{"record":{"id":"5db9a1830ae3cf65","repo":"unslothai/unsloth","slug":"the-local-transcription-runtime-is-not-installed","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"The local transcription runtime is not installed. Run `unsloth studio update` to install it.","messagePattern":"The local transcription runtime is not installed\\. Run `unsloth studio update` to install it\\.","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"SttEngineUnavailableError","httpStatus":501,"severity":"error","filePath":"studio/backend/core/inference/stt_ggml_sidecar.py","lineNumber":330,"sourceCode":"    binary = find_whisper_server_binary()\n    if binary is None:\n        return False\n    if not slim_runtime_intact(binary):\n        return False\n    if runtime_inference_failure() is not None:\n        return False\n    try:\n        import av  # noqa: F401\n    except Exception:\n        # No PyAV means every transcription 501s on decode.\n        return False\n    return True\n\n\ndef ensure_engine_available() -> str:\n    binary = find_whisper_server_binary()\n    if binary is None:\n        raise SttEngineUnavailableError(\n            \"The local transcription runtime is not installed. Run \"\n            \"`unsloth studio update` to install it.\"\n        )\n    if not slim_runtime_intact(binary):\n        raise SttEngineUnavailableError(\n            \"The local transcription runtime is missing its paired ggml \"\n            \"libraries. Run `unsloth studio update` to reinstall it.\"\n        )\n    return binary\n\n\n# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------\n# whisper-server child-process environment\n# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------\n# Build the whisper-server env: prepend the binary dir (co-located libs win, and\n# a backstop where the loader ignores the rpath) and scrub secret-bearing vars the\n# binary never needs. On WSL2 ROCm the system HIP libs go first, since a bundle's\n# bare-metal HIP cannot drive /dev/dxg. A CUDA bundle ships libggml-cuda.so but not","sourceCodeStart":312,"sourceCodeEnd":348,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/unslothai/unsloth/blob/203007d19051dcd2ae33876786d117c99f6b0368/studio/backend/core/inference/stt_ggml_sidecar.py#L312-L348","documentation":"ensure_engine_available() raises SttEngineUnavailableError when find_whisper_server_binary() cannot locate the whisper-server binary — the local GGML transcription runtime was never installed or was removed. It is an availability guard run before any transcription attempt, and its message prescribes the fix: the studio updater installs the managed runtime.","triggerScenarios":"Calling ensure_engine_available() (directly or via a transcription endpoint) on a machine where the managed whisper.cpp runtime directory has no whisper-server binary.","commonSituations":"Fresh install where `unsloth studio update` was never run; runtime directory deleted by a cleanup script or antivirus; partial update that removed the old runtime before installing the new one.","solutions":["Run `unsloth studio update` to install the managed transcription runtime.","Verify the managed whisper.cpp directory exists and contains the binary afterwards.","If updates fail, check network/disk and rerun the updater; do not hand-copy a bare binary (see the paired-libs error)."],"exampleFix":null,"handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"from studio.backend.core.inference.stt_ggml_sidecar import find_whisper_server_binary\nif find_whisper_server_binary() is None:\n    show_setup_hint(\"Run `unsloth studio update` to install the transcription runtime\")","typeGuard":"def stt_runtime_installed() -> bool:\n    return find_whisper_server_binary() is not None","tryCatchPattern":"try:\n    ensure_engine_available()\nexcept SttEngineUnavailableError:\n    prompt_user_to_run_update()\n    return","preventionTips":["Check runtime availability at app startup and gate the dictation UI on it.","Run `unsloth studio update` as part of provisioning.","Don't hand-place binaries; let the updater own the runtime directory."],"tags":["stt","whisper","ggml","installation","runtime-missing"],"backgroundTag":null,"analyzedSha":"203007d19051dcd2ae33876786d117c99f6b0368","analyzedAt":"2026-08-15T02:48:39.846Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-15T22:17:37.221Z"}