardHeader>
@@ -83,10 +89,42 @@ export function ConnectionForm() {
           </form>
         </Form>
 
+        {/* Connection status */}
+        <div className="mt-4">
+          {isLoading ? (
+            <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+              <Loader2 className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
+              <span className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">Checking connection...</span>
+            </div>
+          ) : healthError ? (
+            <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+              <XCircle className="h-4 w-4 text-destructive" />
+              <span className="text-sm text-destructive">
+                Connection failed: {healthError.message}
+              </span>
+            </div>
+          ) : health ? (
+            <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2">
+              <Badge
+                variant={health.model_loaded || health.model_downloaded ? 'default' : 'secondary'}
+              >
+                {health.model_loaded || health.model_downloaded ? 'Model Ready' : 'No Model'}
+              </Badge>
+              <Badge variant={health.gpu_available ? 'default' : 'secondary'}>
+                GPU: {health.gpu_available ? 'Available' : 'Not Available'}
+              </Badge>
+              {health.vram_used_mb && (
+                <Badge variant="outline">VRAM: {health.vram_used_mb.toFixed(0)} MB</Badge>
+              )}
+            </div>
+          ) : null}
+        </div>
+
         <div className="mt-6 pt-6 border-t">
           <div className="flex items-start space-x-3">
             <Checkbox
               id="keepServerRunning"
+              className="mt-[6px]"
               checked={keepServerRunningOnClose}
               onCheckedChange={(checked: boolean) => {
                 setKeepServerRunningOnClose(checked);
@@ -115,6 +153,39 @@ export function ConnectionForm() {
             </div>
           </div>
         </div>
+
+        {platform.metadata.isTauri && (
+          <div className="mt-6 pt-6 border-t">
+            <div className="flex items-start space-x-3">
+              <Checkbox
+                id="allowNetworkAccess"
+                className="mt-[6px]"
+                checked={mode === 'remote'}
+                onCheckedChange={(checked: boolean) => {
+                  setMode(checked ? 'remote' : 'local');
+                  toast({
+                    title: 'Setting updated',
+                    description: checked
+                      ? 'Network access enabled. Restart the app to apply.'
+                      : 'Network access disabled. Restart the app to apply.',
+                  });
+                }}
+              />
+              <div className="space-y-1">
+                <label
+                  htmlFor="allowNetworkAccess"
+                  className="text-sm font-medium leading-none peer-disabled:cursor-not-allowed peer-disabled:opacity-70 cursor-pointer"
+                >
+                  Allow network access
+                </label>
+                <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+                  Makes the server accessible from other devices on your network. Restart the app
+                  after changing this setting.
+                </p>
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        )}
       </CardContent>
     </Card>
   );

app/src/components/ServerSettings/GenerationSettings.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+import { Card, CardContent, CardDescription, CardHeader, CardTitle } from '@/components/ui/card';
+import { Checkbox } from '@/components/ui/checkbox';
+import { Slider } from '@/components/ui/slider';
+import { useServerStore } from '@/stores/serverStore';
+
+export function GenerationSettings() {
+  const maxChunkChars = useServerStore((state) => state.maxChunkChars);
+  const setMaxChunkChars = useServerStore((state) => state.setMaxChunkChars);
+  const crossfadeMs = useServerStore((state) => state.crossfadeMs);
+  const setCrossfadeMs = useServerStore((state) => state.setCrossfadeMs);
+  const normalizeAudio = useServerStore((state) => state.normalizeAudio);
+  const setNormalizeAudio = useServerStore((state) => state.setNormalizeAudio);
+  const autoplayOnGenerate = useServerStore((state) => state.autoplayOnGenerate);
+  const setAutoplayOnGenerate = useServerStore((state) => state.setAutoplayOnGenerate);
+
+  return (
+    <Card role="region" aria-label="Generation Settings" tabIndex={0}>
+      <CardHeader>
+        <CardTitle>Generation Settings</CardTitle>
+        <CardDescription>
+          Controls for long text generation. These settings apply to all engines.
+        </CardDescription>
+      </CardHeader>
+      <CardContent>
+        <div className="space-y-6">
+          <div className="space-y-3">
+            <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
+              <label htmlFor="maxChunkChars" className="text-sm font-medium leading-none">
+                Auto-chunking limit
+              </label>
+              <span className="text-sm tabular-nums text-muted-foreground">
+                {maxChunkChars} chars
+              </span>
+            </div>
+            <Slider
+              id="maxChunkChars"
+              value={[maxChunkChars]}
+              onValueChange={([value]) => setMaxChunkChars(value)}
+              min={100}
+              max={5000}
+              step={50}
+              aria-label="Auto-chunking character limit"
+            />
+            <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+              Long text is split into chunks at sentence boundaries before generating. Lower values
+              can improve quality for long outputs.
+            </p>
+          </div>
+
+          <div className="space-y-3">
+            <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
+              <label htmlFor="crossfadeMs" className="text-sm font-medium leading-none">
+                Chunk crossfade
+              </label>
+              <span className="text-sm tabular-nums text-muted-foreground">
+                {crossfadeMs === 0 ? 'Cut' : `${crossfadeMs}ms`}
+              </span>
+            </div>
+            <Slider
+              id="crossfadeMs"
+              value={[crossfadeMs]}
+              onValueChange={([value]) => setCrossfadeMs(value)}
+              min={0}
+              max={200}
+              step={10}
+              aria-label="Chunk crossfade duration"
+            />
+            <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+              Blends audio between chunks to smooth transitions. Set to 0 for a hard cut.
+            </p>
+          </div>
+
+          <div className="flex items-start gap-3">
+            <Checkbox
+              id="normalizeAudio"
+              checked={normalizeAudio}
+              onCheckedChange={setNormalizeAudio}
+              className="mt-[6px]"
+            />
+            <div className="space-y-1">
+              <label
+                htmlFor="normalizeAudio"
+                className="text-sm font-medium leading-none cursor-pointer"
+              >
+                Normalize audio
+              </label>
+              <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+                Adjusts output volume to a consistent level across generations.
+              </p>
+            </div>
+          </div>
+
+          <div className="flex items-start gap-3">
+            <Checkbox
+              id="autoplayOnGenerate"
+              checked={autoplayOnGenerate}
+              onCheckedChange={setAutoplayOnGenerate}
+              className="mt-[6px]"
+            />
+            <div className="space-y-1">
+              <label
+                htmlFor="autoplayOnGenerate"
+                className="text-sm font-medium leading-none cursor-pointer"
+              >
+                Autoplay on generate
+              </label>
+              <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+                Automatically play audio when a generation completes.
+              </p>
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      </CardContent>
+    </Card>
+  );
+}

app/src/components/ServerSettings/GpuAcceleration.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { useQuery, useQueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';
-import { AlertCircle, Cpu, Download, Loader2, RotateCw, Trash2, Zap } from 'lucide-react';
+import { AlertCircle, Download, Loader2, RotateCw, Trash2 } from 'lucide-react';
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
-import { Badge } from '@/components/ui/badge';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Card, CardContent, CardHeader, CardTitle } from '@/components/ui/card';
 import { Progress } from '@/components/ui/progress';
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ export function GpuAcceleration() {
   } = useQuery({
     queryKey: ['cuda-status', serverUrl],
     queryFn: () => apiClient.getCudaStatus(),
-    refetchInterval: cudaStatusLoading ? false : 10000,
+    refetchInterval: (query) => (query.state.status === 'pending' ? false : 10000),
     retry: 1,
     enabled: !!health, // Only fetch when backend is reachable
   });
@@ -216,31 +215,19 @@ export function GpuAcceleration() {
   return (
     <Card>
       <CardHeader>
-        <CardTitle className="flex items-center gap-2">
+        <CardTitle>GPU Acceleration</CardTitle>
-          <Zap className="h-4 w-4" />
-          GPU Acceleration
-        </CardTitle>
       </CardHeader>
       <CardContent className="space-y-4">
         {/* Current status */}
-        <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
+        <div className="space-y-1">
-          <div className="space-y-1">
+          <div className="text-sm font-medium">Backend</div>
-            <div className="text-sm font-medium">Backend</div>
+          <div className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
-            <div className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+            {isCurrentlyCuda
-              {isCurrentlyCuda ? 'CUDA (GPU accelerated)' : 'CPU'}
+              ? 'CUDA (GPU accelerated)'
-            </div>
+              : hasNativeGpu
+                ? `${health.backend_type === 'mlx' ? 'MLX' : 'PyTorch'} (GPU accelerated)`
+                : 'CPU'}
           </div>
-          <Badge variant={isCurrentlyCuda ? 'default' : 'secondary'}>
-            {isCurrentlyCuda ? (
-              <>
-                <Zap className="h-3 w-3 mr-1" /> CUDA
-              </>
-            ) : (
-              <>
-                <Cpu className="h-3 w-3 mr-1" /> CPU
-              </>
-            )}
-          </Badge>
         </div>
 
         {/* GPU info from health */}
@@ -257,14 +244,6 @@ export function GpuAcceleration() {
         )}
 
         {/* Native GPU detected - no CUDA download needed */}
-        {hasNativeGpu && (
-          <div className="p-3 rounded-lg bg-accent/10 border border-accent/20">
-            <div className="text-sm">
-              Your system uses <strong>{health.gpu_type}</strong> for acceleration. No additional
-              downloads needed.
-            </div>
-          </div>
-        )}
 
         {/* CUDA download section - only show when native GPU is NOT detected (i.e., Windows/Linux NVIDIA users) */}
         {!hasNativeGpu && (

app/src/components/ServerSettings/ServerStatus.tsx

@@ -3,14 +3,13 @@ import { Badge } from '@/components/ui/badge';
 import { Card, CardContent, CardHeader, CardTitle } from '@/components/ui/card';
 import { useServerHealth } from '@/lib/hooks/useServer';
 import { useServerStore } from '@/stores/serverStore';
-import { ModelProgress } from './ModelProgress';
 
 export function ServerStatus() {
   const { data: health, isLoading, error } = useServerHealth();
   const serverUrl = useServerStore((state) => state.serverUrl);
 
   return (
-    <Card>
+    <Card role="region" aria-label="Server Status" tabIndex={0}>
       <CardHeader>
         <CardTitle>Server Status</CardTitle>
       </CardHeader>
@@ -20,16 +19,6 @@ export function ServerStatus() {
           <div className="font-mono text-sm">{serverUrl}</div>
         </div>
 
-        {/* Model download progress */}
-        <div className="space-y-2">
-          <ModelProgress modelName="qwen-tts-1.7B" displayName="Qwen TTS 1.7B" />
-          <ModelProgress modelName="qwen-tts-0.6B" displayName="Qwen TTS 0.6B" />
-          <ModelProgress modelName="whisper-base" displayName="Whisper Base" />
-          <ModelProgress modelName="whisper-small" displayName="Whisper Small" />
-          <ModelProgress modelName="whisper-medium" displayName="Whisper Medium" />
-          <ModelProgress modelName="whisper-large" displayName="Whisper Large" />
-        </div>
-
         {isLoading ? (
           <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
             <Loader2 className="h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />

app/src/components/ServerSettings/UpdateStatus.tsx

@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ export function UpdateStatus() {
   }, [platform]);
 
   return (
-    <Card>
+    <Card
+      role="region"
+      aria-label="App Updates"
+      tabIndex={0}
+    >
       <CardHeader>
         <CardTitle>App Updates</CardTitle>
       </CardHeader>

app/src/components/ServerTab/ServerTab.tsx

@@ -1,19 +1,25 @@
 import { ConnectionForm } from '@/components/ServerSettings/ConnectionForm';
+import { GenerationSettings } from '@/components/ServerSettings/GenerationSettings';
 import { GpuAcceleration } from '@/components/ServerSettings/GpuAcceleration';
-import { ServerStatus } from '@/components/ServerSettings/ServerStatus';
 import { UpdateStatus } from '@/components/ServerSettings/UpdateStatus';
+import { BOTTOM_SAFE_AREA_PADDING } from '@/lib/constants/ui';
+import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
 import { usePlatform } from '@/platform/PlatformContext';
+import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
 
 export function ServerTab() {
   const platform = usePlatform();
+  const isPlayerVisible = !!usePlayerStore((state) => state.audioUrl);
   return (
-    <div className="space-y-4 overflow-y-auto flex flex-col">
+    <div
+      className={cn('overflow-y-auto flex flex-col', isPlayerVisible && BOTTOM_SAFE_AREA_PADDING)}
+    >
       <div className="grid gap-4 md:grid-cols-2">
         <ConnectionForm />
-        <ServerStatus />
+        <GenerationSettings />
+        {platform.metadata.isTauri && <GpuAcceleration />}
+        {platform.metadata.isTauri && <UpdateStatus />}
       </div>
-      {platform.metadata.isTauri && <GpuAcceleration />}
-      {platform.metadata.isTauri && <UpdateStatus />}
       <div className="py-8 text-center text-sm text-muted-foreground">
         Created by{' '}
         <a

app/src/components/Sidebar.tsx

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import { Link, useMatchRoute } from '@tanstack/react-router';
-import { Box, BookOpen, Loader2, Mic, Server, Speaker, Volume2 } from 'lucide-react';
+import { BookOpen, Box, Mic, Server, Speaker, Volume2 } from 'lucide-react';
 import voiceboxLogo from '@/assets/voicebox-logo.png';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
-import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
 import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
+import { version } from '../../package.json';
 
 interface SidebarProps {
   isMacOS?: boolean;
@@ -19,10 +19,8 @@ const tabs = [
 ];
 
 export function Sidebar({ isMacOS }: SidebarProps) {
-  const isGenerating = useGenerationStore((state) => state.isGenerating);
-  const audioUrl = usePlayerStore((state) => state.audioUrl);
-  const isPlayerVisible = !!audioUrl;
   const matchRoute = useMatchRoute();
+  const isPlayerOpen = !!usePlayerStore((s) => s.audioUrl);
 
   return (
     <div
@@ -42,9 +40,7 @@ export function Sidebar({ isMacOS }: SidebarProps) {
           const Icon = tab.icon;
           // For index route, use exact match; for others, use default matching
           const isActive =
-            tab.path === '/'
+            tab.path === '/' ? matchRoute({ to: '/', exact: true }) : matchRoute({ to: tab.path });
-              ? matchRoute({ to: '/', exact: true })
-              : matchRoute({ to: tab.path });
 
           return (
             <Link
@@ -64,20 +60,13 @@ export function Sidebar({ isMacOS }: SidebarProps) {
         })}
       </div>
 
-      {/* Spacer to push loader to bottom */}
+      {/* Version */}
-      <div className="flex-1" />
+      <div
-
+        className="mt-auto text-[10px] text-muted-foreground/50 transition-all duration-300"
-      {/* Generation Loader */}
+        style={{ paddingBottom: isPlayerOpen ? '7rem' : undefined }}
-      {isGenerating && (
+      >
-        <div
+        v{version}
-          className={cn(
+      </div>
-            'w-full flex items-center justify-center transition-all duration-200',
-            isPlayerVisible ? 'mb-[120px]' : 'mb-0',
-          )}
-        >
-          <Loader2 className="h-6 w-6 text-accent animate-spin" />
-        </div>
-      )}
     </div>
   );
 }

app/src/components/StoriesTab/StoriesTab.tsx

@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 import { FloatingGenerateBox } from '@/components/Generation/FloatingGenerateBox';
+import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
 import { StoryContent } from './StoryContent';
 import { StoryList } from './StoryList';
 
 export function StoriesTab() {
+  const audioUrl = usePlayerStore((state) => state.audioUrl);
+
   return (
     <div className="flex flex-col h-full min-h-0 overflow-hidden">
       {/* Main content area */}
@@ -18,7 +21,7 @@ export function StoriesTab() {
         </div>
 
         {/* Floating Generate Box - position is managed via storyStore.trackEditorHeight */}
-        <FloatingGenerateBox showVoiceSelector />
+        <FloatingGenerateBox showVoiceSelector isPlayerOpen={!!audioUrl} />
       </div>
     </div>
   );

app/src/components/StoriesTab/StoryContent.tsx

@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@ import {
   sortableKeyboardCoordinates,
   verticalListSortingStrategy,
 } from '@dnd-kit/sortable';
+import { Link } from '@tanstack/react-router';
+import { AnimatePresence, motion } from 'framer-motion';
 import { Download, Plus } from 'lucide-react';
 import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import Loader from 'react-loaders';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input';
 import { Popover, PopoverContent, PopoverTrigger } from '@/components/ui/popover';
@@ -28,6 +31,7 @@ import {
   useStory,
 } from '@/lib/hooks/useStories';
 import { useStoryPlayback } from '@/lib/hooks/useStoryPlayback';
+import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
 import { useStoryStore } from '@/stores/storyStore';
 import { SortableStoryChatItem } from './StoryChatItem';
 
@@ -40,6 +44,7 @@ export function StoryContent() {
   const addStoryItem = useAddStoryItem();
   const { toast } = useToast();
   const scrollRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const pendingCount = useGenerationStore((s) => s.pendingGenerationIds.size);
 
   // Add generation popover state
   const [searchQuery, setSearchQuery] = useState('');
@@ -53,9 +58,9 @@ export function StoryContent() {
     const query = searchQuery.toLowerCase();
     return historyData.items.filter(
       (gen) =>
+        gen.status === 'completed' &&
         !storyGenerationIds.has(gen.id) &&
-        (gen.text.toLowerCase().includes(query) ||
+        (gen.text.toLowerCase().includes(query) || gen.profile_name.toLowerCase().includes(query)),
-          gen.profile_name.toLowerCase().includes(query)),
     );
   }, [historyData, story, searchQuery]);
 
@@ -267,7 +272,31 @@ export function StoryContent() {
             <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground mt-1">{story.description}</p>
           )}
         </div>
-        <div className="flex gap-2">
+        <div className="flex gap-2 items-center">
+          <AnimatePresence>
+            {pendingCount > 0 && (
+              <motion.div
+                initial={{ opacity: 0, scale: 0.9, width: 0 }}
+                animate={{ opacity: 1, scale: 1, width: 'auto' }}
+                exit={{ opacity: 0, scale: 0.9, width: 0 }}
+                transition={{ duration: 0.2 }}
+              >
+                <Link
+                  to="/"
+                  className="flex items-center gap-2 h-8 pl-1.5 pr-3 rounded-full bg-card border border-border hover:bg-muted/50 transition-all duration-200 cursor-pointer"
+                >
+                  <div className="shrink-0 w-10 h-5 overflow-hidden flex items-center justify-center">
+                    <div className="scale-[0.45]">
+                      <Loader type="line-scale" active />
+                    </div>
+                  </div>
+                  <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground whitespace-nowrap">
+                    Generating {pendingCount} {pendingCount === 1 ? 'audio' : 'audios'}
+                  </span>
+                </Link>
+              </motion.div>
+            )}
+          </AnimatePresence>
           <Popover open={isAddOpen} onOpenChange={setIsAddOpen}>
             <PopoverTrigger asChild>
               <Button variant="outline" size="sm">
@@ -287,9 +316,7 @@ export function StoryContent() {
               <div className="max-h-60 overflow-y-auto">
                 {availableGenerations.length === 0 ? (
                   <div className="p-4 text-center text-sm text-muted-foreground">
-                    {searchQuery
+                    {searchQuery ? 'No matching generations found' : 'No available generations'}
-                      ? 'No matching generations found'
-                      : 'No available generations'}
                   </div>
                 ) : (
                   availableGenerations.map((gen) => (

app/src/components/StoriesTab/StoryList.tsx

@@ -194,17 +194,29 @@ export function StoryList() {
           storyList.map((story) => (
             <div
               key={story.id}
+              role="button"
+              tabIndex={0}
               className={cn(
-                'h-24 p-4 border rounded-2xl transition-colors group flex items-center',
+                'h-24 p-4 border rounded-2xl transition-colors group flex items-center cursor-pointer',
                 selectedStoryId === story.id && 'bg-muted border-primary',
               )}
+              aria-label={
+                selectedStoryId === story.id
+                  ? `Story ${story.name}, ${story.item_count} ${story.item_count === 1 ? 'item' : 'items'}, ${formatDate(story.updated_at)}. Selected. Press Enter to select.`
+                  : `Story ${story.name}, ${story.item_count} ${story.item_count === 1 ? 'item' : 'items'}, ${formatDate(story.updated_at)}. Press Enter to select.`
+              }
+              aria-pressed={selectedStoryId === story.id}
+              onClick={() => setSelectedStoryId(story.id)}
+              onKeyDown={(e) => {
+                if (e.target !== e.currentTarget) return;
+                if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') {
+                  e.preventDefault();
+                  setSelectedStoryId(story.id);
+                }
+              }}
             >
               <div className="flex items-start justify-between gap-2 w-full min-w-0">
-                <button
+                <div className="flex-1 min-w-0 text-left overflow-hidden">
-                  type="button"
-                  className="flex-1 min-w-0 text-left cursor-pointer overflow-hidden"
-                  onClick={() => setSelectedStoryId(story.id)}
-                >
                   <h3 className="font-medium truncate">{story.name}</h3>
                   {story.description && (
                     <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground mt-1 truncate">
@@ -218,7 +230,7 @@ export function StoryList() {
                     <span>•</span>
                     <span>{formatDate(story.updated_at)}</span>
                   </div>
-                </button>
+                </div>
                 <DropdownMenu>
                   <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
                     <Button
@@ -226,6 +238,7 @@ export function StoryList() {
                       size="icon"
                       className="h-8 w-8 opacity-0 group-hover:opacity-100 transition-opacity"
                       onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
+                      aria-label={`Actions for ${story.name}`}
                     >
                       <MoreHorizontal className="h-4 w-4" />
                     </Button>

app/src/components/StoriesTab/StoryTrackEditor.tsx

@@ -736,6 +736,7 @@ export function StoryTrackEditor({ storyId, items }: StoryTrackEditorProps) {
               className="h-7 w-7"
               onClick={handlePlayPause}
               title="Play/Pause (Space)"
+              aria-label={isCurrentlyPlaying ? 'Pause' : 'Play'}
             >
               {isCurrentlyPlaying ? <Pause className="h-4 w-4" /> : <Play className="h-4 w-4" />}
             </Button>
@@ -745,6 +746,7 @@ export function StoryTrackEditor({ storyId, items }: StoryTrackEditorProps) {
               className="h-7 w-7"
               onClick={handleStop}
               disabled={!isCurrentlyPlaying}
+              aria-label="Stop"
             >
               <Square className="h-3 w-3" />
             </Button>
@@ -762,6 +764,7 @@ export function StoryTrackEditor({ storyId, items }: StoryTrackEditorProps) {
                 className="h-7 w-7"
                 onClick={handleSplit}
                 title="Split at playhead (S)"
+                aria-label="Split at playhead"
               >
                 <Scissors className="h-4 w-4" />
               </Button>
@@ -771,6 +774,7 @@ export function StoryTrackEditor({ storyId, items }: StoryTrackEditorProps) {
                 className="h-7 w-7"
                 onClick={handleDuplicate}
                 title="Duplicate (Cmd/Ctrl+D)"
+                aria-label="Duplicate clip"
               >
                 <Copy className="h-4 w-4" />
               </Button>
@@ -780,6 +784,7 @@ export function StoryTrackEditor({ storyId, items }: StoryTrackEditorProps) {
                 className="h-7 w-7"
                 onClick={handleDelete}
                 title="Delete (Delete/Backspace)"
+                aria-label="Delete clip"
               >
                 <Trash2 className="h-4 w-4" />
               </Button>
@@ -789,10 +794,22 @@ export function StoryTrackEditor({ storyId, items }: StoryTrackEditorProps) {
           {/* Zoom controls - right side */}
           <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
             <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">Zoom:</span>
-            <Button variant="ghost" size="icon" className="h-6 w-6" onClick={handleZoomOut}>
+            <Button
+              variant="ghost"
+              size="icon"
+              className="h-6 w-6"
+              onClick={handleZoomOut}
+              aria-label="Zoom out"
+            >
               <Minus className="h-3 w-3" />
             </Button>
-            <Button variant="ghost" size="icon" className="h-6 w-6" onClick={handleZoomIn}>
+            <Button
+              variant="ghost"
+              size="icon"
+              className="h-6 w-6"
+              onClick={handleZoomIn}
+              aria-label="Zoom in"
+            >
               <Plus className="h-3 w-3" />
             </Button>
           </div>

app/src/components/VoiceProfiles/AudioSampleRecording.tsx

@@ -140,7 +140,13 @@ export function AudioSampleRecording({
               </div>
               <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground text-center">File: {file.name}</p>
               <div className="flex gap-2">
-                <Button type="button" size="icon" variant="outline" onClick={onPlayPause}>
+                <Button
+                  type="button"
+                  size="icon"
+                  variant="outline"
+                  onClick={onPlayPause}
+                  aria-label={isPlaying ? 'Pause' : 'Play'}
+                >
                   {isPlaying ? <Pause className="h-4 w-4" /> : <Play className="h-4 w-4" />}
                 </Button>
                 <Button

app/src/components/VoiceProfiles/AudioSampleSystem.tsx

@@ -77,7 +77,13 @@ export function AudioSampleSystem({
               </div>
               <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground text-center">File: {file.name}</p>
               <div className="flex gap-2">
-                <Button type="button" size="icon" variant="outline" onClick={onPlayPause}>
+                <Button
+                  type="button"
+                  size="icon"
+                  variant="outline"
+                  onClick={onPlayPause}
+                  aria-label={isPlaying ? 'Pause' : 'Play'}
+                >
                   {isPlaying ? <Pause className="h-4 w-4" /> : <Play className="h-4 w-4" />}
                 </Button>
                 <Button

app/src/components/VoiceProfiles/AudioSampleUpload.tsx

@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ export function AudioSampleUpload({
                     variant="outline"
                     onClick={onPlayPause}
                     disabled={isValidating}
+                    aria-label={isPlaying ? 'Pause' : 'Play'}
                   >
                     {isPlaying ? <Pause className="h-4 w-4" /> : <Play className="h-4 w-4" />}
                   </Button>

app/src/components/VoiceProfiles/ProfileCard.tsx

@@ -61,14 +61,32 @@ export function ProfileCard({ profile }: ProfileCardProps) {
     exportProfile.mutate(profile.id);
   };
 
