Voice mode F8 recording does not start on Wayland (Arch Linux)

Description

/voice enables voice mode and shows "Voice mode enabled. Hold f8 to record." but pressing and holding F8 does nothing — no "Recording..." indicator, no audio capture, no transcription.

Environment

• Claude Code: 2.1.78
• OS: CachyOS (Arch Linux) 6.19.6-2-cachyos x86_64
• Desktop: Wayland (KDE Plasma, kwin_wayland)
• PipeWire: 1.6.1
• Node: 25.7.0
• Audio Input: Konftel Ego USB (working — parecord captures audio fine)
• Audio Output: ALC897 Analog Stereo (working — paplay plays audio fine)
• Binary: ELF 64-bit, installed via npm @anthropic-ai/claude-code@2.1.78

Steps to Reproduce

1. Run claude in terminal (Konsole on Wayland)
2. Type /voice → "Voice mode enabled. Hold f8 to record."
3. Press and hold F8 (verified via evtest that KEY_F8 code=66 is received by the terminal)
4. Expected: "Recording..." indicator appears, audio is captured
5. Actual: Cursor disappears while holding F8 (key is received), but no recording starts. No visual feedback. Releasing F8 does nothing.

Diagnostics

• F8 keypress confirmed via evtest: KEY_F8 DOWN/HOLD/UP events arrive at the terminal
• Cursor disappears while F8 is held — proving Claude Code receives the keypress
• Audio subsystem works: parecord /tmp/test.wav records audio, paplay plays it back
• Default source set correctly: pactl get-default-source → alsa_input.usb-28db_Konftel_Ego...mono-fallback
• sox is NOT installed — if Claude Code depends on sox/rec for recording, this could be the issue

Possible Cause

• Missing dependency: sox is not installed. If Claude Code uses sox rec or rec for audio capture, this would silently fail.
• Wayland compatibility: Some terminal audio capture methods that work under X11 may not work under Wayland.
• PipeWire vs PulseAudio: System uses PipeWire with PulseAudio compatibility layer.

Workaround

Using VoiceMode MCP server (third-party) with local Whisper STT + Kokoro TTS as alternative voice interface.