Run the installed CLI during your build/deployment, then deny outbound networking:

pnpm exec whistle download --out vendor/whistle
pnpm exec whistle download --offline --out vendor/whistle
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--offline verifies and reuses files; it cannot acquire a missing model. Load the result with the /node entry point:

import { createWhistle } from '@tiny-stt/whistle/node';

/** Call with decoded 16 kHz mono PCM and assets prepared before networking is disabled. */
export async function transcribeLocally(pcm: Float32Array, assetsPath: string | URL) {
  const whistle = await createWhistle({ assetsPath });
  try {
    return await whistle.transcribe(pcm, { wordTimestamps: true });
  } finally {
    await whistle.dispose();
  }
}
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assetsPath accepts a local filesystem directory or file: URL, including paths with spaces. Relative paths resolve at factory invocation. HTTP(S) locations are rejected and missing/corrupt files fail explicitly. Initialization, inference and cancellation recovery never fall back to a remote download.

Each instance owns one worker and retains its model. Calls are FIFO; an active abort terminates blocking WASM and reloads from local assets before surviving requests run. dispose() settles pending work and awaits worker termination, allowing the process to exit. Use try/finally even when inference fails.

The SDK accepts decoded PCM, not Node Buffer or encoded WAV/MP3 bytes. The repository's Node example in packages/documentation/examples/node includes a small reader for mono 16 kHz PCM16 WAV. General audio format conversion is the host application's responsibility; no native compiler or Python runtime is required by the SDK.

Runnable example

From the repository root:

pnpm build
pnpm assets:prepare
pnpm example:node
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This transcribes the licensed fixture with timestamps. To supply your own prepared assets and compatible WAV file:

node packages/documentation/examples/node/transcribe.mjs ./vendor/whistle ./clip.wav
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The example imports the public /node entry and disposes its worker in finally:

import { createWhistle } from '@tiny-stt/whistle/node';
import { readWav } from './wav.mjs';

const [assetsPath, file] = process.argv.slice(2);
if (!assetsPath || !file) {
  console.error('Usage: node transcribe.mjs <assets-directory> <mono-16k-pcm16.wav>');
  process.exitCode = 2;
} else {
  const whistle = await createWhistle({ assetsPath });
  try {
    console.log(
      JSON.stringify(await whistle.transcribe(readWav(file), { wordTimestamps: true }), null, 2),
    );
  } finally {
    await whistle.dispose();
  }
}
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Copy both transcribe.mjs and wav.mjs into an application with the SDK installed to run outside this workspace. The WAV reader is deliberately limited to mono, 16 kHz, signed PCM16 audio; it is not a general-purpose audio decoder.