+  const handleKeyDown = (e: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
+    const target = e.target as HTMLElement;
+    if (target.closest('button')) return;
+    if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      handleSelect();
+    }
+  };
+
+  const selectLabel = isSelected
+    ? `${profile.name}, ${profile.language}. Selected as voice for generation.`
+    : `${profile.name}, ${profile.language}. Select as voice for generation.`;
+
   return (
     <>
       <Card
         className={cn(
-          'cursor-pointer hover:shadow-md transition-all flex flex-col',
+          'cursor-pointer hover:shadow-md transition-all flex flex-col h-[162px]',
           isSelected && 'ring-2 ring-primary shadow-md',
         )}
         onClick={handleSelect}
+        tabIndex={0}
+        role="button"
+        aria-label={selectLabel}
+        aria-pressed={isSelected}
+        onKeyDown={handleKeyDown}
       >
         <CardHeader className="p-3 pb-2">
           <CardTitle className="flex items-center gap-1.5 text-base font-medium">

app/src/components/VoiceProfiles/ProfileList.tsx

@@ -41,9 +41,11 @@ export function ProfileList() {
             </CardContent>
           </Card>
         ) : (
-          <div className="grid gap-4 grid-cols-3 auto-rows-auto p-1 pb-[150px]">
+          <div className="flex gap-4 overflow-x-auto p-1 pb-1 lg:grid lg:grid-cols-3 lg:auto-rows-auto lg:overflow-x-visible lg:pb-[150px]">
             {allProfiles.map((profile) => (
-              <ProfileCard key={profile.id} profile={profile} />
+              <div key={profile.id} className="shrink-0 w-[200px] lg:w-auto lg:shrink">
+                <ProfileCard profile={profile} />
+              </div>
             ))}
           </div>
         )}

app/src/components/VoiceProfiles/SampleList.tsx

@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ function MiniSamplePlayer({ audioUrl }: MiniSamplePlayerProps) {
           className="h-7 w-7 shrink-0"
           onClick={handlePlayPause}
           disabled={isLoading}
+          aria-label={isPlaying ? 'Pause sample' : 'Play sample'}
         >
           {isPlaying ? <Pause className="h-3.5 w-3.5" /> : <Play className="h-3.5 w-3.5 ml-0.5" />}
         </Button>
@@ -113,6 +114,8 @@ function MiniSamplePlayer({ audioUrl }: MiniSamplePlayerProps) {
             max={100}
             step={0.1}
             className="flex-1"
+            aria-label="Sample playback position"
+            aria-valuetext={`${formatAudioDuration(currentTime)} of ${formatAudioDuration(duration)}`}
           />
           <div className="flex items-center gap-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground shrink-0 min-w-[70px]">
             <span className="font-mono">{formatAudioDuration(currentTime)}</span>
@@ -128,6 +131,7 @@ function MiniSamplePlayer({ audioUrl }: MiniSamplePlayerProps) {
           className="h-7 w-7 shrink-0"
           onClick={handleStop}
           title="Stop"
+          aria-label="Stop playback"
         >
           <X className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
         </Button>

app/src/components/VoicesTab/VoicesTab.tsx

@@ -179,25 +179,36 @@ function VoiceRow({
   onDelete,
 }: VoiceRowProps) {
   const { data: samples } = useProfileSamples(profile.id);
+  const sampleCount = samples?.length || 0;
+
+  const rowLabel = `${profile.name}, ${profile.language}, ${generationCount} generations, ${sampleCount} samples. Press Enter to edit.`;
 
   return (
     <TableRow className="cursor-pointer" onClick={onEdit}>
       <TableCell>
-        <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+        <button
+          type="button"
+          className="flex w-full min-w-0 items-center gap-2 text-left focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-ring focus-visible:ring-offset-2 rounded"
+          aria-label={rowLabel}
+          onClick={(e) => {
+            e.stopPropagation();
+            onEdit();
+          }}
+        >
           <div className="h-8 w-8 rounded-lg bg-muted flex items-center justify-center shrink-0">
             <Mic className="h-4 w-4 text-muted-foreground" />
           </div>
-          <div>
+          <div className="min-w-0">
-            <div className="font-medium">{profile.name}</div>
+            <div className="font-medium truncate">{profile.name}</div>
             {profile.description && (
-              <div className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">{profile.description}</div>
+              <div className="text-sm text-muted-foreground truncate">{profile.description}</div>
             )}
           </div>
-        </div>
+        </button>
       </TableCell>
       <TableCell onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>{profile.language}</TableCell>
       <TableCell onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>{generationCount}</TableCell>
-      <TableCell onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>{samples?.length || 0}</TableCell>
+      <TableCell onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>{sampleCount}</TableCell>
       <TableCell onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>
         <MultiSelect
           options={channels.map((ch) => ({
@@ -213,7 +224,7 @@ function VoiceRow({
       <TableCell onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>
         <DropdownMenu>
           <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
-            <Button variant="ghost" size="icon">
+            <Button variant="ghost" size="icon" aria-label={`Actions for ${profile.name}`}>
               <MoreHorizontal className="h-4 w-4" />
             </Button>
           </DropdownMenuTrigger>

app/src/components/ui/checkbox.tsx

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import * as React from 'react';
 import { Check } from 'lucide-react';
+import * as React from 'react';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils/cn';
 
 export interface CheckboxProps {

app/src/index.css

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 @import "tailwindcss" source(".");
+@import "loaders.css/loaders.min.css";
 
 @theme {
   --radius-sm: calc(var(--radius) - 4px);
@@ -155,3 +156,18 @@
   animation: fadeIn 0.5s ease-out 0.15s forwards;
   opacity: 0;
 }
+
+/* react-loaders */
+.line-scale-pulse-out-rapid > div,
+.line-scale > div {
+  background-color: hsl(var(--accent)) !important;
+}
+
+.loader-hidden {
+  display: block;
+}
+
+.loader-hidden > div > div {
+  animation-play-state: paused !important;
+  background-color: hsl(var(--muted-foreground)) !important;
+}

app/src/lib/api/client.ts

@@ -200,6 +200,12 @@ class ApiClient {
     });
   }
 
+  async retryGeneration(generationId: string): Promise<GenerationResponse> {
+    return this.request<GenerationResponse>(`/generate/${generationId}/retry`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+    });
+  }
+
   // History
   async listHistory(query?: HistoryQuery): Promise<HistoryListResponse> {
     const params = new URLSearchParams();
@@ -278,6 +284,11 @@ class ApiClient {
     return response.json();
   }
 
+  // Generation status SSE
+  getGenerationStatusUrl(generationId: string): string {
+    return `${this.getBaseUrl()}/generate/${generationId}/status`;
+  }
+
   // Audio
   getAudioUrl(audioId: string): string {
     return `${this.getBaseUrl()}/audio/${audioId}`;
@@ -316,6 +327,21 @@ class ApiClient {
     return this.request<ModelStatusListResponse>('/models/status');
   }
 
+  async getModelsCacheDir(): Promise<{ path: string }> {
+    return this.request<{ path: string }>('/models/cache-dir');
+  }
+
+  async migrateModels(destination: string): Promise<{ source: string; destination: string }> {
+    return this.request('/models/migrate', {
+      method: 'POST',
+      body: JSON.stringify({ destination }),
+    });
+  }
+
+  getMigrationProgressUrl(): string {
+    return `${this.getBaseUrl()}/models/migrate/progress`;
+  }
+
   async triggerModelDownload(modelName: string): Promise<{ message: string }> {
     console.log(
       '[API] triggerModelDownload called for:',
@@ -337,6 +363,12 @@ class ApiClient {
     });
   }
 
+  async unloadModel(modelName: string): Promise<{ message: string }> {
+    return this.request<{ message: string }>(`/models/${modelName}/unload`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+    });
+  }
+
   async cancelDownload(modelName: string): Promise<{ message: string }> {
     return this.request<{ message: string }>('/models/download/cancel', {
       method: 'POST',

app/src/lib/api/types.ts

@@ -34,8 +34,11 @@ export interface GenerationRequest {
   language: LanguageCode;
   seed?: number;
   model_size?: '1.7B' | '0.6B';
-  engine?: 'qwen' | 'luxtts';
+  engine?: 'qwen' | 'luxtts' | 'chatterbox' | 'chatterbox_turbo';
   instruct?: string;
+  max_chunk_chars?: number;
+  crossfade_ms?: number;
+  normalize?: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface GenerationResponse {
@@ -43,9 +46,14 @@ export interface GenerationResponse {
   profile_id: string;
   text: string;
   language: string;
-  audio_path: string;
+  audio_path?: string;
-  duration: number;
+  duration?: number;
   seed?: number;
+  instruct?: string;
+  engine?: string;
+  model_size?: string;
+  status: 'generating' | 'completed' | 'failed';
+  error?: string;
   created_at: string;
 }
 
@@ -119,12 +127,29 @@ export interface ModelProgress {
 export interface ModelStatus {
   model_name: string;
   display_name: string;
+  hf_repo_id?: string; // HuggingFace repository ID
   downloaded: boolean;
   downloading: boolean; // True if download is in progress
   size_mb?: number;
   loaded: boolean;
 }
 
+export interface HuggingFaceModelInfo {
+  id: string;
+  author: string;
+  lastModified: string;
+  pipeline_tag?: string;
+  library_name?: string;
+  downloads: number;
+  likes: number;
+  tags: string[];
+  cardData?: {
+    license?: string;
+    language?: string[];
+    pipeline_tag?: string;
+  };
+}
+
 export interface ModelStatusListResponse {
   models: ModelStatus[];
 }
@@ -138,6 +163,10 @@ export interface ActiveDownloadTask {
   status: string;
   started_at: string;
   error?: string;
+  progress?: number; // 0-100 percentage
+  current?: number; // bytes downloaded
+  total?: number; // total bytes
+  filename?: string; // current file being downloaded
 }
 
 export interface ActiveGenerationTask {

app/src/lib/constants/languages.ts

@@ -1,26 +1,86 @@
 /**
- * Supported languages for Qwen3-TTS
+ * Supported languages for voice generation, per engine.
- * Based on: https://github.com/QwenLM/Qwen3-TTS
+ *
+ * Qwen3-TTS supports 10 languages.
+ * LuxTTS is English-only.
+ * Chatterbox Multilingual supports 23 languages.
+ * Chatterbox Turbo is English-only.
  */
 
-export const SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES = {
+/** All languages that any engine supports. */
-  zh: 'Chinese',
+export const ALL_LANGUAGES = {
+  ar: 'Arabic',
+  da: 'Danish',
+  de: 'German',
+  el: 'Greek',
   en: 'English',
+  es: 'Spanish',
+  fi: 'Finnish',
+  fr: 'French',
+  he: 'Hebrew',
+  hi: 'Hindi',
+  it: 'Italian',
   ja: 'Japanese',
   ko: 'Korean',
-  de: 'German',
+  ms: 'Malay',
-  fr: 'French',
+  nl: 'Dutch',
-  ru: 'Russian',
+  no: 'Norwegian',
+  pl: 'Polish',
   pt: 'Portuguese',
-  es: 'Spanish',
+  ru: 'Russian',
-  it: 'Italian',
+  sv: 'Swedish',
+  sw: 'Swahili',
+  tr: 'Turkish',
+  zh: 'Chinese',
 } as const;
 
-export type LanguageCode = keyof typeof SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES;
+export type LanguageCode = keyof typeof ALL_LANGUAGES;
 
-export const LANGUAGE_CODES = Object.keys(SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES) as LanguageCode[];
+/** Per-engine supported language codes. */
+export const ENGINE_LANGUAGES: Record<string, readonly LanguageCode[]> = {
+  qwen: ['zh', 'en', 'ja', 'ko', 'de', 'fr', 'ru', 'pt', 'es', 'it'],
+  luxtts: ['en'],
+  chatterbox: [
+    'ar',
+    'da',
+    'de',
+    'el',
+    'en',
+    'es',
+    'fi',
+    'fr',
+    'he',
+    'hi',
+    'it',
+    'ja',
+    'ko',
+    'ms',
+    'nl',
+    'no',
+    'pl',
+    'pt',
+    'ru',
+    'sv',
+    'sw',
+    'tr',
+    'zh',
+  ],
+  chatterbox_turbo: ['en'],
+} as const;
 
+/** Helper: get language options for a given engine. */
+export function getLanguageOptionsForEngine(engine: string) {
+  const codes = ENGINE_LANGUAGES[engine] ?? ENGINE_LANGUAGES.qwen;
+  return codes.map((code) => ({
+    value: code,
+    label: ALL_LANGUAGES[code],
+  }));
+}
+
+// ── Backwards-compatible exports used elsewhere ──────────────────────
+export const SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES = ALL_LANGUAGES;
+export const LANGUAGE_CODES = Object.keys(ALL_LANGUAGES) as LanguageCode[];
 export const LANGUAGE_OPTIONS = LANGUAGE_CODES.map((code) => ({
   value: code,
-  label: SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES[code],
+  label: ALL_LANGUAGES[code],
 }));

app/src/lib/hooks/useGenerationForm.ts

@@ -8,15 +8,15 @@ import { LANGUAGE_CODES, type LanguageCode } from '@/lib/constants/languages';
 import { useGeneration } from '@/lib/hooks/useGeneration';
 import { useModelDownloadToast } from '@/lib/hooks/useModelDownloadToast';
 import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
-import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
+import { useServerStore } from '@/stores/serverStore';
 
 const generationSchema = z.object({
-  text: z.string().min(1, 'Text is required').max(5000),
+  text: z.string().min(1, 'Text is required').max(50000),
   language: z.enum(LANGUAGE_CODES as [LanguageCode, ...LanguageCode[]]),
   seed: z.number().int().optional(),
   modelSize: z.enum(['1.7B', '0.6B']).optional(),
   instruct: z.string().max(500).optional(),
-  engine: z.enum(['qwen', 'luxtts']).optional(),
+  engine: z.enum(['qwen', 'luxtts', 'chatterbox', 'chatterbox_turbo']).optional(),
 });
 
 export type GenerationFormValues = z.infer<typeof generationSchema>;
@@ -29,8 +29,10 @@ interface UseGenerationFormOptions {
 export function useGenerationForm(options: UseGenerationFormOptions = {}) {
   const { toast } = useToast();
   const generation = useGeneration();
-  const setAudioWithAutoPlay = usePlayerStore((state) => state.setAudioWithAutoPlay);
+  const addPendingGeneration = useGenerationStore((state) => state.addPendingGeneration);
-  const setIsGenerating = useGenerationStore((state) => state.setIsGenerating);
+  const maxChunkChars = useServerStore((state) => state.maxChunkChars);
+  const crossfadeMs = useServerStore((state) => state.crossfadeMs);
+  const normalizeAudio = useServerStore((state) => state.normalizeAudio);
   const [downloadingModelName, setDownloadingModelName] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [downloadingDisplayName, setDownloadingDisplayName] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
@@ -67,17 +69,27 @@ export function useGenerationForm(options: UseGenerationFormOptions = {}) {
     }
 
     try {
-      setIsGenerating(true);
-
       const engine = data.engine || 'qwen';
-      const modelName = engine === 'luxtts' ? 'luxtts' : `qwen-tts-${data.modelSize}`;
+      const modelName =
+        engine === 'luxtts'
+          ? 'luxtts'
+          : engine === 'chatterbox'
+            ? 'chatterbox-tts'
+            : engine === 'chatterbox_turbo'
+              ? 'chatterbox-turbo'
+              : `qwen-tts-${data.modelSize}`;
       const displayName =
         engine === 'luxtts'
           ? 'LuxTTS'
-          : data.modelSize === '1.7B'
+          : engine === 'chatterbox'
-            ? 'Qwen TTS 1.7B'
+            ? 'Chatterbox TTS'
-            : 'Qwen TTS 0.6B';
+            : engine === 'chatterbox_turbo'
+              ? 'Chatterbox Turbo'
+              : data.modelSize === '1.7B'
+                ? 'Qwen TTS 1.7B'
+                : 'Qwen TTS 0.6B';
 
+      // Check if model needs downloading
       try {
         const modelStatus = await apiClient.getModelStatus();
         const model = modelStatus.models.find((m) => m.model_name === modelName);
@@ -90,24 +102,25 @@ export function useGenerationForm(options: UseGenerationFormOptions = {}) {
         console.error('Failed to check model status:', error);
       }
 
+      const isQwen = engine === 'qwen';
+      // This now returns immediately with status="generating"
       const result = await generation.mutateAsync({
         profile_id: selectedProfileId,
         text: data.text,
         language: data.language,
         seed: data.seed,
-        model_size: engine === 'luxtts' ? undefined : data.modelSize,
+        model_size: isQwen ? data.modelSize : undefined,
         engine,
-        instruct: engine === 'luxtts' ? undefined : data.instruct || undefined,
+        instruct: isQwen ? data.instruct || undefined : undefined,
+        max_chunk_chars: maxChunkChars,
+        crossfade_ms: crossfadeMs,
+        normalize: normalizeAudio,
       });
 
-      toast({
+      // Track this generation for SSE status updates
-        title: 'Generation complete!',
+      addPendingGeneration(result.id);
-        description: `Audio generated (${result.duration.toFixed(2)}s)`,
-      });
-
-      const audioUrl = apiClient.getAudioUrl(result.id);
-      setAudioWithAutoPlay(audioUrl, result.id, selectedProfileId, data.text.substring(0, 50));
 
+      // Reset form immediately — user can start typing again
       form.reset({
         text: '',
         language: data.language,
@@ -124,7 +137,6 @@ export function useGenerationForm(options: UseGenerationFormOptions = {}) {
         variant: 'destructive',
       });
     } finally {
-      setIsGenerating(false);
       setDownloadingModelName(null);
       setDownloadingDisplayName(null);
     }

app/src/lib/hooks/useGenerationProgress.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+import { useQueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';
+import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
+import { useToast } from '@/components/ui/use-toast';
+import { apiClient } from '@/lib/api/client';
+import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
+import { usePlayerStore } from '@/stores/playerStore';
+import { useServerStore } from '@/stores/serverStore';
+
+interface GenerationStatusEvent {
+  id: string;
+  status: 'generating' | 'completed' | 'failed' | 'not_found';
+  duration?: number;
+  error?: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Subscribes to SSE for all pending generations. When a generation completes,
+ * invalidates the history query, removes it from pending, and auto-plays
+ * if the player is idle.
+ */
+export function useGenerationProgress() {
+  const queryClient = useQueryClient();
+  const { toast } = useToast();
+  const pendingIds = useGenerationStore((s) => s.pendingGenerationIds);
+  const removePendingGeneration = useGenerationStore((s) => s.removePendingGeneration);
+  const removePendingStoryAdd = useGenerationStore((s) => s.removePendingStoryAdd);
+  const isPlaying = usePlayerStore((s) => s.isPlaying);
+  const setAudioWithAutoPlay = usePlayerStore((s) => s.setAudioWithAutoPlay);
+  const autoplayOnGenerate = useServerStore((s) => s.autoplayOnGenerate);
+
+  // Keep refs to avoid stale closures in EventSource handlers
+  const isPlayingRef = useRef(isPlaying);
+  const autoplayRef = useRef(autoplayOnGenerate);
+  isPlayingRef.current = isPlaying;
+  autoplayRef.current = autoplayOnGenerate;
+
+  // Track active EventSource instances
+  const eventSourcesRef = useRef<Map<string, EventSource>>(new Map());
+
+  // Unmount-only cleanup — close all SSE connections when the hook is torn down
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const sources = eventSourcesRef.current;
+    return () => {
+      for (const source of sources.values()) {
+        source.close();
+      }
+      sources.clear();
+    };
+  }, []);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const currentSources = eventSourcesRef.current;
+
+    // Close SSE connections for IDs no longer pending
+    for (const [id, source] of currentSources.entries()) {
+      if (!pendingIds.has(id)) {
+        source.close();
+        currentSources.delete(id);
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Open SSE connections for new pending IDs
+    for (const id of pendingIds) {
+      if (currentSources.has(id)) continue;
+
+      const url = apiClient.getGenerationStatusUrl(id);
+      const source = new EventSource(url);
+
+      source.onmessage = (event) => {
+        try {
+          const data: GenerationStatusEvent = JSON.parse(event.data);
+
+          if (data.status === 'completed') {
+            source.close();
+            currentSources.delete(id);
+            removePendingGeneration(id);
+
+            // Refresh history to pick up the completed generation
+            queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['history'] });
+
+            // If this generation was queued for a story, add it now
+            const storyId = removePendingStoryAdd(id);
+            if (storyId) {
+              apiClient
+                .addStoryItem(storyId, { generation_id: id })
+                .then(() => {
+                  queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['stories'] });
+                  queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['stories', storyId] });
+                  toast({
+                    title: 'Added to story',
+                    description: data.duration
+                      ? `Audio generated (${data.duration.toFixed(2)}s) and added to story`
+                      : 'Audio generated and added to story',
+                  });
+                })
+                .catch(() => {
+                  toast({
+                    title: 'Generation complete',
+                    description: 'Audio generated but failed to add to story',
+                    variant: 'destructive',
+                  });
+                });
+            } else {
+              // toast({
+              //   title: 'Generation complete!',
+              //   description: data.duration
+              //     ? `Audio generated (${data.duration.toFixed(2)}s)`
+              //     : 'Audio generated',
+              // });
+            }
+
+            // Auto-play if enabled and nothing is currently playing
+            if (autoplayRef.current && !isPlayingRef.current) {
+              const genAudioUrl = apiClient.getAudioUrl(id);
+              setAudioWithAutoPlay(genAudioUrl, id, '', '');
+            }
+          } else if (data.status === 'failed' || data.status === 'not_found') {
+            source.close();
+            currentSources.delete(id);
+            removePendingGeneration(id);
+            removePendingStoryAdd(id);
+
+            queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['history'] });
+
+            toast({
+              title: data.status === 'not_found' ? 'Generation not found' : 'Generation failed',
+              description: data.error || 'An error occurred during generation',
+              variant: 'destructive',
+            });
+          }
+        } catch {
+          // Ignore parse errors from heartbeats etc
+        }
+      };
+
+      source.onerror = () => {
+        // EventSource auto-reconnects, but if we get repeated errors
+        // just clean up
+        source.close();
+        currentSources.delete(id);
+        removePendingGeneration(id);
+      };
+
+      currentSources.set(id, source);
+    }
+  }, [
+    pendingIds,
+    removePendingGeneration,
+    removePendingStoryAdd,
+    queryClient,
+    toast,
+    setAudioWithAutoPlay,
+  ]);
+}

app/src/lib/hooks/useRestoreActiveTasks.tsx

@@ -1,23 +1,23 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { apiClient } from '@/lib/api/client';
-import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
 import type { ActiveDownloadTask } from '@/lib/api/types';
+import { useGenerationStore } from '@/stores/generationStore';
 
 // Polling interval in milliseconds
-const POLL_INTERVAL = 2000;
+const POLL_INTERVAL = 30000;
 
 /**
  * Hook to monitor active tasks (downloads and generations).
  * Polls the server periodically to catch downloads triggered from anywhere
  * (transcription, generation, explicit download, etc.).
- * 
+ *
  * Returns the active downloads so components can render download toasts.
  */
 export function useRestoreActiveTasks() {
   const [activeDownloads, setActiveDownloads] = useState<ActiveDownloadTask[]>([]);
-  const setIsGenerating = useGenerationStore((state) => state.setIsGenerating);
   const setActiveGenerationId = useGenerationStore((state) => state.setActiveGenerationId);
-  
+  const addPendingGeneration = useGenerationStore((state) => state.addPendingGeneration);
+
   // Track which downloads we've seen to detect new ones
   const seenDownloadsRef = useRef<Set<string>>(new Set());
 
@@ -25,15 +25,15 @@ export function useRestoreActiveTasks() {
     try {
       const tasks = await apiClient.getActiveTasks();
 
-      // Update generation state
+      // Restore pending generations (e.g., after page refresh)
       if (tasks.generations.length > 0) {
-        setIsGenerating(true);
         setActiveGenerationId(tasks.generations[0].task_id);
+        for (const gen of tasks.generations) {
+          addPendingGeneration(gen.task_id);
+        }
       } else {
-        // Only clear if we were tracking a generation
         const currentId = useGenerationStore.getState().activeGenerationId;
         if (currentId) {
-          setIsGenerating(false);
           setActiveGenerationId(null);
         }
       }
@@ -41,14 +41,14 @@ export function useRestoreActiveTasks() {
       // Update active downloads
       // Keep track of all active downloads (including new ones)
       const currentDownloadNames = new Set(tasks.downloads.map((d) => d.model_name));
-      
+
       // Remove completed downloads from our seen set
       for (const name of seenDownloadsRef.current) {
         if (!currentDownloadNames.has(name)) {
           seenDownloadsRef.current.delete(name);
         }
       }
-      
+
       // Add new downloads to seen set
       for (const download of tasks.downloads) {
         seenDownloadsRef.current.add(download.model_name);
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export function useRestoreActiveTasks() {
       // Silently fail - server might be temporarily unavailable
       console.debug('Failed to fetch active tasks:', error);
     }
-  }, [setIsGenerating, setActiveGenerationId]);
+  }, [setActiveGenerationId, addPendingGeneration]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     // Fetch immediately on mount

app/src/lib/utils/format.ts

@@ -21,10 +21,25 @@ export function formatDate(date: string | Date): string {
   } else {
     dateObj = date;
   }
-  
+
   return formatDistance(dateObj, new Date(), { addSuffix: true }).replace(/^about /i, '');
 }
 
+const ENGINE_DISPLAY_NAMES: Record<string, string> = {
+  qwen: 'Qwen',
+  luxtts: 'LuxTTS',
+  chatterbox: 'Chatterbox',
+  chatterbox_turbo: 'Chatterbox Turbo',
+};
+
+export function formatEngineName(engine?: string, modelSize?: string): string {
+  const name = ENGINE_DISPLAY_NAMES[engine ?? 'qwen'] ?? engine ?? 'Qwen';
+  if (engine === 'qwen' && modelSize) {
+    return `${name} ${modelSize}`;
+  }
+  return name;
+}
+
 export function formatFileSize(bytes: number): string {
   if (bytes === 0) return '0 Bytes';
   const k = 1024;

app/src/platform/types.ts

@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ export interface PlatformAudio {
 }
 
 export interface PlatformLifecycle {
-  startServer(remote?: boolean): Promise<string>;
+  startServer(remote?: boolean, modelsDir?: string | null): Promise<string>;
   stopServer(): Promise<void>;
-  restartServer(): Promise<string>;
+  restartServer(modelsDir?: string | null): Promise<string>;
   setKeepServerRunning(keep: boolean): Promise<void>;
   setupWindowCloseHandler(): Promise<void>;
   onServerReady?: () => void;

app/src/router.tsx

@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@ import { Sidebar } from '@/components/Sidebar';
 import { StoriesTab } from '@/components/StoriesTab/StoriesTab';
 import { Toaster } from '@/components/ui/toaster';
 import { VoicesTab } from '@/components/VoicesTab/VoicesTab';
+import { useGenerationProgress } from '@/lib/hooks/useGenerationProgress';
 import { useModelDownloadToast } from '@/lib/hooks/useModelDownloadToast';
 import { MODEL_DISPLAY_NAMES, useRestoreActiveTasks } from '@/lib/hooks/useRestoreActiveTasks';
+
 // Simple platform check that works in both web and Tauri
 const isMacOS = () => navigator.platform.toLowerCase().includes('mac');
 
@@ -18,6 +20,9 @@ function RootLayout() {
   // Monitor active downloads/generations and show toasts for them
   const activeDownloads = useRestoreActiveTasks();
 
+  // Subscribe to SSE for pending generations — handles completion, auto-play, and history refresh
+  useGenerationProgress();
+
   return (
     <AppFrame>
       <div className="flex flex-1 min-h-0 overflow-hidden">

app/src/stores/generationStore.ts

@@ -1,15 +1,58 @@
 import { create } from 'zustand';
 
 interface GenerationState {
+  /** IDs of generations currently in progress */
+  pendingGenerationIds: Set<string>;
+  /** Whether any generation is in progress (derived from pendingGenerationIds) */
   isGenerating: boolean;
-  activeGenerationId: string | null;
+  /** Map of generationId → storyId for deferred story additions */
-  setIsGenerating: (generating: boolean) => void;
+  pendingStoryAdds: Map<string, string>;
+  addPendingGeneration: (id: string) => void;
+  removePendingGeneration: (id: string) => void;
+  addPendingStoryAdd: (generationId: string, storyId: string) => void;
+  removePendingStoryAdd: (generationId: string) => string | undefined;
   setActiveGenerationId: (id: string | null) => void;
+  activeGenerationId: string | null;
 }
 
-export const useGenerationStore = create<GenerationState>((set) => ({
+export const useGenerationStore = create<GenerationState>((set, get) => ({
+  pendingGenerationIds: new Set(),
   isGenerating: false,
   activeGenerationId: null,
-  setIsGenerating: (generating) => set({ isGenerating: generating }),
+  pendingStoryAdds: new Map(),
+
+  addPendingGeneration: (id) =>
+    set((state) => {
+      const next = new Set(state.pendingGenerationIds);
+      next.add(id);
+      return { pendingGenerationIds: next, isGenerating: true };
+    }),
+
+  removePendingGeneration: (id) =>
+    set((state) => {
+      const next = new Set(state.pendingGenerationIds);
+      next.delete(id);
+      return { pendingGenerationIds: next, isGenerating: next.size > 0 };
+    }),
+
+  addPendingStoryAdd: (generationId, storyId) =>
+    set((state) => {
+      const next = new Map(state.pendingStoryAdds);
+      next.set(generationId, storyId);
+      return { pendingStoryAdds: next };
+    }),
+
+  removePendingStoryAdd: (generationId) => {
+    const storyId = get().pendingStoryAdds.get(generationId);
+    if (storyId) {
+      set((state) => {
+        const next = new Map(state.pendingStoryAdds);
+        next.delete(generationId);
+        return { pendingStoryAdds: next };
+      });
+    }
+    return storyId;
+  },
+
   setActiveGenerationId: (id) => set({ activeGenerationId: id }),
 }));

app/src/stores/serverStore.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,21 @@ interface ServerStore {
 
   keepServerRunningOnClose: boolean;
   setKeepServerRunningOnClose: (keepRunning: boolean) => void;
+
+  maxChunkChars: number;
+  setMaxChunkChars: (value: number) => void;
+
+  crossfadeMs: number;
+  setCrossfadeMs: (value: number) => void;
+
+  normalizeAudio: boolean;
+  setNormalizeAudio: (value: boolean) => void;
+
+  autoplayOnGenerate: boolean;
+  setAutoplayOnGenerate: (value: boolean) => void;
+
+  customModelsDir: string | null;
+  setCustomModelsDir: (dir: string | null) => void;
 }
 
 export const useServerStore = create<ServerStore>()(
@@ -29,6 +44,21 @@ export const useServerStore = create<ServerStore>()(
 
       keepServerRunningOnClose: false,
       setKeepServerRunningOnClose: (keepRunning) => set({ keepServerRunningOnClose: keepRunning }),
+
+      maxChunkChars: 800,
+      setMaxChunkChars: (value) => set({ maxChunkChars: value }),
+
+      crossfadeMs: 50,
+      setCrossfadeMs: (value) => set({ crossfadeMs: value }),
+
+      normalizeAudio: true,
+      setNormalizeAudio: (value) => set({ normalizeAudio: value }),
+
+      autoplayOnGenerate: true,
+      setAutoplayOnGenerate: (value) => set({ autoplayOnGenerate: value }),
+
+      customModelsDir: null,
+      setCustomModelsDir: (dir) => set({ customModelsDir: dir }),
     }),
     {
       name: 'voicebox-server',

backend/README.md

@@ -334,18 +334,21 @@ python -m backend.main --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000
 
