feat(wake): eager-install voice deps with the desktop; wake probes never run pip

Two fixes from live testing (Teknium):

1. Desktop installs now ship the wake/voice stacks up front.
   install.sh + install.ps1 desktop stages run 'uv pip install
   -e .[wake,voice]' (best-effort, lazy-install remains the fallback)
   before building the app, so the first ear-click arms instantly
   instead of sitting through a multi-minute onnxruntime download.
   CLI-only installs keep the lazy path — [all] curation unchanged.

2. The vanished ear: the STT/TTS gate made wake.status call
   check_tts_requirements(), whose edge path runs _import_edge_tts →
   lazy_deps.ensure — a synchronous PIP INSTALL inside a status poll.
   On a venv without edge-tts that blew the desktop's 30s RPC timeout,
   armWakeWord caught the error, the atom never learned enabled=true,
   and the ear unmounted. _tts_ready is now a pure probe: deps missing
   + lazy installs allowed counts as ready (installs at first speak)
   WITHOUT touching pip; check_tts_requirements only runs once deps
   are present. Regression test asserts the probe never calls it while
   deps are missing.

pyproject.toml

@@ -178,8 +178,9 @@ voice = [
 # "Hey Hermes" wake word — on-device hotword detection. All engines are
 # optional; openWakeWord (ONNX) is the free default, sherpa-onnx adds
 # open-vocabulary phrases (any typed phrase, zero training), Porcupine is
-# the premium alternative. Lazy-installed on first /wake; mirrored in
-# tools/lazy_deps.py.
+# the premium alternative. Desktop installs ([--include-desktop]) eager-install
+# [wake]+[voice] so the ear works instantly; CLI-only installs lazy-install on
+# first /wake; mirrored in tools/lazy_deps.py.
 wake = [
   "openwakeword==0.6.0",
   "onnxruntime==1.27.0",

scripts/install.ps1

@@ -2813,6 +2813,34 @@ function Try-RestoreElectronDist {
     return Restore-ElectronDist -InstallDir $InstallDir -Mirror $script:DesktopElectronFallbackMirror
 }
 
+function Install-DesktopVoiceDeps {
+    # Desktop ships with working voice out of the box: eagerly install the
+    # wake-word + local-STT stacks ([wake] + [voice] extras) instead of
+    # leaving them to lazy first-use install. Policy change (Teknium, July
+    # 2026, #70509 testing): the first ear-click used to trigger a
+    # multi-minute onnxruntime pip install that froze the UI and blew RPC
+    # timeouts. Best-effort — lazy install remains the fallback for anything
+    # this step fails to fetch.
+    if (-not $script:UvCmd) { Resolve-UvCmd }
+    if (-not $script:UvCmd) {
+        Write-Warn "uv unavailable -- voice/wake deps will lazy-install at first use instead"
+        return
+    }
+    $env:VIRTUAL_ENV = "$InstallDir\venv"
+    Write-Info "Installing voice + wake-word dependencies (onnxruntime, faster-whisper -- 1-3min)..."
+    Push-Location $InstallDir
+    try {
+        Invoke-NativeWithRelaxedErrorAction { & $UvCmd pip install -e ".[wake,voice]" }
+        if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
+            Write-Success "Voice + wake-word dependencies installed"
+        } else {
+            Write-Warn "Voice/wake dependency install failed (exit $LASTEXITCODE) -- they will lazy-install at first use"
+        }
+    } finally {
+        Pop-Location
+    }
+}
+
 function Install-Desktop {
     # Build apps/desktop into a launchable Hermes.exe. Only called from
     # Stage-Desktop, which is itself only included in the manifest when
@@ -3577,7 +3605,7 @@ function Stage-Repository       { Install-Repository }
 function Stage-Venv             { Resolve-UvCmd; Install-Venv }
 function Stage-Dependencies     { Resolve-UvCmd; Install-Dependencies }
 function Stage-NodeDeps         { Install-NodeDeps }
-function Stage-Desktop          { Install-Desktop }
+function Stage-Desktop          { Install-DesktopVoiceDeps; Install-Desktop }
 function Stage-Path             { Set-PathVariable }
 function Stage-ConfigTemplates  { Copy-ConfigTemplates }
 function Stage-PlatformSdks     { Resolve-UvCmd; Install-PlatformSdks }

scripts/install.sh

@@ -2792,6 +2792,37 @@ _restore_electron_dist_with_fallback() {
 # (electron-builder --dir) which emits an unpacked app for the current OS. Only invoked
 # via the 'desktop' stage / --include-desktop, which the Electron app's own
 # first-launch bootstrap never requests (it must not rebuild itself).
+install_desktop_voice_deps() {
+    # Desktop ships with working voice out of the box: eagerly install the
+    # wake-word + local-STT stacks ([wake] + [voice] extras) instead of
+    # leaving them to lazy first-use install. Policy change (Teknium, July
+    # 2026, #70509 testing): the first ear-click used to trigger a
+    # multi-minute onnxruntime pip install that froze the UI and blew RPC
+    # timeouts. Lazy install remains the fallback for CLI-only installs and
+    # for anything this best-effort step fails to fetch.
+    local _prev_venv="${VIRTUAL_ENV:-}"
+    if [ "$USE_VENV" = true ]; then
+        export VIRTUAL_ENV="$INSTALL_DIR/venv"
+    fi
+    if [ -z "${UV_CMD:-}" ]; then
+        install_uv || true
+    fi
+    if [ -z "${UV_CMD:-}" ]; then
+        log_warn "uv unavailable — voice/wake deps will lazy-install at first use instead"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    log_info "Installing voice + wake-word dependencies (onnxruntime, faster-whisper — 1-3min)..."
+    if (cd "$INSTALL_DIR" && $UV_CMD pip install -e ".[wake,voice]") ; then
+        log_success "Voice + wake-word dependencies installed"
+    else
+        log_warn "Voice/wake dependency install failed — they will lazy-install at first use"
+    fi
+    if [ "$USE_VENV" = true ] && [ -z "$_prev_venv" ]; then
+        unset VIRTUAL_ENV
+    fi
+    return 0
+}
+
 install_desktop() {
     local desktop_dir="$INSTALL_DIR/apps/desktop"
 
