Speech-to-Text Workflow: No Edit Mode for Long Transcriptions

[pgpbpadilla]

Expected behaviour

When pasting or inputting long text (500+ characters) into Kiro CLI, I should be able to:

• Preview the full text content before submission
• Edit the text if needed (fix transcription errors, add formatting)
• Have a keyboard shortcut to expand collapsed text
• Or get a confirmation prompt for large inputs

Actual behaviour

When inputting long text into Kiro CLI (whether from speech-to-text transcription OR regular copy/paste):

1. Text gets automatically collapsed to show only character count (e.g., "500 characters")
2. No visible way to expand, preview, or edit the collapsed text
3. Text gets submitted as-is without review opportunity
4. Cannot fix speech-to-text transcription errors or edit pasted content before sending

This behavior occurs with BOTH:

• Speech-to-text transcription (OpenWhisper)
• Regular copy/paste operations

Steps to reproduce

Method 1: Speech-to-Text Workflow

1. Use OpenWhisper (or any speech-to-text tool) to transcribe 1-2 minutes of speech
2. Paste transcribed text into Kiro CLI prompt
3. Observe text gets collapsed to character count
4. Try various key combinations (Ctrl+E, Escape+e, F2, etc.) - none work
5. Text submits without edit opportunity

Method 2: Regular Paste Test

1. Generate 500+ characters of lorem ipsum text
2. Copy to clipboard
3. Paste into Kiro CLI prompt
4. Same collapse behavior occurs
5. No way to expand or edit before submission

Impact on Workflow

• Speech-to-text users cannot review/correct transcription errors
• All users cannot edit large pasted content before submission
• Accessibility impact for users relying on voice input
• No quality control for long inputs before submission
• Productivity loss from having to retype corrected content

Related Issues

This appears to be part of broader input handling problems:

• bracketed paste #3110 - Bracketed paste mode issues
• Please just use *GNU* readline #3444 - GNU readline request (mentions input handling problems)
• [Bug] /editor freezes when pasting large amount of text #1277 - /editor freezes with large text paste
• multi line copy paste fails due to new line carries, havent found a way to avoid this #2343 - Multi-line copy paste failures
• Voice input #2552 - Voice input feature request (Roadmap)

Technical Context

• Behavior appears related to bracketed paste mode handling
• Character threshold seems to be around 500 characters
• Issue affects both speech-to-text and regular paste operations
• No configuration option found to disable this behavior

Suggested Solutions

1. Preview mode - Show full text with edit option before submission
2. Keyboard shortcut - Allow expanding collapsed text (e.g., Ctrl+E)
3. External editor integration - Open $EDITOR for long inputs
4. Configuration option - Allow disabling text collapse behavior
5. Confirmation prompt - Ask before submitting large inputs

Environment

[q-details]
version = "1.29.6"
hash = "384bd4c79b07c1a3c67025f3339afdb19ed4466a"
date = "2026-04-08T05:30:39.871823Z (2d ago)"
variant = "full"

[system-info]
os = "macOS 26.4.0 (25E246)"
chip = "Apple M1 Max"
total-cores = 10
memory = "32.00 GB"

[environment]
cwd = "/Users/USER/org"
cli-path = "/Users/USER/org"
os = "Mac"
shell-path = "/Applications/Kiro CLI.app/Contents/MacOS/kiro-cli-chat"
terminal = "iTerm 2"
install-method = "unknown"

[env-vars]
PATH = "/Users/USER/.nvm/versions/node/v24.5.0/bin:~/bin:/usr/local/bin:/Library/TeX/Distributions/Programs/texbin:/Users/USER/.rbenv/shims:/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/git/bin:/Users/USER/.pyenv/shims:/Users/USER/.pyenv/bin:~/go/bin:/Users/USER/.basher/bin:~/bin:/Users/USER/.nix-profile/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin:/opt/pkg/env/active/bin:/opt/pmk/env/global/bin:/Library/TeX/texbin:/Applications/Wireshark.app/Contents/MacOS:/Library/TeX/Distributions/Programs/texbin:/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/Cellar/gnupg@2.2.41/2.2.41/bin:/Users/USER/.basher/cellar/bin:/Applications/iTerm.app/Contents/Resources/utilities:/Users/USER/.local/bin:/Users/USER/.rvm/bin"
QTERM_SESSION_ID = "[REDACTED]"
Q_SET_PARENT_CHECK = "1"
Q_TERM = "1.29.5"
SHELL = "/opt/homebrew/bin/bash"
TERM = "tmux-256color"
__CFBundleIdentifier = "com.googlecode.iterm2"