 ## Usage Examples
 
+The desktop app, web client, and current development workflow use `http://localhost:17493` by default.
+If you launch the backend manually with a different host or port, substitute that address in the examples below.
+
 ### Creating a Voice Profile
 
 ```bash
 # 1. Create profile
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/profiles \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/profiles \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
   -d '{"name": "My Voice", "language": "en"}'
 
 # Response: {"id": "abc-123", ...}
 
 # 2. Add sample
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/profiles/abc-123/samples \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/profiles/abc-123/samples \
   -F "file=@sample.wav" \
   -F "reference_text=This is my voice sample"
 ```
@@ -353,7 +356,7 @@ curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/profiles/abc-123/samples \
 ### Generating Speech
 
 ```bash
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/generate \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/generate \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
   -d '{
     "profile_id": "abc-123",
@@ -365,13 +368,13 @@ curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/generate \
 # Response: {"id": "gen-456", "audio_path": "/path/to/audio.wav", ...}
 
 # Download audio
-curl http://localhost:8000/audio/gen-456 -o output.wav
+curl http://localhost:17493/audio/gen-456 -o output.wav
 ```
 
 ### Transcribing Audio
 
 ```bash
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/transcribe \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/transcribe \
   -F "file=@audio.wav" \
   -F "language=en"
 
@@ -386,12 +389,12 @@ Add multiple samples to a profile for better quality:
 
 ```bash
 # Add first sample
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/profiles/abc-123/samples \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/profiles/abc-123/samples \
   -F "file=@sample1.wav" \
   -F "reference_text=First sample"
 
 # Add second sample
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/profiles/abc-123/samples \
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/profiles/abc-123/samples \
   -F "file=@sample2.wav" \
   -F "reference_text=Second sample"
 
@@ -412,10 +415,10 @@ Models are lazy-loaded and can be manually unloaded:
 
 ```bash
 # Unload TTS model
-curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/models/unload
+curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/models/unload
 
 # Load specific model size
-curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/models/load?model_size=0.6B"
+curl -X POST "http://localhost:17493/models/load?model_size=0.6B"
 ```
 
 ## Error Handling

backend/backends/__init__.py

@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ _stt_backend: Optional[STTBackend] = None
 TTS_ENGINES = {
     "qwen": "Qwen TTS",
     "luxtts": "LuxTTS",
+    "chatterbox": "Chatterbox TTS",
+    "chatterbox_turbo": "Chatterbox Turbo",
 }
 
 
@@ -167,6 +169,12 @@ def get_tts_backend_for_engine(engine: str) -> TTSBackend:
         elif engine == "luxtts":
             from .luxtts_backend import LuxTTSBackend
             backend = LuxTTSBackend()
+        elif engine == "chatterbox":
+            from .chatterbox_backend import ChatterboxTTSBackend
+            backend = ChatterboxTTSBackend()
+        elif engine == "chatterbox_turbo":
+            from .chatterbox_turbo_backend import ChatterboxTurboTTSBackend
+            backend = ChatterboxTurboTTSBackend()
         else:
             raise ValueError(f"Unknown TTS engine: {engine}. Supported: {list(TTS_ENGINES.keys())}")
         

backend/backends/chatterbox_backend.py

@@ -0,0 +1,360 @@
+"""
+Chatterbox TTS backend implementation.
+
+Wraps ChatterboxMultilingualTTS from chatterbox-tts for zero-shot
+voice cloning. Supports 23 languages including Hebrew. Forces CPU
+on macOS due to known MPS tensor issues.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import logging
+import platform
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import ClassVar, List, Optional, Tuple
+
+import numpy as np
+
+from . import TTSBackend
+from ..utils.audio import normalize_audio, load_audio
+from ..utils.progress import get_progress_manager
+from ..utils.tasks import get_task_manager
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+CHATTERBOX_HF_REPO = "ResembleAI/chatterbox"
+
+# Files that must be present for the multilingual model
+_MTL_WEIGHT_FILES = [
+    "t3_mtl23ls_v2.safetensors",
+    "s3gen.pt",
+    "ve.pt",
+]
+
+
+class ChatterboxTTSBackend:
+    """Chatterbox Multilingual TTS backend for voice cloning."""
+
+    # Class-level lock for torch.load monkey-patching
+    _load_lock: ClassVar[threading.Lock] = threading.Lock()
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.model = None
+        self.model_size = "default"
+        self._device = None
+        self._model_load_lock = asyncio.Lock()
+
+    def _get_device(self) -> str:
+        """Get the best available device. Forces CPU on macOS (MPS issue)."""
+        if platform.system() == "Darwin":
+            return "cpu"
+        try:
+            import torch
+
+            if torch.cuda.is_available():
+                return "cuda"
+        except ImportError:
+            pass
+        return "cpu"
+
+    def is_loaded(self) -> bool:
+        return self.model is not None
+
+    def _get_model_path(self, model_size: str = "default") -> str:
+        return CHATTERBOX_HF_REPO
+
+    def _is_model_cached(self, model_size: str = "default") -> bool:
+        """Check if the Chatterbox multilingual model is cached locally."""
+        try:
+            from huggingface_hub import constants as hf_constants
+
+            repo_cache = Path(hf_constants.HF_HUB_CACHE) / (
+                "models--" + CHATTERBOX_HF_REPO.replace("/", "--")
+            )
+
+            if not repo_cache.exists():
+                return False
+
+            blobs_dir = repo_cache / "blobs"
+            if blobs_dir.exists() and any(blobs_dir.glob("*.incomplete")):
+                return False
+
+            # Check for multilingual weight files
+            snapshots_dir = repo_cache / "snapshots"
+            if snapshots_dir.exists():
+                for fname in _MTL_WEIGHT_FILES:
+                    if not any(snapshots_dir.rglob(fname)):
+                        return False
+                return True
+
+            return False
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warning(f"Error checking Chatterbox cache: {e}")
+            return False
+
+    async def load_model(self, model_size: str = "default") -> None:
+        """Load the Chatterbox multilingual model."""
+        if self.model is not None:
+            return
+        async with self._model_load_lock:
+            if self.model is not None:
+                return
+            await asyncio.to_thread(self._load_model_sync)
+
+    def _load_model_sync(self):
+        """Synchronous model loading."""
+        from ..utils.hf_progress import HFProgressTracker, create_hf_progress_callback
+
+        progress_manager = get_progress_manager()
+        task_manager = get_task_manager()
+        model_name = "chatterbox-tts"
+
+        is_cached = self._is_model_cached()
+
+        # Set up HF progress tracking (intercepts tqdm for file-level progress)
+        progress_callback = create_hf_progress_callback(model_name, progress_manager)
+        tracker = HFProgressTracker(progress_callback, filter_non_downloads=is_cached)
+        tracker_context = tracker.patch_download()
+        tracker_context.__enter__()
+
+        if not is_cached:
+            task_manager.start_download(model_name)
+            progress_manager.update_progress(
+                model_name=model_name,
+                current=0,
+                total=0,
+                filename="Connecting to HuggingFace...",
+                status="downloading",
+            )
+
+        try:
+            device = self._get_device()
+            self._device = device
+
+            logger.info(f"Loading Chatterbox Multilingual TTS on {device}...")
+
+            import torch
+            from chatterbox.mtl_tts import ChatterboxMultilingualTTS
+
+            # Load into a local variable first, apply all patches, then
+            # assign to self.model.  This avoids leaving a half-initialised
+            # model on self.model if any patch step raises an exception.
+            #
+            # Monkey-patch torch.load for CPU loading. The model's .pt files
+            # were saved on CUDA; from_pretrained() doesn't pass map_location
+            # so loading on CPU fails without this.
+            try:
+                if device == "cpu":
+                    _orig_torch_load = torch.load
+
+                    def _patched_load(*args, **kwargs):
+                        kwargs.setdefault("map_location", "cpu")
+                        return _orig_torch_load(*args, **kwargs)
+
+                    with ChatterboxTTSBackend._load_lock:
+                        torch.load = _patched_load
+                        try:
+                            model = ChatterboxMultilingualTTS.from_pretrained(
+                                device=device,
+                            )
+                        finally:
+                            torch.load = _orig_torch_load
+                else:
+                    model = ChatterboxMultilingualTTS.from_pretrained(
+                        device=device,
+                    )
+            finally:
+                tracker_context.__exit__(None, None, None)
+
+            # Fix: transformers >= 4.36 defaults LlamaModel to sdpa attention
+            # which doesn't support output_attentions=True (needed by
+            # Chatterbox's AlignmentStreamAnalyzer). Force eager attention.
+            t3_tfmr = model.t3.tfmr
+            if hasattr(t3_tfmr, "config") and hasattr(
+                t3_tfmr.config, "_attn_implementation"
+            ):
+                t3_tfmr.config._attn_implementation = "eager"
+                for layer in getattr(t3_tfmr, "layers", []):
+                    if hasattr(layer, "self_attn"):
+                        layer.self_attn._attn_implementation = "eager"
+
+            if not is_cached:
+                progress_manager.mark_complete(model_name)
+                task_manager.complete_download(model_name)
+
+            # Patch float64 → float32 dtype mismatches in upstream chatterbox.
+            # librosa.load returns float64 numpy; multiple upstream code paths
+            # convert it to a torch tensor via torch.from_numpy() without
+            # casting, then matmul it against float32 model weights.
+            import types
+
+            # Patch S3Tokenizer (used by s3gen.tokenizer)
+            _tokzr = model.s3gen.tokenizer
+            _orig_log_mel = _tokzr.log_mel_spectrogram.__func__
+
+            def _f32_log_mel(self_tokzr, audio, padding=0):
+                import torch as _torch
+                if _torch.is_tensor(audio):
+                    audio = audio.float()
+                return _orig_log_mel(self_tokzr, audio, padding)
+
+            _tokzr.log_mel_spectrogram = types.MethodType(_f32_log_mel, _tokzr)
+
+            # Patch VoiceEncoder
+            _ve = model.ve
+            _orig_ve_forward = _ve.forward.__func__
+
+            def _f32_ve_forward(self_ve, mels):
+                return _orig_ve_forward(self_ve, mels.float())
+
+            _ve.forward = types.MethodType(_f32_ve_forward, _ve)
+
+            # All patches applied successfully — publish the model
+            self.model = model
+
+            logger.info("Chatterbox Multilingual TTS loaded successfully")
+
+        except ImportError as e:
+            logger.error(
+                "chatterbox-tts package not found. "
+                "Install with: pip install chatterbox-tts"
+            )
+            if not is_cached:
+                progress_manager.mark_error(model_name, str(e))
+                task_manager.error_download(model_name, str(e))
+            raise
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Failed to load Chatterbox: {e}")
+            if not is_cached:
+                progress_manager.mark_error(model_name, str(e))
+                task_manager.error_download(model_name, str(e))
+            raise
+
+    def unload_model(self) -> None:
+        """Unload model to free memory."""
+        if self.model is not None:
+            device = self._device
+            del self.model
+            self.model = None
+            self._device = None
+            if device == "cuda":
+                import torch
+
+                torch.cuda.empty_cache()
+            logger.info("Chatterbox unloaded")
+
+    async def create_voice_prompt(
+        self,
+        audio_path: str,
+        reference_text: str,
+        use_cache: bool = True,
+    ) -> Tuple[dict, bool]:
+        """
+        Create voice prompt from reference audio.
+
+        Chatterbox processes reference audio at generation time, so the
+        prompt just stores the file path. The actual audio is loaded by
+        model.generate() via audio_prompt_path.
+        """
+        voice_prompt = {
+            "ref_audio": str(audio_path),
+            "ref_text": reference_text,
+        }
+        return voice_prompt, False
+
+    async def combine_voice_prompts(
+        self,
+        audio_paths: List[str],
+        reference_texts: List[str],
+    ) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, str]:
+        """Combine multiple reference samples."""
+        combined_audio = []
+        for path in audio_paths:
+            audio, _sr = load_audio(path)
+            audio = normalize_audio(audio)
+            combined_audio.append(audio)
+
+        mixed = np.concatenate(combined_audio)
+        mixed = normalize_audio(mixed)
+        combined_text = " ".join(reference_texts)
+        return mixed, combined_text
+
+    # Per-language generation defaults. Lower temp + higher cfg = clearer speech.
+    _LANG_DEFAULTS: ClassVar[dict] = {
+        "he": {
+            "exaggeration": 0.4,
+            "cfg_weight": 0.7,
+            "temperature": 0.65,
+            "repetition_penalty": 2.5,
+        },
+    }
+    _GLOBAL_DEFAULTS: ClassVar[dict] = {
+        "exaggeration": 0.5,
+        "cfg_weight": 0.5,
+        "temperature": 0.8,
+        "repetition_penalty": 2.0,
+    }
+
+    async def generate(
+        self,
+        text: str,
+        voice_prompt: dict,
+        language: str = "en",
+        seed: Optional[int] = None,
+        instruct: Optional[str] = None,
+    ) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, int]:
+        """
+        Generate audio using Chatterbox Multilingual TTS.
+
+        Args:
+            text: Text to synthesize
+            voice_prompt: Dict with ref_audio path
+            language: BCP-47 language code
+            seed: Random seed for reproducibility
+            instruct: Unused (protocol compatibility)
+
+        Returns:
+            Tuple of (audio_array, sample_rate)
+        """
+        await self.load_model()
+
+        ref_audio = voice_prompt.get("ref_audio")
+        if ref_audio and not Path(ref_audio).exists():
+            logger.warning(f"Reference audio not found: {ref_audio}")
+            ref_audio = None
+
+        # Merge language-specific defaults with global defaults
+        lang_defaults = self._LANG_DEFAULTS.get(language, self._GLOBAL_DEFAULTS)
+
+        def _generate_sync():
+            import torch
+
+            if seed is not None:
+                torch.manual_seed(seed)
+
+            logger.info(f"[Chatterbox] Generating: lang={language}")
+
+            wav = self.model.generate(
+                text,
+                language_id=language,
+                audio_prompt_path=ref_audio,
+                exaggeration=lang_defaults["exaggeration"],
+                cfg_weight=lang_defaults["cfg_weight"],
+                temperature=lang_defaults["temperature"],
+                repetition_penalty=lang_defaults["repetition_penalty"],
+            )
+
+            # Convert tensor -> numpy
+            if isinstance(wav, torch.Tensor):
+                audio = wav.squeeze().cpu().numpy().astype(np.float32)
+            else:
+                audio = np.asarray(wav, dtype=np.float32)
+
+            sample_rate = (
+                getattr(self.model, "sr", None)
+                or getattr(self.model, "sample_rate", 24000)
+            )
+
+            return audio, sample_rate
+
+        return await asyncio.to_thread(_generate_sync)

backend/backends/chatterbox_turbo_backend.py

@@ -0,0 +1,345 @@
+"""
+Chatterbox Turbo TTS backend implementation.
+
+Wraps ChatterboxTurboTTS from chatterbox-tts for fast, English-only
+voice cloning with paralinguistic tag support ([laugh], [cough], etc.).
+Forces CPU on macOS due to known MPS tensor issues.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import logging
+import platform
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import ClassVar, List, Optional, Tuple
+
+import numpy as np
+
+from . import TTSBackend
+from ..utils.audio import normalize_audio, load_audio
+from ..utils.progress import get_progress_manager
+from ..utils.tasks import get_task_manager
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+CHATTERBOX_TURBO_HF_REPO = "ResembleAI/chatterbox-turbo"
+
+# Files that must be present for the turbo model
+_TURBO_WEIGHT_FILES = [
+    "t3_turbo_v1.safetensors",
+    "s3gen_meanflow.safetensors",
+    "ve.safetensors",
+]
+
+
+class ChatterboxTurboTTSBackend:
+    """Chatterbox Turbo TTS backend — fast, English-only, with paralinguistic tags."""
+
+    # Class-level lock for torch.load monkey-patching
+    _load_lock: ClassVar[threading.Lock] = threading.Lock()
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.model = None
+        self.model_size = "default"
+        self._device = None
+        self._model_load_lock = asyncio.Lock()
+
+    def _get_device(self) -> str:
+        """Get the best available device. Forces CPU on macOS (MPS issue)."""
+        if platform.system() == "Darwin":
+            return "cpu"
+        try:
+            import torch
+
+            if torch.cuda.is_available():
+                return "cuda"
+        except ImportError:
+            pass
+        return "cpu"
+
+    def is_loaded(self) -> bool:
+        return self.model is not None
+
+    def _get_model_path(self, model_size: str = "default") -> str:
+        return CHATTERBOX_TURBO_HF_REPO
+
+    def _is_model_cached(self, model_size: str = "default") -> bool:
+        """Check if the Chatterbox Turbo model is cached locally."""
+        try:
+            from huggingface_hub import constants as hf_constants
+
+            repo_cache = Path(hf_constants.HF_HUB_CACHE) / (
+                "models--" + CHATTERBOX_TURBO_HF_REPO.replace("/", "--")
+            )
+
+            if not repo_cache.exists():
+                return False
+
+            blobs_dir = repo_cache / "blobs"
+            if blobs_dir.exists() and any(blobs_dir.glob("*.incomplete")):
+                return False
+
+            # Check for turbo weight files
+            snapshots_dir = repo_cache / "snapshots"
+            if snapshots_dir.exists():
+                for fname in _TURBO_WEIGHT_FILES:
+                    if not any(snapshots_dir.rglob(fname)):
+                        return False
+                return True
+
+            return False
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warning(f"Error checking Chatterbox Turbo cache: {e}")
+            return False
+
+    async def load_model(self, model_size: str = "default") -> None:
+        """Load the Chatterbox Turbo model."""
+        if self.model is not None:
+            return
+        async with self._model_load_lock:
+            if self.model is not None:
+                return
+            await asyncio.to_thread(self._load_model_sync)
+
+    def _load_model_sync(self):
+        """Synchronous model loading."""
+        from ..utils.hf_progress import HFProgressTracker, create_hf_progress_callback
+
+        progress_manager = get_progress_manager()
+        task_manager = get_task_manager()
+        model_name = "chatterbox-turbo"
+
+        is_cached = self._is_model_cached()
+
+        # Set up HF progress tracking (intercepts tqdm for file-level progress)
+        progress_callback = create_hf_progress_callback(model_name, progress_manager)
+        tracker = HFProgressTracker(progress_callback, filter_non_downloads=is_cached)
+        tracker_context = tracker.patch_download()
+        tracker_context.__enter__()
+
+        if not is_cached:
+            task_manager.start_download(model_name)
+            progress_manager.update_progress(
+                model_name=model_name,
+                current=0,
+                total=0,
+                filename="Connecting to HuggingFace...",
+                status="downloading",
+            )
+
+        try:
+            device = self._get_device()
+            self._device = device
+
+            logger.info(f"Loading Chatterbox Turbo TTS on {device}...")
+
+            import torch
+            from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
+            from chatterbox.tts_turbo import ChatterboxTurboTTS
+
+            # Download model files ourselves so we can pass token=None
+            # (upstream from_pretrained passes token=True which requires
+            # a stored HF token even though the repo is public).
+            try:
+                local_path = snapshot_download(
+                    repo_id=CHATTERBOX_TURBO_HF_REPO,
+                    token=None,
+                    allow_patterns=[
+                        "*.safetensors", "*.json", "*.txt", "*.pt", "*.model",
+                    ],
+                )
+            finally:
+                tracker_context.__exit__(None, None, None)
+
+            # Monkey-patch torch.load for CPU loading. The model's .pt files
+            # were saved on CUDA; from_local() doesn't pass map_location
+            # so loading on CPU fails without this.
+            # Load into a local var, apply patches, then publish to
+            # self.model so a failed patch doesn't leave us half-initialised.
+            if device == "cpu":
+                _orig_torch_load = torch.load
+
+                def _patched_load(*args, **kwargs):
+                    kwargs.setdefault("map_location", "cpu")
+                    return _orig_torch_load(*args, **kwargs)
+
+                with ChatterboxTurboTTSBackend._load_lock:
+                    torch.load = _patched_load
+                    try:
+                        model = ChatterboxTurboTTS.from_local(
+                            local_path, device,
+                        )
+                    finally:
+                        torch.load = _orig_torch_load
+            else:
+                model = ChatterboxTurboTTS.from_local(
+                    local_path, device,
+                )
+
+            if not is_cached:
+                progress_manager.mark_complete(model_name)
+                task_manager.complete_download(model_name)
+
+            # Patch float64 → float32 dtype mismatches in upstream chatterbox.
+            # librosa.load returns float64 numpy; multiple upstream code paths
+            # convert it to a torch tensor via torch.from_numpy() without
+            # casting, then matmul it against float32 model weights.
+            # We patch the two known entry points:
+            #
+            # 1. S3Tokenizer.log_mel_spectrogram — the audio tensor from
+            #    librosa hits _mel_filters (float32) in a matmul.
+            # 2. VoiceEncoder.forward — float64 mel spectrograms hit the
+            #    float32 LSTM weights.
+            import types
+
+            # Patch S3Tokenizer (used by s3gen.tokenizer)
+            _tokzr = model.s3gen.tokenizer
+            _orig_log_mel = _tokzr.log_mel_spectrogram.__func__
+
+            def _f32_log_mel(self_tokzr, audio, padding=0):
+                import torch as _torch
+                if _torch.is_tensor(audio):
+                    audio = audio.float()
+                return _orig_log_mel(self_tokzr, audio, padding)
+
+            _tokzr.log_mel_spectrogram = types.MethodType(_f32_log_mel, _tokzr)
+
+            # Patch VoiceEncoder
+            _ve = model.ve
+            _orig_ve_forward = _ve.forward.__func__
+
+            def _f32_ve_forward(self_ve, mels):
+                return _orig_ve_forward(self_ve, mels.float())
+
+            _ve.forward = types.MethodType(_f32_ve_forward, _ve)
+
+            # Only publish after all patches succeed
+            self.model = model
+
+            logger.info("Chatterbox Turbo TTS loaded successfully")
+
+        except ImportError as e:
+            logger.error(
+                "chatterbox-tts package not found. "
+                "Install with: pip install chatterbox-tts"
+            )
+            if not is_cached:
+                progress_manager.mark_error(model_name, str(e))
+                task_manager.error_download(model_name, str(e))
+            raise
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Failed to load Chatterbox Turbo: {e}")
+            if not is_cached:
+                progress_manager.mark_error(model_name, str(e))
+                task_manager.error_download(model_name, str(e))
+            raise
+
+    def unload_model(self) -> None:
+        """Unload model to free memory."""
+        if self.model is not None:
+            device = self._device
+            del self.model
+            self.model = None
+            self._device = None
+            if device == "cuda":
+                import torch
+
+                torch.cuda.empty_cache()
+            logger.info("Chatterbox Turbo unloaded")
+
+    async def create_voice_prompt(
+        self,
+        audio_path: str,
+        reference_text: str,
+        use_cache: bool = True,
+    ) -> Tuple[dict, bool]:
+        """
+        Create voice prompt from reference audio.
+
+        Chatterbox Turbo processes reference audio at generation time, so the
+        prompt just stores the file path.
+        """
+        voice_prompt = {
+            "ref_audio": str(audio_path),
+            "ref_text": reference_text,
+        }
+        return voice_prompt, False
+
+    async def combine_voice_prompts(
+        self,
+        audio_paths: List[str],
+        reference_texts: List[str],
+    ) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, str]:
+        """Combine multiple reference samples."""
+        combined_audio = []
+        for path in audio_paths:
+            audio, _sr = load_audio(path)
+            audio = normalize_audio(audio)
+            combined_audio.append(audio)
+
+        mixed = np.concatenate(combined_audio)
+        mixed = normalize_audio(mixed)
+        combined_text = " ".join(reference_texts)
+        return mixed, combined_text
+
+    async def generate(
+        self,
+        text: str,
+        voice_prompt: dict,
+        language: str = "en",
+        seed: Optional[int] = None,
+        instruct: Optional[str] = None,
+    ) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, int]:
+        """
+        Generate audio using Chatterbox Turbo TTS.
+
+        Supports paralinguistic tags in text: [laugh], [cough], [chuckle], etc.
+
+        Args:
+            text: Text to synthesize (may include paralinguistic tags)
+            voice_prompt: Dict with ref_audio path
+            language: Ignored (Turbo is English-only)
+            seed: Random seed for reproducibility
+            instruct: Unused (protocol compatibility)
+
+        Returns:
+            Tuple of (audio_array, sample_rate)
+        """
+        await self.load_model()
+
+        ref_audio = voice_prompt.get("ref_audio")
+        if ref_audio and not Path(ref_audio).exists():
+            logger.warning(f"Reference audio not found: {ref_audio}")
+            ref_audio = None
+
+        def _generate_sync():
+            import torch
+
+            if seed is not None:
+                torch.manual_seed(seed)
+
+            logger.info("[Chatterbox Turbo] Generating (English)")
+
+            wav = self.model.generate(
+                text,
+                audio_prompt_path=ref_audio,
+                temperature=0.8,
+                top_k=1000,
+                top_p=0.95,
+                repetition_penalty=1.2,
+            )
+
+            # Convert tensor -> numpy
+            if isinstance(wav, torch.Tensor):
+                audio = wav.squeeze().cpu().numpy().astype(np.float32)
+            else:
+                audio = np.asarray(wav, dtype=np.float32)
+
+            sample_rate = (
+                getattr(self.model, "sr", None)
+                or getattr(self.model, "sample_rate", 24000)
+            )
+
+            return audio, sample_rate
+
+        return await asyncio.to_thread(_generate_sync)

backend/backends/luxtts_backend.py

@@ -94,19 +94,27 @@ class LuxTTSBackend:
 
     def _load_model_sync(self):
         """Synchronous model loading."""
+        from ..utils.hf_progress import HFProgressTracker, create_hf_progress_callback
+
         progress_manager = get_progress_manager()
         task_manager = get_task_manager()
         model_name = "luxtts"
 
         is_cached = self._is_model_cached()
 
+        # Set up HF progress tracking (intercepts tqdm for file-level progress)
+        progress_callback = create_hf_progress_callback(model_name, progress_manager)
+        tracker = HFProgressTracker(progress_callback, filter_non_downloads=is_cached)
+        tracker_context = tracker.patch_download()
+        tracker_context.__enter__()
+
         if not is_cached:
             task_manager.start_download(model_name)
             progress_manager.update_progress(
                 model_name=model_name,
                 current=0,
                 total=0,
-                filename="Downloading LuxTTS model...",
+                filename="Connecting to HuggingFace...",
                 status="downloading",
             )
 
@@ -117,19 +125,22 @@ class LuxTTSBackend:
             logger.info(f"Loading LuxTTS on {device}...")
 