@@ -3074,6 +3105,7 @@ run_stage_body() {
             # isn't on PATH here. check_node re-adds it (or installs if missing)
             # so install_desktop can find npm instead of silently skipping.
             check_node
+            install_desktop_voice_deps
             install_desktop
             ;;
         complete)
@@ -3160,6 +3192,7 @@ main() {
     maybe_start_gateway
 
     if [ "$INCLUDE_DESKTOP" = true ]; then
+        install_desktop_voice_deps
         install_desktop
     fi
 

tests/tools/test_wake_word.py

@@ -126,6 +126,43 @@ def test_requirements_need_stt_and_tts(monkeypatch):
     assert "speech-to-text and text-to-speech" in r["hint"]
 
 
+def test_tts_ready_is_a_probe_never_an_installer(monkeypatch):
+    """_tts_ready must NOT trigger lazy pip installs from a status poll.
+
+    Regression: check_tts_requirements → _import_edge_tts → lazy_deps.ensure
+    ran pip inside wake.status; a slow/failed install froze the poll and
+    unmounted the desktop ear. Uninstalled-but-lazy-installable counts as
+    ready WITHOUT calling ensure/check.
+    """
+    import types as _types
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        ww, "_tts_ready", ww.__dict__["_tts_ready"]
+    )  # use the real implementation
+    fake_tts = _types.SimpleNamespace(
+        _get_provider=lambda cfg: "edge",
+        _load_tts_config=lambda: {},
+        check_tts_requirements=lambda: (_ for _ in ()).throw(
+            AssertionError("check_tts_requirements must not run when deps are missing")
+        ),
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "tools.tts_tool", fake_tts)
+
+    # Deps missing + lazy installs allowed → ready (installs at first speak).
+    monkeypatch.setattr("tools.lazy_deps.is_available", lambda f: False)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("tools.lazy_deps._allow_lazy_installs", lambda: True)
+    assert ww._tts_ready() is True
+
+    # Deps missing + lazy installs disabled → not ready.
+    monkeypatch.setattr("tools.lazy_deps._allow_lazy_installs", lambda: False)
+    assert ww._tts_ready() is False
+
+    # Deps present → falls through to the real requirements check.
+    fake_tts.check_tts_requirements = lambda: True
+    monkeypatch.setattr("tools.lazy_deps.is_available", lambda f: True)
+    assert ww._tts_ready() is True
+
+
 def test_requirements_porcupine_needs_access_key(monkeypatch):
     monkeypatch.delenv("PORCUPINE_ACCESS_KEY", raising=False)
     monkeypatch.setattr(ww, "_audio_available", lambda: True)

tools/wake_word.py

@@ -519,12 +519,41 @@ def _stt_ready() -> bool:
 
 
 def _tts_ready() -> bool:
-    """Can the configured text-to-speech provider actually run?
+    """Can the configured text-to-speech provider run (or install at first use)?
 
     The wake flow is fully hands-free (wake → speak → hear the reply); without
-    TTS the reply is silent and the loop is pointless. Mirrors /voice's use of
-    ``check_tts_requirements``.
+    TTS the reply is silent and the loop is pointless.
+
+    PROBE, not an installer: ``check_tts_requirements`` lazily pip-installs the
+    provider SDK via ``_import_*`` → ``lazy_deps.ensure`` — running that inside
+    a status poll froze wake.status for the length of a pip install (and a
+    failed install marked the wake word unavailable, unmounting the desktop
+    ear). When the provider's deps aren't installed yet, "installable at first
+    use" counts as ready and we never touch pip from here.
     """
+    try:
+        from tools.tts_tool import _get_provider, _load_tts_config
+
+        provider = _get_provider(_load_tts_config())
+    except Exception:
+        return False
+
+    _LAZY_TTS_FEATURES = {
+        "edge": "tts.edge",
+        "elevenlabs": "tts.elevenlabs",
+        "mistral": "tts.mistral",
+    }
+    feature = _LAZY_TTS_FEATURES.get(provider)
+    if feature is not None:
+        try:
+            from tools import lazy_deps
+
+            if not lazy_deps.is_available(feature):
+                # Not installed: ready iff it can install at first speak.
+                return lazy_deps._allow_lazy_installs()
+        except Exception:
+            return False
+
     try:
         from tools.tts_tool import check_tts_requirements
 

website/docs/user-guide/features/wake-word.md

@@ -40,8 +40,9 @@ By default the phrase is **"hey hermes"** — a model for it ships with Hermes,
 it works out of the box with no training. (On first use, openWakeWord downloads
 its shared feature-extraction models — a small one-time fetch.)
 
-Both are lazy-installed the first time you enable the wake word. To install ahead
-of time:
+Both are lazy-installed the first time you enable the wake word (desktop
+installs made with `--include-desktop` pre-install them, so the ear works
+instantly). To install ahead of time:
 
 ```bash
 cd ~/.hermes/hermes-agent && uv pip install -e ".[wake]"