[eric] voice: native trackpad haptics addon (NSHapticFeedbackManager, mouseclamp pattern) taps on dictation start/stop

electron/main.js

@@ -1777,6 +1777,35 @@ function installMacMouseClamp() {
   }
 }
 
+// Trackpad haptic taps (macOS, Force Touch only): dictation start/stop feedback. Fail-open like
+// mouseclamp; a missing addon or non-mac just makes 'haptic:perform' return false.
+let hapticsAddon = null;
+function installHaptics() {
+  if (process.platform !== 'darwin') return;
+  try {
+    const nodePath = isPackaged
+      ? path.join(process.resourcesPath, 'haptics', 'haptics.node')
+      : path.join(__dirname, 'build-staging', 'haptics', process.arch, 'haptics.node');
+    if (!fs.existsSync(nodePath)) {
+      console.log('[haptics] addon not present, skipping:', nodePath);
+      return;
+    }
+    hapticsAddon = require(nodePath);
+    console.log('[haptics] addon loaded');
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.log('[haptics] load failed (continuing):', e && e.message);
+  }
+}
+ipcMain.handle('haptic:perform', (event, pattern) => {
+  try {
+    if (!hapticsAddon) return false;
+    const p = pattern === 'alignment' ? 1 : pattern === 'level' ? 2 : 0;
+    return hapticsAddon.perform(p);
+  } catch (_) {
+    return false;
+  }
+});
+
 app.whenReady().then(async () => {
   // We made it here, so any prior update swap finished. Drop a stale updating.lock
   // (the watchdog never deletes it) so a real crash later isn't silently swallowed.
@@ -1788,6 +1817,7 @@ app.whenReady().then(async () => {
 
   // Off-window mouse-release crash dodge (macOS). Safe to call before windows exist.
   installMacMouseClamp();
+  installHaptics();
 
   // Voice dictation hotkey (F5 / Cmd-Ctrl+Shift+D). Native uiohook key tap = true keyboard
   // hold-to-talk on every platform; falls back to the old press-to-toggle when the tap can't run

electron/native/haptics/binding.gyp

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "targets": [
+    {
+      "target_name": "haptics",
+      "sources": ["haptics.mm"],
+      "xcode_settings": {
+        "CLANG_ENABLE_OBJC_ARC": "NO",
+        "OTHER_CFLAGS": ["-fobjc-exceptions"]
+      },
+      "libraries": ["-framework Cocoa"],
+      "conditions": [["OS!=\"mac\"", {"type": "none"}]]
+    }
+  ]
+}

electron/native/haptics/haptics.mm

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// Trackpad haptic taps for dictation start/stop (and any future micro-feedback), the missing half
+// of the WhisperFlow feel. NSHapticFeedbackManager only fires on Force Touch trackpads and only
+// when macOS deems the app active; both are fine, this is garnish, never load-bearing.
+//
+// Fail-open everywhere: no trackpad, no permission, wrong thread, we return false and the app
+// behaves exactly like today. macOS-only by binding.gyp condition.
+
+#include <node_api.h>
+#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
+
+static napi_value Perform(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
+  bool ok = false;
+  @try {
+    size_t argc = 1;
+    napi_value argv[1];
+    napi_get_cb_info(env, info, &argc, argv, NULL, NULL);
+    int32_t pattern = 0;
+    if (argc >= 1) napi_get_value_int32(env, argv[0], &pattern);
+    NSHapticFeedbackPattern p = NSHapticFeedbackPatternGeneric;
+    if (pattern == 1) p = NSHapticFeedbackPatternAlignment;
+    else if (pattern == 2) p = NSHapticFeedbackPatternLevelChange;
+    // Main-thread dispatch: AppKit feedback performers are main-thread creatures, and the IPC
+    // handler that calls us already runs there in Electron's browser process; the async hop is
+    // belt-and-suspenders for any future caller.
+    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
+      @try {
+        [[NSHapticFeedbackManager defaultPerformer]
+            performFeedbackPattern:p
+                   performanceTime:NSHapticFeedbackPerformanceTimeNow];
+      } @catch (NSException *e) { /* garnish only */ }
+    });
+    ok = true;
+  } @catch (NSException *e) {
+    ok = false;
+  }
+  napi_value result;
+  napi_get_boolean(env, ok, &result);
+  return result;
+}
+
+static napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
+  napi_value fn;
+  napi_create_function(env, "perform", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, Perform, NULL, &fn);
+  napi_set_named_property(env, exports, "perform", fn);
+  return exports;
+}
+
+NAPI_MODULE(NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME, Init)