             # LuxTTS constructor downloads model and loads everything
-            if device == "cpu":
+            try:
-                import os
+                if device == "cpu":
-                threads = os.cpu_count() or 4
+                    import os
-                self.model = LuxTTS(
+                    threads = os.cpu_count() or 4
-                    model_path=LUXTTS_HF_REPO,
+                    self.model = LuxTTS(
-                    device="cpu",
+                        model_path=LUXTTS_HF_REPO,
-                    threads=min(threads, 8),
+                        device="cpu",
-                )
+                        threads=min(threads, 8),
-            else:
+                    )
-                self.model = LuxTTS(
+                else:
-                    model_path=LUXTTS_HF_REPO,
+                    self.model = LuxTTS(
-                    device=device,
+                        model_path=LUXTTS_HF_REPO,
-                )
+                        device=device,
+                    )
+            finally:
+                tracker_context.__exit__(None, None, None)
 
             if not is_cached:
                 progress_manager.mark_complete(model_name)

backend/backends/mlx_backend.py

@@ -5,8 +5,15 @@ MLX backend implementation for TTS and STT using mlx-audio.
 from typing import Optional, List, Tuple
 import asyncio
 import numpy as np
+import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
+# PATCH: Import and apply offline patch BEFORE any huggingface_hub usage
+# This prevents mlx_audio from making network requests when models are cached
+from ..utils.hf_offline_patch import patch_huggingface_hub_offline, ensure_original_qwen_config_cached
+patch_huggingface_hub_offline()
+ensure_original_qwen_config_cached()
+
 from . import TTSBackend, STTBackend
 from ..utils.cache import get_cache_key, get_cached_voice_prompt, cache_voice_prompt
 from ..utils.audio import normalize_audio, load_audio
@@ -14,6 +21,12 @@ from ..utils.progress import get_progress_manager
 from ..utils.hf_progress import HFProgressTracker, create_hf_progress_callback
 from ..utils.tasks import get_task_manager
 
+LANGUAGE_CODE_TO_NAME = {
+    "zh": "chinese", "en": "english", "ja": "japanese", "ko": "korean",
+    "de": "german", "fr": "french", "ru": "russian", "pt": "portuguese",
+    "es": "spanish", "it": "italian",
+}
+
 
 class MLXTTSBackend:
     """MLX-based TTS backend using mlx-audio."""
@@ -159,15 +172,35 @@ class MLXTTSBackend:
             tracker_context = tracker.patch_download()
             tracker_context.__enter__()
             
+            # PATCH: Force offline mode when model is already cached
+            # This prevents crashes when HuggingFace is unreachable
+            original_hf_hub_offline = os.environ.get("HF_HUB_OFFLINE")
+            if is_cached:
+                os.environ["HF_HUB_OFFLINE"] = "1"
+                print(f"[PATCH] Model {model_size} is cached, forcing HF_HUB_OFFLINE=1 to avoid network requests")
+            
             # Import mlx_audio AFTER patching tqdm
             from mlx_audio.tts import load
             
             # Load MLX model (downloads automatically)
             try:
                 self.model = load(model_path)
+            except Exception as load_error:
+                # If offline mode failed, try with network enabled as fallback
+                if is_cached and "offline" in str(load_error).lower():
+                    print(f"[PATCH] Offline load failed, trying with network: {load_error}")
+                    os.environ.pop("HF_HUB_OFFLINE", None)
+                    self.model = load(model_path)
+                else:
+                    raise
             finally:
                 # Exit the patch context
                 tracker_context.__exit__(None, None, None)
+                # Restore original HF_HUB_OFFLINE setting
+                if original_hf_hub_offline is not None:
+                    os.environ["HF_HUB_OFFLINE"] = original_hf_hub_offline
+                else:
+                    os.environ.pop("HF_HUB_OFFLINE", None)
             
             # Only mark download as complete if we were tracking it
             if not is_cached:
@@ -316,7 +349,8 @@ class MLXTTSBackend:
             # MLX generate() returns a generator yielding GenerationResult objects
             audio_chunks = []
             sample_rate = 24000
-            
+            lang = LANGUAGE_CODE_TO_NAME.get(language, "auto")
+
             # Set seed if provided (MLX uses numpy random)
             if seed is not None:
                 import mlx.core as mx
@@ -344,23 +378,23 @@ class MLXTTSBackend:
                     sig = inspect.signature(self.model.generate)
                     if "ref_audio" in sig.parameters:
                         # Generate with voice cloning
-                        for result in self.model.generate(text, ref_audio=ref_audio, ref_text=ref_text):
+                        for result in self.model.generate(text, ref_audio=ref_audio, ref_text=ref_text, lang_code=lang):
                             audio_chunks.append(np.array(result.audio))
                             sample_rate = result.sample_rate
                     else:
                         # Fallback: generate without voice cloning
-                        for result in self.model.generate(text):
+                        for result in self.model.generate(text, lang_code=lang):
                             audio_chunks.append(np.array(result.audio))
                             sample_rate = result.sample_rate
                 else:
                     # No voice prompt, generate normally
-                    for result in self.model.generate(text):
+                    for result in self.model.generate(text, lang_code=lang):
                         audio_chunks.append(np.array(result.audio))
                         sample_rate = result.sample_rate
             except Exception as e:
                 # If voice cloning fails, try without it
                 print(f"Warning: Voice cloning failed, generating without voice prompt: {e}")
-                for result in self.model.generate(text):
+                for result in self.model.generate(text, lang_code=lang):
                     audio_chunks.append(np.array(result.audio))
                     sample_rate = result.sample_rate
             

backend/backends/pytorch_backend.py

@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ from ..utils.progress import get_progress_manager
 from ..utils.hf_progress import HFProgressTracker, create_hf_progress_callback
 from ..utils.tasks import get_task_manager
 
+LANGUAGE_CODE_TO_NAME = {
+    "zh": "chinese", "en": "english", "ja": "japanese", "ko": "korean",
+    "de": "german", "fr": "french", "ru": "russian", "pt": "portuguese",
+    "es": "spanish", "it": "italian",
+}
+
 
 class PyTorchTTSBackend:
     """PyTorch-based TTS backend using Qwen3-TTS."""
@@ -359,6 +365,7 @@ class PyTorchTTSBackend:
             wavs, sample_rate = self.model.generate_voice_clone(
                 text=text,
                 voice_clone_prompt=voice_prompt,
+                language=LANGUAGE_CODE_TO_NAME.get(language, "auto"),
                 instruct=instruct,
             )
             return wavs[0], sample_rate
@@ -374,6 +381,7 @@ WHISPER_HF_REPOS = {
     "small": "openai/whisper-small",
     "medium": "openai/whisper-medium",
     "large": "openai/whisper-large-v3",
+    "turbo": "openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo",
 }
 
 
@@ -591,21 +599,20 @@ class PyTorchSTTBackend:
             )
             inputs = inputs.to(self.device)
             
-            # Set language if provided
+            # Generate transcription
-            forced_decoder_ids = None
+            # If language is provided, force it; otherwise let Whisper auto-detect
+            generate_kwargs = {}
             if language:
-                # Support all languages from frontend: en, zh, ja, ko, de, fr, ru, pt, es, it
-                # Whisper supports these and many more
                 forced_decoder_ids = self.processor.get_decoder_prompt_ids(
                     language=language,
                     task="transcribe",
                 )
+                generate_kwargs["forced_decoder_ids"] = forced_decoder_ids
             
-            # Generate transcription
             with torch.no_grad():
                 predicted_ids = self.model.generate(
                     inputs["input_features"],
-                    forced_decoder_ids=forced_decoder_ids,
+                    **generate_kwargs,
                 )
             
             # Decode

backend/database.py

@@ -45,10 +45,14 @@ class Generation(Base):
     profile_id = Column(String, ForeignKey("profiles.id"), nullable=False)
     text = Column(Text, nullable=False)
     language = Column(String, default="en")
-    audio_path = Column(String, nullable=False)
+    audio_path = Column(String, nullable=True)
-    duration = Column(Float, nullable=False)
+    duration = Column(Float, nullable=True)
     seed = Column(Integer)
     instruct = Column(Text)
+    engine = Column(String, default="qwen")
+    model_size = Column(String, nullable=True)
+    status = Column(String, default="completed")  # generating, completed, failed
+    error = Column(Text, nullable=True)
     created_at = Column(DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow)
 
 
@@ -288,6 +292,36 @@ def _run_migrations(engine):
                 conn.commit()
                 print("Added avatar_path column to profiles")
 
+    # Migration: Add status and error columns to generations table
+    if 'generations' in inspector.get_table_names():
+        columns = {col['name'] for col in inspector.get_columns('generations')}
+        if 'status' not in columns:
+            print("Migrating generations: adding status column")
+            with engine.connect() as conn:
+                conn.execute(text("ALTER TABLE generations ADD COLUMN status VARCHAR DEFAULT 'completed'"))
+                conn.commit()
+                print("Added status column to generations")
+        if 'error' not in columns:
+            print("Migrating generations: adding error column")
+            with engine.connect() as conn:
+                conn.execute(text("ALTER TABLE generations ADD COLUMN error TEXT"))
+                conn.commit()
+                print("Added error column to generations")
+        if 'engine' not in columns:
+            print("Migrating generations: adding engine column")
+            with engine.connect() as conn:
+                conn.execute(text("ALTER TABLE generations ADD COLUMN engine VARCHAR DEFAULT 'qwen'"))
+                conn.commit()
+                print("Added engine column to generations")
+        # Re-read columns after engine migration (variable name shadows outer `engine`)
+        columns = {col['name'] for col in inspector.get_columns('generations')}
+        if 'model_size' not in columns:
+            print("Migrating generations: adding model_size column")
+            with engine.connect() as conn:
+                conn.execute(text("ALTER TABLE generations ADD COLUMN model_size VARCHAR"))
+                conn.commit()
+                print("Added model_size column to generations")
+
 
 def get_db():
     """Get database session (generator for dependency injection)."""

backend/history.py

@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ async def create_generation(
     seed: Optional[int],
     db: Session,
     instruct: Optional[str] = None,
+    generation_id: Optional[str] = None,
+    status: str = "completed",
+    engine: Optional[str] = "qwen",
+    model_size: Optional[str] = None,
 ) -> GenerationResponse:
     """
     Create a new generation history entry.
@@ -42,12 +46,16 @@ async def create_generation(
         seed: Random seed used (if any)
         db: Database session
         instruct: Natural language instruction used (if any)
+        generation_id: Pre-assigned ID (for async generation flow)
+        status: Generation status (generating, completed, failed)
+        engine: TTS engine used (qwen, luxtts, chatterbox, chatterbox_turbo)
+        model_size: Model size variant (1.7B, 0.6B) — only relevant for qwen
 
     Returns:
         Created generation entry
     """
     db_generation = DBGeneration(
-        id=str(uuid.uuid4()),
+        id=generation_id or str(uuid.uuid4()),
         profile_id=profile_id,
         text=text,
         language=language,
@@ -55,6 +63,9 @@ async def create_generation(
         duration=duration,
         seed=seed,
         instruct=instruct,
+        engine=engine,
+        model_size=model_size,
+        status=status,
         created_at=datetime.utcnow(),
     )
 
@@ -65,6 +76,32 @@ async def create_generation(
     return GenerationResponse.model_validate(db_generation)
 
 
+async def update_generation_status(
+    generation_id: str,
+    status: str,
+    db: Session,
+    audio_path: Optional[str] = None,
+    duration: Optional[float] = None,
+    error: Optional[str] = None,
+) -> Optional[GenerationResponse]:
+    """Update the status of a generation (used by async generation flow)."""
+    generation = db.query(DBGeneration).filter_by(id=generation_id).first()
+    if not generation:
+        return None
+
+    generation.status = status
+    if audio_path is not None:
+        generation.audio_path = audio_path
+    if duration is not None:
+        generation.duration = duration
+    if error is not None:
+        generation.error = error
+
+    db.commit()
+    db.refresh(generation)
+    return GenerationResponse.model_validate(generation)
+
+
 async def get_generation(
     generation_id: str,
     db: Session,
@@ -143,6 +180,10 @@ async def list_generations(
             duration=generation.duration,
             seed=generation.seed,
             instruct=generation.instruct,
+            engine=generation.engine or "qwen",
+            model_size=generation.model_size,
+            status=generation.status or "completed",
+            error=generation.error,
             created_at=generation.created_at,
         ))
     

backend/models.py

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class VoiceProfileCreate(BaseModel):
     """Request model for creating a voice profile."""
     name: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=100)
     description: Optional[str] = Field(None, max_length=500)
-    language: str = Field(default="en", pattern="^(zh|en|ja|ko|de|fr|ru|pt|es|it)$")
+    language: str = Field(default="en", pattern="^(zh|en|ja|ko|de|fr|ru|pt|es|it|he|ar|da|el|fi|hi|ms|nl|no|pl|sv|sw|tr)$")
 
 
 class VoiceProfileResponse(BaseModel):
@@ -52,12 +52,15 @@ class ProfileSampleResponse(BaseModel):
 class GenerationRequest(BaseModel):
     """Request model for voice generation."""
     profile_id: str
-    text: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=5000)
+    text: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=50000)
-    language: str = Field(default="en", pattern="^(zh|en|ja|ko|de|fr|ru|pt|es|it)$")
+    language: str = Field(default="en", pattern="^(zh|en|ja|ko|de|fr|ru|pt|es|it|he)$")
     seed: Optional[int] = Field(None, ge=0)
     model_size: Optional[str] = Field(default="1.7B", pattern="^(1\\.7B|0\\.6B)$")
     instruct: Optional[str] = Field(None, max_length=500)
-    engine: Optional[str] = Field(default="qwen", pattern="^(qwen|luxtts)$")
+    engine: Optional[str] = Field(default="qwen", pattern="^(qwen|luxtts|chatterbox|chatterbox_turbo)$")
+    max_chunk_chars: int = Field(default=800, ge=100, le=5000, description="Max characters per chunk for long text splitting")
+    crossfade_ms: int = Field(default=50, ge=0, le=500, description="Crossfade duration in ms between chunks (0 for hard cut)")
+    normalize: bool = Field(default=True, description="Normalize output audio volume")
 
 
 class GenerationResponse(BaseModel):
@@ -66,10 +69,14 @@ class GenerationResponse(BaseModel):
     profile_id: str
     text: str
     language: str
-    audio_path: str
+    audio_path: Optional[str] = None
-    duration: float
+    duration: Optional[float] = None
-    seed: Optional[int]
+    seed: Optional[int] = None
-    instruct: Optional[str]
+    instruct: Optional[str] = None
+    engine: Optional[str] = "qwen"
+    model_size: Optional[str] = None
+    status: str = "completed"
+    error: Optional[str] = None
     created_at: datetime
 
     class Config:
@@ -91,10 +98,14 @@ class HistoryResponse(BaseModel):
     profile_name: str
     text: str
     language: str
-    audio_path: str
+    audio_path: Optional[str] = None
-    duration: float
+    duration: Optional[float] = None
-    seed: Optional[int]
+    seed: Optional[int] = None
-    instruct: Optional[str]
+    instruct: Optional[str] = None
+    engine: Optional[str] = "qwen"
+    model_size: Optional[str] = None
+    status: str = "completed"
+    error: Optional[str] = None
     created_at: datetime
 
     class Config:
@@ -131,10 +142,27 @@ class HealthResponse(BaseModel):
     backend_variant: Optional[str] = None  # Binary variant (cpu or cuda)
 
 
+class DirectoryCheck(BaseModel):
+    """Health status for a single directory."""
+    path: str
+    exists: bool
+    writable: bool
+    error: Optional[str] = None
+
+
+class FilesystemHealthResponse(BaseModel):
+    """Response model for filesystem health check."""
+    healthy: bool
+    disk_free_mb: Optional[float] = None
+    disk_total_mb: Optional[float] = None
+    directories: List[DirectoryCheck]
+
+
 class ModelStatus(BaseModel):
     """Response model for model status."""
     model_name: str
     display_name: str
+    hf_repo_id: Optional[str] = None  # HuggingFace repository ID
     downloaded: bool
     downloading: bool = False  # True if download is in progress
     size_mb: Optional[float] = None
@@ -151,12 +179,21 @@ class ModelDownloadRequest(BaseModel):
     model_name: str
 
 
+class ModelMigrateRequest(BaseModel):
+    """Request model for migrating models to a new directory."""
+    destination: str
+
+
 class ActiveDownloadTask(BaseModel):
     """Response model for active download task."""
     model_name: str
     status: str
     started_at: datetime
     error: Optional[str] = None
+    progress: Optional[float] = None  # 0-100 percentage
+    current: Optional[int] = None     # bytes downloaded
+    total: Optional[int] = None       # total bytes
+    filename: Optional[str] = None    # current file being downloaded
 
 
 class ActiveGenerationTask(BaseModel):

backend/profiles.py

@@ -38,14 +38,22 @@ async def create_profile(
 ) -> VoiceProfileResponse:
     """
     Create a new voice profile.
-    
+
     Args:
         data: Profile creation data
         db: Database session
-        
+
     Returns:
         Created profile
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError: If a profile with the same name already exists
     """
+    # Check if profile name already exists
+    existing_profile = db.query(DBVoiceProfile).filter_by(name=data.name).first()
+    if existing_profile:
+        raise ValueError(f"A profile with the name '{data.name}' already exists. Please choose a different name.")
+
     # Create profile in database
     db_profile = DBVoiceProfile(
         id=str(uuid.uuid4()),
@@ -55,15 +63,15 @@ async def create_profile(
         created_at=datetime.utcnow(),
         updated_at=datetime.utcnow(),
     )
-    
+
     db.add(db_profile)
     db.commit()
     db.refresh(db_profile)
-    
+
     # Create profile directory
     profile_dir = _get_profiles_dir() / db_profile.id
     profile_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-    
+
     return VoiceProfileResponse.model_validate(db_profile)
 
 
@@ -191,28 +199,37 @@ async def update_profile(
 ) -> Optional[VoiceProfileResponse]:
     """
     Update a voice profile.
-    
+
     Args:
         profile_id: Profile ID
         data: Updated profile data
         db: Database session
-        
+
     Returns:
         Updated profile or None if not found
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError: If a profile with the same name already exists (different profile)
     """
     profile = db.query(DBVoiceProfile).filter_by(id=profile_id).first()
     if not profile:
         return None
-    
+
+    # Check if the new name conflicts with another profile
+    if profile.name != data.name:
+        existing_profile = db.query(DBVoiceProfile).filter_by(name=data.name).first()
+        if existing_profile:
+            raise ValueError(f"A profile with the name '{data.name}' already exists. Please choose a different name.")
+
     # Update fields
     profile.name = data.name
     profile.description = data.description
     profile.language = data.language
     profile.updated_at = datetime.utcnow()
-    
+
     db.commit()
     db.refresh(profile)
-    
+
     return VoiceProfileResponse.model_validate(profile)
 
 

backend/requirements.txt

@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@ qwen-tts>=0.0.5
 linacodec @ git+https://github.com/ysharma3501/LinaCodec.git
 Zipvoice @ git+https://github.com/ysharma3501/LuxTTS.git
 
+# Chatterbox TTS sub-dependencies (chatterbox-tts itself is installed
+# --no-deps in the setup script because it pins numpy<1.26 / torch==2.6
+# which are incompatible with Python 3.12+)
+conformer>=0.3.2
+diffusers>=0.29.0
+omegaconf
+pykakasi
+resemble-perth>=1.0.1
+s3tokenizer
+spacy-pkuseg
+pyloudnorm
+
 # Audio processing
 librosa>=0.10.0
 soundfile>=0.12.0

backend/stories.py

@@ -270,11 +270,14 @@ async def add_item_to_story(
             generation_created_at=generation.created_at,
         )
 
+    # Get track from data or default to 0
+    track = data.track if data.track is not None else 0
+
     # Calculate start_time_ms if not provided
     if data.start_time_ms is not None:
         start_time_ms = data.start_time_ms
     else:
-        # Find the maximum end time (start_time_ms + duration_ms) of existing items
+        # Find the maximum end time on the target track only
         existing_items = db.query(
             DBStoryItem,
             DBGeneration
@@ -282,11 +285,11 @@ async def add_item_to_story(
             DBGeneration,
             DBStoryItem.generation_id == DBGeneration.id
         ).filter(
-            DBStoryItem.story_id == story_id
+            DBStoryItem.story_id == story_id,
+            DBStoryItem.track == track,
         ).all()
         
         if not existing_items:
-            # First item starts at 0
             start_time_ms = 0
         else:
             max_end_time_ms = 0
@@ -297,9 +300,6 @@ async def add_item_to_story(
             # Add 200ms gap after the last item
             start_time_ms = max_end_time_ms + 200
 
-    # Get track from data or default to 0
-    track = data.track if data.track is not None else 0
-
     # Create item
     item = DBStoryItem(
         id=str(uuid.uuid4()),

backend/tests/test_cors.py

@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+"""
+Tests for CORS origin restrictions.
+
+Validates that the CORS middleware only allows known local origins
+and respects the VOICEBOX_CORS_ORIGINS environment variable.
+
+Uses a minimal FastAPI app that mirrors the exact CORS configuration
+from backend/main.py, so tests run without heavy ML dependencies.
+
+Usage:
+    pip install httpx pytest fastapi starlette
+    python -m pytest backend/tests/test_cors.py -v
+"""
+
+import os
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import patch
+from fastapi import FastAPI
+from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
+from starlette.testclient import TestClient
+
+
+def _build_app(env_origins: str = "") -> FastAPI:
+    """
+    Build a minimal FastAPI app with the same CORS logic as backend/main.py.
+
+    This mirrors the exact code in main.py so the test validates the real
+    configuration without needing torch/numpy/transformers installed.
+    """
+    app = FastAPI()
+
+    _default_origins = [
+        "http://localhost:5173",
+        "http://127.0.0.1:5173",
+        "http://localhost:17493",
+        "http://127.0.0.1:17493",
+        "tauri://localhost",
+        "https://tauri.localhost",
+    ]
+    _cors_origins = _default_origins + [o.strip() for o in env_origins.split(",") if o.strip()]
+
+    app.add_middleware(
+        CORSMiddleware,
+        allow_origins=_cors_origins,
+        allow_credentials=True,
+        allow_methods=["*"],
+        allow_headers=["*"],
+    )
+
+    @app.get("/health")
+    async def health():
+        return {"status": "ok"}
+
+    return app
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def client():
+    return TestClient(_build_app())
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def client_with_custom_origins():
+    return TestClient(_build_app("https://custom.example.com,https://other.example.com"))
+
+
+def _get_with_origin(client: TestClient, origin: str) -> dict:
+    """Send a GET with Origin header, return response headers."""
+    response = client.get("/health", headers={"Origin": origin})
+    return dict(response.headers)
+
+
+def _preflight(client: TestClient, origin: str) -> dict:
+    """Send CORS preflight OPTIONS request, return response headers."""
+    response = client.options(
+        "/health",
+        headers={
+            "Origin": origin,
+            "Access-Control-Request-Method": "GET",
+        },
+    )
+    return dict(response.headers)
+
+
+class TestCORSDefaultOrigins:
+    """CORS should allow known local origins and block everything else."""
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("origin", [
+        "http://localhost:5173",
+        "http://127.0.0.1:5173",
+        "http://localhost:17493",
+        "http://127.0.0.1:17493",
+        "tauri://localhost",
+        "https://tauri.localhost",
+    ])
+    def test_allowed_origins(self, client, origin):
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client, origin)
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == origin
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("origin", [
+        "http://evil.com",
+        "http://localhost:9999",
+        "https://attacker.example.com",
+        "null",
+    ])
+    def test_blocked_origins(self, client, origin):
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client, origin)
+        assert "access-control-allow-origin" not in headers
+
+    def test_preflight_allowed(self, client):
+        headers = _preflight(client, "http://localhost:5173")
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == "http://localhost:5173"
+
+    def test_preflight_blocked(self, client):
+        headers = _preflight(client, "http://evil.com")
+        assert "access-control-allow-origin" not in headers
+
+    def test_credentials_header_present(self, client):
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client, "http://localhost:5173")
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-credentials") == "true"
+
+
+class TestCORSCustomOrigins:
+    """VOICEBOX_CORS_ORIGINS env var should extend the allowlist."""
+
+    def test_custom_origin_allowed(self, client_with_custom_origins):
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client_with_custom_origins, "https://custom.example.com")
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == "https://custom.example.com"
+
+    def test_other_custom_origin_allowed(self, client_with_custom_origins):
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client_with_custom_origins, "https://other.example.com")
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == "https://other.example.com"
+
+    def test_default_origins_still_work(self, client_with_custom_origins):
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client_with_custom_origins, "http://localhost:5173")
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == "http://localhost:5173"
+
+    def test_unlisted_origin_still_blocked(self, client_with_custom_origins):
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client_with_custom_origins, "http://evil.com")
+        assert "access-control-allow-origin" not in headers
+
+
+class TestCORSEnvVarParsing:
+    """Edge cases for VOICEBOX_CORS_ORIGINS parsing."""
+
+    def test_empty_env_var(self):
+        app = _build_app("")
+        client = TestClient(app)
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client, "http://evil.com")
+        assert "access-control-allow-origin" not in headers
+
+    def test_whitespace_trimmed(self):
+        app = _build_app("  https://spaced.example.com  ")
+        client = TestClient(app)
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client, "https://spaced.example.com")
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == "https://spaced.example.com"
+
+    def test_trailing_comma_ignored(self):
+        app = _build_app("https://one.example.com,")
+        client = TestClient(app)
+        headers = _get_with_origin(client, "https://one.example.com")
+        assert headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == "https://one.example.com"

backend/tests/test_profile_duplicate_names.py

@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+"""
+Tests for profile duplicate name validation.
+
+This test suite verifies that the application correctly handles
+duplicate profile names and provides user-friendly error messages.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+import tempfile
+import shutil
+from pathlib import Path
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+
+# Add parent directory to path to import backend modules
+import sys
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).parent.parent))
+
+from database import Base, VoiceProfile as DBVoiceProfile
+from models import VoiceProfileCreate
+from profiles import create_profile, update_profile
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def test_db():
+    """Create a temporary test database."""
+    # Create temporary directory for test database
+    temp_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+    db_path = Path(temp_dir) / "test.db"
+
+    # Create engine and session
+    engine = create_engine(f"sqlite:///{db_path}")
+    Base.metadata.create_all(bind=engine)
+    SessionLocal = sessionmaker(autocommit=False, autoflush=False, bind=engine)
+
+    db = SessionLocal()
+
+    yield db
+
+    # Cleanup
+    db.close()
+    shutil.rmtree(temp_dir)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_profiles_dir(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """Mock the profiles directory to use a temporary path."""
+    import profiles
+    monkeypatch.setattr(profiles, '_get_profiles_dir', lambda: tmp_path)
+    return tmp_path
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_create_profile_duplicate_name_raises_error(test_db, mock_profiles_dir):
+    """Test that creating a profile with a duplicate name raises a ValueError."""
+    # Create first profile
+    profile_data_1 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Test Profile",
+        description="First profile",
+        language="en"
+    )
+
+    profile_1 = await create_profile(profile_data_1, test_db)
+    assert profile_1.name == "Test Profile"
+
+    # Try to create second profile with same name
+    profile_data_2 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Test Profile",
+        description="Second profile",
+        language="en"
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as exc_info:
+        await create_profile(profile_data_2, test_db)
+
+    # Verify error message is user-friendly
+    assert "already exists" in str(exc_info.value)
+    assert "Test Profile" in str(exc_info.value)
+    assert "choose a different name" in str(exc_info.value).lower()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_create_profile_different_names_succeeds(test_db, mock_profiles_dir):
+    """Test that creating profiles with different names succeeds."""
+    # Create first profile
+    profile_data_1 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Profile One",
+        description="First profile",
+        language="en"
+    )
+
+    profile_1 = await create_profile(profile_data_1, test_db)
+    assert profile_1.name == "Profile One"
+
+    # Create second profile with different name
+    profile_data_2 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Profile Two",
+        description="Second profile",
+        language="en"
+    )
+
+    profile_2 = await create_profile(profile_data_2, test_db)
+    assert profile_2.name == "Profile Two"
+
+    # Verify both profiles exist
+    assert profile_1.id != profile_2.id
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_update_profile_to_duplicate_name_raises_error(test_db, mock_profiles_dir):
+    """Test that updating a profile to a duplicate name raises a ValueError."""
+    # Create two profiles with different names
+    profile_data_1 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Profile A",
+        description="First profile",
+        language="en"
+    )
+    profile_1 = await create_profile(profile_data_1, test_db)
+
+    profile_data_2 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Profile B",
+        description="Second profile",
+        language="en"
+    )
+    profile_2 = await create_profile(profile_data_2, test_db)
+
+    # Try to update profile_2 to use profile_1's name
+    update_data = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Profile A",  # Duplicate name
+        description="Updated description",
+        language="en"
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as exc_info:
+        await update_profile(profile_2.id, update_data, test_db)
+
+    # Verify error message is user-friendly
+    assert "already exists" in str(exc_info.value)
+    assert "Profile A" in str(exc_info.value)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_update_profile_keep_same_name_succeeds(test_db, mock_profiles_dir):
+    """Test that updating a profile while keeping the same name succeeds."""
+    # Create profile
+    profile_data = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="My Profile",
+        description="Original description",
+        language="en"
+    )
+    profile = await create_profile(profile_data, test_db)
+
+    # Update profile with same name but different description
+    update_data = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="My Profile",  # Same name
+        description="Updated description",
+        language="en"
+    )
+
+    updated_profile = await update_profile(profile.id, update_data, test_db)
+
+    # Verify update succeeded
+    assert updated_profile is not None
+    assert updated_profile.id == profile.id
+    assert updated_profile.name == "My Profile"
+    assert updated_profile.description == "Updated description"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_update_profile_to_new_unique_name_succeeds(test_db, mock_profiles_dir):
+    """Test that updating a profile to a new unique name succeeds."""
+    # Create profile
+    profile_data = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Original Name",
+        description="Profile description",
+        language="en"
+    )
+    profile = await create_profile(profile_data, test_db)
+
+    # Update profile with new unique name
+    update_data = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="New Unique Name",
+        description="Updated description",
+        language="en"
+    )
+
+    updated_profile = await update_profile(profile.id, update_data, test_db)
+
+    # Verify update succeeded
+    assert updated_profile is not None
+    assert updated_profile.id == profile.id
+    assert updated_profile.name == "New Unique Name"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_case_sensitive_names_allowed(test_db, mock_profiles_dir):
+    """Test that profile names are case-sensitive (e.g., 'Test' and 'test' are different)."""
+    # Create profile with lowercase name
+    profile_data_1 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="test profile",
+        description="Lowercase",
+        language="en"
+    )
+    profile_1 = await create_profile(profile_data_1, test_db)
+
+    # Create profile with different case
+    profile_data_2 = VoiceProfileCreate(
+        name="Test Profile",
+        description="Title case",
+        language="en"
+    )
+    profile_2 = await create_profile(profile_data_2, test_db)
+
+    # Both should succeed since SQLite unique constraint is case-sensitive by default
+    assert profile_1.name == "test profile"
+    assert profile_2.name == "Test Profile"
+    assert profile_1.id != profile_2.id

