[DOCS] Voice dictation Linux troubleshooting does not distinguish "no microphone" from "SoX not installed" (added in v2.1.195)

Documentation Type

Unclear/confusing documentation

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/voice-dictation

Section/Topic

The "Common issues" troubleshooting list, specifically the existing No audio recording tool found on Linux bullet. The bullet currently treats any audio-recorder failure as a missing-SoX problem and recommends installing SoX. After the v2.1.195 fix, voice mode on Linux distinguishes "no microphone" from "SoX not installed" when SoX is present but no audio capture device exists, and the troubleshooting list needs to mention both cases.

Current Documentation

The current troubleshooting bullet says:

No audio recording tool found on Linux: the native audio module could not load and no fallback is installed. Install SoX with the command shown in the error message, for example sudo apt-get install sox.

The preceding description of the audio stack says:

On Linux, if the native module cannot load, Claude Code falls back to arecord from ALSA utils or rec from SoX. If neither is available, /voice prints an install command for your package manager.

Neither mentions a third case: SoX (and arecord) are installed, but no capture device is available.

What's Wrong or Missing?

Claude Code v2.1.195 improves voice mode on Linux so it distinguishes between "no microphone" (no audio capture device exists) and "SoX not installed" (the fallback recording tool is missing) when SoX is present but no capture device is available. Before the fix, both cases surfaced as the same generic "No audio recording tool found" message, and the only remediation offered was to install SoX.

After the fix, the error distinguishes the two cases so users can act correctly: install SoX (recording tool missing), or check the audio device (capture device missing). The troubleshooting list does not reflect the new distinction.

Suggested Improvement

Replace the existing No audio recording tool found bullet with two bullets that cover both cases:

No audio recording tool found on Linux: the native audio module could not load and no recording fallback is installed. Install SoX with the command shown in the error message, for example sudo apt-get install sox. If SoX is already installed, see the next bullet for the no-microphone case. No audio capture device available on Linux: SoX (or arecord from ALSA utils) is installed but cannot find an input device. Run arecord -l to list capture devices and pactl list sources short if you use PulseAudio; confirm at least one source is in the RUNNING state, or plug in / enable a microphone. Then run /voice again. Claude Code v2.1.195 distinguishes this case from the missing-SoX case so the right remediation is suggested.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

The WSL bullet (Voice mode could not find a working audio recorder in WSL) already separates the WSL-specific missing-SoX-Pulse-backend case. The Linux-desktop case needs the same level of detail now that the loader distinguishes them.

Affected Pages:
| Page | Context |
|------|---------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/voice-dictation | "Common issues" troubleshooting list under voice dictation |

Total scope: 1 page affected