Fix: prevent hotkey twitches from cancelling in-progress transcriptions

[uuuser-name]

Problem

When using hold-to-record mode (e.g. Cmd+Option), releasing the modifier keys stops recording and begins transcription. However, involuntary finger twitches — re-pressing one or both modifier keys within milliseconds of release — trigger handleHotKeyPressed while isTranscribing is already true.

The previous implementation responded by merging Effect.send(.cancel) with Effect.send(.startRecording), which killed the active transcription and started a new (empty) recording. This caused users to lose their entire dictation with no warning.

Root Cause

In TranscriptionFeature.swift, handleHotKeyPressed always started a new recording, and additionally cancelled any in-progress transcription first:

// Before
func handleHotKeyPressed(isTranscribing: Bool) -> Effect<Action> {
    let maybeCancel = isTranscribing ? Effect.send(Action.cancel) : .none
    let startRecording = Effect.send(Action.startRecording)
    return .merge(maybeCancel, startRecording)
}

The .merge(.cancel, .startRecording) path was reachable any time a hotkey press arrived during transcription — including accidental re-presses immediately after releasing the hold-to-record key.

Fix

When isTranscribing is true, the hotkey press is now a no-op. The transcription completes uninterrupted regardless of any subsequent modifier key activity. Users can still cancel explicitly via ESC.

// After
func handleHotKeyPressed(isTranscribing: Bool) -> Effect<Action> {
    if isTranscribing { return .none }
    return .send(.startRecording)
}

Also updates the inline comment at the .hotKeyPressed case to accurately describe the new behavior.

Impact

• Eliminates lost transcriptions caused by accidental hotkey re-presses
• No change to intentional workflows — ESC still cancels, and new recordings start normally when no transcription is active
• Minimal, self-contained change (one function + one comment)

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Improved hotkey handling to prevent accidental transcription cancellations when the hotkey is pressed during an active transcription session. Hotkey now only starts recording when not currently transcribing, and stops recording when released.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: b036280d-1e94-41ba-9acb-56724c39173f

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between f29125d and 1b32051.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• Hex/Features/Transcription/TranscriptionFeature.swift

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Hotkey handling in TranscriptionFeature.swift was adjusted to ignore presses when transcription is already active, preventing cancellation conflicts. The implementation now uses a conditional that returns none if transcribing or starts recording otherwise.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Hotkey Handling Logic Hex/Features/Transcription/TranscriptionFeature.swift	Simplified hotKeyPressed logic to prevent unintended cancellations during active transcription. Changed from merging optional cancel and startRecording operations to a conditional that blocks input when already transcribing. Updated comments to clarify behavior.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• Sync recording delay with minimumKeyTime setting #100: Modifies hotkey handling behavior in TranscriptionFeature.swift with changes to hotKeyPressed and handleHotKeyPressed flow logic.
• Fix #122 -  #150: Alters hotkey monitoring and transcription state handling in TranscriptionFeature.swift, addressing transcription control flow.

Poem

🐰 A hotkey dance, refined with care,
No accidental cancels in the air!
When fingers twitch, the recording stays,
Clean logic flows through transcribed days. ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title directly and accurately describes the main change: preventing hotkey twitches from cancelling active transcriptions, which is the core fix implemented in the hotKeyPressed handler.

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[hhushhas]

@kitlangton I've had multiple instances where 20 minute dictations got lost just because of this issue. Would love if you could merge this through!