backend/utils/audio.py

@@ -70,14 +70,133 @@ def save_audio(
     sample_rate: int = 24000,
 ) -> None:
     """
-    Save audio file.
+    Save audio file with atomic write and error handling.
-    
+
+    Writes to a temporary file first, then atomically renames to the
+    target path.  This prevents corrupted/partial WAV files if the
+    process is interrupted mid-write.
+
     Args:
         audio: Audio array
         path: Output path
         sample_rate: Sample rate
+
+    Raises:
+        OSError: If file cannot be written
     """
-    sf.write(path, audio, sample_rate)
+    from pathlib import Path
+    import os
+
+    temp_path = f"{path}.tmp"
+    try:
+        # Ensure parent directory exists
+        Path(path).parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+        # Write to temporary file first (explicit format since .tmp
+        # extension is not recognised by soundfile)
+        sf.write(temp_path, audio, sample_rate, format='WAV')
+
+        # Atomic rename to final path
+        os.replace(temp_path, path)
+
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Clean up temp file on failure
+        try:
+            if Path(temp_path).exists():
+                Path(temp_path).unlink()
+        except Exception:
+            pass  # Best effort cleanup
+
+        raise OSError(f"Failed to save audio to {path}: {e}") from e
+
+
+def trim_tts_output(
+    audio: np.ndarray,
+    sample_rate: int = 24000,
+    frame_ms: int = 20,
+    silence_threshold_db: float = -40.0,
+    min_silence_ms: int = 200,
+    max_internal_silence_ms: int = 1000,
+    fade_ms: int = 30,
+) -> np.ndarray:
+    """
+    Trim trailing silence and post-silence hallucination from TTS output.
+
+    Chatterbox sometimes produces ``[speech][silence][hallucinated noise]``.
+    This detects internal silence gaps longer than *max_internal_silence_ms*
+    and cuts the audio at that boundary, then trims trailing silence and
+    applies a short cosine fade-out.
+
+    Args:
+        audio: Input audio array (mono float32)
+        sample_rate: Sample rate in Hz
+        frame_ms: Frame size for RMS energy calculation
+        silence_threshold_db: dB threshold below which a frame is silence
+        min_silence_ms: Minimum trailing silence to keep
+        max_internal_silence_ms: Cut after any silence gap longer than this
+        fade_ms: Cosine fade-out duration in ms
+
+    Returns:
+        Trimmed audio array
+    """
+    frame_len = int(sample_rate * frame_ms / 1000)
+    if frame_len == 0 or len(audio) < frame_len:
+        return audio
+
+    n_frames = len(audio) // frame_len
+    threshold_linear = 10 ** (silence_threshold_db / 20)
+
+    # Compute per-frame RMS
+    rms = np.array(
+        [
+            np.sqrt(np.mean(audio[i * frame_len : (i + 1) * frame_len] ** 2))
+            for i in range(n_frames)
+        ]
+    )
+    is_speech = rms >= threshold_linear
+
+    # Find first speech frame
+    first_speech = 0
+    for i, s in enumerate(is_speech):
+        if s:
+            first_speech = max(0, i - 1)  # keep 1 frame padding
+            break
+
+    # Walk forward from first speech; cut at long internal silence gaps
+    max_silence_frames = int(max_internal_silence_ms / frame_ms)
+    consecutive_silence = 0
+    cut_frame = n_frames
+
+    for i in range(first_speech, n_frames):
+        if is_speech[i]:
+            consecutive_silence = 0
+        else:
+            consecutive_silence += 1
+            if consecutive_silence >= max_silence_frames:
+                cut_frame = i - consecutive_silence + 1
+                break
+
+    # Trim trailing silence from the cut point
+    min_silence_frames = int(min_silence_ms / frame_ms)
+    end_frame = cut_frame
+    while end_frame > first_speech and not is_speech[end_frame - 1]:
+        end_frame -= 1
+    # Keep a short tail
+    end_frame = min(end_frame + min_silence_frames, cut_frame)
+
+    # Convert frames back to samples
+    start_sample = first_speech * frame_len
+    end_sample = min(end_frame * frame_len, len(audio))
+
+    trimmed = audio[start_sample:end_sample].copy()
+
+    # Cosine fade-out
+    fade_samples = int(sample_rate * fade_ms / 1000)
+    if fade_samples > 0 and len(trimmed) > fade_samples:
+        fade = np.cos(np.linspace(0, np.pi / 2, fade_samples)) ** 2
+        trimmed[-fade_samples:] *= fade
+
+    return trimmed
 
 
 def validate_reference_audio(

backend/utils/chunked_tts.py

@@ -0,0 +1,302 @@
+"""
+Chunked TTS generation utilities.
+
+Splits long text into sentence-boundary chunks, generates audio per-chunk
+via any TTSBackend, and concatenates with crossfade.  All logic is
+engine-agnostic — it wraps the standard ``TTSBackend.generate()`` interface.
+
+Short text (≤ max_chunk_chars) uses the single-shot fast path with zero
+overhead.
+"""
+
+import logging
+import re
+from typing import List, Tuple
+
+import numpy as np
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("voicebox.chunked-tts")
+
+# Default chunk size in characters.  Can be overridden per-request via
+# the ``max_chunk_chars`` field on GenerationRequest.
+DEFAULT_MAX_CHUNK_CHARS = 800
+
+# Common abbreviations that should NOT be treated as sentence endings.
+# Lowercase for case-insensitive matching.
+_ABBREVIATIONS = frozenset(
+    {
+        "mr",
+        "mrs",
+        "ms",
+        "dr",
+        "prof",
+        "sr",
+        "jr",
+        "st",
+        "ave",
+        "blvd",
+        "inc",
+        "ltd",
+        "corp",
+        "dept",
+        "est",
+        "approx",
+        "vs",
+        "etc",
+        "e.g",
+        "i.e",
+        "a.m",
+        "p.m",
+        "u.s",
+        "u.s.a",
+        "u.k",
+    }
+)
+
+# Paralinguistic tags used by Chatterbox Turbo.  The splitter must never
+# cut inside one of these.
+_PARA_TAG_RE = re.compile(r"\[[^\]]*\]")
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Text splitting
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def split_text_into_chunks(text: str, max_chars: int = DEFAULT_MAX_CHUNK_CHARS) -> List[str]:
+    """Split *text* at natural boundaries into chunks of at most *max_chars*.
+
+    Priority: sentence-end (``.!?`` not preceded by an abbreviation and not
+    inside brackets) → clause boundary (``;:,—``) → whitespace → hard cut.
+
+    Paralinguistic tags like ``[laugh]`` are treated as atomic and will not
+    be split across chunks.
+    """
+    text = text.strip()
+    if not text:
+        return []
+    if len(text) <= max_chars:
+        return [text]
+
+    chunks: List[str] = []
+    remaining = text
+
+    while remaining:
+        remaining = remaining.lstrip()
+        if not remaining:
+            break
+        if len(remaining) <= max_chars:
+            chunks.append(remaining)
+            break
+
+        segment = remaining[:max_chars]
+
+        # Try to split at the last real sentence ending
+        split_pos = _find_last_sentence_end(segment)
+        if split_pos == -1:
+            split_pos = _find_last_clause_boundary(segment)
+        if split_pos == -1:
+            split_pos = segment.rfind(" ")
+        if split_pos == -1:
+            # Absolute fallback: hard cut but avoid splitting inside a tag
+            split_pos = _safe_hard_cut(segment, max_chars)
+
+        chunk = remaining[: split_pos + 1].strip()
+        if chunk:
+            chunks.append(chunk)
+        remaining = remaining[split_pos + 1 :]
+
+    return chunks
+
+
+def _find_last_sentence_end(text: str) -> int:
+    """Return the index of the last sentence-ending punctuation in *text*.
+
+    Skips periods that follow common abbreviations (``Dr.``, ``Mr.``, etc.)
+    and periods inside bracket tags (``[laugh]``).  Also handles CJK
+    sentence-ending punctuation (``。！？``).
+    """
+    best = -1
+    # ASCII sentence ends
+    for m in re.finditer(r"[.!?](?:\s|$)", text):
+        pos = m.start()
+        char = text[pos]
+        # Skip periods after abbreviations
+        if char == ".":
+            # Walk backwards to find the preceding word
+            word_start = pos - 1
+            while word_start >= 0 and text[word_start].isalpha():
+                word_start -= 1
+            word = text[word_start + 1 : pos].lower()
+            if word in _ABBREVIATIONS:
+                continue
+            # Skip decimal numbers (digit immediately before the period)
+            if word_start >= 0 and text[word_start].isdigit():
+                continue
+        # Skip if we're inside a bracket tag
+        if _inside_bracket_tag(text, pos):
+            continue
+        best = pos
+    # CJK sentence-ending punctuation
+    for m in re.finditer(r"[\u3002\uff01\uff1f]", text):
+        if m.start() > best:
+            best = m.start()
+    return best
+
+
+def _find_last_clause_boundary(text: str) -> int:
+    """Return the index of the last clause-boundary punctuation."""
+    best = -1
+    for m in re.finditer(r"[;:,\u2014](?:\s|$)", text):
+        pos = m.start()
+        # Skip if inside a bracket tag
+        if _inside_bracket_tag(text, pos):
+            continue
+        best = pos
+    return best
+
+
+def _inside_bracket_tag(text: str, pos: int) -> bool:
+    """Return True if *pos* falls inside a ``[...]`` tag."""
+    for m in _PARA_TAG_RE.finditer(text):
+        if m.start() < pos < m.end():
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+def _safe_hard_cut(segment: str, max_chars: int) -> int:
+    """Find a hard-cut position that doesn't split a ``[tag]``."""
+    cut = max_chars - 1
+    # Check if the cut falls inside a bracket tag; if so, move before it
+    for m in _PARA_TAG_RE.finditer(segment):
+        if m.start() < cut < m.end():
+            return m.start() - 1 if m.start() > 0 else cut
+    return cut
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Audio concatenation
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def concatenate_audio_chunks(
+    chunks: List[np.ndarray],
+    sample_rate: int,
+    crossfade_ms: int = 50,
+) -> np.ndarray:
+    """Concatenate audio arrays with a short crossfade to eliminate clicks.
+
+    Each chunk is expected to be a 1-D float32 ndarray at *sample_rate* Hz.
+    """
+    if not chunks:
+        return np.array([], dtype=np.float32)
+    if len(chunks) == 1:
+        return chunks[0]
+
+    crossfade_samples = int(sample_rate * crossfade_ms / 1000)
+    result = np.array(chunks[0], dtype=np.float32, copy=True)
+
+    for chunk in chunks[1:]:
+        if len(chunk) == 0:
+            continue
+        overlap = min(crossfade_samples, len(result), len(chunk))
+        if overlap > 0:
+            fade_out = np.linspace(1.0, 0.0, overlap, dtype=np.float32)
+            fade_in = np.linspace(0.0, 1.0, overlap, dtype=np.float32)
+            result[-overlap:] = result[-overlap:] * fade_out + chunk[:overlap] * fade_in
+            result = np.concatenate([result, chunk[overlap:]])
+        else:
+            result = np.concatenate([result, chunk])
+
+    return result
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Engine-agnostic chunked generation
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+async def generate_chunked(
+    backend,
+    text: str,
+    voice_prompt: dict,
+    language: str = "en",
+    seed: int | None = None,
+    instruct: str | None = None,
+    max_chunk_chars: int = DEFAULT_MAX_CHUNK_CHARS,
+    crossfade_ms: int = 50,
+    trim_fn=None,
+) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, int]:
+    """Generate audio with automatic chunking for long text.
+
+    For text shorter than *max_chunk_chars* this is a thin wrapper around
+    ``backend.generate()`` with zero overhead.
+
+    For longer text the input is split at natural sentence boundaries,
+    each chunk is generated independently, optionally trimmed (useful for
+    Chatterbox engines that hallucinate trailing noise), and the results
+    are concatenated with a crossfade (or hard cut if *crossfade_ms* is 0).
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    backend : TTSBackend
+        Any backend implementing the ``generate()`` protocol.
+    text : str
+        Input text (may be arbitrarily long).
+    voice_prompt, language, seed, instruct
+        Forwarded to ``backend.generate()`` verbatim.
+    max_chunk_chars : int
+        Maximum characters per chunk (default 800).
+    crossfade_ms : int
+        Crossfade duration in milliseconds between chunks.  0 for a hard
+        cut with no overlap (default 50).
+    trim_fn : callable | None
+        Optional ``(audio, sample_rate) -> audio`` post-processing
+        function applied to each chunk before concatenation (e.g.
+        ``trim_tts_output`` for Chatterbox engines).
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    (audio, sample_rate) : Tuple[np.ndarray, int]
+    """
+    chunks = split_text_into_chunks(text, max_chunk_chars)
+
+    if len(chunks) <= 1:
+        # Short text — single-shot fast path
+        audio, sample_rate = await backend.generate(
+            text, voice_prompt, language, seed, instruct,
+        )
+        if trim_fn is not None:
+            audio = trim_fn(audio, sample_rate)
+        return audio, sample_rate
+
+    # Long text — chunked generation
+    logger.info(
+        "Splitting %d chars into %d chunks (max %d chars each)",
+        len(text), len(chunks), max_chunk_chars,
+    )
+    audio_chunks: List[np.ndarray] = []
+    sample_rate: int | None = None
+
+    for i, chunk_text in enumerate(chunks):
+        logger.info(
+            "Generating chunk %d/%d (%d chars)",
+            i + 1, len(chunks), len(chunk_text),
+        )
+        # Vary the seed per chunk to avoid correlated RNG artefacts,
+        # but keep it deterministic so the same (text, seed) pair
+        # always produces the same output.
+        chunk_seed = (seed + i) if seed is not None else None
+
+        chunk_audio, chunk_sr = await backend.generate(
+            chunk_text, voice_prompt, language, chunk_seed, instruct,
+        )
+        if trim_fn is not None:
+            chunk_audio = trim_fn(chunk_audio, chunk_sr)
+
+        audio_chunks.append(np.asarray(chunk_audio, dtype=np.float32))
+        if sample_rate is None:
+            sample_rate = chunk_sr
+
+    audio = concatenate_audio_chunks(audio_chunks, sample_rate, crossfade_ms=crossfade_ms)
+    return audio, sample_rate

backend/utils/hf_offline_patch.py

@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+"""
+Monkey patch for huggingface_hub to force offline mode with cached models.
+This prevents mlx_audio from making network requests when models are already downloaded.
+"""
+
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Optional, Union
+
+
+def patch_huggingface_hub_offline():
+    """
+    Monkey-patch huggingface_hub to force offline mode.
+    This must be called BEFORE importing mlx_audio.
+    """
+    try:
+        import huggingface_hub
+        from huggingface_hub import constants as hf_constants
+        from huggingface_hub.file_download import _try_to_load_from_cache
+        
+        # Store original function
+        original_try_load = _try_to_load_from_cache
+        
+        def _patched_try_to_load_from_cache(
+            repo_id: str,
+            filename: str,
+            cache_dir: Union[str, Path, None] = None,
+            revision: Optional[str] = None,
+            repo_type: Optional[str] = None,
+        ):
+            """
+            Patched version that forces offline mode.
+            Returns None if not cached (instead of making network request).
+            """
+            # Always use the original function, but we're already in HF_HUB_OFFLINE mode
+            result = original_try_load(
+                repo_id=repo_id,
+                filename=filename,
+                cache_dir=cache_dir,
+                revision=revision,
+                repo_type=repo_type,
+            )
+            
+            if result is None:
+                # File not in cache - log this for debugging
+                cache_path = Path(hf_constants.HF_HUB_CACHE) / f"models--{repo_id.replace('/', '--')}"
+                print(f"[HF_PATCH] File not cached: {repo_id}/{filename}")
+                print(f"[HF_PATCH] Expected at: {cache_path}")
+            else:
+                print(f"[HF_PATCH] Cache hit: {repo_id}/{filename}")
+            
+            return result
+        
+        # Replace the function
+        import huggingface_hub.file_download as fd
+        fd._try_to_load_from_cache = _patched_try_to_load_from_cache
+        
+        print("[HF_PATCH] huggingface_hub patched for offline mode")
+        
+    except ImportError:
+        print("[HF_PATCH] huggingface_hub not found, skipping patch")
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"[HF_PATCH] Error patching huggingface_hub: {e}")
+
+
+def ensure_original_qwen_config_cached():
+    """
+    The MLX community model is based on the original Qwen model.
+    mlx_audio may try to fetch config from the original repo.
+    We need to ensure that config is available in the cache.
+    """
+    from huggingface_hub import constants as hf_constants
+    
+    # Original Qwen model that mlx_audio might reference
+    original_repo = "Qwen/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base"
+    mlx_repo = "mlx-community/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base-bf16"
+    
+    cache_dir = Path(hf_constants.HF_HUB_CACHE)
+    
+    original_path = cache_dir / f"models--{original_repo.replace('/', '--')}"
+    mlx_path = cache_dir / f"models--{mlx_repo.replace('/', '--')}"
+    
+    # If original repo cache doesn't exist but MLX does, create a symlink or copy config
+    if not original_path.exists() and mlx_path.exists():
+        print(f"[HF_PATCH] Original repo not cached, but MLX version is")
+        print(f"[HF_PATCH] Creating symlink from {original_repo} -> {mlx_repo}")
+        
+        try:
+            # Create a symlink so the cache lookup succeeds
+            original_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+            original_path.symlink_to(mlx_path, target_is_directory=True)
+            print(f"[HF_PATCH] Symlink created successfully")
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"[HF_PATCH] Could not create symlink: {e}")
+
+
+# Auto-apply patch when module is imported
+if os.environ.get("VOICEBOX_OFFLINE_PATCH", "1") != "0":
+    patch_huggingface_hub_offline()
+    ensure_original_qwen_config_cached()

bun.lock

@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
   "workspaces": {
     "": {
       "name": "voicebox",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "loaders.css": "^0.1.2",
+        "react-loaders": "^3.0.1",
+      },
       "devDependencies": {
         "@biomejs/biome": "2.3.12",
         "@types/node": "^20.0.0",
@@ -13,7 +17,7 @@
     },
     "app": {
       "name": "@voicebox/app",
-      "version": "0.1.11",
+      "version": "0.1.13",
       "dependencies": {
         "@dnd-kit/core": "^6.3.1",
         "@dnd-kit/sortable": "^10.0.0",
@@ -68,7 +72,7 @@
     },
     "landing": {
       "name": "@voicebox/landing",
-      "version": "0.1.11",
+      "version": "0.1.13",
       "dependencies": {
         "@radix-ui/react-separator": "^1.1.8",
         "@radix-ui/react-slot": "^1.2.4",
@@ -93,7 +97,7 @@
     },
     "tauri": {
       "name": "@voicebox/tauri",
-      "version": "0.1.11",
+      "version": "0.1.13",
       "dependencies": {
         "@tauri-apps/api": "^2.0.0",
         "@tauri-apps/plugin-dialog": "^2.0.0",
@@ -116,7 +120,7 @@
     },
     "web": {
       "name": "@voicebox/web",
-      "version": "0.1.11",
+      "version": "0.1.13",
       "dependencies": {
         "@tanstack/react-query": "^5.0.0",
         "react": "^18.3.0",
@@ -125,6 +129,7 @@
         "zustand": "^4.5.0",
       },
       "devDependencies": {
+        "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.0.0",
         "@types/react": "^18.3.0",
         "@types/react-dom": "^18.3.0",
         "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^7.0.0",
@@ -677,6 +682,8 @@
 
     "class-variance-authority": ["[email protected]", "", { "dependencies": { "clsx": "^2.1.1" } }, "sha512-Ka+9Trutv7G8M6WT6SeiRWz792K5qEqIGEGzXKhAE6xOWAY6pPH8U+9IY3oCMv6kqTmLsv7Xh/2w2RigkePMsg=="],
 
+    "classnames": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-saHYOzhIQs6wy2sVxTM6bUDsQO4F50V9RQ22qBpEdCW+I+/Wmke2HOl6lS6dTpdxVhb88/I6+Hs+438c3lfUow=="],
+
     "client-only": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-IV3Ou0jSMzZrd3pZ48nLkT9DA7Ag1pnPzaiQhpW7c3RbcqqzvzzVu+L8gfqMp/8IM2MQtSiqaCxrrcfu8I8rMA=="],
 
     "clsx": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-eYm0QWBtUrBWZWG0d386OGAw16Z995PiOVo2B7bjWSbHedGl5e0ZWaq65kOGgUSNesEIDkB9ISbTg/JK9dhCZA=="],
@@ -873,6 +880,8 @@
 
     "lines-and-columns": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-7ylylesZQ/PV29jhEDl3Ufjo6ZX7gCqJr5F7PKrqc93v7fzSymt1BpwEU8nAUXs8qzzvqhbjhK5QZg6Mt/HkBg=="],
 
+    "loaders.css": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-Rhowlq24ey1VOeor+3wYOt9+MjaxBOJm1u4KlQgNC3+0xJ0LS4wq4iG57D/BPzvuD/7HHDGQOWJ+81oR2EI9bQ=="],
+
     "locate-path": ["[email protected]", "", { "dependencies": { "p-locate": "^5.0.0" } }, "sha512-iPZK6eYjbxRu3uB4/WZ3EsEIMJFMqAoopl3R+zuq0UjcAm/MO6KCweDgPfP3elTztoKP3KtnVHxTn2NHBSDVUw=="],
 
     "lodash.merge": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-0KpjqXRVvrYyCsX1swR/XTK0va6VQkQM6MNo7PqW77ByjAhoARA8EfrP1N4+KlKj8YS0ZUCtRT/YUuhyYDujIQ=="],
@@ -959,6 +968,8 @@
 
     "prelude-ls": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-vkcDPrRZo1QZLbn5RLGPpg/WmIQ65qoWWhcGKf/b5eplkkarX0m9z8ppCat4mlOqUsWpyNuYgO3VRyrYHSzX5g=="],
 
+    "prop-types": ["[email protected]", "", { "dependencies": { "loose-envify": "^1.4.0", "object-assign": "^4.1.1", "react-is": "^16.13.1" } }, "sha512-oj87CgZICdulUohogVAR7AjlC0327U4el4L6eAvOqCeudMDVU0NThNaV+b9Df4dXgSP1gXMTnPdhfe/2qDH5cg=="],
+
     "punycode": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-vYt7UD1U9Wg6138shLtLOvdAu+8DsC/ilFtEVHcH+wydcSpNE20AfSOduf6MkRFahL5FY7X1oU7nKVZFtfq8Fg=="],
 
     "queue-microtask": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-NuaNSa6flKT5JaSYQzJok04JzTL1CA6aGhv5rfLW3PgqA+M2ChpZQnAC8h8i4ZFkBS8X5RqkDBHA7r4hej3K9A=="],
@@ -969,6 +980,10 @@
 
     "react-hook-form": ["[email protected]", "", { "peerDependencies": { "react": "^16.8.0 || ^17 || ^18 || ^19" } }, "sha512-9SUJKCGKo8HUSsCO+y0CtqkqI5nNuaDqTxyqPsZPqIwudpj4rCrAz/jZV+jn57bx5gtZKOh3neQu94DXMc+w5w=="],
 
+    "react-is": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-24e6ynE2H+OKt4kqsOvNd8kBpV65zoxbA4BVsEOB3ARVWQki/DHzaUoC5KuON/BiccDaCCTZBuOcfZs70kR8bQ=="],
+
+    "react-loaders": ["[email protected]", "", { "dependencies": { "classnames": "^2.2.3" }, "peerDependencies": { "prop-types": ">=15.6.0", "react": ">=15" } }, "sha512-4igMNqs9Fb3d4Z+0UHIGQNJsw/37gX0nUO8QxupnEKRn1dtyYC1LGwk5GuaoDciMQCQc/MmPwb4Fn6ZfdoX1FQ=="],
+
     "react-refresh": ["[email protected]", "", {}, "sha512-z6F7K9bV85EfseRCp2bzrpyQ0Gkw1uLoCel9XBVWPg/TjRj94SkJzUTGfOa4bs7iJvBWtQG0Wq7wnI0syw3EBQ=="],
 
     "react-remove-scroll": ["[email protected]", "", { "dependencies": { "react-remove-scroll-bar": "^2.3.7", "react-style-singleton": "^2.2.3", "tslib": "^2.1.0", "use-callback-ref": "^1.3.3", "use-sidecar": "^1.1.3" }, "peerDependencies": { "@types/react": "*", "react": "^16.8.0 || ^17.0.0 || ^18.0.0 || ^19.0.0 || ^19.0.0-rc" }, "optionalPeers": ["@types/react"] }, "sha512-Iqb9NjCCTt6Hf+vOdNIZGdTiH1QSqr27H/Ek9sv/a97gfueI/5h1s3yRi1nngzMUaOOToin5dI1dXKdXiF+u0Q=="],

docker-compose.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+services:
+  voicebox:
+    build: .
+    container_name: voicebox
+    restart: unless-stopped
+
+    ports:
+      # Bind to localhost only for security
+      - "127.0.0.1:17493:17493"
+
+    volumes:
+      # Bind-mount for generated audio (customize the host path as needed)
+      # Host side:      ./output/
+      # Container side: /app/data/generations/
+      - ./output:/app/data/generations
+
+      # Named volume for profiles, DB, cache (persists across container restarts)
+      - voicebox-data:/app/data
+
+      # HuggingFace model cache (so models aren't re-downloaded on rebuild)
+      - huggingface-cache:/home/voicebox/.cache/huggingface
+
+    environment:
+      - LOG_LEVEL=info
+
+    networks:
+      - voicebox-net
+
+    deploy:
+      resources:
+        limits:
+          cpus: '4'
+          memory: 8G
+
+networks:
+  voicebox-net:
+    driver: bridge
+
+volumes:
+  voicebox-data:
+  huggingface-cache:

docs/PR-ACCESSIBILITY.md

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Accessibility: screen reader and keyboard improvements
+
+## Summary
+
+Improvements to support screen reader and keyboard users across the main app surfaces: audio player, generation UI, voice selection, history, voices tab, model management, server tab, and stories.
+
+**Tested with NVDA and Narrator on Windows.**
+
+---
+
+## What changed
+
+### Audio player (after generating audio)
+
+- **Play/Pause, Loop, Mute, Close** – `aria-label` added so each control is announced (e.g. "Play", "Pause", "Loop", "Mute", "Close player").
+- **Playback position slider** – `aria-label="Playback position"` and `aria-valuetext` with current/total time (e.g. "0:30 of 2:15").
+- **Volume** – Wrapped in a labelled group; volume slider has an associated screen-reader-only label and `aria-valuetext` for the level (e.g. "Volume level, 75%").
+
+### Generation UI (text box and voice choice)
+
+- **Generate speech** (submit) and **Fine-tune instructions** (sliders) – Icon buttons now have `aria-label` (and state for fine-tune, e.g. "Fine-tune instructions, on").
+
+### Voice selection (cards on Generate screen)
+
+- Each **voice card** is focusable (`tabIndex={0}`), has `role="button"`, and an `aria-label` (e.g. "Prashant, en. Select as voice for generation.") with `aria-pressed` when selected.
+- **Enter/Space** on the card selects that voice; tab order is card → Export/Edit/Delete.
+
+### History list (generated samples)
+
+- Each **sample row** is focusable with `role="button"` and an `aria-label` (e.g. "Sample from [profile], [duration], [date]. Press Enter to play."); **Enter/Space** plays or restarts.
+- **Transcript textarea** has `aria-label` (e.g. "Transcript for sample from [profile], [duration]") so when you focus on the text area, the sample is announced in context.
+
+### Voices tab (table)
+
+- Each **voice row** is focusable with `role="button"` and an `aria-label` (e.g. "[Name], [language], [N] generations, [N] samples. Press Enter to edit."); **Enter/Space** opens edit (except when focus is in a control).
+- **Actions** dropdown trigger has `aria-label="Actions for [profile name]"`.
+
+### Model management
+
+- Each **model row** is a focusable region (`tabIndex={0}`, `role="group"`) with an `aria-label` (e.g. "[Model name], [status], [size]. Use Tab to reach Download or Delete.").
+- **Download** and **Delete** (and Downloading) buttons have `aria-label` (e.g. "Download [name]", "Delete [name]").
+
+### Server tab (panels)
+
+- **Server Connection**, **Server Status**, and **App Updates** cards are landmarks: `role="region"`, `aria-label`, and `tabIndex={0}` so each panel is focusable and announced (e.g. "Server Connection", "Server Status", "App Updates").
+
+### Stories list
+
+- Each **story row** is a focusable control (`role="button"`, `tabIndex={0}`) with `aria-label` (e.g. "Story [name], [N] items, [date]. Press Enter to select."); **Enter/Space** selects the story. Actions button has `aria-label="Actions for [story name]"`.
+
+### Other controls
+
+- **Story list** – Actions (⋮) button: `aria-label="Actions for [story name]"`.
+- **Story track editor** – Play/Pause, Stop, Split, Duplicate, Delete, Zoom in/out: `aria-label` on all icon buttons.
+- **Voice profile samples** (SampleList, AudioSampleUpload, AudioSampleRecording, AudioSampleSystem) – Play/Pause and Stop: `aria-label` (e.g. "Play sample", "Pause", "Stop playback").
+- **SampleList** mini sample player – Seek slider has `aria-label="Sample playback position"` and `aria-valuetext` for time.
+
+---
+
+## Testing
+
+- **Screen readers:** Tested with **NVDA** and **Narrator** on Windows.
+- **Keyboard:** Tab order and Enter/Space activation verified for focusable rows and buttons.
+
+---
+
+## Tech note
+
+- React + TypeScript; Radix UI primitives; labels added via `aria-label`, `aria-labelledby`, `aria-valuetext`, and `role`/`tabIndex` where needed.
+- No new dependencies.

docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md

@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ chmod +x voicebox-*.AppImage
 **Solutions:**
 1. **Check server is running**
    ```bash
-   curl http://localhost:8000/health
+   curl http://localhost:17493/health
    ```
 
 2. **Check remote mode**
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ chmod +x voicebox-*.AppImage
    - Check firewall settings
 
 3. **Check port availability**
-   - Default port is 8000
+   - The current local app and dev workflow uses port 17493 by default
    - Ensure no other service is using it
 
 ### CORS errors in browser
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ chmod +x voicebox-*.AppImage
 
 2. **Check OpenAPI endpoint**
    ```bash
-   curl http://localhost:8000/openapi.json
+   curl http://localhost:17493/openapi.json
    ```
 
 3. **Regenerate client**

docs/issue-pain-points.md

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# Voicebox Issue Pain Points (Snapshot)
+
+## Scope
+
+- Dataset: **128 total issues** (**107 open**, **21 closed**)
+- Source: GitHub issues in `jamiepine/voicebox`
+- Classification: keyword/theme clustering
+- Note: counts below are **non-exclusive** (one issue can belong to multiple pain points)
+
+## Most Common Pain Points (Open Issues)
+
+| Rank | Pain Point | Open Issues | What users are reporting |
+|---|---|---:|---|
+| 1 | Model download & offline reliability | **32** | Downloads failing/stalling, cache/offline behavior inconsistent, wrong model size selected, Errno issues |
+| 2 | GPU/backend compatibility | **22** | GPU not detected, backend fallback surprises, platform-specific runtime failures (Windows/Mac) |
+| 3 | Export/save/file persistence | **15** | Export fails, "failed to fetch/download audio", samples/profiles not saving |
+| 4 | Language/accent quality & coverage | **14** | Missing language support, accent mismatch, robotic outputs |
+| 5 | Update/restart safety + long-op controls | **4** | Auto-restart without warning, update confusion, lack of cancel/pause controls |
+
+## Representative Issues by Pain Point
+
+### 1) Model download & offline reliability (32)
+
+- [#159](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/159) - Qwen download fails with Errno 22
+- [#151](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/151) - Model loading hangs / server crashes
+- [#150](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/150) - Internet required despite downloaded models
+- [#149](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/149) - Cancel/pause controls for large downloads
+- [#96](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/96) - 0.6B selection still uses/downloads 1.7B
+
+### 2) GPU/backend compatibility (22)
+
+- [#164](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/164) - Windows: no GPU usage + multiple breakages
+- [#141](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/141) - Using CPU only, GPU not used
+- [#131](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/131) - Numpy ABI mismatch in bundled app
+- [#130](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/130) - Intel Mac tensor/padding generation error
+- [#127](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/127) - GPU not found
+
+### 3) Export/save/file persistence (15)
+
+- [#148](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/148) - Japanese export fails on 0.1.12
+- [#143](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/143) - Samples not saving
+- [#134](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/134) - Can't save profile
+- [#105](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/105) - Export audio fails (failed to fetch)
+- [#49](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/49) - Export filename/location ignored on Windows
+
+### 4) Language/accent quality & coverage (14)
+
+- [#162](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/162) - Persian audio request/problem
+- [#117](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/117) - Arabic language support
+- [#113](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/113) - Polish language support
+- [#109](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/109) - Ukrainian support
+- [#100](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/100) - Non-US accent quality issues
+
+### 5) Update/restart safety + controls (4)
+
+- [#164](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/164) - Update behavior + usability failures
+- [#136](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/136) - Auto-restart without warning
+- [#86](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/86) - Unexpected restart with no confirmation
+- [#149](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/issues/149) - Need pause/cancel and pre-download confirmation
+
+## Additional Signal
+
+- There is also a large **feature-request/misc** bucket (**36 open**) that is competing with stability triage (audiobook, Linux build, additional ASR/TTS models, integrations).
+
+## Takeaway
+
+Most user pain is concentrated in four stability areas: **download/offline path**, **GPU/backend detection**, **save/export reliability**, and **language/accent correctness**. Addressing those first should reduce the majority of current support friction.

docs/plans/PROJECT_STATUS.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Voicebox Project Status & Roadmap
 
-> Last updated: 2026-03-12 | Current version: **v0.1.13** | 13.1k stars | 176 open issues | 28 open PRs
+> Last updated: 2026-03-13 | Current version: **v0.1.13** | 13.1k stars | ~176 open issues | 25 open PRs
 
 ---
 
@@ -30,14 +30,18 @@
 │                         │ HTTP :17493                │
 │  ┌──────────────────────▼────────────────────────┐  │
 │  │  FastAPI Backend (backend/)                   │  │
-│  │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌───────────┐  ┌─────────┐ │  │
+│  │  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐  │  │
-│  │  │ TTSBackend  │  │ STTBackend│  │ Profiles│ │  │
+│  │  │ TTSBackend Protocol                     │  │  │
-│  │  │ (Protocol)  │  │ (Whisper) │  │ History │ │  │
+│  │  │  ┌──────────┐ ┌───────┐ ┌───────────┐  │  │  │
-│  │  │  ┌────────┐ │  └───────────┘  │ Stories │ │  │
+│  │  │  │ Qwen3-TTS│ │LuxTTS │ │Chatterbox │  │  │  │
-│  │  │  │PyTorch │ │                  └─────────┘ │  │
+│  │  │  │(Py/MLX)  │ │       │ │(MTL+Turbo)│  │  │  │
-│  │  │  │or MLX  │ │                              │  │
+│  │  │  └──────────┘ └───────┘ └───────────┘  │  │  │
-│  │  │  └────────┘ │                              │  │
+│  │  └─────────────────────────────────────────┘  │  │
-│  │  └─────────────┘                              │  │
+│  │  ┌───────────┐  ┌─────────┐                   │  │
+│  │  │ STTBackend│  │ Profiles│                   │  │
+│  │  │ (Whisper) │  │ History │                   │  │
+│  │  └───────────┘  │ Stories │                   │  │
+│  │                  └─────────┘                   │  │
 │  └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
 └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 ```
@@ -46,131 +50,180 @@
 
 | Layer | File | Purpose |
 |-------|------|---------|
-| Backend entry | `backend/main.py` | FastAPI app, all API routes (~1700 lines) |
+| Backend entry | `backend/main.py` | FastAPI app, all API routes (~2100 lines) |
 | TTS protocol | `backend/backends/__init__.py:14-81` | `TTSBackend` Protocol definition |
-| TTS factory | `backend/backends/__init__.py:118-137` | Singleton backend selection (MLX vs PyTorch) |
+| TTS factory | `backend/backends/__init__.py:138-178` | Thread-safe engine registry (double-checked locking) |
 | PyTorch TTS | `backend/backends/pytorch_backend.py` | Qwen3-TTS via `qwen_tts` package |
 | MLX TTS | `backend/backends/mlx_backend.py` | Qwen3-TTS via `mlx_audio.tts` |
+| LuxTTS | `backend/backends/luxtts_backend.py` | LuxTTS — fast, CPU-friendly |
+| Chatterbox MTL | `backend/backends/chatterbox_backend.py` | Chatterbox Multilingual — 23 languages |
+| Chatterbox Turbo | `backend/backends/chatterbox_turbo_backend.py` | Chatterbox Turbo — English, paralinguistic tags |
 | Platform detect | `backend/platform_detect.py` | Apple Silicon → MLX, else → PyTorch |
 | API types | `backend/models.py` | Pydantic request/response models |
+| HF progress | `backend/utils/hf_progress.py` | HFProgressTracker (tqdm patching for download progress) |
+| Audio utils | `backend/utils/audio.py` | `trim_tts_output()`, normalize, load/save audio |
 | Frontend API | `app/src/lib/api/client.ts` | Hand-written fetch wrapper |
 | Frontend types | `app/src/lib/api/types.ts` | TypeScript API types |
 | Generation form | `app/src/components/Generation/GenerationForm.tsx` | TTS generation UI |
-| Model manager | `app/src/components/ServerSettings/ModelManagement.tsx` | Model download/status UI |
+| Floating gen box | `app/src/components/Generation/FloatingGenerateBox.tsx` | Compact generation UI |
+| Model manager | `app/src/components/ServerSettings/ModelManagement.tsx` | Model download/status/progress UI |
+| GPU acceleration | `app/src/components/ServerSettings/GpuAcceleration.tsx` | CUDA backend swap UI |
 | Gen form hook | `app/src/lib/hooks/useGenerationForm.ts` | Form validation + submission |
+| Language constants | `app/src/lib/constants/languages.ts` | Per-engine language maps |
 
 ### How TTS Generation Works (Current Flow)
 
 ```
 POST /generate
   1. Look up voice profile from DB
-  2. Check model cache → if missing, trigger background download, return HTTP 202
+  2. Resolve engine from request (qwen | luxtts | chatterbox | chatterbox_turbo)
-  3. Load model (lazy): tts_backend.load_model(model_size)
+  3. Get backend: get_tts_backend_for_engine(engine)  # thread-safe singleton per engine
-  4. Create voice prompt: profiles.create_voice_prompt_for_profile()
+  4. Check model cache → if missing, trigger background download, return HTTP 202
+  5. Load model (lazy): tts_backend.load_model(model_size)
+  6. Create voice prompt: profiles.create_voice_prompt_for_profile(engine=engine)
        → tts_backend.create_voice_prompt(audio_path, reference_text)
-  5. Generate: tts_backend.generate(text, voice_prompt, language, seed, instruct)
+  7. Generate: tts_backend.generate(text, voice_prompt, language, seed, instruct)
-  6. Save WAV → data/generations/{id}.wav
+  8. Post-process: trim_tts_output() for Chatterbox engines
-  7. Insert history record in SQLite
+  9. Save WAV → data/generations/{id}.wav
-  8. Return GenerationResponse
+  10. Insert history record in SQLite
+  11. Return GenerationResponse
 ```
 
 ---
 
 ## Current State
 
-### What's Shipped (v0.1.13)
+### What's Shipped (v0.1.13 + recent merges)
 
+**Core TTS:**
 - Qwen3-TTS voice cloning (1.7B and 0.6B models)
 - MLX backend for Apple Silicon, PyTorch for everything else
+- Multi-engine TTS architecture with thread-safe backend registry (PR #254)
+- LuxTTS integration — fast, CPU-friendly English TTS (PR #254)
+- Chatterbox Multilingual TTS — 23 languages including Hebrew (PR #257)
+- Delivery instructions (instruct parameter, Qwen only)
+- Single flat model dropdown (Qwen 1.7B, Qwen 0.6B, LuxTTS, Chatterbox, Chatterbox Turbo)
+
+**Infrastructure:**
+- CUDA backend swap via binary download and restart (PR #252)
+- GPU acceleration settings UI
 - Voice profiles with multi-sample support
 - Stories editor (multi-track DAW timeline)
 - Whisper transcription (base, small, medium, large variants)
-- Model management UI with download progress (SSE)
+- Model management UI with inline download progress bars (HFProgressTracker)
+- Download cancel/clear UI with error panel (PR #238)
 - Generation history with caching
 - Streaming generation endpoint (MLX only)
-- Delivery instructions (instruct parameter)
+- Duplicate profile name validation (PR #175)
+- Linux NVIDIA GBM buffer + WebKitGTK microphone fix (PR #210)
 
-### What's NOT Shipped But Has Code
+### What's In-Flight
 
-| Feature | Branch | Status |
+| Feature | Branch/PR | Status |
-|---------|--------|--------|
+|---------|-----------|--------|
-| External provider binaries (CUDA split) | `external-provider-binaries` | PR #33, significant work done, stale since Feb |
+| Chatterbox Turbo + per-engine language lists | `feat/chatterbox-turbo` / PR #258 | Open, ready for review |
-| Dual server binaries | `feat/dual-server-binaries` | Branch exists, no PR |
-| Multi-sample fix | `fix-multi-sample` | Branch exists, no PR |
-| Model download notification fix | `fix-dl-notification-...` | Branch exists, no PR |
 
-### Hardcoded Qwen3-TTS Assumptions
+### TTS Engine Comparison
 
-These are the specific coupling points that block multi-model support:
+| Engine | Model Name | Languages | Size | Key Features |
+|--------|-----------|-----------|------|-------------|
+| Qwen3-TTS 1.7B | `qwen-tts-1.7B` | 10 (zh, en, ja, ko, de, fr, ru, pt, es, it) | ~3.5 GB | Instruct mode, highest quality |
+| Qwen3-TTS 0.6B | `qwen-tts-0.6B` | 10 | ~1.2 GB | Lighter, faster |
+| LuxTTS | `luxtts` | English | ~300 MB | CPU-friendly, 48 kHz, fast |
+| Chatterbox | `chatterbox-tts` | 23 (incl. Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, etc.) | ~3.2 GB | Zero-shot cloning, multilingual |
+| Chatterbox Turbo | `chatterbox-turbo` | English | ~1.5 GB | Paralinguistic tags ([laugh], [cough]), 350M params, low latency |
 
-| Location | What's Hardcoded |
+### Multi-Engine Architecture (Shipped)
-|----------|-----------------|
+
-| `backend/models.py:58` | `model_size` regex: `^(1\.7B\|0\.6B)$` |
+The singleton TTS backend blocker described in the previous version of this doc has been **resolved**. The architecture now supports:
-| `backend/main.py:611` | Default: `model_size or "1.7B"` |
+
-| `backend/main.py:1322-1365` | Model status list (2 Qwen + 4 Whisper) |
+- **Thread-safe backend registry** (`_tts_backends` dict + `_tts_backends_lock`) with double-checked locking
-| `backend/main.py:1523-1548` | Download trigger map |
+- **Per-engine backend instances** — each engine gets its own singleton, loaded lazily
-| `backend/main.py:1597-1628` | Delete map |
+- **Engine field on GenerationRequest** — frontend sends `engine: 'qwen' | 'luxtts' | 'chatterbox' | 'chatterbox_turbo'`
-| `backend/backends/pytorch_backend.py:65-68` | HF repo ID map |
+- **Per-engine language filtering** — `ENGINE_LANGUAGES` map in frontend, backend regex accepts all languages
-| `backend/backends/mlx_backend.py:41-44` | MLX repo ID map |
+- **Per-engine voice prompts** — `create_voice_prompt_for_profile()` dispatches to the correct backend
-| `backend/backends/__init__.py:118-137` | Single global TTS backend |
+- **Trim post-processing** — `trim_tts_output()` for Chatterbox engines (cuts trailing silence/hallucination)
-| `app/src/lib/hooks/useGenerationForm.ts:17` | `modelSize: z.enum(['1.7B', '0.6B'])` |
+
-| `app/src/lib/hooks/useGenerationForm.ts:70-71` | `modelName = "qwen-tts-${data.modelSize}"` |
+### Known Limitations
-| `app/src/components/Generation/GenerationForm.tsx:140-141` | Hardcoded "Qwen TTS" labels |
+
-| `app/src/components/ServerSettings/ModelManagement.tsx:166-213` | Filters by `qwen-tts` and `whisper` prefix |
+- **HF XET progress**: Large files downloaded via `hf-xet` (HuggingFace's new transfer backend) report `n=0` in tqdm updates. Progress bars may appear stuck for large `.safetensors` files even though the download is proceeding. This is a known upstream limitation.
-| `backend/utils/cache.py` | Voice prompt cache uses `torch.save()` |
+- **Chatterbox Turbo upstream token bug**: `from_pretrained()` passes `token=os.getenv("HF_TOKEN") or True` which fails without a stored HF token. Our backend works around this by calling `snapshot_download(token=None)` + `from_local()`.
+- **chatterbox-tts must install with `--no-deps`**: It pins `numpy<1.26`, `torch==2.6.0`, `transformers==4.46.3` — all incompatible with our stack (Python 3.12, torch 2.10, transformers 4.57.3). Sub-deps listed explicitly in `requirements.txt`.
+- **Streaming generation** only works for Qwen on MLX. Other engines use the non-streaming `/generate` endpoint.
+- **dicta-onnx** (Hebrew diacritization) not included — upstream Chatterbox bug requires `model_path` arg but calls `Dicta()` with none. Hebrew works fine without it.
 
 ---
 
 ## Open PRs — Triage & Analysis
 
+### Recently Merged (Since Last Update)
+
+| PR | Title | Merged |
+|----|-------|--------|
+| **#257** | feat: Chatterbox TTS engine with multilingual voice cloning | 2026-03-13 |
+| **#254** | feat: LuxTTS integration — multi-engine TTS support | 2026-03-13 |
+| **#252** | feat: CUDA backend swap via binary download and restart | 2026-03-13 |
+| **#238** | Download cancel/clear UI, fixed model downloading | 2026-03-13 |
+| **#250** | docs: align local API port examples | 2026-03-13 |
+| **#210** | fix: Linux NVIDIA GBM buffer crash | 2026-03-13 |
+| **#175** | Fix #134: duplicate profile name validation | 2026-03-13 |
+
+### In-Flight (Our Work)
+
+| PR | Title | Status | Notes |
+|----|-------|--------|-------|
+| **#258** | feat: Chatterbox Turbo engine + per-engine language lists | Open | Ready for review. Adds Turbo engine + dynamic language dropdown. |
+
 ### Merge-Ready / Near-Ready (Bug Fixes & Small Features)
 
 | PR | Title | Risk | Notes |
 |----|-------|------|-------|
-| **#250** | docs: align local API port examples | None | Docs-only |
 | **#230** | docs: fix README grammar | None | Docs-only |
 | **#243** | a11y: screen reader and keyboard improvements | Low | Accessibility, no backend changes |
-| **#175** | Fix #134: duplicate profile name validation | Low | Simple validation |
 | **#178** | Fix #168 #140: generation error handling | Low | Error handling improvements |
 | **#152** | Fix: prevent crashes when HuggingFace unreachable | Medium | Monkey-patches HF hub; solves real offline bug (#150, #151) |
 | **#218** | fix: unify qwen tts cache dir on Windows | Low | Windows-specific path fix |
 | **#214** | fix: panic on launch from tokio::spawn | Low | Rust-side Tauri fix |
-| **#210** | fix: Linux NVIDIA GBM buffer crash | Low | Linux-specific, narrowly scoped |
 | **#88** | security: restrict CORS to known local origins | Low | Security hardening |
+| **#133** | feat: network access toggle | Low | Wires up existing plumbing |
 
 ### Significant Feature PRs
 
-| PR | Title | Complexity | Dependencies | Notes |
+| PR | Title | Complexity | Notes |
-|----|-------|-----------|--------------|-------|
+|----|-------|-----------|-------|
-| **#97** | fix: pass language parameter to TTS models | Medium | None | **Critical bug** — language param was silently dropped. Adds `LANGUAGE_CODE_TO_NAME` mapping to both backends. Should be high priority. |
+| **#253** | Enhance speech tokenizer with 48kHz version | Medium | Qwen tokenizer upgrade |
-| **#133** | feat: network access toggle | Low | None | Wires up existing plumbing (`--host 0.0.0.0`). Clean, small. |
+| **#97** | fix: pass language parameter to TTS models | Medium | May be partially obsoleted by multi-engine work — needs review |
-| **#238** | download cancel/clear UI + error panel | Medium | None | Adds cancel buttons, VS Code-style Problems panel, fixes whisper-large repo. Quality-of-life win. |
+| **#99** | feat: chunked TTS with quality selector | Medium | Solves 500-char limit. Addresses #191, #203, #69, #111. |
-| **#99** | feat: chunked TTS with quality selector | Medium | None | Solves the 500-char/2048-token limit. Sentence-aware splitting, crossfade concat, 44.1kHz upsampling. Addresses #191, #203, #69, #111. |
+| **#154** | feat: Audiobook tab | Medium | Full audiobook workflow. Depends on #99 concepts. |
-| **#154** | feat: Audiobook tab | Medium | Depends on #99 concepts | Full audiobook workflow — chunked gen, preview, auto-save to Stories. New route + tab. |
+| **#91** | fix: CoreAudio device enumeration | Medium | macOS audio device handling |
-| **#91** | fix: CoreAudio device enumeration | Medium | None | macOS audio device handling. |
 
 ### Architectural PRs (Need Careful Review)
 
 | PR | Title | Complexity | Notes |
 |----|-------|-----------|-------|
-| **#33** | CUDA GPU Support — External Provider Binaries | **Very High** | The big one. Splits monolithic backend into main app + downloadable provider executables (PyTorch CPU, CUDA). New provider management system, CI/CD for R2 uploads, provider settings UI. Created Feb 1, significant codebase. **This is the foundation for multi-model support** but is currently Qwen-only. |
+| **#225** | feat: custom HuggingFace model support | High | Arbitrary HF repo loading. May need rework given multi-engine arch is now shipped. |
-| **#225** | feat: custom HuggingFace model support | High | Adds `custom_models.py`, `custom:<slug>` model IDs, frontend model grouping (Built-in vs Custom). **Takes a different approach than #33** — keeps single backend but allows arbitrary HF repos. These two PRs may conflict architecturally. |
+| **#194** | feat: Hebrew + Chatterbox TTS | High | **Superseded** by PR #257 which shipped Chatterbox multilingual (23 langs incl. Hebrew). May be closeable. |
-| **#194** | feat: Hebrew + Chatterbox TTS | High | **First non-Qwen TTS model.** Adds `ChatterboxTTSBackend` alongside existing backends. Routes by language (`he` → Chatterbox, else → Qwen). Adds Hebrew Whisper models. Includes a lot of cleanup. Important precedent for multi-model. |
+| **#195** | feat: per-profile LoRA fine-tuning | Very High | Training pipeline, adapter management, 15 new endpoints. Depends on #194 (now superseded). |
-| **#195** | feat: per-profile LoRA fine-tuning | **Very High** | Depends on #194. Training pipeline, adapter management, SSE progress, 15 new API endpoints. New DB tables. Forces PyTorch even on MLX systems for adapter inference. |
+| **#161** | feat: Docker + web deployment | High | 3-stage Dockerfile, SPA serving. Independent of TTS engine work. |
-| **#161** | feat: Docker + web deployment | High | 3-stage Dockerfile, SPA serving from FastAPI, docker-compose. Implements the Docker deployment plan. |
+| **#124** / **#123** | Docker (simpler attempts) | Low-Medium | Overlap with #161 |
-| **#124** | Add Dockerfiles + docker-compose + docs | Medium | Earlier, simpler Docker attempt. Overlaps with #161. |
+| **#227** | fix: harden input validation & file safety | Medium | Coupled to #225 (custom models) |
-| **#123** | added docker | Low | Minimal Docker PR. Overlaps with #161 and #124. |
-| **#227** | fix: harden input validation & file safety | Medium | Follow-up to #225. Atomic writes, threading locks, input validation. Good hardening but coupled to the custom models feature. |
 
 ### PRs That Need Author Action / Are Stale
 
 | PR | Title | Notes |
 |----|-------|-------|
-| **#237** | fix: bundle qwen_tts source files in PyInstaller | Solves #212 but needs review for build system impact |
+| **#237** | fix: bundle qwen_tts source files in PyInstaller | Build system, needs review |
 | **#215** | Update prerequisites with Tauri deps | Branch is `main` — will have conflicts |
 | **#89** | Linux Support | Branch is `main` — will have conflicts. Broad scope. |
 | **#83** | Update download links for v0.1.12 | Outdated (we're on v0.1.13) |
 
+### PRs Likely Superseded
+
+| PR | Superseded By | Notes |
+|----|--------------|-------|
+| **#194** (Hebrew + Chatterbox) | PR #257 (merged) | #257 ships Chatterbox multilingual with 23 languages including Hebrew. #194 took a different approach (route by language). Can likely be closed. |
+| **#33** (External provider binaries) | PR #252 (merged) | #252 shipped CUDA backend swap. #33's broader provider architecture may still have value but needs reassessment. |
+
 ---
 
 ## Open Issues — Categorized
@@ -186,15 +239,15 @@ The single most reported category. Users on Windows with NVIDIA GPUs frequently
 
 **Key issues:** #239, #222, #220, #217, #208, #198, #192, #167, #164, #141, #130, #127
 
-**Fix path:** PR #33 (external provider binaries) is designed to solve this. Ship a small main app, let users download the CUDA provider separately.
+**Fix path:** PR #252 (CUDA backend swap) is now merged. Users can download the CUDA binary separately from the GPU acceleration settings. Many of these issues may now be resolvable — needs triage to confirm.
 
 ### Model Downloads (20 issues)
 
-Second most reported. Users get stuck downloads, can't resume, no cancel button, no offline fallback.
+Second most reported. Users get stuck downloads, can't resume, no offline fallback.
 
 **Key issues:** #249, #240, #221, #216, #212, #181, #180, #159, #150, #149, #145, #143, #135, #134
 
-**Fix path:** PR #238 (cancel/clear UI), PR #152 (offline crash fix). Resume support not yet addressed.
+**Fix path:** PR #238 (cancel/clear UI) is now merged. PR #152 (offline crash fix) still open. Inline progress bars now show for all engines. Resume support not yet addressed.
 
 ### Language Requests (18 issues)
 
@@ -202,7 +255,7 @@ Strong demand for: Hindi (#245), Indonesian (#247), Dutch (#236), Hebrew (#199),
 
 **Key issues:** #247, #245, #236, #211, #205, #199, #189, #188, #187, #183, #179, #162
 
-**Fix path:** PR #97 (pass language param — currently silently dropped!) is the prerequisite. Qwen3-TTS already supports many languages; the bug is that the language code isn't forwarded. Multi-model (#194 Chatterbox for Hebrew) expands coverage further.
+**Fix path:** Chatterbox Multilingual (merged via #257) now supports 23 languages including many of the requested ones: Arabic, Danish, German, Greek, Finnish, Hebrew, Hindi, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Swahili, Turkish. Per-engine language filtering (PR #258) ensures the UI shows correct options. Several of these issues may be closeable.
 
 ### New Model Requests (5 explicit issues)
 
@@ -214,7 +267,7 @@ Strong demand for: Hindi (#245), Indonesian (#247), Dutch (#236), Hebrew (#199),
 | #132 | LavaSR (transcription) |
 | #76 | (General model expansion) |
 
-Community is also vocally requesting: LuxTTS, Chatterbox, XTTS-v2, Fish Speech, CosyVoice, Kokoro on social media and in issue comments.
+Community also requests: XTTS-v2, Fish Speech, CosyVoice, Kokoro. The multi-engine architecture is now in place, making new model integration significantly easier.
 