electron/native/haptics/package.json

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "name": "haptics",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "private": true,
+  "description": "macOS-only native addon: Force Touch trackpad haptic taps via NSHapticFeedbackManager for dictation start/stop feedback. See haptics.mm.",
+  "gypfile": true
+}

electron/package.json

@@ -75,6 +75,13 @@
             "**/*"
           ]
         },
+        {
+          "from": "build-staging/haptics/${arch}",
+          "to": "haptics",
+          "filter": [
+            "**/*"
+          ]
+        },
         {
           "from": "build-staging/python-env/${arch}",
           "to": "python-env",

electron/preload.js

@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('openswarm', {
   // and request triggers the macOS Accessibility prompt when the tap is blocked on permission.
   voiceHoldCapable: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('voice:hold-capable'),
   voiceRequestHoldPermission: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('voice:request-hold-permission'),
+  haptic: (pattern) => ipcRenderer.invoke('haptic:perform', pattern),
   // Native-tap hold relay: real global key-down/key-up for the voice combo, focus-independent.
   onVoiceHold: (onDown, onUp) => {
     const down = () => onDown();

electron/scripts/build-haptics.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Compile the macOS mouse-clamp native addon for one arch and stage it where
+# electron-builder's extraResources picks it up (build-staging/haptics/<arch>).
+# See electron/native/haptics/haptics.mm for what it fixes.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ARCH="${1:?usage: build-haptics.sh <arm64|x64>}"
+
+HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"   # electron/
+# Derive the node-gyp header target from the actually-installed electron so a version bump (e.g. 42.0.0 -> 42.3.3) is auto-tracked instead of silently building against stale headers. Strip any +wvcus suffix; node-gyp wants a plain semver.
+ELECTRON_TARGET="$(node -p "require('$HERE/node_modules/electron/package.json').version.split('+')[0]" 2>/dev/null || echo '42.3.3')"
+SRC="$HERE/native/haptics"
+OUT="$HERE/build-staging/haptics/$ARCH"
+NODE_GYP="$HERE/node_modules/.bin/node-gyp"
+[[ -x "$NODE_GYP" ]] || NODE_GYP="npx --yes node-gyp"  # transitive dep usually, npx if not
+
+echo "[haptics] building for arch=$ARCH (electron $ELECTRON_TARGET)"
+cd "$SRC"
+rm -rf build
+$NODE_GYP rebuild \
+  --target="$ELECTRON_TARGET" \
+  --arch="$ARCH" \
+  --dist-url=https://electronjs.org/headers
+
+mkdir -p "$OUT"
+cp "build/Release/haptics.node" "$OUT/haptics.node"
+echo "[haptics] staged -> $OUT/haptics.node"
+file "$OUT/haptics.node"

frontend/src/shared/voice/useVoiceDictation.ts

@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ export function useVoiceDictation() {
       recRef.current = { ctx, stream, node, source, chunks };
       setState('recording');
       playVoiceCue('start');
+      void (window.openswarm as { haptic?: (p: string) => Promise<boolean> } | undefined)?.haptic?.('generic');
       // Warm the model the moment recording begins so transcription is instant on stop.
       void window.openswarm?.voiceWarmup?.();
     } catch (err) {
@@ -134,6 +135,7 @@ export function useVoiceDictation() {
     if (stateRef.current !== 'recording') return;
     const samples = teardown();
     playVoiceCue('stop');
+    void (window.openswarm as { haptic?: (p: string) => Promise<boolean> } | undefined)?.haptic?.('alignment');
     setState('transcribing');
     try {
       if (!samples || samples.length < VOICE_SAMPLE_RATE * 0.2) { setState('idle'); return; } // < 0.2s = a misfire

scripts/build-app.sh

@@ -497,6 +497,8 @@ if [[ "$(uname)" == "Darwin" ]]; then
     echo "Building mouse-clamp native addon (arm64 + x64)..."
     bash scripts/build-mouseclamp.sh arm64
     bash scripts/build-mouseclamp.sh x64
+    bash scripts/build-haptics.sh arm64
+    bash scripts/build-haptics.sh x64
 fi
 
 # Node's default ~4 GB heap OOMs while codesign'ing the .app on dual-arch