 ### Long-Form / Chunking (5 issues)
 
@@ -255,153 +308,128 @@ Notable requests:
 
 | Document | Target Version | Status | Relevance |
 |----------|---------------|--------|-----------|
-| `TTS_PROVIDER_ARCHITECTURE.md` | v0.1.13 | **Partially implemented** in PR #33 | Core architecture for multi-model + CUDA distribution |
+| `TTS_PROVIDER_ARCHITECTURE.md` | v0.1.13 | **Partially superseded** by multi-engine arch + CUDA swap | Core concepts implemented differently than planned |
-| `EXTERNAL_PROVIDERS.md` | v0.2.0 | **Not started** | Remote server support. API path inconsistency with provider arch doc (`/v1/` vs `/tts/`) |
+| `CUDA_BACKEND_SWAP.md` | — | **Shipped** (PR #252) | CUDA binary download + backend restart |
-| `MLX_AUDIO.md` | — | **Shipped** (the only one) | MLX backend is live. 0.6B MLX model still missing. |
+| `CUDA_BACKEND_SWAP_FINAL.md` | — | **Shipped** (PR #252) | Final implementation plan |
-| `DOCKER_DEPLOYMENT.md` | v0.2.0 | **PR exists** (#161) | Waiting on review. No official images published. |
+| `EXTERNAL_PROVIDERS.md` | v0.2.0 | **Not started** | Remote server support |
-| `OPENAI_SUPPORT.md` | v0.2.0 | **Not started** | OpenAI-compatible API layer. Linked to issue #10. Low complexity. |
+| `MLX_AUDIO.md` | — | **Shipped** | MLX backend is live |
-
+| `DOCKER_DEPLOYMENT.md` | v0.2.0 | **PR exists** (#161) | Waiting on review |
-### Cross-Document Conflicts
+| `OPENAI_SUPPORT.md` | v0.2.0 | **Not started** | OpenAI-compatible API layer |
-
+| `PR33_CUDA_PROVIDER_REVIEW.md` | — | **Reference** | Analysis of the original provider approach |
-1. **API path inconsistency:** Provider arch uses `/tts/generate`, External providers uses `/v1/generate`, OpenAI compat uses `/v1/audio/speech`. Need to reconcile.
-2. **Docker vs. Provider split:** Docker doc assumes monolithic backend. Provider arch splits into separate binaries. Need to decide: does Docker run the monolith or individual providers?
-3. **Version targeting:** Provider arch targets v0.1.13 (current!) but isn't merged. Everything else targets v0.2.0.
 
 ---
 
 ## New Model Integration — Landscape
 
-### Models Worth Supporting (2026 SOTA)
+### Models Worth Supporting (2026 SOTA — updated March 13)
 
-| Model | Cloning | Speed | Sample Rate | Languages | VRAM | Integration Ease | Repo |
+| Model | Cloning | Speed | Sample Rate | Languages | VRAM | Integration Ease | Status |
-|-------|---------|-------|-------------|-----------|------|-----------------|------|
+|-------|---------|-------|-------------|-----------|------|-----------------|--------|
-| **LuxTTS** | 3s zero-shot | 150x RT, CPU ok | 48 kHz | English-first | <1 GB | Easy | `ysharma3501/LuxTTS` |
+| **Qwen3-TTS** | 10s zero-shot | Medium | 24 kHz | 10 | Medium | **Shipped** | v0.1.13 |
-| **Chatterbox** | 5s zero-shot | Sub-200ms streaming | 24-48 kHz | 23+ | Low | Medium | `resemble-ai/chatterbox` |
+| **LuxTTS** | 3s zero-shot | 150x RT, CPU ok | 48 kHz | English | <1 GB | **Shipped** | PR #254 |
-| **XTTS-v2** | 6s zero-shot | Fast mid-GPU | 24 kHz | 17+ | Medium | Medium | `coqui/XTTS-v2` |
+| **Chatterbox MTL** | 5s zero-shot | Medium | 24 kHz | 23 | Medium | **Shipped** | PR #257 |
-| **Fish Speech** | 10-30s few-shot | Real-time | 24-44 kHz | 50+ | Medium | Medium | `fishaudio/fish-speech` |
+| **Chatterbox Turbo** | 5s zero-shot | Fast | 24 kHz | English | Low | **PR #258** | In review |
-| **CosyVoice2-0.5B** | 3-10s zero-shot | Very fast | 24 kHz | Multilingual | Low | Easy | Alibaba HF org |
+| **HumeAI TADA 1B/3B** | Zero-shot | 5× faster than LLM-TTS | — | EN (1B), Multilingual (3B) | Medium | Needs vetting | MIT, 700s+ coherent, synced transcript output |
-| **Kokoro-82M** | 3s instant | CPU realtime | 24 kHz | English | Tiny | Medium | Kokoro repo |
+| **MOSS-TTS Family** | Zero-shot | — | — | Multilingual | Medium | Needs vetting | Apache 2.0, multi-speaker dialogue, text-to-voice design (no ref audio) |
+| **VoxCPM 1.5** | Zero-shot (seconds) | ~0.15 RTF streaming | — | Bilingual (EN/ZH) | Medium | Needs vetting | Apache 2.0, tokenizer-free continuous diffusion, LoRA-friendly |
+| **Pocket TTS** | Zero-shot + streaming | >1× RT on CPU | — | English | ~100M params, CPU-first | Needs vetting | MIT, Kyutai Labs, no GPU required |
+| **Kokoro-82M** | 3s instant | CPU realtime | 24 kHz | English | Tiny (82M) | Ready | Apache 2.0, multi-engine arch in place |
+| **XTTS-v2** | 6s zero-shot | Mid-GPU | 24 kHz | 17+ | Medium | Ready | Multi-engine arch in place |
+| **Fish Speech** | 10-30s few-shot | Real-time | 24-44 kHz | 50+ | Medium | Ready | Multi-engine arch in place |
+| **CosyVoice2-0.5B** | 3-10s zero-shot | Very fast | 24 kHz | Multilingual | Low | Ready | Multi-engine arch in place |
 
-### What's Needed Architecturally for Multi-Model
+#### Notes on New Candidates (March 2026)
 
-The current codebase assumes one TTS model family (Qwen3-TTS). Adding any new model requires:
+- **HumeAI TADA** — Text-Audio Dual Alignment arch. Near-zero hallucinations/drift, free synced transcript. 700+ seconds coherent audio. Best candidate for Stories long-form reliability. [HF: HumeAI/tada-1b](https://huggingface.co/HumeAI/tada-1b) | [GitHub: HumeAI/tada](https://github.com/HumeAI/tada)
+- **MOSS-TTS** — Modular suite: flagship cloning, MOSS-TTSD (multi-speaker dialogue), MOSS-VoiceGenerator (create voices from text descriptions, no ref audio). Unique UX for Stories voice design. [GitHub: OpenMOSS/MOSS-TTS](https://github.com/OpenMOSS/MOSS-TTS)
+- **VoxCPM 1.5** — Tokenizer-free continuous diffusion + autoregressive. No discrete token artifacts. Context-aware prosody/emotion, real-time streaming, LoRA fine-tuning. Trained on 1.8M+ hours. [GitHub: OpenBMB/VoxCPM](https://github.com/OpenBMB/VoxCPM)
+- **Pocket TTS** — 100M param CPU-first model from Kyutai Labs (Moshi team). Runs >1× realtime without GPU. Broadens hardware support significantly. [GitHub: kyutai-labs/pocket-tts](https://github.com/kyutai-labs/pocket-tts)
+- **Watch list:** MioTTS-2.6B (fast LLM-based EN/JP, vLLM compatible), Oolel-Voices (Soynade Research, expressive modular control)
+- **Skipped:** Fish Audio S2 — restrictive research license (commercial use requires approval), despite strong features
 
-1. **Model type concept** — A `model_type` field (e.g. `qwen`, `luxtts`, `chatterbox`) alongside `model_size`. The `GenerationRequest` schema, frontend form, and all model config dicts need updating.
+### Adding a New Engine (Now Straightforward)
 
-2. **Multiple backend instances** — The singleton `get_tts_backend()` needs to become a registry. Different models have different voice prompt formats, different inference APIs, different sample rates.
+With the multi-engine architecture shipped, adding a new TTS engine requires:
 
-3. **Voice prompt format abstraction** — Qwen uses `torch.save()`-serialized tensors. LuxTTS uses `encode_prompt()` returning its own format. Chatterbox uses audio-path-based cloning. The cache system (`backend/utils/cache.py`) needs to handle heterogeneous formats.
+1. **Create `backend/backends/<engine>_backend.py`** — implement `TTSBackend` protocol (~200-300 lines)
+2. **Register in `backend/backends/__init__.py`** — add to `TTS_ENGINES` dict + factory function
+3. **Update `backend/models.py`** — add engine name to regex
+4. **Update `backend/main.py`** — add engine cases in generate, stream, model-status, download, delete (5 dispatch points)
+5. **Update frontend** — add to engine union type, form schema, model dropdown, language map (5-6 files)
 
-4. **Sample rate normalization** — Qwen outputs 24 kHz. LuxTTS outputs 48 kHz. The Stories editor and audio pipeline need to handle mixed rates.
+Total effort: **~1 day** for a well-documented model with a PyPI package.
-
-5. **Per-model capabilities** — Not all models support `instruct` (delivery instructions), not all support streaming, not all support the same languages. The UI needs to adapt.
-
-### PR #194 as Precedent
-
-The Hebrew/Chatterbox PR (#194) is the first attempt at multi-model. It takes a pragmatic approach: route by language (`he` → Chatterbox, else → Qwen). This works for one extra model but doesn't scale — what happens when you want Chatterbox for English too?
-
-### PR #225 as Alternative Approach
-
-The custom HuggingFace models PR (#225) takes a different angle: let users register arbitrary HF repos and attempt to load them through the existing Qwen backend. This is flexible but fragile — it assumes all models have the same API as Qwen3-TTS.
-
-### PR #33 as Foundation
-
-The external provider binaries PR (#33) has the most robust architecture for multi-model, since each provider is a separate process with its own dependencies. But it's complex, currently Qwen-only, and has been stale since early February.
 
 ---
 
 ## Architectural Bottlenecks
 
-### 1. Single Backend Singleton
+### ~~1. Single Backend Singleton~~ — RESOLVED
 
-**File:** `backend/backends/__init__.py:118-137`
+The singleton TTS backend was replaced with a thread-safe per-engine registry in PR #254. Multiple engines can now be loaded simultaneously.
 
-The entire TTS system runs through one global `_tts_backend` instance. You literally cannot have two models loaded. This is the #1 blocker for multi-model support.
+### 2. `main.py` is 2100+ Lines
 
-### 2. `main.py` is 1700+ Lines
+All API routes, all model configs, all business logic in one file. Five separate dispatch points for each engine. Any new engine touches this file in 5 places. A model config registry pattern would reduce duplication.
 
-All API routes, all model configs, all business logic in one file. Three separate hardcoded model config dicts that must stay in sync. Any multi-model change touches this file heavily.
+### 3. Model Config is Scattered (Improved)
 
-### 3. Model Config is Scattered
+Model identifiers are still duplicated across `main.py` (3 dicts), backend files, frontend components, and the languages constant. However, the pattern is now consistent and well-understood. A centralized model registry would help but isn't blocking.
-
-Model identifiers, HF repo IDs, display names, and download logic are duplicated across:
-- `main.py` (3 separate dicts)
-- `pytorch_backend.py` (HF repo map)
-- `mlx_backend.py` (MLX repo map)
-- `GenerationForm.tsx` (UI labels)
-- `useGenerationForm.ts` (validation schema)
-- `ModelManagement.tsx` (prefix filters)
-
-There is no single source of truth for "what models does Voicebox support."
 
 ### 4. Voice Prompt Cache Assumes PyTorch Tensors
 
-`backend/utils/cache.py` uses `torch.save()` / `torch.load()` for caching voice prompts. Models that don't use PyTorch tensors (LuxTTS, MLX-native models) can't use this cache.
+`backend/utils/cache.py` uses `torch.save()` / `torch.load()`. LuxTTS and Chatterbox backends work around this by storing reference audio paths instead of tensors in their voice prompt dicts. Not ideal but functional.
 
-### 5. Frontend Assumes Qwen Model Sizes
+### 5. ~~Frontend Assumes Qwen Model Sizes~~ — RESOLVED
 
-The generation form schema (`useGenerationForm.ts:17`) validates `model_size` as `'1.7B' | '0.6B'`. The model management UI filters by string prefix `qwen-tts`. Adding any model requires touching 3-4 frontend files.
+The generation form now uses a flat model dropdown with engine-based routing. Per-engine language filtering is in place. Model size is only sent for Qwen.
 
 ---
 
 ## Recommended Priorities
 
-### Tier 1 — Ship Now (Bug Fixes & Critical Improvements)
+### Tier 1 — Ship Now (Low Risk)
 
-These PRs fix real user pain with low risk. Can be reviewed and merged quickly.
+| Priority | PR/Item | Impact | Effort |
+|----------|---------|--------|--------|
+| 1 | **#258** — Chatterbox Turbo + per-engine languages | Paralinguistic tags, proper language filtering | Review only |
+| 2 | **#152** — Offline mode crash fix | Fixes #150, #151 | Low |
+| 3 | **#99** — Chunked TTS + quality selector | Removes 500-char limit, addresses 5 issues | Medium |
+| 4 | **#218** — Windows HF cache dir fix | Windows-specific pain | Low |
+| 5 | **#178** — Generation error handling | Error UX | Low |
+| 6 | **#230** — Docs fixes | Zero risk | None |
+| 7 | **#133** — Network access toggle | Wires up existing code | Low |
+| 8 | **#88** — CORS restriction | Security improvement | Low |
+| 9 | **#214** — Tauri window close panic fix | Stability | Low |
+| 10 | Triage GPU issues | Many may be resolved by CUDA swap (#252) | Low |
+| 11 | Close superseded PRs | #194 (superseded by #257), #83 (outdated) | None |
 
-| Priority | PR | Impact | Effort |
+### Tier 2 — Next Release (v0.2.0)
-|----------|-----|--------|--------|
-| 1 | **#97** — Pass language param to TTS | Fixes all non-English generation (18 language issues) | Low |
-| 2 | **#238** — Download cancel/clear UI | Addresses 20 download-related issues | Low |
-| 3 | **#152** — Offline mode crash fix | Fixes #150, #151 | Low |
-| 4 | **#99** — Chunked TTS + quality selector | Removes 500-char limit, addresses 5 issues | Medium |
-| 5 | **#218** — Windows HF cache dir fix | Windows-specific pain | Low |
-| 6 | **#175, #178** — Profile validation + error handling | Small fixes | Low |
-| 7 | **#250, #230** — Docs fixes | Zero risk | None |
-| 8 | **#133** — Network access toggle | Wires up existing code | Low |
-| 9 | **#88** — CORS restriction | Security improvement | Low |
-| 10 | **#214** — Tauri window close panic fix | Stability | Low |
 
-### Tier 2 — Next Release (v0.2.0 Foundations)
+| Priority | Item | Impact | Effort |
-
+|----------|------|--------|--------|
-These require more review but unlock major capabilities.
+| 1 | **#253** — 48kHz speech tokenizer | Quality improvement | Medium |
-
+| 2 | **#161** — Docker deployment | Server/headless users | Medium |
-| Priority | Item | Impact | Effort | Dependencies |
+| 3 | **#154** — Audiobook tab | Long-form users | Medium |
-|----------|------|--------|--------|-------------|
+| 4 | **Model config registry** | Reduce 5-dispatch-point duplication in main.py | Medium |
-| 1 | **PR #33** — External provider binaries | Solves GPU distribution (19 issues), foundation for multi-model | Very High | Needs rebase, thorough review |
+| 5 | **#225** — Custom HuggingFace models | User-supplied models | High (needs rework for multi-engine) |
-| 2 | **Multi-model abstraction layer** | Required before adding LuxTTS/Chatterbox/etc. | High | Informed by #33, #194, #225 |
-| 3 | **PR #161** — Docker deployment | Server/headless users | Medium | Independent of #33 |
-| 4 | **PR #194** — Hebrew + Chatterbox | First non-Qwen model, language expansion | High | Should align with multi-model abstraction |
-| 5 | **PR #154** — Audiobook tab | Significant feature for long-form users | Medium | Benefits from #99 (chunking) |
 
 ### Tier 3 — Future (v0.3.0+)
 
-| Item | Notes |
+| Priority | Item | Notes |
-|------|-------|
+|----------|------|-------|
-| LuxTTS integration | 48 kHz, low VRAM, but needs multi-model arch first |
+| 1 | **HumeAI TADA** | Long-form reliability for Stories, synced transcripts. Addresses #234, #203, #191, #111, #69. Needs API vetting. |
-| XTTS-v2 / Fish Speech | Multilingual powerhouses |
+| 2 | **Pocket TTS** (Kyutai) | CPU-first 100M model, broadens hardware support. Kyutai ships clean code. Needs API vetting. |
-| OpenAI-compatible API (plan doc exists) | Low effort once API is stable |
+| 3 | **MOSS-TTS** | Text-to-voice design (no ref audio) is unique. Multi-speaker dialogue for Stories. Needs thorough API vetting. |
-| LoRA fine-tuning (PR #195) | Complex, depends on #194 |
+| 4 | **Kokoro-82M** | 82M params, CPU realtime, Apache 2.0. Easy win. |
-| External/remote providers (plan doc exists) | Depends on provider architecture |
+| 5 | **Model config registry refactor** | Reduce 5-dispatch-point duplication in main.py — do before adding 3+ more engines |
-| GGUF support (#226) | Depends on model ecosystem maturity |
+| 6 | XTTS-v2 / Fish Speech / CosyVoice | Multi-engine arch is ready; just needs backend implementation |
-| Queue system (#234) | Batch generation |
+| 7 | **VoxCPM 1.5** | Tokenizer-free streaming, interesting but uncertain integration surface |
-| Real-time streaming synthesis | MLX-only currently, needs PyTorch path |
+| 8 | OpenAI-compatible API (plan doc exists) | Low effort once API is stable |
-
+| 9 | LoRA fine-tuning (PR #195) | Complex, needs rework for multi-engine |
-### Decision Point: Multi-Model Architecture
+| 10 | External/remote providers | Depends on use case demand |
-
+| 11 | GGUF support (#226) | Depends on model ecosystem maturity |
-Before adding any new TTS model, a decision is needed on *how*:
+| 12 | Queue system (#234) | Batch generation |
-
+| 13 | Streaming for non-MLX engines | Currently MLX-only |
-**Option A — Provider Binary Split (PR #33 approach)**
-Each model family is a separate executable/process. Most isolated, most flexible, but most complex. Solves the CUDA distribution problem simultaneously.
-
-**Option B — In-Process Model Registry**
-Keep everything in one process but replace the singleton with a registry that can instantiate multiple `TTSBackend` implementations. Simpler, but doesn't solve binary size / CUDA distribution.
-
-**Option C — Hybrid (Recommended)**
-Use Option B for lightweight models (LuxTTS, Kokoro — small, CPU-friendly) that can coexist in-process. Use Option A for heavy models (CUDA Qwen3-TTS, Fish Speech) that need their own process/dependencies. The provider architecture from PR #33 becomes the escape hatch for heavy models, while light models are built-in.
-
-This matches how PR #194 already works (Chatterbox loaded in-process alongside Qwen) while keeping the door open for PR #33's provider split.
 
 ---
 
@@ -409,24 +437,20 @@ This matches how PR #194 already works (Chatterbox loaded in-process alongside Q
 
 | Branch | PR | Status | Notes |
 |--------|-----|--------|-------|
-| `external-provider-binaries` | #33 | Open, stale | Major architecture work |
+| `feat/chatterbox-turbo` | #258 | Open | Chatterbox Turbo + per-engine languages |
-| `feat/dual-server-binaries` | — | No PR | Related to provider split? |
+| `feat/chatterbox` | #257 | **Merged** | Chatterbox Multilingual |
+| `feat/luxtts` | #254 | **Merged** | LuxTTS + multi-engine arch |
+| `external-provider-binaries` | #33 | Superseded by #252 | Original CUDA provider approach |
+| `feat/dual-server-binaries` | — | No PR | Related to provider split |
 | `fix-multi-sample` | — | No PR | Voice profile multi-sample fix |
 | `fix-dl-notification-...` | — | No PR | Model download UX |
-| `improvements` | — | No PR | Unknown scope |
-| `stories` | — | No PR | Stories editor work? |
-| `windows-server-shutdown` | — | No PR | Windows lifecycle |
-| `model-dl-fix` | — | No PR | Model download fix |
-| `channels` | — | No PR | Audio channels |
-| `audio-export-entitlement-fix` | — | No PR | macOS entitlements |
-| `better-docs` | — | No PR | Documentation |
 
 ---
 
 ## Quick Reference: API Endpoints
 
 <details>
-<summary>All current endpoints (v0.1.13)</summary>
+<summary>All current endpoints</summary>
 
 | Endpoint | Method | Purpose |
 |----------|--------|---------|
@@ -437,20 +461,21 @@ This matches how PR #194 already works (Chatterbox loaded in-process alongside Q
 | `/profiles/{id}/avatar` | POST, GET, DELETE | Avatar management |
 | `/profiles/{id}/export` | GET | Export profile as ZIP |
 | `/profiles/import` | POST | Import profile from ZIP |
-| `/generate` | POST | Generate speech |
+| `/generate` | POST | Generate speech (engine param selects TTS backend) |
-| `/generate/stream` | POST | Stream speech (SSE) |
+| `/generate/stream` | POST | Stream speech (MLX only) |
 | `/history` | GET | List generation history |
 | `/history/{id}` | GET, DELETE | Get/delete generation |
 | `/history/{id}/export` | GET | Export generation ZIP |
 | `/history/{id}/export-audio` | GET | Export audio only |
 | `/transcribe` | POST | Transcribe audio (Whisper) |
-| `/models/status` | GET | All model statuses |
+| `/models/status` | GET | All model statuses (Qwen, LuxTTS, Chatterbox, Chatterbox Turbo, Whisper) |
 | `/models/download` | POST | Trigger model download |
+| `/models/download/cancel` | POST | Cancel/dismiss download |
 | `/models/{name}` | DELETE | Delete downloaded model |
 | `/models/load` | POST | Load model into memory |
 | `/models/unload` | POST | Unload model |
 | `/models/progress/{name}` | GET | SSE download progress |
-| `/tasks/active` | GET | Active downloads/generations |
+| `/tasks/active` | GET | Active downloads/generations (with inline progress) |
 | `/stories` | POST, GET | Create/list stories |
 | `/stories/{id}` | GET, PUT, DELETE | Story CRUD |
 | `/stories/{id}/items` | POST, GET | Story items CRUD |
@@ -458,5 +483,8 @@ This matches how PR #194 already works (Chatterbox loaded in-process alongside Q
 | `/channels` | POST, GET | Audio channel CRUD |
 | `/channels/{id}` | PUT, DELETE | Channel update/delete |
 | `/cache/clear` | POST | Clear voice prompt cache |
+| `/server/cuda/status` | GET | CUDA binary availability |
+| `/server/cuda/download` | POST | Download CUDA binary |
+| `/server/cuda/switch` | POST | Switch to CUDA backend |
 
 </details>

justfile

@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ setup-python:
     echo "Installing Python dependencies..."
     {{ pip }} install --upgrade pip -q
     {{ pip }} install -r {{ backend_dir }}/requirements.txt
+    # Chatterbox pins numpy<1.26 / torch==2.6 which break on Python 3.12+
+    {{ pip }} install --no-deps chatterbox-tts
     # Apple Silicon: install MLX backend
     if [ "$(uname -m)" = "arm64" ] && [ "$(uname)" = "Darwin" ]; then
         echo "Detected Apple Silicon — installing MLX dependencies..."

package.json

@@ -40,5 +40,9 @@
   "engines": {
     "bun": ">=1.0.0"
   },
-  "packageManager": "[email protected]"
+  "packageManager": "[email protected]",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "loaders.css": "^0.1.2",
+    "react-loaders": "^3.0.1"
+  }
 }

scripts/generate-api.sh

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ set -e
 echo "Generating OpenAPI client..."
 
 # Check if backend is running
-if ! curl -s http://localhost:8000/openapi.json > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+if ! curl -s http://localhost:17493/openapi.json > /dev/null 2>&1; then
     echo "Backend not running. Starting backend..."
     cd backend
     
@@ -26,19 +26,19 @@ if ! curl -s http://localhost:8000/openapi.json > /dev/null 2>&1; then
     
     # Start backend in background
     echo "Starting backend server..."
-    uvicorn main:app --port 8000 &
+    uvicorn main:app --port 17493 &  # Keep the generator on the app's documented local backend port.
     BACKEND_PID=$!
     
     # Wait for server to be ready
     echo "Waiting for server to start..."
-    for i in {1..30}; do
+    for _ in {1..30}; do
-        if curl -s http://localhost:8000/openapi.json > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if curl -s http://localhost:17493/openapi.json > /dev/null 2>&1; then
             break
         fi
         sleep 1
     done
     
-    if ! curl -s http://localhost:8000/openapi.json > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    if ! curl -s http://localhost:17493/openapi.json > /dev/null 2>&1; then
         echo "Error: Backend failed to start"
         kill $BACKEND_PID 2>/dev/null || true
         exit 1
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ fi
 
 # Download OpenAPI schema
 echo "Downloading OpenAPI schema..."
-curl -s http://localhost:8000/openapi.json > app/openapi.json
+curl -s http://localhost:17493/openapi.json > app/openapi.json
 
 # Check if openapi-typescript-codegen is installed
 if ! bunx --bun openapi-typescript-codegen --version > /dev/null 2>&1; then

scripts/test_download_progress.py

@@ -0,0 +1,382 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Test script to observe exactly how HuggingFace reports download progress
+for each TTS model. Doesn't load models — just downloads and tracks tqdm.
+
+Usage:
+    backend/venv/bin/python scripts/test_download_progress.py qwen
+    backend/venv/bin/python scripts/test_download_progress.py luxtts
+    backend/venv/bin/python scripts/test_download_progress.py chatterbox
+
+Add --delete to clear cache first and force a real download:
+    backend/venv/bin/python scripts/test_download_progress.py chatterbox --delete
+"""
+
+import os
+import shutil
+import sys
+import time
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+
+# ─── Configuration ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+MODELS = {
+    "qwen": {
+        "repo_id": "Qwen/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base",
+        "method": "from_pretrained",
+        "description": "Qwen TTS 1.7B (uses transformers from_pretrained)",
+    },
+    "luxtts": {
+        "repo_id": "YatharthS/LuxTTS",
+        "method": "snapshot_download",
+        "description": "LuxTTS (uses snapshot_download)",
+    },
+    "chatterbox": {
+        "repo_id": "ResembleAI/chatterbox",
+        "method": "snapshot_download",
+        "allow_patterns": [
+            "ve.pt",
+            "t3_mtl23ls_v2.safetensors",
+            "s3gen.pt",
+            "grapheme_mtl_merged_expanded_v1.json",
+            "conds.pt",
+            "Cangjie5_TC.json",
+        ],
+        "description": "Chatterbox Multilingual (uses snapshot_download with allow_patterns)",
+    },
+}
+
+
+# ─── Progress tracking (mirrors our HFProgressTracker) ────────────────────────
+
+class ProgressSpy:
+    """Intercepts tqdm to see exactly what HF reports."""
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+        self.events = []  # List of dicts: {time, type, ...}
+        self._original_tqdm_class = None
+        self._original_tqdm_auto = None
+        self._patched_modules = {}
+        self._hf_tqdm_original_update = None
+        self._start_time = None
+
+    def _elapsed(self):
+        return time.time() - self._start_time if self._start_time else 0
+
+    def _log(self, event_type, **kwargs):
+        entry = {"time": f"{self._elapsed():.1f}s", "type": event_type, **kwargs}
+        self.events.append(entry)
+
+        # Live print
+        parts = [f"[{entry['time']:>7s}] {event_type:>10s}"]
+        for k, v in kwargs.items():
+            if k in ("current", "total") and isinstance(v, (int, float)) and v > 1_000_000:
+                parts.append(f"{k}={v / 1_000_000:.1f}MB")
+            else:
+                parts.append(f"{k}={v}")
+        print("  ".join(parts), flush=True)
+
+    def _create_tracked_tqdm_class(self):
+        spy = self
+        original_tqdm = self._original_tqdm_class
+
+        class SpyTqdm(original_tqdm):
+            def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                desc = kwargs.get("desc", "")
+                if not desc and args:
+                    first_arg = args[0]
+                    if isinstance(first_arg, str):
+                        desc = first_arg
+
+                filename = ""
+                if desc:
+                    if ":" in desc:
+                        filename = desc.split(":")[0].strip()
+                    else:
+                        filename = desc.strip()
+
+                # Filter out non-standard kwargs
+                tqdm_kwargs = {
+                    'iterable', 'desc', 'total', 'leave', 'file', 'ncols',
+                    'mininterval', 'maxinterval', 'miniters', 'ascii', 'disable',
+                    'unit', 'unit_scale', 'dynamic_ncols', 'smoothing',
+                    'bar_format', 'initial', 'position', 'postfix',
+                    'unit_divisor', 'write_bytes', 'lock_args', 'nrows',
+                    'colour', 'color', 'delay', 'gui', 'disable_default', 'pos',
+                }
+                filtered_kwargs = {k: v for k, v in kwargs.items() if k in tqdm_kwargs}
+
+                try:
+                    super().__init__(*args, **filtered_kwargs)
+                except TypeError:
+                    super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
+                self._spy_filename = filename or "unknown"
+                total = getattr(self, "total", None)
+
+                spy._log(
+                    "INIT",
+                    filename=self._spy_filename,
+                    total=total or 0,
+                    unit=kwargs.get("unit", "?"),
+                    unit_scale=kwargs.get("unit_scale", False),
+                    disable=kwargs.get("disable", False),
+                )
+
+            def update(self, n=1):
+                result = super().update(n)
+
+                current = getattr(self, "n", 0)
+                total = getattr(self, "total", 0)
+                filename = self._spy_filename
+
+                spy._log(
+                    "UPDATE",
+                    filename=filename,
+                    n=n,
+                    current=current,
+                    total=total or 0,
+                    pct=f"{100 * current / total:.1f}%" if total else "?",
+                )
+
+                return result
+
+            def close(self):
+                spy._log("CLOSE", filename=self._spy_filename)
+                return super().close()
+
+        return SpyTqdm
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def patch(self):
+        """Context manager that patches tqdm globally — same as HFProgressTracker."""
+        self._start_time = time.time()
+
+        try:
+            import tqdm as tqdm_module
+            self._original_tqdm_class = tqdm_module.tqdm
+        except ImportError:
+            yield
+            return
+
+        tracked_tqdm = self._create_tracked_tqdm_class()
+
+        # Patch tqdm.tqdm
+        tqdm_module.tqdm = tracked_tqdm
+
+        # Patch tqdm.auto.tqdm
+        self._original_tqdm_auto = None
+        if hasattr(tqdm_module, "auto") and hasattr(tqdm_module.auto, "tqdm"):
+            self._original_tqdm_auto = tqdm_module.auto.tqdm
+            tqdm_module.auto.tqdm = tracked_tqdm
+
+        # Patch in sys.modules (same as HFProgressTracker)
+        tqdm_attr_names = ['tqdm', 'base_tqdm', 'old_tqdm']
+        patched_count = 0
+
+        for module_name in list(sys.modules.keys()):
+            if "huggingface" in module_name or module_name.startswith("tqdm"):
+                try:
+                    module = sys.modules[module_name]
+                    for attr_name in tqdm_attr_names:
+                        if hasattr(module, attr_name):
+                            attr = getattr(module, attr_name)
+                            is_tqdm_class = (
+                                attr is self._original_tqdm_class
+                                or (self._original_tqdm_auto and attr is self._original_tqdm_auto)
+                                or (
+                                    hasattr(attr, "__name__")
+                                    and attr.__name__ == "tqdm"
+                                    and hasattr(attr, "update")
+                                )
+                            )
+                            if is_tqdm_class:
+                                key = f"{module_name}.{attr_name}"
+                                self._patched_modules[key] = (module, attr_name, attr)
+                                setattr(module, attr_name, tracked_tqdm)
+                                patched_count += 1
+                except (AttributeError, TypeError):
+                    pass
+
+        # Monkey-patch HF's tqdm.update (same as HFProgressTracker)
+        try:
+            from huggingface_hub.utils import tqdm as hf_tqdm_module
+            if hasattr(hf_tqdm_module, 'tqdm'):
+                hf_tqdm_class = hf_tqdm_module.tqdm
+                self._hf_tqdm_original_update = hf_tqdm_class.update
+                spy = self
+
+                def patched_update(tqdm_self, n=1):
+                    result = spy._hf_tqdm_original_update(tqdm_self, n)
+                    desc = getattr(tqdm_self, 'desc', '') or ''
+                    current = getattr(tqdm_self, 'n', 0)
+                    total = getattr(tqdm_self, 'total', 0) or 0
+
+                    spy._log(
+                        "HF_UPDATE",
+                        desc=desc,
+                        current=current,
+                        total=total,
+                        pct=f"{100 * current / total:.1f}%" if total else "?",
+                    )
+                    return result
+
+                hf_tqdm_class.update = patched_update
+                patched_count += 1
+        except (ImportError, AttributeError):
+            pass
+
+        print(f"\n=== Patched {patched_count} tqdm references ===\n", flush=True)
+
+        try:
+            yield
+        finally:
+            # Restore everything
+            import tqdm as tqdm_module
+            tqdm_module.tqdm = self._original_tqdm_class
+            if self._original_tqdm_auto:
+                tqdm_module.auto.tqdm = self._original_tqdm_auto
+            for key, (module, attr_name, original) in self._patched_modules.items():
+                try:
+                    setattr(module, attr_name, original)
+                except (AttributeError, TypeError):
+                    pass
+            if self._hf_tqdm_original_update:
+                try:
+                    from huggingface_hub.utils import tqdm as hf_tqdm_module
+                    if hasattr(hf_tqdm_module, 'tqdm'):
+                        hf_tqdm_module.tqdm.update = self._hf_tqdm_original_update
+                except (ImportError, AttributeError):
+                    pass
+
+    def summary(self):
+        print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+        print("SUMMARY")
+        print("=" * 70)
+
+        inits = [e for e in self.events if e["type"] == "INIT"]
+        updates = [e for e in self.events if e["type"] in ("UPDATE", "HF_UPDATE")]
+
+        print(f"\ntqdm bars created: {len(inits)}")
+        for e in inits:
+            print(f"  - {e.get('filename', '?'):40s} total={e.get('total', '?')}")
+
+        print(f"\nTotal update calls: {len(updates)}")
+
+        # Group updates by filename
+        by_file = {}
+        for e in updates:
+            fn = e.get("filename") or e.get("desc", "unknown")
+            if fn not in by_file:
+                by_file[fn] = []
+            by_file[fn].append(e)
+
+        for fn, evts in by_file.items():
+            max_current = max(e.get("current", 0) for e in evts)
+            max_total = max(e.get("total", 0) for e in evts)
+            print(f"\n  {fn}:")
+            print(f"    updates: {len(evts)}")
+            print(f"    max current: {max_current:,}")
+            print(f"    max total:   {max_total:,}")
+            if max_total > 0 and max_current > 0:
+                print(f"    final pct:   {100 * max_current / max_total:.1f}%")
+            else:
+                print(f"    final pct:   NO PROGRESS REPORTED")
+
+
+# ─── Delete cache ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def delete_cache(repo_id: str):
+    from huggingface_hub import constants as hf_constants
+    cache_dir = Path(hf_constants.HF_HUB_CACHE)
+    repo_cache = cache_dir / ("models--" + repo_id.replace("/", "--"))
+    if repo_cache.exists():
+        print(f"Deleting cache: {repo_cache}")
+        shutil.rmtree(repo_cache)
+        print("Deleted.")
+    else:
+        print(f"No cache found at {repo_cache}")
+
+
+# ─── Download functions ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def download_qwen(spy: ProgressSpy):
+    """Mirrors how pytorch_backend.py downloads Qwen."""
+    from transformers import AutoModel
+    repo_id = MODELS["qwen"]["repo_id"]
+
+    print(f"Downloading {repo_id} via AutoModel.from_pretrained...")
+    with spy.patch():
+        # This is what Qwen3TTSModel.from_pretrained does under the hood
+        from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
+        snapshot_download(repo_id)
+
+
+def download_luxtts(spy: ProgressSpy):
+    """Mirrors how luxtts_backend.py downloads LuxTTS."""
+    from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
+    repo_id = MODELS["luxtts"]["repo_id"]
+
+    print(f"Downloading {repo_id} via snapshot_download...")
+    with spy.patch():
+        snapshot_download(repo_id)
+
+
+def download_chatterbox(spy: ProgressSpy):
+    """Mirrors how chatterbox_backend.py downloads Chatterbox."""
+    from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
+    cfg = MODELS["chatterbox"]
+
+    print(f"Downloading {cfg['repo_id']} via snapshot_download with allow_patterns...")
+    with spy.patch():
+        snapshot_download(
+            repo_id=cfg["repo_id"],
+            repo_type="model",
+            revision="main",
+            allow_patterns=cfg["allow_patterns"],
+            token=os.getenv("HF_TOKEN"),
+        )
+
+
+# ─── Main ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def main():
+    if len(sys.argv) < 2 or sys.argv[1] not in MODELS:
+        print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} <{'|'.join(MODELS.keys())}> [--delete]")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    model_key = sys.argv[1]
+    should_delete = "--delete" in sys.argv
+    cfg = MODELS[model_key]
+
+    print(f"\n{'=' * 70}")
+    print(f"Testing download progress for: {cfg['description']}")
+    print(f"Repo: {cfg['repo_id']}")
+    print(f"Method: {cfg['method']}")
+    print(f"{'=' * 70}\n")
+
+    if should_delete:
+        delete_cache(cfg["repo_id"])
+        print()
+
+    spy = ProgressSpy()
+
+    dispatch = {
+        "qwen": download_qwen,
+        "luxtts": download_luxtts,
+        "chatterbox": download_chatterbox,
+    }
+
+    try:
+        dispatch[model_key](spy)
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"\n!!! Download failed: {e}")
+
+    spy.summary()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.lock

@@ -5041,7 +5041,7 @@ checksum = "0b928f33d975fc6ad9f86c8f283853ad26bdd5b10b7f1542aa2fa15e2289105a"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "voicebox"
-version = "0.1.12"
+version = "0.1.13"
 dependencies = [
  "base64 0.22.1",
  "core-foundation-sys",
@@ -5064,6 +5064,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tauri-plugin-updater",
  "tokio",
  "wasapi",
+ "webkit2gtk",
  "windows 0.62.2",
 ]
 

tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.toml

@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ core-foundation-sys = "0.8"
 wasapi = "0.22"
 windows = { version = "0.62", features = ["Win32_Foundation", "Win32_UI_WindowsAndMessaging", "Win32_System_Com"] }
 
+[target.'cfg(target_os = "linux")'.dependencies]
+webkit2gtk = "2.0"
+
 [target.'cfg(not(any(target_os = "android", target_os = "ios")))'.dependencies]
 tauri-plugin-updater = "2.0"
 tauri-plugin-process = "2.0"

tauri/src-tauri/src/audio_capture/linux.rs

@@ -1,16 +1,312 @@
 use crate::audio_capture::AudioCaptureState;
+use base64::{engine::general_purpose, Engine as _};
+use cpal::traits::{DeviceTrait, HostTrait, StreamTrait};
+use cpal::{SampleFormat, StreamConfig};
+use hound::{WavSpec, WavWriter};
+use std::io::Cursor;
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::thread;
 
+/// Start capturing system audio on Linux using PulseAudio monitor sources.
+///
+/// PulseAudio exposes "monitor" devices that mirror the output of each sink,
+/// allowing us to capture whatever audio is currently playing on the system.
+/// We use `cpal` with the default host (which will be PulseAudio or PipeWire
+/// on modern Linux) and look for monitor input devices.
 pub async fn start_capture(
     state: &AudioCaptureState,
     max_duration_secs: u32,
 ) -> Result<(), String> {
-    todo!("implement Linux audio capture")
+    // Reset previous samples
+    state.reset();
+
+    let samples = state.samples.clone();
+    let sample_rate_arc = state.sample_rate.clone();
+    let channels_arc = state.channels.clone();
+    let stop_tx = state.stop_tx.clone();
+    let error_arc = state.error.clone();
+
+    // Use AtomicBool for stop signal (works across threads)
+    let stop_flag = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+    let stop_flag_clone = stop_flag.clone();
+
+    // Create tokio channel and spawn a task to bridge it to the AtomicBool
+    let (tx, mut rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<()>(1);
+    *stop_tx.lock().unwrap() = Some(tx);
+
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        rx.recv().await;
+        stop_flag_clone.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    });
+
+    // Spawn capture on a dedicated thread
+    thread::spawn(move || {
+        let host = cpal::default_host();
+
+        // Try to find a monitor device for system audio capture.
+        // On PulseAudio/PipeWire, monitor sources have "monitor" in their name.
+        let device = {
+            let mut monitor_device = None;
+
+            if let Ok(devices) = host.input_devices() {
+                for d in devices {
+                    if let Ok(name) = d.name() {
+                        let name_lower = name.to_lowercase();
+                        if name_lower.contains("monitor") {
+                            eprintln!("Linux audio capture: Found monitor device: {}", name);
+                            monitor_device = Some(d);
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            match monitor_device {
+                Some(d) => d,
+                None => {
+                    // Fallback to default input device (microphone)
+                    eprintln!("Linux audio capture: No monitor device found, falling back to default input");
+                    match host.default_input_device() {
+                        Some(d) => d,
+                        None => {
+                            let error_msg = "No audio input device available".to_string();
+                            eprintln!("{}", error_msg);
+                            *error_arc.lock().unwrap() = Some(error_msg);
+                            return;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        };
+
+        let device_name = device.name().unwrap_or_else(|_| "unknown".to_string());
+        eprintln!("Linux audio capture: Using device: {}", device_name);
+
+        // Get supported config
+        let config = match device.default_input_config() {
+            Ok(c) => c,
+            Err(e) => {
+                let error_msg = format!("Failed to get default input config: {}", e);
+                eprintln!("{}", error_msg);
+                *error_arc.lock().unwrap() = Some(error_msg);
+                return;
+            }
+        };
+
+        let sample_rate = config.sample_rate().0;
+        let channels = config.channels();
+        let sample_format = config.sample_format();
+
+        eprintln!(
+            "Linux audio capture: Config - {}Hz, {} channels, format: {:?}",
+            sample_rate, channels, sample_format
+        );
+
+        *sample_rate_arc.lock().unwrap() = sample_rate;
+        *channels_arc.lock().unwrap() = channels;
+
+        let stream_config = StreamConfig {
+            channels,
+            sample_rate: cpal::SampleRate(sample_rate),
+            buffer_size: cpal::BufferSize::Default,
+        };
+
+        let samples_clone = samples.clone();
+        let error_arc_clone = error_arc.clone();
+        let stop_flag_for_stream = stop_flag.clone();
+
+        let err_fn = {
+            let error_arc = error_arc.clone();
+            move |err: cpal::StreamError| {
+                let error_msg = format!("Stream error: {}", err);
+                eprintln!("{}", error_msg);
+                *error_arc.lock().unwrap() = Some(error_msg);
+            }
+        };
+
+        let stream = match sample_format {
+            SampleFormat::F32 => {
+                let samples = samples_clone.clone();
+                let stop = stop_flag_for_stream.clone();
+                device.build_input_stream(
+                    &stream_config,
+                    move |data: &[f32], _: &cpal::InputCallbackInfo| {
+                        if stop.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+                            return;
+                        }
+                        let mut guard = samples.lock().unwrap();
+                        guard.extend_from_slice(data);
+                    },
+                    err_fn,
+                    None,
+                )
+            }
+            SampleFormat::I16 => {
+                let samples = samples_clone.clone();
+                let stop = stop_flag_for_stream.clone();
+                device.build_input_stream(
+                    &stream_config,
+                    move |data: &[i16], _: &cpal::InputCallbackInfo| {
+                        if stop.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+                            return;
+                        }
+                        let mut guard = samples.lock().unwrap();
+                        for &s in data {
+                            guard.push(s as f32 / 32768.0);
+                        }
+                    },
+                    err_fn,
+                    None,
+                )
+            }
+            SampleFormat::U16 => {
+                let samples = samples_clone.clone();
+                let stop = stop_flag_for_stream.clone();
+                device.build_input_stream(
+                    &stream_config,
+                    move |data: &[u16], _: &cpal::InputCallbackInfo| {
+                        if stop.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+                            return;
+                        }
+                        let mut guard = samples.lock().unwrap();
+                        for &s in data {
+                            guard.push((s as f32 / 32768.0) - 1.0);
+                        }
+                    },
+                    err_fn,
+                    None,
+                )
+            }
+            _ => {
+                let error_msg = format!("Unsupported sample format: {:?}", sample_format);
+                eprintln!("{}", error_msg);
+                *error_arc_clone.lock().unwrap() = Some(error_msg);
+                return;
+            }
+        };
+
+        let stream = match stream {
+            Ok(s) => s,
+            Err(e) => {
+                let error_msg = format!("Failed to build input stream: {}", e);
+                eprintln!("{}", error_msg);
+                *error_arc_clone.lock().unwrap() = Some(error_msg);
+                return;
+            }
+        };
+
+        if let Err(e) = stream.play() {
+            let error_msg = format!("Failed to start stream: {}", e);
+            eprintln!("{}", error_msg);
+            *error_arc_clone.lock().unwrap() = Some(error_msg);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        eprintln!("Linux audio capture: Stream started successfully");
+
+        // Keep thread alive until stop signal
+        loop {
+            if stop_flag.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+                break;
+            }
+            std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100));
+        }
+
+        // Stream will be dropped here, stopping capture
+        eprintln!("Linux audio capture: Stream stopped");
+    });
+
+    // Spawn timeout task
+    let stop_tx_clone = state.stop_tx.clone();
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_secs(max_duration_secs as u64)).await;
+        let tx = stop_tx_clone.lock().unwrap().take();
+        if let Some(tx) = tx {
+            let _ = tx.send(()).await;
+        }
+    });
+
+    Ok(())
 }
 
 pub async fn stop_capture(state: &AudioCaptureState) -> Result<String, String> {
-    todo!("implement Linux audio capture stop")
+    // Signal stop
+    if let Some(tx) = state.stop_tx.lock().unwrap().take() {
+        let _ = tx.send(());
+    }
+
+    // Wait a bit for capture to stop
+    tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_millis(500)).await;
+
+    // Check if there was an error during capture
+    if let Some(error) = state.error.lock().unwrap().as_ref() {
+        return Err(error.clone());
+    }
+
+    // Get samples
+    let samples = state.samples.lock().unwrap().clone();
+    let sample_rate = *state.sample_rate.lock().unwrap();
+    let channels = *state.channels.lock().unwrap();
+
+    if samples.is_empty() {
+        return Err(
+            "No audio samples captured. Make sure audio is playing on your system during recording."
+                .to_string(),
+        );
+    }
+
+    // Convert to WAV
+    let wav_data = samples_to_wav(&samples, sample_rate, channels)?;
+
+    // Encode to base64
+    let base64_data = general_purpose::STANDARD.encode(&wav_data);
+
+    Ok(base64_data)
 }
 
 pub fn is_supported() -> bool {
-    false
+    // Check if we can find a monitor device for system audio capture
+    let host = cpal::default_host();
+    if let Ok(devices) = host.input_devices() {
+        for d in devices {
+            if let Ok(name) = d.name() {
+                if name.to_lowercase().contains("monitor") {
+                    return true;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    // Even without a monitor, basic input capture is available
+    host.default_input_device().is_some()
+}
+
+fn samples_to_wav(samples: &[f32], sample_rate: u32, channels: u16) -> Result<Vec<u8>, String> {
+    let mut buffer = Vec::new();
+    let cursor = Cursor::new(&mut buffer);
+
+    let spec = WavSpec {
+        channels,
+        sample_rate,
+        bits_per_sample: 16,
+        sample_format: hound::SampleFormat::Int,
+    };
+
+    let mut writer =
+        WavWriter::new(cursor, spec).map_err(|e| format!("Failed to create WAV writer: {}", e))?;
+
+    // Convert f32 samples to i16
+    for sample in samples {
+        let clamped = sample.clamp(-1.0, 1.0);
+        let i16_sample = (clamped * 32767.0) as i16;
+        writer
+            .write_sample(i16_sample)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to write sample: {}", e))?;
+    }
+
+    writer
+        .finalize()
+        .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to finalize WAV: {}", e))?;
+
+    Ok(buffer)
 }

tauri/src-tauri/src/main.rs

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ struct ServerState {
     child: Mutex<Option<tauri_plugin_shell::process::CommandChild>>,
     server_pid: Mutex<Option<u32>>,
     keep_running_on_close: Mutex<bool>,
+    models_dir: Mutex<Option<String>>,
 }
 
 #[command]
@@ -23,7 +24,16 @@ async fn start_server(
     app: tauri::AppHandle,
     state: State<'_, ServerState>,
     remote: Option<bool>,
+    models_dir: Option<String>,
 ) -> Result<String, String> {
+    // Store models_dir for use on restart (empty string means reset to default)
+    if let Some(ref dir) = models_dir {
+        if dir.is_empty() {
+            *state.models_dir.lock().unwrap() = None;
+        } else {
+            *state.models_dir.lock().unwrap() = Some(dir.clone());
+        }
+    }
     // Check if server is already running (managed by this app instance)
     if state.child.lock().unwrap().is_some() {
         return Ok(format!("http://127.0.0.1:{}", SERVER_PORT));
@@ -274,6 +284,12 @@ async fn start_server(
     let port_str = SERVER_PORT.to_string();
     let is_remote = remote.unwrap_or(false);
 
+    // Resolve the custom models directory from the parameter or stored state
+    let effective_models_dir = models_dir.or_else(|| state.models_dir.lock().unwrap().clone());
+    if let Some(ref dir) = effective_models_dir {
+        println!("Custom models directory: {}", dir);
+    }
+
     // If CUDA binary exists, launch it directly instead of the bundled sidecar
     let spawn_result = if let Some(ref cuda_path) = cuda_binary {
         println!("Launching CUDA backend: {:?}", cuda_path);
@@ -282,6 +298,9 @@ async fn start_server(
         if is_remote {
             cmd = cmd.args(["--host", "0.0.0.0"]);
         }
+        if let Some(ref dir) = effective_models_dir {
+            cmd = cmd.env("VOICEBOX_MODELS_DIR", dir);
+        }
         cmd.spawn()
     } else {
         // Use the bundled CPU sidecar
@@ -289,6 +308,9 @@ async fn start_server(
         if is_remote {
             sidecar = sidecar.args(["--host", "0.0.0.0"]);
         }
+        if let Some(ref dir) = effective_models_dir {
+            sidecar = sidecar.env("VOICEBOX_MODELS_DIR", dir);
+        }
         println!("Spawning server process...");
         sidecar.spawn()
     };
@@ -613,9 +635,19 @@ async fn stop_server(state: State<'_, ServerState>) -> Result<(), String> {
 async fn restart_server(
     app: tauri::AppHandle,
     state: State<'_, ServerState>,
+    models_dir: Option<String>,
 ) -> Result<String, String> {
     println!("restart_server: stopping current server...");
 
+    // Update stored models_dir: empty string means reset to default, non-empty means set
+    if let Some(ref dir) = models_dir {
+        if dir.is_empty() {
+            *state.models_dir.lock().unwrap() = None;
+        } else {
+            *state.models_dir.lock().unwrap() = Some(dir.clone());
+        }
+    }
+
     // Stop the current server
     stop_server(state.clone()).await?;
 
@@ -623,9 +655,9 @@ async fn restart_server(
     println!("restart_server: waiting for port release...");
     tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_millis(1000)).await;
 
-    // Start server again (will auto-detect CUDA binary)
+    // Start server again (will auto-detect CUDA binary and use stored models_dir)
     println!("restart_server: starting server...");
-    start_server(app, state, None).await
+    start_server(app, state, None, None).await
 }
 
 #[command]
@@ -686,6 +718,7 @@ pub fn run() {
             child: Mutex::new(None),
             server_pid: Mutex::new(None),
             keep_running_on_close: Mutex::new(false),
+            models_dir: Mutex::new(None),
         })
         .manage(audio_capture::AudioCaptureState::new())
         .manage(audio_output::AudioOutputState::new())
@@ -714,6 +747,43 @@ pub fn run() {
                 }
             }
 
+            // Enable microphone access on Linux (WebKitGTK denies getUserMedia by default)
+            #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+            {
+                use tauri::Manager;
+                if let Some(window) = app.get_webview_window("main") {
+                    let _ = window.with_webview(|webview| {
+                        use webkit2gtk::{WebViewExt, SettingsExt, PermissionRequestExt};
+                        use webkit2gtk::glib::ObjectExt;
+                        let wk_webview = webview.inner();
+
+                        // Enable media stream support in WebKitGTK settings
+                        if let Some(settings) = WebViewExt::settings(&wk_webview) {
+                            settings.set_enable_media_stream(true);
+                        }
+
+                        // Auto-grant UserMediaPermissionRequest (microphone access)
+                        // Only for trusted local origins (Tauri dev server or custom protocol)
+                        wk_webview.connect_permission_request(move |webview, request: &webkit2gtk::PermissionRequest| {
+                            if request.is::<webkit2gtk::UserMediaPermissionRequest>() {
+                                let uri = WebViewExt::uri(webview).unwrap_or_default();
+                                let is_trusted = uri.starts_with("tauri://")
+                                    || uri.starts_with("https://tauri.localhost")
+                                    || uri.starts_with("http://localhost")
+                                    || uri.starts_with("http://127.0.0.1");
+                                if is_trusted {
+                                    request.allow();
+                                    return true;
+                                }
+                                request.deny();
+                                return true;
+                            }
+                            false
+                        });
+                    });
+                }
+            }
+
             Ok(())
         })
         .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![
@@ -755,7 +825,9 @@ pub fn run() {
                 });
 
                 // Wait for frontend response or timeout
-                tokio::spawn(async move {
+                // Use tauri::async_runtime::spawn instead of tokio::spawn to avoid
+                // panics when the Tokio runtime is being dropped during app shutdown
+                tauri::async_runtime::spawn(async move {
                     tokio::select! {
                         _ = rx.recv() => {
                             // Frontend responded, close window

tauri/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
   },
   "plugins": {
     "shell": {
-      "open": true
+      "open": ".*"
     },
     "updater": {
       "pubkey": "dW50cnVzdGVkIGNvbW1lbnQ6IG1pbmlzaWduIHB1YmxpYyBrZXk6IEUxRENBQkRBQjdBNTM1OTIKUldTU05hVzMycXZjNGJGcUxmcVVocll2QjdSaTJNdlFxR2M3VDJsMnVvbDdyZGRPMmRlOW9aWTcK",

tauri/src/platform/lifecycle.ts

@@ -5,9 +5,12 @@ import type { PlatformLifecycle } from '@/platform/types';
 class TauriLifecycle implements PlatformLifecycle {
   onServerReady?: () => void;
 
-  async startServer(remote = false): Promise<string> {
+  async startServer(remote = false, modelsDir?: string | null): Promise<string> {
     try {
-      const result = await invoke<string>('start_server', { remote });
+      const result = await invoke<string>('start_server', {
+        remote,
+        modelsDir: modelsDir ?? undefined,
+      });
       console.log('Server started:', result);
       this.onServerReady?.();
       return result;
@@ -27,9 +30,11 @@ class TauriLifecycle implements PlatformLifecycle {
     }
   }
 
-  async restartServer(): Promise<string> {
+  async restartServer(modelsDir?: string | null): Promise<string> {
     try {
-      const result = await invoke<string>('restart_server');
+      const result = await invoke<string>('restart_server', {
+        modelsDir: modelsDir ?? undefined,
+      });
       console.log('Server restarted:', result);
       this.onServerReady?.();
       return result;

web/src/platform/lifecycle.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import type { PlatformLifecycle } from '@/platform/types';
 class WebLifecycle implements PlatformLifecycle {
   onServerReady?: () => void;
 
-  async startServer(_remote = false): Promise<string> {
+  async startServer(_remote = false, _modelsDir?: string | null): Promise<string> {
     // Web assumes server is running externally
     // Return a default URL - this should be configured via env vars
     const serverUrl = import.meta.env.VITE_SERVER_URL || 'http://localhost:17493';
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class WebLifecycle implements PlatformLifecycle {
     // No-op for web - server is managed externally
   }
 
-  async restartServer(): Promise<string> {
+  async restartServer(_modelsDir?: string | null): Promise<string> {
     // No-op for web - server is managed externally
     return import.meta.env.VITE_SERVER_URL || 'http://localhost:17493';
   }